150 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



quire it. I try to have straight comhs on each 

 side of all combs being built. This will insure 

 straight combs in almost all cases. I use any 

 kind of old cotton cloth to smoke my bees with, 

 and like it best made into a rope or bundle, a 

 foot or more long, and bound every two inches 

 with fine wire to check the burning at those 

 points. 



When I wish to handle the bees to make new 

 swarms, put on or take otf the boxes, I light 

 one end of this cotton rope and place the smok- 

 ing end under the hive for a few moments, then 

 take it out and proceed to business. If the bees 

 get in my way on the combs, blow a little 

 smoke on them and drive them where you wish. 



L. C. WniTiKG. 



East Saginaw, Mich. 



[For tlic American Bee Journal ] 



Surplus Honey. 



James McMullen in December number gives 

 some experiments in obtaining spare honey in 

 frames of various heights, which, as a link in a 

 long chain of facts, obtained accidentally and 

 by experiment in various parts of the country, 

 is of the greatest importance. 



For, disguise the fact as one may, the main 

 point in practical bee-keeping is now, and must 

 ever be, how to obtain the most money. 



While it is true that a few breeders of Italian 

 bees, or may be Egyptian, find a fair sale at re- 

 munerative rates, the great mass of bee-keepers 

 must rely on surplus honey as their main source 

 of profit. This fact is one, not for the few, but 

 the many to answer. The whole community is 

 interested, not so much in the curious mechani- 

 cal instincts and newly-discovered exceptions 

 to them, as in the supply of a fine and abundant 

 article of honey in convenient form and at rea- 

 sonable rates. A great strife has existed among 

 makers of hives, and those who do not wish to 

 buy them, and among breeders of Italian and 

 other queens, and those who do not care to pay 

 fancy prices for fancy stock, which it is not cer- 

 tain they can propagate. 



While this "war of races" and clash of hives 

 may not be without its use, it will be acknow- 

 ledged that the main hope of the pract^ical bee- 

 keeper is, in a practical application of the know- 

 ledge gained by those keeping bees for surplus 

 honey. 



It seems strange, when it is well understood 

 that nearly all the honey stored in a bee hive is 

 stored within an inch or two of the brood, that 

 the fact has not arrested the attention of every 

 observing bee-keeper. It is well known that 

 however tall the hive, if it does not contain 

 lioney, the brood is invariably started near the 

 top, and if honey occupies the top the brood is 

 deposited as near to the honey above it as pos- 

 sible. If then the honey is gradually used out 

 leaving more room above the brood first started, 

 it is promptly occupied by the cpieen, in prefer- 

 ence to passing down the combs. It may be 

 set down as one of tlie few rules to which there 

 are no exceptions, that a queen never accepts a 

 lower place on the combs in which to deposit 



her eggs, until compelled to by the storing of 

 honey above. From this fact it will be seen 

 that the workers, to all intents and purposes, 

 not only dictate where the brood shall be de- 

 posited, but also where the honey shall be 

 stored. 



In obedience to this instinct, if tall cavities 

 are formed above the brood, or wide ones 

 around it for the reception of surplus honey, the 

 combs radiating from a common centre will be 

 projected into them, or they will be neglected 

 altogether, rather than start their combs from 

 the top or most remote part. 



From these facts, which no one familiar M'ith 

 the management of bees will deny, it will be 

 plain to every observer that in order to obtain 

 the prompt acceptance of surplus cavities and 

 the greatest amount of surplus honey, broad, 

 shalloAv cavities, or better, a series of small, 

 shallow boxes, containing in the aggregate not 

 less than fifty pounds, should be provided in 

 close proximity to the brood. The promptness 

 with which bees accept spare boxes when put 

 on immediately after hiving, and while the' 

 queen is depositing eggs just below them, is a 

 lair illustration of this fact. 



The crowning spare honey excellencies of the 

 Langstroth hive, are due more to its broad, 

 shallow form, than to its movable frames. The 

 triangular hive used by me is another and per- 

 haps the best illustration of this principle. 



T. F. Bingham. 



Allegan, Mich , Dec. 23, 1867. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



How to Cut a Bee Trfee. 



Novice wants to know how to cut a bee tree 

 and not disturb the bees. Here is my plan, and 

 I have cut cpiite a number, always with success. 

 In the first place, I determine which way the 

 tree leans, or which way the heaviest part of the 

 top is. I then set up my ladder on the opposite 

 side of the tree, and if one ladder will not reach 

 to where the bees are, I tie two or three together 

 till of suflScient length. Of course I have one 

 ladder of my own, and borrow of my neighbors 

 to make out the balance. I take along with me 

 an auger, a hammer, an axe, some short boards 

 for stageing, some nails, and rope enough for all 

 purposes. Secure the ladder at the top to the 

 tree with a 'rope or chain, then build a good 

 stageing, and make it secure on the upper side 

 of the tree, and high enough to stand on and 

 work above the hollow where the bees are. Now 

 take the auger and bore into the tree to asaer- 

 tain how far up the hollow extends, as you only 

 want the part the bees and honey are in. Have 

 some cotton rags in your poaket to stop up the 

 hole if you chance to bore into where the bees 

 are. The entrance where the bees pass out and 

 in also requires stopping in the same manner. 

 After finding where the toj) of the hollow is, you 

 want a good coarse sharp handsaw, with which 

 saw in on the under side of the tree four or five 

 inches. Then saw the balance of the tree off on 

 the upper side. After sawing in a little more 

 than the width of the saw, drive into the saw-cut 



