210 



have in the yard. By alternating the 

 frames, the bees are so mixed np that 

 they will not quarrel, and so far as my 

 experience goes, no harm will befall the 

 queen. We used to cage the queen for 

 24 hours, but for the past 2 years have 

 not, and never had one molested. This 

 is also a good plan, where we do not wish 

 increase, to serve a whole apiary in the 

 same way. 



Now Ave will return to No. 1, which 

 we left with the frame and queen stand- 

 ing outside of the hive, Place it in the 

 hive close to one side and put in an 

 empty frame, adjust the division board, 

 and you have as nice a nucleus as any 

 person need desire, and they will build 

 you the nicest worker combs you ever 

 saw. You can use this nucleus for any 

 purpose you may wish. Of course, many 

 of the old bees taken to No. 2 return and 

 make it (the nucleus) very strong. I 

 will tell you some of the purposes we 

 put these to : 1st. We use them to sup- 

 ply us with queens. 2d. If we wish 

 more colonies, Ave build them up to 

 strong colonies by fall. 3d. We keep 

 them building comb till they are all used 

 up, taking it away from them as fast as 

 it is built, &c. 



We hardly think it necessary in this 

 locality, to put on boxes in May ; but 

 further south they should be put on. If 

 our bees are far enough advanced to 

 crowd the queen Avith honey during ap- 

 ple bloom, we think it best to extract, 

 for they rarely go into boxes thus early. 

 Of course, each one can use the princi- 

 ple described, whether north or south, 

 and vary the dates to suit their locality. 



Borodino, N. Y., April, 1879. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



About Comb Foundation. 



HERBERT A. BURCH. 



The past dozen years have been fruit- 

 ful in the production of new devices and 

 methods of management designed to 

 make apiculture a business at once safe, 

 sure, and fairly remunerative ; and of 

 them all, comb foundation, in my opin- 

 ion, stands pre-eminent. Years ago, 

 when a -5 or 10 lb. package of honey 

 readily sold for 25 to 30 cents per pound, 

 and that, too, in any quantity that could 

 be produced, it was no difficult matter 

 to make bee-culture a paying pursuit. 

 But the changed condition of the coun- 

 try, which Avas the inevitable sequence 

 of a desperate and protracted civil war, 

 necessitates many changes in the man- 

 agement of the apiary- When prod no- 

 tion is limited and prices are high, qual- 

 ity and appearance of goods are of 



secondary importance — quantity alone 

 being paramount. But now, when ag- 

 ricultural production in its every branch 

 is crowded to the utmost and prices 

 rule low, quality and attractiveness are 

 of vital importance to the producer. 

 The apiculturist who in the future pays 

 expenses and realizes a fair income, will 

 be the man whose goods meet the de- 

 mands of consumers, commanding the 

 highest market prices, and whose man- 

 agement produces tons of honey with 

 the least expenditure of time and 

 money. We must study to reduce cost 

 of production to the minimum. The 

 price of honey (as well as all agricultu- 

 ral produce) is likely to rule low for 

 many years to come, and in no other 

 way can Ave attain the best success. 



Assuming, then, that the situation 

 demands that we produce our honey as 

 cheaply as possible, it follows that we 

 must avail ourselves of every aid that 

 Avill assist us in attaining this result. 

 In the list of such aids, comb founda- 

 tion stands at the head. Not that its 

 use has always been attended with suc- 

 cess, complete and satisfactory ; for it 

 has not. Many sad and expensive fail- 

 ures would falsify any such claim. But 

 comb foundation, properly manufac- 

 tured and rightly used, cannot, in my 

 opinion, fail to give the most satisfac- 

 tory results. It not only enables the 

 apiarist to obtain straight worker combs 

 for the brood apartment in any quantity 

 desired, but materially assists him in 

 producing comb honey at a cost far be- 

 low any possible point that can be 

 reached without its use. 



Much has been said, of late, relative 

 to the policy of using comb foundation 

 in the surplus receptacles. Many of our 

 best honey-producers decidedly object 

 to the use of foundation in honey boxes, 

 Avhile others consider that the thin, 

 flat-bottomed, or new style foundation, 

 obviates all objections in this direction. 

 I have tested foundation pretty thor- 

 oughly, and in my opinion it is very 

 poor policy to use foundation, in any 

 form, in surplus boxes. Aside from 

 considerations of policy— Avhether or 

 not we are likely to lessen the market 

 value of our honey— I think that for the 

 production of honey cheaply, comb is 

 every way preferable to use for starters. 

 My experience has been that I can get 

 two boxes filled with honey, by using 

 comb for starters, to one when founda- 

 tion is employed. The difficulty has 

 been, hitherto, in securing comb in suf- 

 ficient quantity for this purpose. But 

 right here foundation comes to our aid 

 and removes this obstacle. Many of our 

 readers will stop right here and say : 

 " You tell us we must produce our 



