552 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Aug. 3, 190S 



honey, he feels that he has not had the market value for it. 

 So that it is not fair to any one to say that it is invariably so, 

 but that it does vary is a fact. 



Mr. Fluegge — I find the market quotations in Chicago 

 givjn cut as nearly correct as they possibly can be. I visited 

 a number of grocerymen and they informed me that the prices 

 they paid for first-class honey were 14 cents a pound, and that 

 is comb honey. That is what the quotations are now. I have 

 been watching it for several years and there is very little 

 difference between what the grocerymen say and what the 

 Quotations are, so I think they are as nearly correct as we can 

 get them from that standpoint. 



HORIZONTAL WIRING OF COMB-FOUNDATION. 



"Can brood-frames filled with full sheets of foundation 

 be wired horizontally in a manner that will prevent buckling?" 



Mr. Dadant — If we wire foundation at all, I believe as a 

 general thing those who do wire put their first wire too low. 

 The weight is at the top — the pull is on the top story; the 

 cells are nearest to the top of the frame and the first wire 

 should be put very close to the top, within an inch. When 

 you come to the bottom of the frame, those who have handled 

 foundation for years, know that those cells are hardly ever 

 stretched, and there is no need of wiring below the middle of 

 the frame. If you put one wire at the middle and the other 

 two above, you will have better success than if you put the 

 wires within your space in the frame. 



Dr. Miller — I would like to ask Mr. Dadant a question I 

 think germane to the subject. In those, do you suppose that 

 the wires are taut or slack? 



Mr. Dadant — It would be better for the wires to be taut 

 if they are pressed into the foundation. A slack wire is only 

 supposed to follow the wax if it settles. The great trouble is 

 giving it to swarms. When full sheets of foundation are 

 given they sag at once before it is finished ; that is the time 

 when it is really more of a strain upon it than is natural 

 with the comb, because bees build their combs entirely at the 

 top before they lengthen them, but when you give them a full 

 sheet they will load it from the bottom, and the top has a 

 greater strain upon it. and I think nearly all the strain takes 

 place from that. I think the wire ought to be taut, but in a 

 great many cases it is not necessary at all if it is carefully 

 done to wire. 



SIZE OF COLONIES OF BEES IN SPRING. 



"How much brood, honey and bees should there be in a 

 hive in the time of fruit-bloom before putting on supers?" 



Mr. Wilcox — I am confident that the answer to that will 

 vary according to the locality somewhat. For my part I never 

 put supers on during fruit-bloom. Then, the quantity of bees 

 cuts no figure. If there is not surplus enough coming in our 

 locality at that time to make a decent start, I always divide 

 them, if they are strong enough to bear dividing without be- 

 ing weak colonies, when clover opens in the middle of June. 

 Fruit-bloom is in the middle of May, and if there are two 

 bushels of bees I would divide them ; if there was one bushel 

 I would divide them ; if there were 10 nounds of live bees 

 I would divide them and give the other half a young queen, 

 but I would build them both up for the honey harvest the 

 first of July or the latter part of June. Our best honey-yield 

 comes in August, from wild flowers. Consequently I would 

 be sure, anyway, to have more bees to gather more honey 

 later in the season. 



PREVENTION OF ROBBING DURING A HONEY-FLOW. 



"What can be done to prevent bees from robbing in the 

 honey-flow season?" 



Mr. Hutchinson — You couldn't make them rob then. 



Dr. Miller — They can rob. The way to stop them is to 

 take away the fool bee-keeper that gets them to rob. 



Pres. York— He oueht to be clipped ! 



EXTRACTING FROM COMBS HAVING BROOD. 



"Will extracting from combs containing unsealed brood 

 injure the quality of the h.oney provided no brood is thrown 

 out?" 



Mr. Wilcox — No. 



Mr. Burnett — A gentleman here has the idea with regard 

 to that brood, that it has a tendency to sour the honey. If 

 there is any such thing it is important. It may be one of 

 those things that is an unknown quantity to us. We often 

 find in a consignment of honey, there are one or two packages 

 that will ferment, and the rest show no tendency to do so. 

 As dealers, and finding so many instances of that kind, we 

 are quite at a loss to know what is the cause of it. 



Dr. Miller — I should say yes to that question ; if you had 

 obliged me to say yes or no just at first blush I should have 

 said no, but thinking more carefully over it I should say yes, 

 because if you put brood-frames — and by that we generally 

 understand combs containing brood — into an extractor you 

 most surely will have unripe honey in that, and when you 

 throw unripe honey out you are likely to injure the quality 

 of your honey, and that may account for the kind of honey 

 that Mr. Burnett is talking about. 



Mr. Wilcox — I think it is terrible to throw out unripe 

 honey, but it does not follow just as he expressed it, surely. 



Dr. Miller — Almost surely. 



Mr. Dadant — I have had considerable experience in the 

 matter of extracting honey. I must say, in the first place, 

 it is not advisable to e.xtract honey from combs containing 

 young brood ; and in the second place I believe Dr. Miller 

 is right; if you do that you are extracting in the beginning of 

 the season and you will have thin honey. If you extract at 

 the end of the season from brood-combs that contain brood 

 and sealed honey the brood will likely be sealed also. There- 

 fore it is unlikely that the bee-keeper who wants good honey 

 will extract from brood-combs containing unsealed honey. 

 If it contains any he can throw it out without throwing 

 any brood out. Those who are expert enough can make it 

 in such a manner that it moved the larvse a little forward 

 when it was extracted and this larvje could work back 

 after the comb was taken back to the hive, or the bees 

 would take them back, and yet none of them were thrown 

 out. But you don't want a careless boy to turn the ex- 

 tractor, because a little too fast whirling will throw the 

 brood out, and then you have a chance for fermentation. 

 Although, I believe very ripe honey will not ferment even 

 if it has brood in it. The ancients tell us they used to 

 preserve bodies in honey, showing that honey will keep 

 things from rotting. I believe that bees and larvse will 

 be preserved in the honey if the honey is ripe, but if the 

 honey is unripe it will be sure to ferment, whether you 

 have dead larvje in it or not. 



Mr. Wheeler — I have had a suspicion of that thing 

 for quite a number of years, and the more I have watched 

 it and studied it, the more I have made up my mind there 

 is a great deal in it. You not only throw out the honey, 

 but the food that is given to the bees, that sours the 

 larvffi. One has to be very careful in extracting. Another 

 point Mr. Dadant makes about the honey season being 

 at a close; we don't have such a thing around Chicago 

 where there is sweet clover; honey is gathered so that 

 they can continue to breed and have young bees at all 

 times. If you extract from those combs that have brood 

 in you must have young larvje. And then those young 

 bees have a liquid' they are floating in a liquid. If that 

 liquid is thrown out it is my impression it floats on top 

 of the honey and it sours and gives the smell of sourness 

 to the w'hole dish of honey. Yet I believe the honey 

 down underneath is just as sweet as it ever was. 



Mr. Wilcox — You don't believe that is thrown out 

 without throwing out some brood? 



Mr. Wheeler — That is immaterial. We do throw out 

 the brood. I think you throw out some of that liquid 

 when you don't throw out the brood. 

 (Continued next week.) 



Honey as a Health-Food.— This is a 16-page honey- 

 pamphlet intended to help increase the demand for honey. 

 The first part of it contains a short article on " Honey as 

 Food ", written by Dr. C. C. Miller. It tells where to keep 

 honey, how to liquefy it, etc. The last part is devoted to 

 " Honey-Cooking Recipes " and "Remedies Using Honey ". 

 It should be widely circulated by those selling honey. The 

 more the people are educated on the value and uses of honey 

 the more honey they will buy. 



Pricks, prepaid— Sample copy for a two-cent stamp ; SO 

 copies for 70 cts.; 100 for SI. 25 : 250 for $2.25 ; 500 for $4.00 ; 

 or 1000 for $7.50. Your business card printed free at the 

 bottom of the front page on all orders for 100 or more copies. 

 Send all orders to the office of the American Bee Journal. 



Amerlkanlsche Blenenzucht, by Hans Buschbauer, is 

 a bee-keeper's handbook of 138 pages, which is just what 

 our German friends will want. It is fully illustrated, and 

 neatly bound in cloth. Price, postpaid, $1.00 ; or with the 

 American Bee Journal one vear — both for $1.75. Address 

 all orders to this office. 



