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Xtae Vntinislied Sections. 



J. A. Green — Sections filled with 

 foundation are fiuislied sooner, and 

 look nicer than partlj-filled sections 

 kept over from the previous season. 

 One or two such sections in the centre 

 of the super will answer as a " bait" 

 to start the bees to work, but they will 

 never be so tine in appearance ; neither 

 does the honey keep so well. It is 

 more likely to "sweat," or ooze from 

 the combs. 



J. C. Wheeler — I have seen Mr. 

 Green's honey, and these old sections 

 really look poorer. 



Mr. Heddon — A new, naturally-built 

 comb will be finished and capped 

 sooner, when nearly ready to cap, 

 than will one built on foundation. 



PresidentMiller — Perhaps Mr. Green 

 does not succeed in having his sections 

 entirely freed from honey the previous 

 season. 



J. A. Green — How do you get them 

 cleaned ? 



President Miller — I pile the supers 

 up out-of-doors, and leave a small 

 opening, large enough for a single bee 

 to enter. The combs will not be in- 

 jured if only such a small opening is 

 left. 



J. A. Green — That is exactly the way 

 I do. 



Mr. Heddon — Dr. Miller, do you not 

 teach your bees to become robbers 

 and " snoops," by such management ? 

 If I were writing a book on bee-cul- 

 ture, I should lay it down as a princi- 

 ple, that, under no circumstances, 

 shoujd bees be allowed access to honey 

 outside the hives. I would put the 

 sections over a colony. 



President Miller — I have never had 

 any trouble in this direction. 



Mr. Black — I should think that there 

 would be considerable commotion and 

 quarreling around the entrance to the 

 stack of supers. 



President Miller — There is ; but I do 

 not know that it causes any trouble. 



Chas. H. Green — I secure more 

 honey by using the drawn combs. I 

 extract them in the fall, and just at 

 dusk put a case of them down at the 

 entrance of a hive. The bees come 

 out and clean up the sections. 



Mr. Gibbs — I get the honey out, and 

 the combs cleaned up in the same way 

 that Dr. Miller does. In the spring I 

 break off the outside of the combs. 



Several spoke of leaving the partly- 

 finished combs until the dark honey 

 harvest. 



XIae Zinc <lueenExclnder. 



Mr. A. I. Root said that the first size 

 of perforated zinc that he made was 

 too small ; it troubled even the workers 

 to get through. The next size was a 



little too large, and queens could prob- 

 ably squeeze through it. He now 

 makes a size between the other two, 

 which was probably the correct size. 

 He said that he once had trouble with 

 brace-combs being built to the bottoms 

 of sections. He could not believe that 

 a honey-board would allow him to take 

 off a super, slick and clean, as Mr. 

 Heddon said that It would. He thought 

 that we all ought to be thankful to Mr. 

 Heddon for his persistence in bringing 

 the honey-board before the public. 



Mr. Heddon called attention to the 

 discussion that took place la.st winter 

 at the meeting of the Michigan Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, in regard to the 

 number and size of openings needed in 

 a honey-board. Two rows of perfora- 

 tions had proved sufficient. He be- 

 lieved that 07ie row would be sufficient 

 for a strong colony. One row of per- 

 foration in each strip of zinc was cer- 

 tainly more passage-way than was 

 needed. 



Marlcetins Iloney. 



R. A. Burnett — It is a fact that 

 honey is sold only in a small way in 

 warm weather. Honey does not carry 

 so well in hot weather as in moderately 

 cool weather. It leaks more, and soils 

 the cases. October and November ap- 

 pear to be the best months for ship- 

 ping. It is the privilege of the con- 

 signor to limit the price. It certainly 

 relieves the commission man of much 

 responsibilitj'. Sometimes it results in 

 gain, sometimes in loss. The pound 

 sections seem to have driven out 

 about all other sizes. The 60-pound, 

 square tin-can, jacketed with wood, is 

 the best for shipping extracted honey. 

 There is no leakage, and the honey is 

 kept i)erfectly. 



Honey-Hoards. 



President Miller said that he had ex- 

 perienced some trouble the past season 

 by bees building brace-combs above 

 the slatted honey-boards. He could 

 not say why they had done so. He 

 looked upon the honey-board as a 

 great invention, but had hopes that it 

 might yet be discarded. 



Mr. Heddon asked upon what he 

 based his hopes. 



The President could not sa)', but 

 thought that more wonderful things 

 than this had occurred. 



Mr. Heddon did not believe that, so 

 long as the instinct of the bees re- 

 mained as at present, the honej'-board 

 would be discarded. 



W. T. F. Petty reported that he had 

 used thick top-bars, and very -few 

 brace-C(nnbs were built above them — 

 so few that no honey-board was needed. 



J. A. Green had had brace-combs 

 built above all zinc honey-boards, but 

 it was the result of their sagging. 



Chas. H. Green had used top-bars | 

 of an inch square. It lessened the 

 number of brace-combs, but not to such 

 an extent that honey-boards could be 

 dispensed with. 



Mr. Heddon — When I began using 

 the Langstroth hive, the top-bars were 

 IJ wide, which made the openings be- 

 tween the top-bars a trifle over J of 

 an inch. I had much trouble by the 

 bees building brace-combs and wax 

 between the top-bars. I reduced the 

 top-bars in width, and was surprised 

 to see that less combs were built be- 

 tween the top-bars, but more above 

 them. 



A. I. Root had had the same experi- 

 ence. He reduced the top-bars in 

 width, by cutting them down with a 

 jack-plane. 



J. A. Green — I once bought some 

 bees in hives having frames with I 

 square top-bars. The bees filled the 

 spaces between them with hard wax, 

 and built just as many brace-combs 

 above them, as in the other hives. 



Mr. Heddon — I do not see how Dr. 

 Miller can think that the honey-board 

 will ever be abandoned. I would be 

 just as glad as any one to lay it aside, 

 but I do not see how it can be done. 



President Miller — The experience of 

 Mr. Petty is a pointer in that direction. 



Mr. Heddon — Yes, but the experi- 

 ence of these other men is a pointer in 

 the opposite direction. Then there is 

 this much about it, what he calls a 

 "few" brace-combs, 1 might call a 

 good manj-. 



Mr. Petty — I have 150 colonies, and 

 I will admit that I never used the 

 honey-board, simply because I have 

 seen no necessity for it. 



Oettin;; Bees Out ot Sections. 



Some member said that he had read 

 in the Amebic 4N Bee Journai, that 

 Mr. Heddon had some method of get- 

 ting bees out of supers without remov- 

 ing the supers from the hive, and he 

 would be glad if he would disclose this 

 secret. 



Mr. Heddon — I decline. 



President Miller mentioned the plan 

 of driving out as many bees as possi- 

 ble with smoke, then piling 8 or 10 

 supers on one hive, and having one 

 person work the smoker vigorously 

 upon the upper super, which will drive 

 the be<6 down, when a second person 

 snatches it off before the bees have 

 time to return. 



Chas. H. Green spoke of leaning the 

 case against the side of the hive, and 

 allowing the bees to crawl back into 

 the hive. This is an excellent plan 

 when robbers do not trouble. 



J. A. Green spoke a favorable word 

 for the " Reese escape." 



Mr. Heddon was again urged to dis- 

 close his plan. 



