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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



June 22, 1905 



queens in a small cage in the top of a brcod- 

 comb, with the latest form of Doolittle's 

 method of rearing them 4 or 5 inches from 

 the top between combs of brood separated 

 from the compartment containing the queen 

 by a partition of queen-excluding zinc, by 

 rearing queens by both methods at the same 

 time in the same hive during a honey-flow, in 

 my apiary. In both experiments Pratt's cage 

 was placed in the top of the central comb of 

 the brood-nest. I found that the pupae in it 

 were smaller, and weighed less than those 

 reared by the Doolittle method. The queen- 

 cells by the Doolittle method were large, 

 broad, and pitted all over like good specimens 

 of .queen-cells produced naturally under the 

 swarming impulse, while those in Pratt's 

 cage were smaller and narrower, and their 

 walls and cappings were thin and compara- 

 tively smooth. The amount of food left in 

 the cells after feeding ceased was less in 

 Pratt's cage, and as the pupae developed into 

 queens it did not grow hard so quickly. 



I believe that these results were chiefly 

 caused by the excluding-zinc, by which the 

 queen-cells were closely surrounded, prevent- 

 ing the nurse-bees attending to the queen- 

 cells and feeding the larvie sufficiently, and 

 also to some extent by the queen-cells being 

 placed in the top of the brood-combs, the 

 whole of the upper halves of which were out- 

 side the brood-nest (as they always are dur- 

 ing the middle and latter part of the queen- 

 rearing season, especially when there is no 

 super on the hive) , and were filled with honey, 

 so that a large proportion of field-bees, and a 

 smaller one of nurse-bees, were probably sur- 

 rounding the queen-cells than it they had 

 been in the brood-nest, and in cool weather 

 the queen-cells, being separated from the 

 brood-nest, would be liable to be chilled^ 



As the production of well'developed queens 

 is of the first importance, I prefer the form of 

 Doolittle's method above mentioned, and it is 

 not more laborious; on the contrary, it is less 

 so, for giving the queen cups first to specially- 

 obtained queenless and broodless bees is un- 

 necessary. I find they can be given direct to 

 the queen-rearing compartment of the colony 

 in which they are to be finished, and, if this 

 compartment contains only old brood, they 

 will be accepted satisfactorily here by con- 

 fining the bees in the compartment for a few 

 hours through the insertion of a wire-cloth 

 partition as by specially-obtained bees. 

 Queens should always be reared inside the 

 brood-nest between combs of brood, and the 

 nurse-bees should have free access to the 

 queen-cells. 



Storing Extracted Honey in Tanks 



In the Thirtieth Annual Report of the Onta- 

 rio Agricultural College and Experimental 

 Farm at Guelph, the Lecturer on Apiculture, 

 H. R. Rowsom, gives the following on storing 

 extracted honey : 



During the last two years I have been try- 

 ing to discover the very cheapest and most 

 profitable method of storing extracted honey. 

 When a large amount of honey is to be stored 

 it Is found that the 60-pound cans generally 

 used represent a large outlay, and unless sold 

 quickly generally become dilapidated. Large 

 tanks, such as are used for water, vinegar or 

 pickles are expensive, and very much more so 

 when they leak. Oak barrels are costly, and 

 it granulated sugar is taken out of them it 

 costs nearly as much to cooper a barrel to- 

 gether again as to buy a new one. I have 

 been using rectangular tanks made of fioor- 

 ing, the ends and sides of which could be re- 

 moved after the contents had granulated. 

 Although they were well waxed they some- 

 times leaked at the corners. 



This year [1904] I tried, with entire success, 

 lining these tanks with raanilla paper painted 

 with hot paraffin wax. I experimented with 

 dry goods packing cases lined with waxed 

 manilla paper, and found these boxes abso- 

 lutely proof against leaking. 



To store honey in this way a box must be 

 used, the interior of which is free from any 

 projections which would cut the paper when 

 pressed against the sides of the box. Then a 

 full sheet of manilla paper is laid on the bot- 

 tom of the box (completely covering it) , and 



another sheet around the interior sides. 

 Where the two ends of this sheet meet in one 

 corner is nailed a carpet strip so as to cover 

 both ends of the paper, and other pieces of 

 carpet strip join the edges ol the sheet on the 

 interior sides to the one on the bottom. 

 Manilla paper can be bought in sheets of any 

 length, and 36 or 43 inches wide. Then the 

 paper and carpet strips are painted over with 

 hot wax, and wherever the paper is acciden- 

 tally torn a small piece of shingle is nailed 

 over the break and then covered with wax. 

 This box makes the very cheapest means for 

 storing extracted honey, and one that is per- 

 fectly safe. 



Nearly all bee-keepers strain their extracted 

 honey, through cheese-cloth. This is a very 

 slow process. The honey runs slowly, espe- 

 cially if it is not very warm, the cloths be- 



I 



come clogged with minute particles of wax, 

 and more or less honey is spilled in changing 

 cloths. Others run their honey into tanks; 

 and after the impurities have risen to the sur- 

 face, they run the clear honey out of the bot- 

 tom of the tanks. But this can not be done 

 unless the honey is thin, either from heat or 

 from not being sufficiently ripened. I have 

 made this method very reliable by using a 

 large tin storage-can placed out in the sun. 

 The can is painted black so as to absorb heat 

 more readily from the sun. The cover of the 

 can is a wooden frame with glass top, sloping 

 after the manner of a hot-bed sash or solar 

 wax-extractor, and this glass is kept turned 

 towards the sun. When the sun is strong, 

 the honey becomes very warm, and the small 

 particles of wax and other impurities come to 

 the surface. 



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ITIisceUaneous Hctps 3tems 



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The "Washington Bee-Reepers' As- 

 sociation asked the Lewis & Clark Exposi- 

 tion managers for an appropriation of $"000 

 for collecting and preparing an apiarian ex- 

 hibit at Portland, Oreg., this summer. We 

 do not know whether or not they got it, but 

 it showed that the State of Washington did 

 not intend to be left behind in the bee-keep- 

 ing line. 



Apiary of James McNeill. — Mr. Mc- 

 Neill says this about his apiary: 



I send a picture of my home apiary with 

 honey-house in the background. In 1880 I 

 began my bee-keeping on this spot with 3 

 colonies bought from a neighbor. I have 

 produced extracted honey almost exclusively. 

 I have been fairly and uniformly successful, 

 never having had a failure, nor can I record 

 any large yields of honey. 



I winter my bees on the summer stands 

 packed with leaves. I started this spring 

 with 170 colonies at this yard. 



Jambs McNeill. 



need is "more power to their elbows" 

 through the enactment of stringent laws 

 against the adulteratioa of foods of all kinds. 

 The importance of such laws, and the great 

 need of the work the State Food Commis- 

 sions are doing, are becoming more and more 

 apparent to the public. 



The San Antonio Convention of the 



National Bee-Keepers' Association is to be 

 held Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 

 81 and Nov. 1 and 2. Texas bee-keepers are 

 planning great things for the convention. 

 Their hospitality and entertainment of con- 

 vention members promises to be as large and 

 generous in extent as are the bounds of their 

 big State. It will be their opportunity to set 

 the pace for future conventions of bee-keep- 

 ers. We hope the bee-keepers from all over 

 the country will just " swarm " down on 

 those Texas bee-rangers, and give them the 

 " time of their lives " to " hive " the visitors. 



Honey Adulteration in Illinois. — | 



We are indebted to Prof. E. N. Eaton, State 

 Analyst of the Food Commission of Illinois, 

 for a copy of their Fifth Annual Report for 

 1904. Referring to honey, we find this para- 

 graph : 



" The percentage of adulteration recorded 

 in honey, 33 percent, hardly conveys a true 

 idea of the condition of the market. The 

 samples were tew, and most of them suspected 

 of adulteration. As a matter of fact, adul- 

 teration of honey with glucose, once so preva- 

 lent, has been practically driven from the 

 markets." 



Surely, the State Food Commission is a 

 good thing, not only for honey-producers, but 

 for all other honest p.-oducers of food prod- 

 ucts. But what the State Food Commissions 



Apiary of L/. W. Elmore. — Mr. Elmore 

 wrote us as follows when sending the picture: 



I send a snap-shot of part of my apiary of 

 50 colonies, taken Feb. 4, 1905, after one of 

 our heavy snow-storms. I winter my bees on 

 the summer stands altogether, and have been 

 very successful in wintering, although this 

 spring I have lost several queens. Our fall 

 honey didn't show up at all last fall, conse- 

 quently a great many colonies, especially late 

 ones, were short on winter rations, and have 

 come up minus this spring. Some bee-keepers 

 have had a heavy loss. My bees are doing 

 well now (May 5). White clover is in abun- 

 dance. We expect some honey in the near 

 future. L. W. Elmore. 



Clover and Basswood Prospects are 



good in Wisconsin. So reports Inspector 

 France, who generally knows all that's going 

 on in that State along the apiarian line. He 

 says there has been some delay in re-issuing 

 his new commission as Inspector of Apiaries, 

 and until he gets it he will be unable to 

 answer the calls for him to go on with 

 the work. So if there are any delays, those 

 who have requested him to come and inspect 

 their bees will now know the reason why. At 

 least those who read the American Bee Jour- 

 nal will know. And, of course, we think eoery 

 bee-keeper in Wisconsin, as well as elsewhere, 

 should read the old American Bee Journal 

 every week. 



Apiary of J. M. Mosteller. — Mr. Mos- 

 teller writes as follows : 



I am sending a photograph of my apiary 

 and family, so that others may see what 

 North Carolina can do in bee-culture. 



I started with the movable-frame hives just 

 last year. The bees wintered well, and I 

 have had 3 swarms so far (May 22). June is 

 the principal swarming month here. Bass- 

 wood, sourwood, and chestnut are the main 

 honey-plants. 



I have 60 colonies of bees, 4 of them Ital- 

 ians, and the rest blacks. I secured an Ital- 

 ian queen in May of last year, and now have 

 the 4 Italian colonies. 



North Carolina and northeastern Georgia 

 are about as good a country as can be found 

 for bees. J. M. Mosteller. 



