506 



TTH® mvamMlQMm be® JOU^RKSt. 



more frames taken from any strong 

 colony — and fit down the cloth so that 

 the hive will be bee-tight. It is need- 

 less to say that care must be taken not 

 to get the old queen along with the 

 imprisoned bees. 



Leave the bees in their prison for 

 six hours, and then turn up one corner 

 of the quilt just a little, and let the 

 virgin queen run in among the im- 

 prisoned bees. If of any eligible age, 

 she will be gladly received. 



Leave the bees imprisoned for 36 or 

 48 hours, and open the entrance a little 

 while after sunset. The queen will 

 mate in a few days after the bees are 

 liberated. This plan has never failed 

 under my direct supervision. 



A Safe ^Vay of Introduction. 



When we receive a virgin queen 

 through the mail, or have a valuable 

 queen of any kind to introduce, we do 

 not want to take any risk, and I here 

 give the plan. 



I have devised what I call an " in- 

 troducing nursery." It is a super of 

 standard size, that has two partitions 

 in it, and a wire-cloth bottom, so as to 

 give three apartments, all bee-tight and 

 separate from each other. Some strips 

 of enameled-cloth tacked fast to the 

 partitions at their top edges admits of 

 opening or closing any one of the de- 

 partments without interfering with 

 the others. The wire-cloth bottom is 

 tacked fast to the lower edges of the 

 partitions, as well as all around the 

 rim of the super so as to make the 

 whole, as well as each separate depart- 

 ment, bee-tight. 



To use it, a slat honey-board made 

 with narrow slats, is put over anj' 

 strong colony. I put mine on top of 

 the storing super, so as not to inter- 

 fere with the usefulness of the colony 

 that is to furnish the necessary heat, 

 and then set the " introducing nur- 

 sery " on the slat honey-board. The 

 honey-board prevents the bees below 

 from propolizing the wire-cloth bottom 

 to the nursery. 



When I want to inti'oduce a virgin 

 queen of several da^'S old, a frame of 

 rapidly-hatching brood, after clearing 

 it of all hatching bees, is hung in the 

 nursery, and the virgin queen is im- 

 mediately turned in on the comb, and 

 and all is closed up closely. In three, 

 four or live days the comb will be 

 covered with young bees, and the 

 queen will be at home with them. The 

 comb is now moved to a hive, together 

 with the adhering bees and queen, and 

 another comb and a division-board is 

 added to make up the usual nucleus. 

 The queen will mate in a few days. 

 There is the least possible risk when 

 following this plan. 

 Christiansburg, Ky. 



MARKETING-. 



Hotv to Di!ipo§e of the Surplus 

 Honey Crop. 



Written for the Michigan Farmer 



BY GEO. E. HILTON. 



The time of year is now at hand 

 when we should begin to arrange tor 

 our exhibits at fairs, especially county 

 fairs, and I hope that every county 

 fair in the United States will have a 

 honey exhibit. Space can be secured 

 by applying to the managers now, and 

 although there may be no premiums 

 offered, if you make a good exhibit this 

 fall you will have no trouble in getting 

 premiums for another year. I urge 

 this course, because thei-e is no better 

 way to advertise and sell your honej'. 

 You can undoubtedly get permission 

 to sell on the last day, and perhaps all 

 through the fair, providing you do not 

 sell your exhibit until the last. 



To sell successfully at fairs, you 

 must have hundreds of small packages 

 that you can sell for five cents each 

 The Canadians have a little tin re- 

 ceptacle that holds one ounce, that 

 they give away, and it invariably sells 

 from one to ten pounds of extracted 

 honey. 



Then, to introduce their comb honey, 

 they have plates and a one-pound sec- 

 tion on each, cut from corner to cor- 

 ner, leaving one-fourth of the comb 

 sticking to each side of the section ; 

 these they sell for five cents each, thus 

 realizing 20 cents a pound for their 

 comb honey, and sending out one of 

 the best advertising mediums in the 

 world. Their cry is, " Honey on a 

 stick, five cents a lick." I do not know 

 that it has ever been tried in the United 

 States, but I see no reason why it 

 would not work ; in fact I know that it 

 will, and it makes a much more palat- 

 able sweet for the children, than pois- 

 onous candies sold at such places. 



Perhaps there are localities where 

 fairs will not be held ; in that case, in 

 the fall it is an excellent plan to take 

 a horse and wagon, load up with honey, 

 and go right through the country ; get 

 acquainted with your more distant 

 neighbors, and you will be surprised 

 at the amount of honey you will sell, 

 and the amount of pleasure 30U will 

 receive. I like to get all the pleasure 

 I can out of my work — it shortens the 

 daj's, and lessens the burden very 

 materially. 



Perhaps some will object to this 

 latter plan, because it savoi-s so much 

 of peddling ; but after trying it once, 

 you will liud it a real pleasure, and a 

 rest from the usual routine of work, 

 and j'ou are doing good ; at the same 

 time you are disposing of j'our honey 

 at remunerative prices. 



The main honey-flow is now over, 

 and you should begin to crowd the 

 bees down by removing all the finished 

 sections of comb from the two crates 

 now on the hives, and putting all the 

 unfinished ones into one crate, with a 

 view of getting them finished up and 

 avoid carrying over so many im- 

 finished sections until another year. 

 This has a tendency to make the bees 

 store honey in the brood-nest for their 

 consumption during the coming win- 

 ter. This may seem a little early to 

 commence to prepare for winter, but 

 it is the only safe way. 



There are those who recommend 

 and practice taking all the honey gath- 

 ered by the bees, then feed them sugar 

 syrup for their winter stores ; but I 

 cannot recommend this plan. If I find 

 any of my colonies short of stores, 

 they are fed extracted honey until sup- 

 plied. By taking this course, or giv- 

 ing them combs of sealed honey, you 

 will hear less about adulterated honey. 



I want to call attention to the De- 

 troit International Fair and Exposition, 

 to be held at Detroit from Sept. 17 to 

 27 inclusive. There vi'ill be a large 

 apiarian and honey display there, and 

 the premiums are liberal. I certainly 

 hope that the bee-keepers of Michigan 

 will show to their sister States, and to 

 the world, that we are up with the 

 times. I shall expect to do something, 

 and be in attendance at least a portion 

 of the time. You can get a premium 

 list and full particulars by addressing 

 C. W. Bobinsou, General Manager, 7 

 Merrill Block, Detroit, Mich. 



Fremont, Mich. 



HIVES. 



Di$eii§sion on Small vs. Large 

 Brood.Cliainbers. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



The last article by Mr. Dadant, on 

 page 488, calls for but little in reply, 

 except a few words of explanation. 



It is possible that I was not strictly 

 fair in saying th.at I had used hives 

 holding 33 American frames. It was 

 done by using hives three stories high, 

 allowing the queen to rove at will 

 through all three of the stories ; and 

 she. in several instances, had brood in 

 all of the stories. As we were discuss- 

 ing the size of brood-nests, and as this 

 method allowed the queen to extend 

 her operations as far as she pleased, I 

 felt justified, in this connection, in 

 saying that I had used hives containing 

 33 American frames. 



Still, as I have said, perhaps it was 

 not fair. In the light in which we 

 were discussing the question, that of 

 large vs. small brood-nests, I think 



