July 6, 1905 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



471 



is damp, and the temperature falls lower than 60 degrees, the 

 honey takes on moisture, becomes thin, and eventually runs 

 from the combs and sours. Therefore, always store honey in 

 an upper dry room, and never in the cellar, as so many are 

 prone to do. 



STUDY YOUR LOCAL HONEY-FLORA. 



There is no subject of more importance to the bee-keeper, 

 nor is there one that gives him more pleasure than the study 

 of the honey-producing flora of his locality. No matter 

 whether they bloom in the garden, the field or forest, or per- 

 chance along the roadside ; if bees gather nectar from them 

 they at once become an object of interest and investigation. 

 The question of bee-forage is one that every one engaged in 

 bee-keeping should investigate, for upon the amount and 

 duration of the honey-producing plants and trees in the 

 vicinity of the apiary depends the success or failure of the 

 enterprise. 



In locating an apiary for honey-production, one should 

 have an eye to the amount of bee-forage in reach of the loca- 

 tion, for no amount of labor and skill in the manipulation of 

 our bees will pay where it is wanting. Having the desired 

 flora in our location, and then so manipulating our colonies 

 that the maximum amount of bees comes on the stage of action 

 just at the time when the flora producing the ma.Kimum 

 amount of nectar is in bloom, our success is assured. And 

 without the desired flora, we can not meet with the success 

 we otherwise would, for planting and sowing for honey where 

 Nature does not give the same in profusion, can not make up 

 for what is lacking. It will help some, however, where our 

 environments keep us in a place where Nature does not 

 furnish flowers in profusioji. 



HOW BEES BUILD CELLS WITH EX.\CTNFSS. 



The question is asked, " How can so many insects occu- 

 pied at once on the edge of combs where it is dark, as in a bee- 

 hive, concur in giving them the common curvature from one 

 extremity to the other, as is found in the comb of the honey- 

 bee?" it is supposed that this direct mathematical work is 

 done by actual measurement, as each bee has a square or rule 

 to measure by, in the shape of the antenn;e All who have 

 observed the antenn:e of the honey-bee know that there is a 

 joint in each, out toward its end. In building worker-comb, 

 which is 5 cells to the inch, this joint is closed like a jack- 

 knite, so that when the antennae thus closed is straightened 

 out on each side of the head, the folded joints just touch the 

 walls of the cell, and thus each bee is enabled to work in har- 

 mony with every other bee in the hive, and we have every 

 cell of worker-comb as nearly exact as the average carpenter 

 can make a duplicate of the work of another carpenter. 



In building drone-comb the antenn;o are straightened out 

 fully straight, so that they touch the walls of the cells when 

 fully extended at the extreme outside points, and by so doing 

 larger cells are made, or those numbering 4 cells to the inch, 

 which is the size of cells in drone-comb ; and these are as uni- 

 form as to size as are those of the worker pattern. In this we 

 see the wisdom of a kind Providence, which placed within the 

 bee an instinctive capacity as great, according to its wants, as 

 is the reasoning capacity in man. 



FINDING BLACK OR HYBRID QUEENS. 



To find a black or hybrid queen often baffles an expert. 

 to say nothing of the novice. Much care at the beginning is 

 the great secret of success. If possible, let the work be done 

 between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., when the largest 

 number of field-bees are generally out at work, so that the 

 hive is not congested with bees. 



Open the hive slowly without a jar. and use as little 

 smoke as possible. Be very careful not to kill a single bee, 

 for if bees are killed the colony is liable to resent it, this caus- 

 ing so much smoke to be used in quieting them that the whole 

 mass is likely to be "stampeded," under which condition it is 

 nearly impossible to find any ciueen of any race. 



Having the hive opened, remove the comb next to the 

 side of the hive nearest you first, and sit on the east side of 

 the hive during the forenoon, and the west side durinjr the 

 afternoon, thus allowing the sunlight to strike the side of the 

 combs next to the operator. As soon as the first comb N ••^- 

 amined. set it in a box or empty hive, placing the same on the 

 side farthest from you. On removing the second comb liom 

 the hive, glance down upon the side of the comb in the liive 

 which was next to the one you have now raised before y.iu 

 look at the one you have in your hands. If the queen i> on 

 that side of the" comb, she will immediately, upon the strong 

 sunlight striking her, commence to run around the comb to 

 get out of the light. If you do not see her at once (which you 

 will be apt to do if she is there, as the strong light strikag 



against the side of the abdomen as she is running, will arrest 

 your attention as nothing else would), then look on the side 

 of the comb you hold in your hands that is the farthest from 

 you, as the queen is sure to be on one of the dark sides of the 

 combs. If she is not seen here, set this comb in the box up 

 against the one that you put in first. 



Proceed in this manner till all the frames are taken form 

 the hive and placed in the box, unless you find the queen 

 sooner. If not found, proceed to look in any corner of the 

 hive wherever you see little clusters of bees, for if the queen 

 is very shy she may leave the combs and run down into the 

 corners of the hive. Not finding the queen in the hive pro- 

 ceed to take the combs from the box in the same order you 

 took them from the hive, ami glance the combs over in the 

 same way, and in nine cases out of ten any one should find 

 any queen before the combs are all back in the hive again, 

 even if the colony is composed of black bees in their purity, 

 and the operator is only a novice. 



As noted at the beginning, care at the start so as not to 

 stampede the bees, is the great secret of success, and this 

 coupled with a strong light and a knowledge of how any 

 queen behaves under such conditions, gives you the key to the 

 whole matter. Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



^ 



Contention 

 Procecbings 



^ 



Papers Read at the Minnesota Convention 



Held at Minneapolis, Dec. 7 and 8, 1904 



SELLINa HONEY THROUGH GROCERS. 



The methods of selling honey through the grocery trade, 

 whether in cities or small towns, must be pretty much the 

 same in all essential respects. It will hardly pay to attempt 

 to sell honey from house to house, especially in cities. There 

 is already too much of the peddling or canvassing business 

 done there. It is becoming an unbearable nuisance to the 

 house-keepers. So I take it that the best way for the honey- 

 seller is to work through the grocers who are already 

 established and are supplying families with other things for 

 their tables. 



At present honey is considered by consumers a luxury, 

 or else is not bought on account of fear of its adulteration. 

 In either case it will be necessary to do considerable educat- 

 ing. Honey should be used more, and will be when once 

 the people come to know its value as a food, and also when 

 they can be assured that they are getting the absolutely 

 pure article every time they buy honey. 



But one of the main questions is, How put up honey so 

 that grocers will be induced to handle it? Of course it must 

 be in suitable or convenient packages. Comb honey will 

 always be retailed bv the section, which usually weighs about 

 one pound. And the price should be for the best grades, 

 froin IS to 25 cents, depending upon the locality— or ability 

 of the consumers to pay. People who think they can afford 

 to pay 10 cents or more for a useless cigar certainly should 

 not object to paying 25 cents a pound for honey. 



Extracted honey, put up in neat labeled jars holding a 

 pound each, should retail for at least as much as a section 



of honey. , , , . 



It is very important that honey of always the same grade 

 and flavor be bottled. If these characteristics are varied, 

 the consumer's suspicions are at once aroused, and he thinks 

 he is being swindled by an adulterated or mixed article. He 

 does not know that different kinds of flowers produce dif- 

 ferent flavored honeys. Where a bee-keeper or honey-dealer 

 has a mild-flavored honey, but of insufficient quantity to 

 supply his demand year in and year out, he can buy a 

 stronger-flavored honey to mix with the mild kind, and 

 thus increase his supply, and with about the same flavor. 



In order to do a bottling business of any magnitude, 

 or where one bottles several tons of honey a year, it is nec- 

 essary to be equipped to do it rapidly and well. A full 

 equipment will cost about $100, which includes hot-water 

 heater, a metal melting-box for 60-pound tin cans, and a 

 combined mixing and filling tank with jacket for holding hot 



