136 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



July 



The dragon-flies and ants are in them- 

 selves more to be dreaded as destroyers 

 of bees, than are the Northern winters. 

 Frequent storms of a more or less 

 violent nature, and continued high 

 winds not only retard the progress of 

 the bees but inconvenience, if not im- 

 peril, the navigation necessary to their 

 attendance. Myriads of insects — mos- 

 quitos, sandflies etc., are occasionally 

 encountered, to the extreme discomfort 

 of the migratory bee-keeper. It is gen- 

 erally conceded, by those whose liveli- 

 hood is gained through the production 

 of honey, that their business entails 

 much hard work; but the migratory man 

 who had but to attend a permanent 

 apiary for a year would regard it as a 

 blissful season of rest, by way of com- 

 parison with his usual labor. 



In the picture is shown one of these 

 young apprentices whose ambition to 

 "go South and learn the business" has 

 been gratified, and another young man 

 from the interior of the state, who seeks 

 fame and fortune as an East Coast bee- 

 keeper, and has spent several seasons in 

 our apiary. Arriving at the site selected 

 for an apiary with a load of bees, at low 

 tide, it was necessary, when the boat 

 had been brought as near to the shore 

 as the shoal water would permit, for all 

 hands to jump overboard, carry tlie 

 hives ashore, place them upon a wlieel- 

 barrow and wheel them to their stands. 

 Before the cargo was all discharged, 

 although no complaint was made by the 

 boys, there was to be observed upon 

 their faces that expression which ap- 

 pears to yearn for "home and raotlior " 

 — a visible longing for a safe restoration 

 to the family firesides at Kissimmoe and 

 Buffalo. To the reader, a casual glance 

 at the picture might suggest the landing 

 of the Pilgrim Fathers, with the May- 

 flower in the background; the boat, 

 however, is but the Drone, witii a burden 

 of bees, of which she is being relieved 

 by the two tired students of migratory 

 bee-keeping. 



THE PRODUCTION OF COMB 

 HONEY. 



nv JOHN NKWTON. 



My apiary is run for comb and 

 extracted honey. I usually se- 

 lect the strongest and best 

 colonies for this purpose. As regai-ds 

 the word "best," if the record of the 

 hive should say that they build braces 

 or burr combs, I do not want that col- 

 ony for comb. As I believe breeding has 

 a great deal to do with that — and supers 

 with braces across them are not nice to 

 handle — I would say, pinch such a 

 queen. When spring work has been 

 done, clipping queens, giving room to 

 the crowded queens by scraping honey 

 at the top of the frames, so that those 

 cells will be used for brood by the queen : 

 leveling up hives, etc.; and befoi-e the 

 honey season opens, I see that my supers 

 are*scraped and filled with sections — 4^ 

 \^li\\% — which are filled full of foun- 

 dation of about twelve square feet to 

 the pound, made from the finest wax 

 that can be procured. 



Separators are used between sections 

 and a perforated follower or divider at 

 the sides, which gives an extra bee- 

 space, which is of great importance in 

 keeping up the necessary heat day and 

 night, at the outside of the outside 

 sections. 



The divider is just made as one of the 

 separators, with a cleat to provide the 

 extra bee-space, and filled with .5-16 inch 

 holes. 



I use a two-part super, thus giving 

 tlie bees room to store their surplus, 

 and at the same time not giving them 

 so much room that they will hesitate 

 about entering them, as they will at 

 times if a super were given them to 

 cover the whole liive. 



Now, everything ready; when the 

 honey season opens and we have select- 

 ed those hives which we desire to run 

 for comb-honey, which should be 

 crowded with bees from side to side ; 

 and, on drawing back the quilt, we see 



