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THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



MIDSUMMER BEEKEEPING. 



The enthusiastic beekeeper finds 

 pleasure and eujoymeut as well as 

 hard work throughout the season, says 

 the Indiana Farmer. At this merid- 

 ian time of year when the days are 

 longest and the suns rays the strong- 

 est, there is much to be done in an 

 apiary if the product be "extracted" 

 honey. If comb honey be the object, 

 and the method adopted be the double 

 hive method, the apiary needs little 

 attention except when filled sections 

 are to be removed and empty ones 

 provided. 



But every apiary should yield honey 

 pure and simple, called "extracted" 

 honey, that is, honey without comb 

 or wax. Wax is unfit to be eaten, is 

 indigestible, and was not intended to 

 be used as food. It is intended, 

 rather designed by the Creator, as a 

 receptacle in which the bees might 

 store honey for their own use and 

 preservation. Indeed wax shaped 

 into comb is only the honey store- 

 house of the bees. 



A coml) of honey, then, is not all 

 honey, but honey and wax, and wax 

 although useful (worth more than 

 honey) in the arts, is not food, and, 

 therefore the product of the apiary, 

 honey and wax, should be sold sepa- 

 rately. 



To get the most money from a col- 

 ony of bees, the honey should be re- 

 moved often — as fast as it is capped, 

 for frequent removal evidently stim- 

 ulates the bees. When a comb from 

 which the honey has just been ex- 

 tracted is returned to the hive, the 

 effect on the colony is often wonder- 

 iul. The odor of honey fills the hive, 

 :and every bee seems to be impelled 

 anew. At all events, it has been 

 proved often that a comb direct from 

 the extractor is filled more quickly 

 than a dry comb. 



The presence of a little honey, even 

 the odor of honey, in a comb does 

 stimulate the bees to get more and, 

 therefore, more honey comes if it be 



extracted often. The beginner is 

 warned to be careful in removing 

 combs to a hive. The odor of honey 

 travels quickly in an apiary, and bees 

 from all colonies may be attracted, 

 and the result may be a harvest of 

 stings. 



Give the bees shade. If natural 

 shade be lacking make artificial shade. 

 If neither be present, colonies in shel- 

 tered places, where there is little or no 

 movement of the air, are likely to 

 ' ' melt down " if such hot weather 

 continues. 



'i'he bees are good helpers on the 

 farm, return more in proportion to 

 the outlay than any other workers, 

 and should l)e made as comfortable as 

 possible. It must be remembered 

 that bees not only gather honej^ but, 

 also, that in gathering it, they fertil- 

 ize all flowers on the farm, thus in- 

 creasing their product. 



Bees need water, and if there be 

 none near, give in a shallow pan with 

 sticks or straws floating on the sur- 

 face of the water. On these "floats" 

 the bees may drink without drowning. 

 — Stockwell Excliauge. 



AN INTERESTING LETTER FROM 

 ONE OF OUR CUSTOMERS. 



Mr. Alley: The two golden Car- 

 niolan queens came to hand in good 

 shape. I run one in with tobacco 

 smoke and the other by the cage sys- 

 tem. Both methods worked like a 

 charm. 



I was examining the colonies to 

 which I introduced the first two queens 

 you sent me. Tlie combs are full of 

 brood and I was surprised to find the 

 queens nearly twice as large as when 

 introduced. 



Now a word about your queen-and- 

 droue trap. I do not see how I could 

 do without them. The first two swarms 

 that came out left the liives four times 

 and returned, finally they went to 

 work. I had plenty of others that 

 issued once, and they had the pleas- 



