THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST. 



17 



4. I think I could better afford to 

 pay $2.00 per lb. for pure foundation 

 than to undei'talie to get along without 

 it. 



5. My experience has only been with 

 the Italians and common blaclvS. From 

 the contradictory reports I have read 

 of the other and newer (to us) races, 

 I am inclined to "go slow"' in discard- 

 ing the " old reliable" and fully proved, 

 for the new with such variable reputa- 

 tion. 



Foxboro, 



s., Dec. 10,1883. 



ANSWERS BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



1. If for comb honey, and the surplus 

 is to be taken only from the top, tliere 

 is none better than the 171 X 9J Lang- 

 stroth frame. If to be used as a side 

 storer in connection with the top sec- 

 tion, there is none better than the 11^ 

 X Hi Gallup frame. For all purposes, 

 all tilings considered, I greatly prefer 

 the Gallup. 



2. Yes. A less distance is not pi'ac- 

 tical unless a side opening hive is 

 used, and a greater distance causes a 

 loss in bi'ood and too many bars and 

 braces of comb to be built. Also I find 

 I.^ inches is the rule the bees adopt 

 when left to themselves. 



3. Two inches, unless the section is 

 less than 4^ X 4^ in size ; then I should 

 use 1^ inches. A thin comb has a 

 scrimped, stingy appearance when 

 placed before guests, and the thicker 

 comb is filled and completed by the 

 bees with the least waste of time and 

 material. 



4. I think we have gone crazy over 

 the use of comb foundation for the 

 brood frames. Except for the purpose 

 of securing all worker comb I would 

 not pay over thirty cents per pound 

 for it. I have again proven the past 

 season that a new swarm would fill a 

 hive with comb and brood during a 

 time of scarcity of honey ( but with 

 plenty of pollen to be obtained ), while 

 another swarm of equal strength hived 

 at the same time in a hive having the 

 frames filled with foundation or empty 

 comb, w'ere not one whit ahead of the 

 first as to brood or honey at the end of 

 eighteen days. I believe comb can be 

 built by the bees at certain times at a 

 cost not to exceed twenty-five cents 

 per pound. By the plan advised by 



some, it costs considerable money out 

 of pocket to run an apiary, while the 

 money should all be coming into the 

 pocket from it (the apiary ) instead of 

 going out. For a little foundation to 

 use when the bees would no longer build 

 worker comb, I would pay as high as 

 fifty cents per pound for it, if I did 

 not have empty combs to use in place 

 of it. For the two-pound sections I 

 would not give ten cents per pound for 

 foundation to use in them in time of a 

 plentiful honey harvest, for the bees 

 will fill a section with comb at such a 

 time as quickly as they will add wax to 

 the foundation and fill the section. 

 That the bees do not draw out founda- 

 tion at such times anj' one can satisfy 

 himself by scraping the honey from it, 

 Avheu he will have" the foundation the 

 same as when placed in the section. 

 In a time of a slow or moderate flow 

 of honey I would consider it worth fifty 

 cents per pound for the pound section 

 and nucleus. I would pay seventy-five 

 cents to $1.00 for it according to the 

 size of section, for bees will do little 

 or nothing at building comb in a very 

 small section. 



5. The Italians decidedly. That an 

 Italian queen mated with a black or 

 German drone will produce workers 

 of the best type to produce comb 

 honey I am well aware, but where shall 

 we get such workers unless we have 

 the Italians to start with. This talk 

 about producing something out of 

 nothing is well enough for the man 

 who wishes to sell queens in such a 

 way that he can send out anything or 

 everything that he raises, with no fear 

 that anyone can have any claims on 

 him for purity; but to the honey pro- 

 ducers of this country the Italian bee 

 is an indispensable thing as a starting 

 point. The Syrian I have discarded 

 entirely and shall discard the Cyprians 

 unless I can tone them down as to their 

 stinging qualities. The above four 

 races are all with which I am familiar. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



ANSWERS BY L. C. ROOT. 



1. We use a frame 10 inches deep 

 by 16 inches long inside measure. 



With our present experience, if we 

 were to change our frame we should 

 make it 12 inches deep and 15 inches 

 long inside measure. 



