136 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



We shall run four separate apia- 

 ries situated about three miles apart 

 in order to keep each race strictly 

 pure. 



We have set out one hundred 

 "prickly comfrey" plants, purchased 

 of Mr. Arthur Todd of Philadelphia, 

 Pa., and shall refer to them again 

 later in the season. We have also 

 sown one and a half acres of Bokhara 

 clover for the bees and it will pay 

 our readers to utilize every waste 

 spot (at least) with either or both 

 of the above. Increase in pas- 

 turage means increase in surplus 

 honey. It is now time to prepare 

 for the coming honey harvest and in- 

 deed in many sections of the coun- 

 try the surplus boxes have been 

 placed in the hives, or the honey ex- 

 tractor resorted to. When the colo- 

 nies that are to be run for section 

 honey become populous and begin 

 to build white comb along the edges 

 of the top bars, and perhaps between 

 the combs, it is well to place one set 

 of sections on the hives but they 

 should have only the amount of sur 

 plus room that they can utilize and 

 other sections should be added as 

 they are needed. 



A piece of comb foundation one- 

 half the size of the section, cut 

 in the shape of a triangle and at- 

 tached point downward, will be a won- 

 derful help to the bees and prove a 

 paying investment to the apiarist. 



If some colonies seem strong but 

 do not utilize the sections readily, 

 just exchange their empty sections 

 with partially filled sets (bees and all) 

 from other colonies. This is a plan 

 practised more than twenty-five 

 years ago by Mr. Alley and Mr. John 

 J. Gould, formerly of Wenham. Mr. 

 G. was at one time one of the larg- 

 est beekeepers in this State. 



Mr. Pond, however, credits a bee- 

 keei)er in Maine with being the orig- 

 inator of this most excellent plan for 

 inducing the bees to enter the sec- 

 tions. 



There is one disadvantage in con- 



nection with this practice that Mr. 

 Pond and others fail to give. 



It often happens that when a col- 

 ony at work in the sections is dis- 

 turbed, the queens will run up into 

 the latter and in the removal may 

 be lost. To prevent this make as 

 litde disturbance in the transfer- 

 ring as possible and smoke down, 

 into the hive, all the bees that clus- 

 ter on the tops of the frames. 



The bees removed with the sec- 

 tions will not quarrel with their new 

 neighbors. 



There are many items that would 

 prove interesting to our readers but 

 we have already devoted more space 

 than we intended to this department 

 and must await another opportunity. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



the honev extr.'vctor. 



Friend Locke : 



Your beautiful book. Vols. I and II 

 of the "American Apiculturist," is be- 

 fore me and its contents noted. It 

 seems to fill the bill, being replete with 

 items of importance especially to the 

 more advanred apiarist. While we 

 cannot forget the labors of a Langs- 

 troth, a Quinby, and a few other 

 dear names, your work fills a more 

 modern want, and if you keep in 

 view the interest of honey producers, 

 as I do not doubt you will, you 

 ought to meet with success. I have 

 been in the business of raising and 

 marketing comb-honey about 35 

 years. Made a litde at it once, but 

 of late years it hardly pays. The 

 injudicious use of the honey extrac- 

 tor has been a great damage to us 

 as beekeepers, and it is the only 

 thing I know of tliat can injure your 

 success. This engine bee business 

 is a mistake. Some are clamoring for 

 a large iron extractor, that will ex- 

 tract not less than four combs in no 



