152 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 23, 1905. 



derneath on the tiering-up plan, as soon as the last one con- 

 tains from five to seven pounds of nectar. 



About this time, or as soon as the indications of swarm- 

 ing are apparent, each yard is visited as nearly every four 

 days as the weather will permit. During these visits each 

 hive is examined for queen-cells by simply raising one end 

 of the top section of the brood-chamber, and drawing slightly 

 forward and raising it up about six inches, thus giving a 

 view of the bottom-bars, which will expose a part of any 

 queen-cells that may be present. If there are no cells in 

 view the hive is closed, the work being completed ; but if, on 

 the contrary, queen-cells are started, or in any stage of com- 

 pletion, then a division is made as follows : 



The top section of the brood-chamber with queen-ex- 

 cluder, and, in most cases with the queen, is removed and 

 placed on top of a chamber of foundation or empty combs 

 at the side of the colony; also placing a chamber of founda- 

 tion or empty combs on the colony. Add a queen-excluder 

 and return all supers to the colony. All danger of swarming 

 is now over for the present. An abbreviated entry is now 

 made, showing at a glance the date of this division. 



On returning to the yard in four days the usual exam- 

 ination takes place ; in five cases out of six the entrance 

 of the division made four days ago will show dead drones, 

 indicating the prgsence of the queen. A record now being 

 made to this effect no further work is required on this 

 division or parent-colony during this visit. 



Four days later, or on the second visit after the di- 

 vision is made, the colony must have the queen-cells removed 

 from the combs in the bottom section of the brood-chamber, 

 and as they are likely to have larvae yet held back, of which 

 they will again start queen-cells, they require cutting again 

 any time within the next two visits, and either give a virgin 

 or laying queen, or return the division to the colony. Or 

 the division may be left in the present condition beside the 

 colony until the busy season is over, when according to the 

 strength and amount of honey it contains, it is made use 

 of either to be placed on a separate stand or to be united 

 with another division. 



The system I have here outlined is one I have used for 

 several years, and have found it to work admirably. The 

 loss from absconding swarms does not exceed an average 

 of two, or possibly three, for each yard during the season. 

 Being a system of short cuts it is capable of much improve- 

 ment, according to the skill of the apiarist ; and reduces the 

 amount of skilled labor to a minimum, one man being able 

 properly to attend to three or four yards of 90 or 100 colo- 

 nies each, doing all of the yard work himself, only requir- 

 ing the aid of one unskilled helper in the honey-house during 

 extracting. 



Having endeavored to give as concise an account of my 

 work as possible, I may have left out details, but I trust it 

 may bring out either discussion or thought that may be 

 profitable to the members present. F. J. Miller. 



(Continued next week.) 



(Dnv>S\skv 

 BecKecpers 



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■ Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, MareDgo, 111. 



Report for 1904— A Propolized Experience. 



Dear Miss Wilson:—! know I am very tardy with my 

 report, but I was extremely busy at the time it should have 

 been made. We have been building a new house, and moving 

 therein— no doubt most of the sisters know that to move 

 means work. 



I had 13 colonies in the spring, 6 of which I bought in 

 all kinds of boxes, and they had black queens. I now have 

 17 colonies of Italians (some few of the bees are possibly hy- 

 brids) in Danzenbaker hives. 



I harvested 769 sections of honey, most of which was fall 

 honey, the spring crop being almost a failure. The best col- 

 ony stored 143 finished sections. Some colonies containing 

 black queens stored— nothing. Some of the fall honey is 

 beautifully white, much nicer than the spring honey. (It is 

 from wild aster.) 



My bees are experts on propolis, this locality being adapted 

 to any amount of practice, and for the benefit of any other pro- 

 polized sufferers I will tell how I changed my Danzenbaker 

 hives. Of course if I hadn't been ignorant I never would have 

 put all of my bees on closed-end frames, and frames that rest 

 on cleats way down in the middle of the hive, at that. (No 

 doubt the Danzenbaker hive is all right in localities non- 

 propolized.) There was no such thing as not disturbing the 

 iDees whenever a frame was removed. I did well if I didn't 

 smash the whole business. To pull the little flimsy follower 

 all to pieces was generally my first act. I borrowed a draw- 

 knife and converted the closed-end frames into staple and nail 

 spaced frames, and ripped the cleat from the center of the hive 

 and nailed it near the top, taking care to place them so as 

 to leave a bee-space over the frames. I then drove all rivets 

 of the frames back, and substituted sixpenny nails, driving 

 them near the top to support the frames. 



Trouble? Yes, but now I have a hive containing open- 

 end frames, which rest on cleats at the top of the hive, and 

 are supported by nails — a hive which I like very much, and 

 can overhaul at any time without the aid of the whole para- 

 phernalia of a carpenter's shop. A good, strong screw-driver 

 is all that is needed. 



Perhaps some day I'll give my experience with my ob- 

 servatory hive. Mrs. C. D. Mears. 



I wonder, Mrs. Mears, if all the sisters will enjoy as 

 hearty a laugh over your letter as I did. Now you may 

 not think this very sympathetic, but, really, you must not 

 be so entertaining in your recitals if you expect us to weep 

 over them. However, you seem equal to any emergency and 

 do not need our sympathy very badly. If all were equally 

 frank in telling of their failures as well as their successes 

 we might receive much benefit. 



You say your best colony gave you 143 finished sections 

 while some colonies having black queens gave^nothing. Now 

 perhaps the fact that they were black was not t'ne only reason 

 why they did nothing, for some Italians are equally lazy, 

 and it is a fact well worth remembering that by breeding 

 from your best queen you can increase no little your average 

 yield per colony. 



Honey in Aikin Paper Bag's — Fence Separators 

 and Tall Sections. 



Miss Wilson :— Beg pardon for breaking into the Sis- 

 ters' department, but how am I to help it after reading Mrs. 

 L. Schmitt's letter on page 23? "Oh, gee, but it's nice to 

 be crazy," as the comic songs runs, but the editor of the 

 "Oregonian" is still at large. 



Mr. W. H. Pennington is one of my very good friends, 

 and I have but recently returned from a short visit to his 

 home yard. He is indeed an enthusiastic convert to the 

 "Aikin honey-bag" system of putting up extracted honey. 

 He has several honey-tanks of from perhaps a ton to about 

 5 tons capacity; from these the honey is drawn off into the 

 Aikin bags. 



Mr. Pennington has developed some exceedingly useful 

 things in the line of moving bees, artificial pasturage, etc. 

 He uses largely the standard 10-frame hive, with shallow 

 extracting-supers of unspaced frames. He has 80 colonies 

 in hives containing 13 frames of the regular Dadant size, 

 and they always give a satisfactory crop and fill the supers 

 just as quickly as do those in the 8 or 10 frame hives. But, 

 in a good season, they swarm. 



Yes, you may be sure "that honey is all right." 



Just tell "the sisters" to go slow in the fence-separator- 

 tall-section fad. I have been all through it, an enthusiastic 

 advocate of its mostly imaginary advantages, to my great 

 loss. Am now changing back to the good, old universally 

 satisfactory 4J4 x 1^ section. Have 600 new supers contain- 

 ing single-tier wide frames (section-holder zvith fop-bar). 

 They are the thing here. Have some T supers, but they are 

 no good for me and this locality. The wood of the sections is 

 stained fearfully, and I am surprised that such is not the 

 case in a "gluey" locality like Marengo. 



Ada Co., Idaho, Jan. 14. E. F. Atwater. 



No need to apologize, "Brother" Atwater, for breaking 

 into the Sisters' department in such a case. The amount 

 of Mr. W. H. Pennington's honey crop was sufficient guar- 

 antee that he was all right. 



The T super is all right at Marengo. Sorry such is not 

 the case in your locality. Perhaps you do not use a little 

 stick, as we do, to fill up the space between the sections 

 at the top. That does not allow much chance for bee-glue. 



f 



