Nov. 30, 1905 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



827 



IViv. Qasty 5 Clftertl^oucjI^ts 



=^ 



The " Old Reliable " seen through New and Unreliable Glasset, 

 By E. E. Ha8tt, Sta. B. Rural, Toledo, Ohio, 



J^ 



INSFECTOSS OF AFIARIES. 



That was a remarkable and luminous sea- 

 tence of Inspector France's where he said, 

 " As soon as we can got the people educated I 

 question if we will need any inspectors." 

 And no doubt he would admit also that with 

 people as ignorant and indifferent as some are 

 now, the best of inspectors find it pretty hard 

 to clean up territory. Page 729, 



The Fcsnt Man's Prunes and Honet. 



The funny man's attacks upon prunes do 

 some good as well as harm — in that some peo- 

 ple would never know of the e.xistence of 

 such things as prunes but for the funny man. 

 Results: Curiosity— a trial— a decision that 

 we must have some more. Alas, we can not 

 have that kind of salve for the sore that the 

 funny man has inflicted on us! Folks all 

 know already that there is such a thing as 

 honey, and that it is good; but that funny 

 man at Washington, and others who have 

 followed in his wake, have convinced an 

 awful lot of them— not that honey is not good 

 — but that our sections are not genuine. 



Undeniable that that paper on page "43 is a 

 powerful one — also that /low to prevent mem- 

 bers from using the League's mark to sell 

 poor, unripe honey is a " powerful " problem. 



All Full or Some Empty Comb for 

 Winter. 



More idol smashing, eh? The dictum that 

 a colony needs some empty comb to be a cen- 

 tral core for a winter uest is ably attacked by 

 J. L, Byer, on page 744. I prefer to keep Mr. 

 B.'s theory a little separate from his experi- 

 ence. His experience that bees winter tiptop 

 on 5 solid, sealed combs— let that stand with- 

 out any discount. But it's tolerably plain 

 that the liees themselves (if given theirchoice) 

 would choose the same honey in fl combs, and 

 the 4 interior ones one-quarter empty at the 

 bottom front. May it not be that the bees 

 know best, after alH lam not pleading for 

 any great amount of emply comb, but for a 

 little. Neither am I denying that combs with 

 only 3 inches of honey at the top are worse 

 than solid ones. In the bees' own way they 

 can and do form a practically solid central 

 mass by crawling into the cells. With the 

 Byer method they can not do that way to 

 start in with. We may sincerely deplore the 

 scatteration of the winter supply through 10 

 or 12 big combs without jumping to the con- 



clusion that it is the best way to have the clus- 

 ter widely divided into 4 slices less than half 

 an inch thick. 



Darker Color of Bait-Section Honey. 



W. N, Root wonders at his bait-sections 

 being darker color than the rest. That thej' 

 partly fill the bait-section before the white 

 honey begins to come, is, I think, the com- 

 monest reason. The fact that old comb can 

 not be quite as white as new helps in the same 

 direction. And I think that dark, old honey 

 moved from below is pretty often put in the 

 bait. Page 749. 



Don't Be a "Putty-Head." 



Be not pliable as putty; but be open to 

 solid reasoning. This maxim (arranged from 

 R, F. Holtermann) applies at other places be- 

 sides conventions. Need it at home. Need 

 it very badly when you read the Journal. 

 Page 757. 



Crackless Cakes of Beeswax. 



It's sometimes advised to let your cakes of 

 way get as full of cracks as ever they have a 

 mind to get. "Cause why?" Buyers know 

 that pure wax cracks worse than the adul- 

 terated article. A lot of fine, uncracked cakes 

 all looking just alike is a look-out warning. 

 If you have a good reputation and sell to 

 some ore you are acquainted with, then you 

 may take a little pains to have the cakes look 

 nice. Should doubt a little whether con- 

 tinued dipping during the process of cooling 

 would make quite as nice-looking cakes as the 

 slow-cooling method. Page 759. 



Enclosing Out-Apiary Grounds. 



Out-apiary ground a rectangle 100x25 feet. 

 Two lengths of board hurdle on the north and 

 same on the south. On the long east and 

 west sides wooden posts well set. and supplied 

 with an extra number of barbed wires. Hives 

 set so near the wires that no grass and weeds 

 can grow between — the whole to be in a pas- 

 ture lot, that the stock may be intrusted with 

 keeping the entrances clear. Move a board- 

 length and drive in when you bring the bees. 

 Pitch the extracting tent inside. (Look out 

 you don't tear your never-whisper-'ems on 

 the barbs as you manipulate.) To drum for 

 another objection, possibly in some cases the 

 land-owner may be less inclined to let you 

 come if you ask to set permanent posts. Page 

 75S. 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, 

 or to Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 

 Dr. Miller does not answer Questions by mail. 



Bees Refuslns to Leave a Super 

 for Winter 



The first cold spell we had I took the supers 

 off of all my hives but one, and the bees were 

 in the super and on top of the frames, and I 

 could not get them to go down into the hive. 

 Smoking did no good. One very cold day I 

 took the super off, and there were lots of bees 

 in it, also on top of the frames, and they re- 

 mained there. I believe they would have fro- 

 zen had I not put the super back. \Vhat is 

 the cause of them acting in that manner? We 

 had no swarms the past season. Could it be 

 possible that the hive is so full of bees that 

 there is no room for those that were filling 

 the super? The bees stored no honey to 



amount to much since the first of July. They 

 did splendidly up to that time. Missouri. 



Answer. — If the brood-chamber was filled 

 with bees, and the super as well, it was 

 merely because the colony was strong. The 

 trouble was that you operated when it was so 

 cold that the bees would not move. Take 

 them on a day when it is warm enough for 

 bees to fly freely and you will find it another 

 story. If smoke does not readily get them 

 down, you might take out the contents of the 

 super and brush the bees down upon the top- 

 bars of the brood-frames. Another way is to 

 take the cover off, leaving the super bare, 

 then wedge up one end of the super half an 

 inch to an inch, and the bees in the super will 

 find it so chilly that they will go down into 



warmer quarters. Of course, it will not an- 

 swer to do this when it is so warm that rob- 

 bing will be started, although it will be better 

 for being warm if the work is done late 

 enough in the day to avoid robbing. Likely 

 enough there will be no need to wedge up 

 one end of the super; merely uncovering may 

 be enough to make the bees go down ; and if 

 it is very cold, wedging up one end would be 

 just the thing to defeat your purpose, for the 

 open space between hive and super might 

 make the bees in the super shrink upwards 

 rather than downwards. 



Registerlns! a Honey Trade-Mark 



How can a trade-mark be obtained for label- 

 ing honey when working up a trade? 



Minnesota. 



Answer. — A trade-mark is registered by 

 the Government at Washington, D.C, in order 

 to be able to protect it in case of infringement 

 or copying. For the details to be followed in 

 securing such registry, better consult a good 

 lawyer. 



Candy for Winter Stores 



As I have some colonies of bees light in 

 stores, how can I make candy out of granu- 

 lated sugar to carry them through the winter? 



Indiana. 



Answer. — That's one of the questions that 

 hardly belongs in this department, as the an- 

 swer ought to be found in your bee-book ; but 

 I'll answer it anyhow. 



You can make Seholz or Good candy, but 

 the probability is you have not the extracted 

 honey, so all you need to do is to make just 

 plain sugar candy. Into a vessel of boiling 

 water on the stove, stir 2 or 3 times as much 

 sugar, and let it cook until a bit of it dropped 

 into cold water appears brittle ; then pour out 

 into greased dishes so as to make cakes halt 

 an inch to an inch in thickness. These cakes 

 may be laid on top of the frames and then 

 covered up any way to keep snug and close, 

 so the bees will go up to them ; for if too cold 

 the bees will not leave the cluster to reach 

 them, and starve with abundance in the hive. 

 Then promise yourself you'll not be caught 

 that way again, but will have plenty of combs 

 of sealed honey each fall to meet any emer- 

 gency. 



Killing Drones- Prevention of In- 

 crease— Supcring— Feeding Bees 



1 In killing drones, how do I know when 

 to kill tbem, and how many to kill? Should 

 I kill them all, or how many should there be 

 in the colony in order to fertilize the queen? 

 Should they be killed in spring and fall? 



2. After I get one swarm of bees from each 

 colony next spring, what is the best way to 

 slop them from increasing any more, and 

 store some surplus honey? 



3. How often shall I cut out cells and ex- 

 amine the bees in the summer time? 



4. Which is better, to put one super on at a 

 time, or two? Why? 



5. How can I see which colonies are to be 

 fed in spring, and how much to feed them be- 

 fore they have enough? I have a Doolittle 

 feeder. Is this the best kind? 



6. How do I know when to put on an Alley 

 queen-trap in time to catch the swarm, as 

 much of my time is devoted to the field-work 

 and I am not at home very often in the day- 

 time. Wisconsin. 



Answers, — L You can kill all you please, 

 and whenever you please, and there will be 

 little danger of there being any too few left. 

 As in most cases you will find that in this case 

 prevention is better than cure, so the best way 

 is to see that there is little or no drone-comb 

 in your hives, and then there will be few or no 

 drones reared. A single drone is all that is 

 needed for each young queen; but when you 

 have done your best at repression you'll find 

 you will still have hundreds left. While you 

 are about the business of preventing drones, 

 it may be well for you to take especial pains 

 to hive no drones reared in colonies that are 



