94 



THE AMERICA'S BEE-KEEPER 



June 



from the states and raised quite a num- 

 ber from them. This year I imported 

 12 more and all came through alive. I 

 expect this year to get enough from 

 them to do away with my black bees. 



I have been in the business three 

 years. I started with three colonies and 

 did not intend to make it a business, 

 but I got an "A. B. C" subscribed for 

 Gleanings, The American Bee-Keeper, 

 and from the three have learned what 

 little I know, as I was entirely ignor- 

 ant of bee-keeping. Last year I took 

 over two tons from 36 hives; now I 

 have 88 and swarming is not over yet. 

 I expect to increase to 100 this year. 

 The trouble here is our inability to get 

 supplies. There is no agent here for 

 Falconer or Root, and only one man in 

 Honolulu who imports and he just 

 keeps frames and extractors and 

 charges enormous prices. I think if one 

 of the large firms would have an agency 

 here it would pay well as the Japs are 

 progressive, and if they see it is money 

 in pocket they will buy. 



Another drawback is, we are so far 

 from market that the freights eat up all 

 the profits. My honey is worth 5 to 

 5 1-2 in the states and we have to sell 

 here for 3 1-2 to 4 cents, so you see we 

 are not getting rich, but when the new 

 steamship lines get into operation 

 freights will come down. 



I have no camera but as soon as I 

 can get a picture of my apairy I will 

 send you one. Now, Mr. Editor, if you 

 think this preamble is worth putting 

 in print you are welcome to it. 



I mighf cay in conclusion that my 

 apiary is about 100 yards from the sea 

 and my extracting house and workshop 

 is an old stone house, 70 years old, the 

 first house built by the missionaries in 

 the islands. 



Kailua, N. Kona. Hawaii, April 30, 

 1902. 



Box Hives — Hive Covers — cnp= 

 ping Queens, Etc. 



(By T. K. Massie.) 



ON the subject of box-hives, page 

 43, I want to endorse and empha- 

 size all that W. W. McNeal says. 

 As long as all goes right with the bees 

 -^as long as they arc in a normal con- 

 dition — a box-hive is an "ideal palace." 



So far as the welfare of the bees is 

 concerned a box-hive is far superior 

 to most all the frame hives in use. Mr. 

 Adrain Getaz, page 46, in speaking of 

 the "Ideal home of the bee" practical- 

 ly endorses the same ideas. Bees in a 

 hollow tree, surrounded by rotten 

 wood, shade, etc., are much better pro- 

 tected than when placed in most of our 

 "thin walled" hives. 



In constructing a hive we should 

 strive to carry out the principles in 

 box-hives, thus working for the best 

 welfare of the bees. It is only when 

 something goes wrong with the bees — 

 when a colony is, from some cause 

 thrown out of its normal condition — 

 that the box-hive is a failure, so far 

 as the bees are concerned. But so far 

 as the convenience and interests of the 

 operator are concerned the box-hive 

 is always a failure. Then our frame- 

 hives should also embody all the mod- 

 ern improvements and conveniences 

 for ease of manipulation. Chaflf hives 

 are too costly and cumbersome to 

 handle. 



I cannot endorse what Mr. Getaz 

 says in regard to "feeding on top of 

 hives." The proper place to do feeding 

 is on top of hive in every case. With a 

 thin super cover board 1-4 to 3-8 inch 

 thick with a few 7-8 inch holes bored in 

 it. Hill's pepper box feeders and a tele- 

 scope cover, we can feed on top of hives 

 in all cases. With this arrangement all 

 the escaping heat goes into the feed. 

 We never have to open a hive and no 

 robber bees can ever get a taste. When 

 feeding is done we close up the holes 

 in super cover with corks. 



Of all the nuisances we have to deal 

 with the ordinary flat covers are the 

 greatest. After painting and working 

 all last summer on a lot of 40 of these 

 flat covers, trying to close up all the 

 leaks, I now find several of them leak- 

 ing. Two weeks ago I overhauled my 

 bees and in four colonies covered with 

 these flat covers I found everything 

 wet. The frames were so badly swol- 

 len that I had to drive the followers out 

 with a hammer. This operation broke 

 down several nice combs. Such experi- 

 ences as this would provoke one to 

 profanity if he was in the habit of us- 

 ing profane language. 



On the night of the 31st of March we 

 had quite a storm of wind and snow 

 and the next morning I found nearly 



