278 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



March 29, 1906 



would have done no harm. So you see, they can be smothered 

 under certain conditions. 



As this paper will invite discussion. I think it is unneces- 



sary for me to prolong it or try to say all that could be said 

 regarding the construction of a good bee-cellar. 



(Concluded next week ) Harry LATHROP. 



Reports anb 

 (Experiences 



Few Dead Bees So Far. 



I put most of my bees on their sum- 

 mer stands yesterday. There were 

 very few dead bees, and the hives were 

 almost as heavy as "when they were 

 put into the cellar in December. It 

 was a fine day and they had a good 

 flight. I would put out the balance of 

 only 6 colonies, but the wind has 

 shifted to the northwest so they could | 

 not fly out if put on the outdoorstands. 



Lyons, Kas., Feb. 20. G. Bohrer. 



Likes the Right Kind of T- Super. 



On page 159 is an article written by 

 F. Greiner, on supers, section-holders, 

 etc. But all that I object to in par- 

 ticular in his well-written article is 

 in regard to his not very well-founded 

 opinion in regard to the T-super. I 

 have used in the production of comb- 

 honey several different kinds of supers, 

 and, so far as my experience goes, I 

 have never used any supers that gave 

 better results than the T-super. It is 

 simple in construction, easily filled, and 

 also convenient to empty. 



Before removing the honey from the 

 super, take a curved-bladed knife, not 

 too sharp, and scrape all the bee-glue 

 and wax from both the top and bottom 

 of the sections, which can be easily 

 done while the sections are firmly held 

 in .the super. Then remove the fol- 

 lower and take a screwdriver, or some 

 suitable tool, place it between the sec- 

 tions and outside case, tapping gently 

 with a light hammer both along the 

 side and ends, so, if this is properly 

 done, all you then have to do is to 

 place a board about the same size of 

 the super on the upper side. Then in- 

 vert the whole, lift the super off, give 

 each T-tin a light tap or two with the 

 hammer and the work is done, except 

 removing a little propolis that may be 

 under the tins. This can better be 

 acomplished by scraping while the sec- 

 tions are still in a group. I have never 

 been annoyed with leaking sections 

 after this manner of procedure. 



Now, if you are provided with a 

 super-filler, as described in Dr. Miller's 

 book, "Forty Years Among the Bees," 

 you would not exchange the T-super 

 for any other make on the market. 



If these few thoughts, hastily jotted 

 down, will be of anv interest to any 

 one, I will be very glad. 



Although the pursuit of apiculture 

 for the last two seasons has been very 

 discouraging, yet I have not altogether 

 lost all hope that there is a better day 

 dawning for bee-keepers in this local- 

 ity. I have 95 colonies in the cellar, 

 but I fear they will not come out in 

 very good condition. Samuel H. Hitt. 



Elizabeth, 111., Feb. 22. 



Value of Bees to Alfalfa. 



I am a beginner in the bee-business, 

 although years ago I had considerable 

 experience with bees, but never with 

 movable-frame hives. I bought one 

 colony last May, increased to 3 by fall, 

 and then I cut 3 bee-trees and saved 

 the bees, which gave me 6, all in dove- 

 tailed hives; 3 of them had to be fed, 

 which I did in October. 



About the middle of November, 1905, 

 I bought 10 colonies of black bees at 

 a sale. When I got them home I found 

 that 2 of them did not have stores suf- 

 ficient to feed them till Christmas. The 

 weather being warm, I soon fed them, 

 using a Miller feeder. 



I packed my bees by making boxes 

 about 4 inches longer and wider than 

 the hives, having no top or bottom, 

 and set this over the hive, and filled 

 the space with old papers, about an 

 inch thick on all sides. I then laid 

 about the- same number on top of the 

 hive, and over all I put a cover made 



to turn water. The bees are wintering 

 in fine condition; they were flying 

 nearly every day last week. 



We had rather a poor season for 

 honey last year on account of the ex- 

 treme drouth the latter part of the 

 summer. Alfalfa practically produced 

 no honey after July 1. 



We had quite a striking example, in 

 this county, of the value of bees to 

 alfalfa. Our creek bottoms are espe- 

 cially adapted to alfalfa culture, and 

 a larger acreage is sown on one of the 

 the creek bottoms, where large quan- 

 tities of alfalfa seed is raised. On one 

 farm where no bees were kept the yield 

 of seed, in 1905, was two bushels to the 

 acre. On another farm, on the same 

 bottom, one mile from the first, where 

 only 3 colonies of bees were kept, the 

 yield of alfalfa seed was between 4 and 

 5 bushels to the acre. On still another 

 farm, where about 20 colonies of bees 

 are kept, the yield was between 7 and 

 S bushels per acre; and 2 miles below, 

 without bees, the yield again dropped 

 to 2 bushels. H. F. Hillebrandt. 



Osborne, Kan., Feb. 14. 



CONVENTION NOTICES. 



Utah. — The Utah Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will hold their spring convention in the 

 Mayor's office, in the City and County Build- 

 ing, April 6, at 10 a.m. Among other ques- 

 tions of interest to be considered will be the 

 best approved methods for producing and dis- 

 posing of bee-products. All are cordially in- 

 vited to come and bring their friends. 



G. E. Garrett, Sec. E. S. Lovesy, Pres. 



Jiichigan. — The Northern Michigan Bee- 

 Keepers' Association will hold its next an- 

 nual meeting at Kalkaska, Mich., Wednesday 

 and Thursday, April 4 and 5, 1906. Generous 

 prizes are offered for certain exhibits. W. Z. 

 Hutchinson, E. D. Townsend and Geo. H. 

 Kirkpatrick, the President, will read papers. 

 Special hotel rates are given by the Manning 

 House. Send to the Secretary for a copy of 

 the announcement, list of prizes offered, etc. 

 Then attend the convention it you possibly 

 can do so. Ira D. Bartlett, Sec. 



East Jordan, Mich. 



North Texas. — The annual meeting of 

 the North Texas Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will be held at Blossom, Tex., Wednesday and 

 Thursday, April 4 and 5, to which all bee- 

 keepers are invited. There will be no hotel 

 bills to pay. On the program are the follow- 

 ing: " Best Races of Bees," W. H. Laws and 

 Dr. R. P. Davies; "Foul Brood," Louis H. 

 Scholl ; " Which is the Best for North Texas, 

 The Production of Section or Bulk Comb 

 Honey?" R. C. Abernathy and Dr. R. P. 

 Davies; "Extracted vs. Comb Honey for 

 North Texas," R. C. Abernathy and Dr. R. P. 

 Davies; "Is a Bee-Keepers' Association a 

 Necessity?" W. H. White; " Is the Combin- 

 ing of Bee-Keeping with Poultry-Raising 

 Profitable?" L. C. Lancaster; " Best Honey- 

 Plants of North Texas," J. M. Hagood; 

 " Best Hive for North Texas— 8, 10 or 12 

 Frame," W.H.White; " How Best to Man- 

 age Our Bees for the Greatest Profit," E. A. 

 Ribble. Question-Box. W. H. White, Sec. 



Connecticut. — The loth annual meeting 

 of the Connecticut Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will be held in the Capitol, Hartford, Room 

 50, Wednesday, April 11, 1906, at W:30 a.m. 

 All bee-keepers should make an extra effort 

 to attend this meeting. Try to bring a friend 

 also. Topics for discussion : The best method 

 for putting starters in sections. Your best 

 way to prevent swarming. Swarming devices, 

 pro and con. Large and small hives com- 

 pared. What is the best way to increase? 

 Best use to make of second swarms. How did 

 your bees winter? How many colonies have 

 you? What do you do with sections after re- 

 moving them from the hive? Handling the 

 divisible brood-chamber vs. single frames. 

 How do you manage the colony after the 



first swarm has left? How do you ripen or 

 thicken extracted honey? Can new combs 

 be made out of old ones by cutting them to 

 one-half inch thick or les6? and would they 

 be as good as new ones? 



Please bring something for the exhibition 

 table, or a question for the question-box. 



Mrs. E. E. Smith, Sec. 



Watertown, Conn. 



The Rietsche Press. — Those who have 

 bought Rietsche Presses from me have proba- 

 bly found out that by following the directions 

 given it i6 easy to make heavy foundation, 

 but rather difficult (though not impossible) 

 to make foundation thin enough for sections. 

 The directions given as to the kind of lubri- 

 cant to be used were not very definite. 



Many kinds of lubricants are recommended 

 by the European writers ; but all the best con- 

 tain alcohol. The best two are a mixture of 

 alcohol and whey (from the cheese factory) 

 half and half, and a mixture of water, honey 

 and alcohol, about equal parts. For obvious 

 reasons, I did not care to advise the use of al- 

 cohol, so I have from time to time tried every 

 thing else that I could think of, but without 

 success. 



What puzzles me most is the assertion that 

 the making of foundation with the Rietsche 

 press is so easy, and the foundation as fine 

 and as thin as any made with rollers, even by 

 the Weed process. At fairs, the Rietsche 

 foundation has often carried the first prizes 

 against all others. 



I finally realized that to make thin founda- 

 tion easily and rapidly, the use of alcohol as 

 a lubricant is indispensable. But a trial soon 

 showed me that wood-alcohol would do just 

 as well as any other. I think water, alcohol 

 and honey, about equal parts, will do; per- 

 haps a little more alcohol and a little less 

 water. The wood-alcohol is cheap, and can 

 be bought from any dealer in paints and var- 

 nishes. As it evaporates rapidly, only a little 

 should be mixed at a time. 



In comparing the comb foundation made 

 with the Rietsche press, with the Weed foun- 

 dation, two things must be taken into consid- 

 eration. One is, that the transparency of the 

 Weed foundation makes it look much thinner 

 than it is. The other is, a piece of foundation 

 made on the Rietsche press may be, and in 

 fact is, thicker than a piece made by the Weed 

 process, and yet is fully as light. This is due 

 to the fact that the thinness of the Weed 

 foundation is due largely to the enormous 

 pressure to which it is subjected. 



I intended to try the Rietsche foundation in 

 sections extensively last summer, but the fail- 

 ure in the honey-flow prevented me from 

 doing it. A little was done, and, as far as it 

 goes, it shows that the bees take the Rietsche 

 foundation in preference — probably because 

 it is much softer. The few sections that were 

 completed seem to show that the bottom of 

 the cells had been thinned down ; at any rate, 

 the comb was not any harder than the natural 

 comb; while the Weed foundation, no matter 

 how thin it is, is somewhat tougher. It mu6t 

 be admitted, however, that the difference is 

 not considerable. — Adrian Getaz, Knoxville, 

 Tenn.— (Adv.) 



EflD CAI C 100 colonies of Pure Italian BEES 

 lUn OnLX in8 or 10 frame New Dov. Hives 

 with Hoffman Frames; Tested Queen in each 

 colony. Price, $6 each. In lots ot 10— }5 each. 



F. ft. GRAY, Redwood Falls, Minru 



13A3t 



Please mention the Bee Journal. 



SIMPLEX BEE-HIVE-New Principle 



Plain. Perfect. Tested. Adapted to every cli- 

 mate. Obviates spring-dwindling and, bee- 

 moths. Guarantees 3 times greater increase of 

 brood and honey; is 5J percent cheaper than 

 Langstroth hive. Patented, fartneiship or 

 royalty agreement with manufacturers desired. 



CARL LUDLOFF 

 13A2t 302 Texas Est., Kl^ PaSO, TEXAS. 



Mention Bee Journal when writing 1 . 



