Feb. 16, 190S. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



119 



sprine should all be removed aB far as practicable from both super and 

 brood-chamber. Then put in wedges to enlarge the entrance, and put 

 on two supers containing 11 full Langstroth combs each, with ex- 

 cluder to keep the queen in her place. 



The month of June is spent struggling with the swarming prob- 

 lem. By all means, so far as in you lies, hold your colonies together 

 and allow no swarming. With plenty of extracting supers, the tier- 

 ing-up system is more profitable, as by giving two or three supers to 

 each hive, extracting may be postponed until the height of the swarm- 

 ing impulse is past. Then an adequate gang of men taking off from 

 2000 to 3000 pounds daily can soon extract the honey. The needed 

 machinery for the yard consists of bee-hats, smokers and brushes ; a 

 light cooper's hatchet for prying and scraping, a wheelbarrow with 

 smooth, tight bottom, and a robber-cloth. The extracting-rooni 

 should be tight enough to keep out bees; but if such a place is not at 

 hand, the smoke from one or two smokers in the room will help con- 

 siderably to keep them out. Last season I used a 6-frame reversible 

 extractor, and now would buy nothing smaller. It is placed on three 

 legs high enough to deliver the honey into a barrel, and has inside a 

 device which strains the honey before it goes out into the spout. This 

 management, for which I am indebted to Mr. R. F. Holtermann, I 

 have found to be a great saving of time and labor. The can for cap- 

 pings consists of a square galvanized-iron can large enough to hold all 

 the cappings that two or three men could take off in a day. Fitted 

 within this can is another with perforated-steel bottom to hold the 

 cappings up 6 or 8 inches from the bottom and allow them to drain. 

 Wooden cross-bars on top support the combs, being uncapped. The 

 knives are kept particularly sharp, and in all our operations we study 

 the quickest and easiest way of doing things. 



All white honey should be removed by the first of August to avoid 

 any admixture of dark honey. Owing to the great afiSnity which 

 honey has for moisture it is better, if possible, to extract on drying 

 days. The process of uncapping and extracting exposes so much sur- 

 face of honey to the air that a saturated atmosphere would thin the 

 honey considerably. In no case should honey be extracted during the 

 honey-flow unless three-quarters capped. It should, as soon as pos- 

 sible, be put into the packages in which it is to be sold, and sealed up. 

 For honey exposed to the air not only absorbs moisture and becomes 

 thin and watery on top, but it loses a certain amount of the delicate 

 flavor and aroma which it has from its native flowers. 



This matter of the care of honey deserves attention. The producer 

 should understand thoroughly the nature of honey, what treatment 

 will benefit, and what will injure it. Then seek at all times to educate 

 buyers in this line. I might mention a few points: 



Honey is first nectar of fiowers. Bees gather and ripen it by 

 evaporation in the hive. The latter process is dependent upon the 

 weather. In dry weather it is ripened quickly and capped. In damp 

 weather little capping is done. In our climate honey extracted thin 

 can seldom be thickened by any process which will not injure flavor 

 and color. The point to be made is, that honey should be well ripened 

 by the bees, then extracted dry, and sealed up as soon as possible. 



The natural condition of honey is first liquid, then crystallized. 

 As agitation hastens crystallization in a saturated solution, so it 

 hastens the granulation of honey. Stirring, straining, dripping 

 through cappings, the jar of machinery, changes of temperature 

 which cause contraction and expansion, all hasten granulation. To 

 repeat the comparison : One crystal dropped into a saturated solution 

 of a salt causes the whole to crystallize quickly ; so a few grains of 

 honey left in the combs or cans from last year, or mixed in the honey, 

 make it granulate sooner than it otherwise would. 



As honey is a natural product — not manufactured — it should be 

 sold in its natural condition. Many prefer it liquid because they do 

 not understand that it should granulate. As we desire to educate the 

 public to eat more honey, we should teach them that its natural con- 

 dition is granulated. Of course, we must give the buyer what he 

 wants, but use our influence to make him want granulated honey. 



The package must be chosen to suit the trade. For liquid honey 

 glass seems to be preferred. For granulated honey use tin, wood, or 

 paper, but not glass. Cultivate the home market. See that every 

 house is supplied. 



Further points which I have missed will no doubt be brought out 

 in the discussion. 



The points which I would emphasize in the production of ex- 

 tracted honey, study your weather, climate, and locality. Choose the 

 best breed of bees and the right style of hives, and keep both in extra 

 condition the year around. Give extra attention to the queens and the 

 wintering, and allow no natural swarms, and as few as possible arti- 

 ficial ones. Do not extract honey until well ripened, then seal it up 

 as soon as possible. Study short cuts in working. Study your mar- 

 ket. Sell to the best advantage possible, and make good use of your 

 money when you get it. Moklet Pettit. 



In opening the discussion on Mr. Pettit's address, K. 

 H. Smitii endorsed the main points, emphasizing' the effect 

 of climate and atmosphere on honey. Methods of extract- 

 ing which might do for California or Colorado would not do 

 for Canada. 



G. H. Sibbald — The plan of having two supers on every 

 hive is all right, but if a colony were a little weak, to raise 

 the super up and put another under would not work well. 

 Mr. Pettit's point in urging the importance of queens is 

 good. 



Mr. Pettit — If the colony is too weak for two supers, or 

 you have not enough supers to put two on each, you might 

 extract only the best-filled combs from the super each time 

 over the yard. The balance should be placed together at 



one side of the super, to be finished while the empties are 

 being filled. 



James Armstrong recommended taking combs of thin 

 honey from weak colonies and giving them to strong ones 

 to be ripened. 



SIZE OF HIVES. 



There was a lengthy discussion on the size of hives. 



R. F. Holtermann — The great point is to keep your bees 

 together so they do not swarm. The larger hive rightly 

 managed will do that. 



Mr. Sibbald — To keep bees from swarming, one must 

 keep the brood-chamber from clogging with honey. In a 

 large hive one can not do this, for they will crowd it in 

 around the brood, then swarm as much as ever. To get 

 well-ripened honey one must make the bees crowd the 

 honey up into the super. 



Mr. Holtermann — I find by experience that a good 

 queen will have as little honey in a 12-frame brood-chamber 

 as in an 8-frame. If you can keep the bees from swarming, 

 that is the point. 



CARE OF HONEY. 



Wm. McEvoy puts his honey into tanks and covers over 

 tight for a few days, then skims oflf the foam. In what he 

 skims off he finds fine specks. 



Mr. Pettit — If the honey is well strained there is no 

 need of any further skimming. The foam which rises on 

 the top is just honey — same as the froth on a milk-pail is 

 only milk. 



Mr. Holtermann — Thin nectar may rise to the top. 

 Then moisture is absorbed at the top of the can and makes 

 the honey thin. This is the only difference between the 

 surface honey and any other. Honey should be sealed up 

 as soon as possible. 



E. Dickenson, Jr. — This sknm, if allowed to stand, goes 

 back to honey. 



Mr. Armstrong had found quantities of wax in the 

 foam which rises on honey that has been strained. Lique- 

 fying honey brings more foam to the top, and in this is wax. 



Mr. Dickenson uses a milk-strainer wire-cloth for 

 straining. 



Mr. Deadman criticised the use of a wheelbarrow. He 

 would use a wagon and tier supers up six high. He can 

 draw 500 pounds, or, on level ground, 1000 pounds, with one 

 ahead to draw and one behind to push. 



Several spoke in favor of the wagon on smooth ground, 

 but where out-yards are in uneven ground the wheelbarrow 

 requires only one track. Then Mr. Pettit pointed out that 

 the specialist has so many things to move when he moves 

 his bees that a wagon seems an extra burden. Every 

 farmer has a wheelbarrow which can be borrowed. 



(Continued next week. ) 



=\ 



CDur*:- Sister 

 Beekeepers 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Starting with Bees— Selling- Honey— Bee-Stings. 



Five years ago I purchased an only colony of bees from 

 a neighbor for $2.50. I knew nothing about bees. That 

 was in early spring, and about the second week of June I 

 thought it time to put on the " upper story ", as we called 

 it. By the last of July I examined it, and found to my joy 

 and surprise it was full. I managed to get it off, and it 

 was leaned against a tree, a little way from the hive, to let 

 the bees crawl out. It was left there all that day and part 

 of the next, until the bees seemed to be carrying the honey 

 out, and it was taken into the cellar. 



There were so many bees, and no super to put on, we 

 thought we would try to divide them. We took out two 

 frames of brood and put in some old empty frames and 

 made two new colonies. That was so late that all the bees 

 died in winter. 



A friend let us take some old copies of the American 

 Bee Journal, and we read those and found out if we wished 

 to keep bees we must read. We sent for the Bee Journal, 

 and got all the books we could and spent the winter in 

 reading. 



