Nov. 23, 190S 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



809 



cut out the comb built and-weigh it, weighing the wax, honey 

 and pollen contained separately. This last was done by 

 weighing the comb first as it was, and then the wax after it 

 was rendered. The operation was repeated twice at intervals 

 of 4 days. The number of bees which died durinjc these 12 

 days must have been insignificant, since the colony weighed 

 as much at the close as at the beginning. The amount of 

 honey taken from the old hive by the swarm, contrary to the 

 general opinion, must have been small, since the colony 

 weighed 7 ounces more after the first 4 days than at the be- 

 ginning. They could have had but tew wax-scales on their 

 bodies when they came out, since more wax was produced dur- 

 ing the second period of 4 days than during the first. 



One point is somewhat uncertain. The difl'eronce in 

 weight between morning and night is assumed to represent 

 the honey gathered during the day. As a matter of fact it is 

 not ripened, and is too heavy to represent ripe honey. But, 

 on the other hand, bees have been eating during the day, and 

 Hasty assumed that one would balance the other. The as- 

 sumption can not be far from wrong, anyway. A deduction 

 of 2 ounces per day, or rather per night, was made for what 

 the bees consume merely to sustain their life. This was based 

 on the first weighings of the swarm, as stated above. 



First Trial. — Honey and pollen gathered during the first 

 4 days, 43 ounces. Deduct consumption 8 ounces honey, and 

 pollen cut out 19 ounces, increase of honey in sacs attested 

 by the increase of weight of the swarm, 7 ounces. Remain- 

 der, 9 ouLces spent in producing 2 ounces and 10 drams of 

 wax, or nearly 3)-2 ounces of honey for 1 of wax. 



Second Trial. — Gathered 48 ounces. Add to this 6 

 ounces decrease in honey-sacs. Deduct food 8 ounces, honey 

 and pollen cut out, 35 ounces. Remainder, 11 ounces having 

 produced 4 ounces of wax. The proportion is 254 to 1. 



Third Trial. — Gathered 48 ounces. Add 1 ounce de- 

 crease in honey-sacs. Deduct 8 ounces food, and 33 ounces 

 cut out. Remainder, 8 ounces for 3'/i of wax, or a proportion 

 of 2>i to 1, or nearly so. — (Gleanings, Aug. IS, 1886.) 



Prof. Bruner's Experiment.s. 



Prof. Bruner, at the National Agricultural School at Cor- 

 dova (Argentina), has made a specialty of wax-production for 

 several years. The was there is worth 54 cents a pound. 

 Dark honey can be bought in unlimited quantities at 6 cents a 

 pound. Summarily speaking, the process is to feed the bees 

 all they can eat. and cut out the comb produced from time to 

 time. The honey contained is returned to the bees. He says 

 that it takes 68 pounds of honey to produce 10 of wax. That 

 is a ratio of nearly 7 to 1. But this necessarily includes what 

 the bees consume to rear brood and sustain their life as well 

 as to produce wax. Hasty deduces even what they consume 

 to live. In the French experiments related above, the daily 

 food to sustain life was not deducted, but as in Hasty's case, 

 no brood was reared. 



Prof. Bruner's description with full details can be found 

 in the Apiculteur for February, 1904, page 55. A short de- 

 scription of this process is also in the American Bee-Keeper 

 of April, 1904, page 75. 



Comb, Not Wax. 



Of course for one making wax-producing a special'y, the 

 full 7 pounds, or about, as well as all the other costs, will 

 have to be charged against the price of one pound of wax. 

 But it is not so with the apiarist who would occasionally con- 

 vert some dark boney into wax. He has the bees already, 

 and whether he produces wax or not they will eat enough to 

 live and rear more or less brood. So in his case, the extra 

 honey consumed to produce a pound of wax would probably 

 not exceed 4 pounds. Four pounds of dark honey to produce 

 one pound of wax worth 25 cents would not be a very profit- 

 able operation, after all. 



But, hold on. Right here, while preparing this paper, 

 almost an inspiration came to me. The " wax " thus pro- 

 duced by the bees is comb — partially-drawn comb. And as 

 such is fully as valuable, and in many respects preferable to 

 foundation, pound for pound. That means a cash value to 

 the apiarist who can use them of some 60 cents per pound. I 

 say a " cash value," for it may mean a good deal more in 

 honey, at least to the comb-honey man. Many times the 

 honey-flow opens suddenly, and 5, or even as much as 10 

 pounds of honey a day could be secured if there were combs 

 to receive it. But it takes 3 or 4 days to start the wax secre- 

 tion, and about that many more to build anything like a sulli- 

 cient amount of comb. Why not, when there is no flow, con- 

 vert the dark honey into partially drawn combs in the sec- 

 tions, and use them to secure a large portion of the white 

 honey lost for lack of already built combs ? 



As much dark honey should be secured as possible. Ex- 



tracting combs and supers might be used for that purpose. 

 Then, when the flow is over, convert it into comb, if pos- 

 sible built In the sections, and the following year use these 

 partially-built sections to secure as large a crop of white comb 

 honey as possible. Here the dark honey comes first, so the 

 management is a little different. Knoxville, Tenn. 



/T" 



^ 



(£onr)cntton 

 Proceebings 



Report of the Texas Convention 



rJ 



BY LOUIS 11. .SCHOLL, 8KC. 



(Continued from page 793) 

 Next was discussed the 

 Preparation of the Apiary for the Honey-Flow. 



Louis H. SchoU said the apiarist begins his preparations 

 the previous fall by having strong colonies of bees, good, pro- 

 lific queens, and plenty of stores to carry them through the 

 winter and next spring until the honey-flow opens. An early 

 examination for sufficiency of stores and strength of colonies 

 Is made in February and March, as soon as warm weather 

 opens. Colonies are equalized by exchanging brood. His 

 divisible brood-chamber hive has given him the best success, 

 as the hive can be manipulated to give the strongest colonies, 

 prevent swarming, and give the greatest yield of surplus 

 honey, which means the most profit for the bee-man. 



Willie Atchley begins in the fall previous, like Mr. Scholl, 

 with good queens and plenty of honey. He uses full-depth 

 frames above and below, and finds them the most profitable in 

 his locality. To get bees Into the bodies above, he entices 

 them to storing by giving a frame of brood and honey there. 

 He said he has tried nearly all kinds of hives except the Dan- 

 zenbaker, and finds that he has best results with the regular 

 Langstroth hive. 



Pres. Laws said that location has much to do with the 

 preparation for the flow. In some locations swarming is very 

 troublesome early in the season ; in others the troubles due to 

 the swarming come later. Therefore, different manipulations 

 are necessary. Labor is the most important consideration in 

 the expenses with the bee-keeper, consequently all extra 

 manipulations are expensive. He believes in getting the bees 

 In shape by giving lots of room and plenty of stores, and this 

 is to be done in the previous fall. Large hives are very 

 essential. 



Mr. Aten has little trouble preparing for the honey-flow. 

 He keeps his bees mostly in 3 story 10-frame hives, leaving 

 the winter supplies in the third story. In carrying the honey 

 from the third story down-stairs the bees become accustomed 

 to the combs above. 



Willie Atchley has plenty of pollen and honey in the 

 spring to stimulate his bees when the season opens. 



Mr. Hagood begins feeding .lune 15. The honey-flow be- 

 gins July 1. There Is a long dearth between the spring honey 

 and the main flow, so he must feed during June to prepare 

 his bees until they gather the main honey. 



T. P. Robinson related the following : Horsemint is peri- 

 odical in this section, appearing In abundance and yielding a 

 crop of honey once in 5 years, if they have rain so that it 

 comes up in November of the previous year. A bee-keeper 

 has to be a genius If he wants to succeed in bee-keeping In his 

 locality, as most of the land is in cultivation. There are no 

 wild flowers In the spring for the bees to build up on. They 

 build upon the stores that are left them, and when the dearth 

 sets in for 5 weeks before the honey-flow, feeding is resorted 

 to. Cheap brown sugar is used, and the syrup is fed until the 

 flow opens. Horsemint, cotton and mesquite come closely to- 

 gether, which gives a blend so that the product is a good- 

 flavored honey, much in demand. He has trouble sometimes 

 with what he calls " blubberry honey," and asks for opinions 

 as to the cause. 



Mr. Aten has had the same trouble in extreme wet 

 weather with weak colonies which perhaps could not take 

 proper care of the honey after it was stored. Honey absorbs 

 moisture, and a weak colony does not keep up the required 

 temperature. 



Mr. Hagood says that when the forces of the colony are 

 composed of more old bees than young bees, evaporation 



