THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



11 



fields, there are times when they 

 niaybiiihl combs to advantage, but 

 when they <>et their honey from a 

 feeder, paradoxical as it may ap- 

 pear, tliey nnist have combs in 

 which to store it, if the work is 

 done at a prolit." 



Tliis is exactly my experience, 

 but I do not see any paradox in it. 

 The bees need every time a certain 

 number of poiuuls of honey to build 

 a pound of comb (may be they get 

 some at a side produce by feeding- 

 young larvaj, but I camiot prove 

 this yet). But if tliey bring honey 

 from the field and are allowed to 

 build combs at the same time, the 

 stimulated energy overbalances the 

 loss of iioney for comb-building. 

 By feeding the bees the stimulated 

 energy needed for building combs 

 will cause a feeder to get empty 

 sooner, but they cannot (ill it 

 again, and so the amount of honey 

 used by the bees for comb-building 

 appears at a loss. 



In one of the bee periodicals a 

 writer says, that " natural swarms 

 only should be allowed to build 

 coml)s ; never made-up swarms." 

 Why this? Have j'our matle-up 

 swarms under the same condition 

 as in natural swarming, and it will 

 build combs in the same way and 

 to same advantage as natural 

 swarms. Such has been my expe- 

 rience the past eight j^ears. The 

 so-called artificial swarming is un- 

 natural, and, in fact, no swarms at 

 all. 



The impulse of building combs 

 will arise in the spring, as soon as 

 the weather is favorable and some 

 honey is coming in. It is impor- 

 tant to allow l)ees the satisfaction 

 of this impulse. But now we meet 

 with some didiculty, because at 

 this time and in this condition 

 the colony will build drone-combs 

 mostly. In times of the old straw 

 hive it was customary to cut away 

 the combs under the brood in early 

 spring, and Doctor Dzeirzon, too, 



recommended this, and thereby 

 was the energy of the bees stimu- 

 lated very much, resulting in more 

 brood. The only trouble was, that 

 the bees built drone-combs. But 

 to-day we can give to the colony 

 in springtime as soon as the 

 weather is favorable, some founda- 

 tion, and no drone combs can be 

 built, but the bees can secrete 

 wax because the foundation does 

 not contain wax enough for liuild- 

 ing out the combs to their pioper 

 depths. For this I take out empty 

 frames or those having honey 

 in them in the spring and give 

 foundation on the side of the 

 brood (in our climate). 



Furtlier, the comb foundation is 

 of great value in order to get as 

 much honey as possible in a good 

 honey flow. In sections we get 

 more honey by full-size foundation 

 than by starters, and still more, if 

 it is possible to give empty combs 

 in the sections. If the honey flow 

 is not ver3'good, the dilJ'erence will 

 be a very small one ; the better the 

 honey flow, the greater the difler- 

 ence. This is clear enough : the 

 young bees cannot build the combs 

 fast enough for storage room for 

 the honey which the older bees are 

 bringing from the field daily. So 

 the foundation is of value, if we 

 work for extracted honey and have 

 not empty combs enough. 



The question is not against the 

 use of foundation at all, but to use 

 it where it is to advantage and not 

 to use it where it brings no profit 

 but rather damage. 



Selma, Texas. 



For the Amei-ican Apiculturist, 



PLEUELSY BOOT. 



John IIaskins. 



Plkurisy root grows from two to 

 two and a half feet high and be- 



