1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



-07 



stroyinp them before they hatch. When 

 hatched, the queens arc removed from 

 the cages and given to qneenless colo- 

 nies. Swarming is prevented by con- 

 stantly giving the bees more hive room, 

 by addition of a new hive body. 



Roof-top bee-lveeping Is not without 

 its amvising features, as will be seen 

 by the following: A friend of the wri- 

 ter had a number of colonies of bees 

 on top of an office building on Cort- 

 landt street, and did quite a rushing 

 business in queen raising, until the un- 

 unevpected happened, and for a time 

 tbreatend him with a lawsuit. Just 

 around the corner was a large candy 

 factory, and on a certain day the work- 

 men bjgan to boil several barrels of 

 sugar, the odor of which soon perme- 

 ated the atmosphere for several 

 squares. One of my friend's bees, 

 passing by, caught a whiff of the 

 steaming stuff and paused in his flight 

 to investigate. After finding what he 

 saw was a veritable Klondyke, he was 

 off to notify the others, and in a few 

 mluutes all of the colonies began a 

 raid thereupon, long lines of bees 

 stretching from their homes to the fac- 

 tory. Had the workmen paid no at- 

 tention to them, the little fellows would 

 simply have filled tJiemselves and de- 

 parted in peace, but the men began 

 to strike at them with their stirring- 

 ladles, and then the fun began. Quick- 

 er than it takes to tell it, the bees forgot 

 the steaming sugar and landed square- 

 ly on the end of one man's nose, swell- 

 ing it so badly that it made him look 

 quite grotesque. The firm threatened 

 to sue my friend, but better judgment 

 prevailed, and it was found that all 

 that was needed to prevent further 

 raids was to buy a supply of wire 

 screens and keep the rascals out. The 

 bees, however, could not be blamed; 

 they thought that boiling sugar just as 

 legitimately theirs as the nectar in the 

 fields that they roamed. 



Nevertheless, in spite of these little 

 accidents, many still keep bees on the 

 roof tops in the heart of the business 

 section of the great metropolis, and find 

 it a source of profit. — Collier s Weekly, 

 New York, Sept, 12. 



ONE, VS. FOUR-PIECE SECTIONS. 



(James Heddon). 



AS YOUR readers know, I have 

 never been a friend of one-piece 

 sections, neithei- is my trade, but 

 to satisfy two or three local customers, 

 I procured 5,(XX) of them in addition 

 to about 25,000 four-piece. To reassure 

 myself that I was not prejudiced,labor- 

 ing under a mistake, 1 put into use in 

 my own apiary this season 1,000, to- 

 gether with the several thousand I was 

 using in the comb honey department of 

 my apiary. I produced principally ex- 

 tracted honey. As my comb honey is 

 now upon the market, I have gone 

 through evei-y phase, with sections, al- 

 lotted to the bee-keeper, and, oh, hor- 

 ror! I would not accept one-piece 

 sections as a gift if a $10 bill 

 was presented with every box. I 

 have found more objectionable fea- 

 tures connected with, them than I 

 had any idea existed. I wonder that 

 they are in use at all. They glue up 

 far Worse tlian the four-piece with 

 their entire open top. They are soft, 

 soaking honey and daub and stain 

 much more easily than the white pop- 

 lar. They do not come into square po- 

 sition when put together. Some are 

 strained and others are loose. They 

 will not bear cleaning with water 

 when 'a little honey drops on them, as 

 will white poplar. They are a miser- 

 able thing to handle in and out of cases 

 and shipping crates, and it is only a tri- 

 fle faster that they can be put to^ 

 gether than the four-piece sections. I 

 want no more of them and I cannot 

 conceive that a basswood, one-piece 

 section (and no other kind of wood 

 seems fit to make them of) can much 

 longer satisfy American bee-keepers. 

 Good-bye, one-piece sections for James. 

 Dowagiac, Mich., Nov. 11, 1903. 



OVER THE ROCKIES. 



"The bees have done better tJiis fall 

 than for several year.s," writes Mr. 

 C. S. Harris, of Holly Hill, Fla., "and 

 they are in good condition for spring 

 work." 



Western Trip of a Bee-Kecper Scribe.— Things 



Apicultural on the Pacific Coast. 



(Thos. Chantry.) 



Editor American Bee-Kccpor: — In 

 the July number was published my 

 last letter. I have no excuse for not 

 writing excepting lots of work. 



To follow my course, last March 

 1 went over into Idaho from Utah and 

 stopped off at Boise a few days to visit 



