May 31, 1906 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



465 



weight. Take notice of how they build their combs, when 

 left to themselves. As fast as they add to the bottom of the 

 comb they widen and strengthen the top. But if they are 

 given full sheets of foundation, they will sometimes build out 

 tin- center cells. Laving the top as weak as when in- 

 serted by tlu- apiarist. If only erne or two sheets of founda- 

 tion are given, or if they are placed alternately with built 

 combs, the foundation is occupied more slowly, and is well 

 strengthened before it is heavily loaded. 



From time to time we examine the colonies to see how 

 the crop proceeds. There is usually some irregularity in the 

 yield. Some strong colonies seem able to fill the supers you 

 "may pile on, while others work slowly at their first super. 

 When we see the end of the crop approaching, we cease 

 adding supers, and, instead of this, we equalize, taking from 

 a well-filled super a few heavy combs to exchange with some 

 slow colony which is not likely to fill all its combs. Some- 

 times we make the equalization in a still more radical way. 

 Take two colonies side by side, one of which has two or three 

 nearly full supers, and the other barely beginning in its one 

 super. We exchange one of these nearly filled supers, bees 

 and all, for the super of the weaker colony. The latter will 

 be just able to ripen the honey, add a little to the supply, 

 and seal the remaining cells ; while the other will at once 

 proceed to finish the almost empty super. In this way, at the 

 end of the crop we will have uniformly filled combs, and 

 there will be no handling of unprofitable empty combs. 



A young bee-keeper would perhaps fear a battle when 

 thus exchanging supers from one hive to another. Fear noth- 

 ing of the kind, if this is done when the bees are harvest- 

 ing honey, for at such times they are peaceable and pleas- 

 antly disposed towards one another. Like the human race, 

 they are hospitable when the larder is well filled, but are 

 otherwise when in want, or when they know that it is diffi- 

 cult to replace what is spent. That is why they tolerate the 

 drones, or the manipulations of the apiarist during a good 

 crop, while they will prove churlish and sour if the weather 

 is bad and the harvest over. 



I must say, however, that it is not necessary thus to 

 exchange bees as well as supers. The bees may be removed 

 before making the exchange, and we would do it, by all 

 means, if we thought there would be any danger of ex- 

 changing queens, or of giving both queens to one colony. 

 But the queens are so rarely in the supers that we have 

 little fear of this. The only reason w.hy we exchange the 

 supers, with the bees as they are, is to save labor. At the 

 time when these exchanges are made, we usually have our 

 hands full, and need to be as expeditious as possible in all 

 tin: manipulations. Our aim is to produce the largest possi- 

 ble amount of honey with the least possible expense in labor 

 or material. Hamilton, 111. 



=\ 



Southern 

 4- 23eebom -f 



Conducted by Louis H. Schoix. New Braunfels, Tex. 



Removing 1 Sections from T-Supers 



J 



Dr. Miller, very few of us Southern Beedomites have 

 had occasion to use T-supers, nevertheless we would " like 

 to know." /always had the idea thatthe board with which 

 to push the sections out, was placed up on some object the 

 depth cf the super, but with outside dimensions somewhat 

 smaller than the ioside of it. On top of this set the super 

 with sections to be removed, and push the super down, leav- 

 ing the sections up on the " object." In thepictures on the 

 front cover page of March 29th number, showing " the way 

 you do it," it seems you push the sections down, eh ? No, 

 you pull the super up. Is there not a greater strain on your 

 thumb and fingers in pulling the supers off over the sec- 

 tions ? Perhaps you will tell us why it is done in just such 

 a way. 



m i m 



Using Lighter Grades of Comb Foundation 



sheets to the pound. Many bee-keepers are using medium 

 brood foundation, only 6 sheets to the pound, and that with 

 wires in the frames. This has always seemed a great 

 waste. Light brood foundation, 8 sheets to the pound with 

 wires, as commonly used in brood-frames, is much better. 

 Still, / have had a hankering toward something still lighter ; 

 hence the above light-weight foundation was given a trial. 

 Using the 10-frame hive, there is more uniformity as re- 

 gards the number of pounds to fill a certain number of 

 brood-chambers. With 10 sheets to the pound, a saving of 

 a pound of foundation is made every time S bodies are 

 filled — yea, a little more, or \% pounds — than if an average 

 of 8 sheets of light brood were used. This, at say an aver- 

 age price of 50 cents per pound, would mean a saving of 

 about 62,'? cents on every 5 hives, or a neat little sum of 

 $62.50 on 500 bodies. The extra-light brood foundation I 

 used did not cost me any more than the other. I found, 

 however, that this light foundation had a greater tendency 

 to break away at the wires when these were embedded in it. 

 To overcome this, I simply hung the sheets between wires, 

 one alternating with the other, so 2 would be one side and 2 

 on the other when 4 wires were used in a frame. 



On this comes Mr. L. B. Smith with a question : 



I notice Mr. Scholl advises usirg thin brood foundation in place of 

 medium brood, and not press the wires in, but let the sheet hang be- 

 tween the wires. It seems to us the bees would be more inclined to 

 gnaw around the wires used in that way, though I've had no practical 

 experience in the use of comb foundation in that way. How is it, Mr. 

 Scholl? L. B. Smith. 



Rescue, Tex. 



There might, perhaps, be trouble if the frames of foun- 

 dation fixed in this way were given during a dearth of 

 honey, but as I gave them when comb-building was going 

 well, and I had my hives all level, so the sheets hung close 

 to the wires, and the bees drew them out in fine shape. 



I would be glad to have others write if they have had 

 any experience of this kind. 



I now have a good many hive-bodies that I intend to 

 try in this way, and I have been thinking that some im- 

 provement might be obtained by the use of a few of Dr. 

 Miller's splints embedded vertically, with melted wax, on 

 the side of the foundation. These would hold the founda- 

 tion close to the wires, and, in case the sheets should have 

 a tendency to sag at the top as some makes of foundation 

 sometimes do, the splints would help much in this re- 

 spect, also. The extra cost of the splints, it seems to me, 

 would be slight, indeed, compared with the saving obtained 

 in using the lighter 10-sheets-to-pound foundation. 



Dr. Miller, what can you tell us on this subject ? Please 

 don't say, "I don't know." 



The Next Texas Bee-Keepers' Convention 



For some time I have advocated the use of very light 

 brood foundation, running from 10 to 11 Langstroth-size 



The 6th annual meeting of the Texas Bee Keepers' 

 Association will be held at College Station, July 10, 11 and 

 12, 1906. The time of the next annual Farmers' Congress, 

 on the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College grounds, 

 has been set for July 10, 11 and 12, the sessions beginning 

 at 9 a.m. on the 10th, and adjournment is provided for at 10 

 p.m. July 12. The program of the bee-keepers will be as 

 follows : Opening Prayer. The Annual Address by the 

 President. Reading of Minutes of Last Meeting. Report 

 of the Secretary-Treasurer. Business of the Association. 

 Discussions : "How Can this Association be Made More 

 Effective in Its Work ?" "Arrangements and Entertain- 

 ment of the National Bee-Keepers' Association at San An- 

 tonio, Nov. 8, 9 and 10. Question-Box. 



The " Question-Box" is to be one of the main features 

 of the convention, and all bee-keepers are invited to ask 

 such questions as are of most importance to them. Let us 

 hope for a large gathering of bee-keepers, and that the 

 meeting will be a valuable one to all. 



Accommodations for taking care of the several thou- 

 sand delegates to the Farmers' Congress will be more ade- 

 quate this year than heretofore, as preparations for this 

 have already begun. Besides the large Mess Hall, where 

 meals will be supplied at the usual rate heretofore given — 

 three meals for $1.00 — there will be an adequate lunch-stand 

 and restaurant operated by College authorities to receive 

 the overflow. A new hotel has recently been built by pri- 

 vate individuals, where meals can be had at 50 cents each, 

 and, with these provisions, there will probably be no trouble 

 to care for all the delegates. Lodging in the rooms of the 

 college dormitories will be without charge. 



Arrangements have been made to accommodate the 

 delegates who wish rooms reserved for them, and their re- 



