Oct. 25, 1906 



897 



American Dee Journal 



Conducted by Moklet Pettit, Villa Nova, Ont. 



Bee-Space at Top Instead of 



Bottom of Hives and 



Supers 



Yesterday I assisted a friend in re- 

 moving some of the extracting- supers 

 and in examining about 90 hives of 

 bees. And during all the work I was 

 more and more impressed with the dis- 

 advantages and undesirable features 

 of a hive with the bee-space at the top 

 of the hive instead of the bottom. On 

 removing and replacing the quilt or 

 cloth it was distressing to experience 

 how impossible it is to place it smooth 

 and flat on the hive ; they were wrin- 

 kled and rough. Large quantities of 

 propolis were built up from the top- 

 bars to the ever-retreating cloth. I be- 

 lieve this extra and unsatisfactory 

 work injures the bees — they are busy 

 when they should be quiet. It is a 

 difficult job to clean the top off when 

 the frames are below the top of the 

 hive. 



Another thing : It is more difficult 

 to remove and replace frames from 

 such hives or supers, owing to the 

 depth of the rabbet and the propolis 

 on the ends of the top bars. 



Again : Invariably when a hive or 

 super was placed upon a board or floor, 

 some projections built on the under- 

 side of the frames would punch the 

 frames up and give trouble. 



Once more : A hive with the bee- 

 space at the bottom gives a js space 

 under the frames; which may or may 

 not be of any particular advantage, but 

 I rather like it. To help the bees 

 reach the combs, I nail a few triangu- 

 lar-shaped strips on the floor from 

 front to rear, about 4 inches from the 

 entrance, and about the same distance 

 from the rear end of the floor. 



Owing to the propolis over the sec- 

 tions, and on the sides and ends of the 

 super, and the greater distance through 

 which the sections have to be moved 

 when the bee-space is at the top, a 

 super with a bee-space at the bottom 

 can be emptied much more easily and 

 quickly than tho<--e with bee-space at 

 the top. 



Another point : With the tops of 

 the frames even with the top of the 

 hive, the super prevents them from 

 swinging when being moved. 



All the above points are elements of 

 great importance to the calling. I have 

 tested both ways and know the differ- 

 ence. 



In removing supers — especially comb 

 honey supers — after a good flow, when 

 the bees have been over-crowded, some 

 wax may be found between the top- 



bars and the supers ; but when the 

 tops of the hives and top-bars are even, 

 it is an easy and quick job to remove 

 them with a suitable hoe. Then it is 

 a joy to spread the cloth or quilt flat, 

 smooth and even over all the top. Then 

 what comes next holds the cloth or 

 quilt closely against all parts of the 

 tops of the frames, and the bees are 

 soon satisfied, and rest. 



S. T. Pettit. 

 Aylmer, Ont., Sept. 2. 



Only two practical plans are suggested to me, 

 viz. : scraping them to the septum and cut- 

 ting out entire chunks tilled with pollen. 

 Quite likely the latter course will be followed, 

 as it is lexs work, and more wax is obtained, to 

 say nothing of the fact (objectionable or 

 otherwise^ that the comb will be repaired 

 with drone-size cells, and not be filled with pol- 

 len again. — J. L. Bter, in Canadian Bee Jour- 

 nal. 



This is a strong point in favor of 

 some drone-comb in extracting supers. 

 But localities vary so it will not ap- 

 peal to all, because in many localities 

 there is no pollen to spare. I have ex- 

 perimented a great deal with getting 

 rid of pollen, and concluded that the 

 simplest plan is to cut it all out, and 

 let the bees take a fresh start, either 

 on a new sheet of foundation or in 

 filling in the hole with drone-comb. 



Raspberry Honey in York 

 County 



Drone-Comb in Extracting 1 

 Supers 



That drone-combs in supers are not alto- 

 gether an unmixed evil has been brought 

 forcibly to the notice of the writer this pres- 

 ent season. While hundreds of beautiful 

 combs of worker size have been plugged with 

 clover pollen, it is quite pleasant to come 

 across drone-combs, which are, of course, in- 

 variably free from pollen. No brood was 

 hoisted in my supers this year, yet the pollen 

 nuisance is the worst I ever experienced, and 

 it is quite a problem how to treat the large 

 number of wired combs, which are compara- 

 tively useless in their present condition. 



J. L. Byer reports, in the Canadian 

 Bee Journal, extracting 1700 pounds of 

 raspberry honey from one of his yards, 

 and says that although amber in color 

 the flavor is beautiful. 



This reminds me of a little joke we 

 had at the Michigan State Convention 

 last winter, when Mr. E. D. Townsend 

 was showing a sample of extracted 

 honey to some of the members. All 

 who did not know — and some of them 

 acknowledged experts — pronounced it 

 good while clover honey, until Mr. 

 Townsend informed us it was rasp- 

 berry honey. 



Of course, the season has much to 

 do with the color of honey. Personally, 

 I did not extract one pound of white 

 honey this year. At two of my yards, 

 where I expected some, it turned out 

 to be all dark amber. 



Conducted by Louis H. Scholl, New Braunsfels, Tex. 



Do Bees Tear Down Queen-Cells 

 Containing- Live Queens? 



Mr. Anderson further gets after some 

 of the veterans in this fashion : 



" I am glad to see Allen Latham fire into 

 Mr. Alley about bees not cutting out queen- 

 cells containing live queens. I wonder that 

 Mr. Alley hasn't known this after all those 40 

 years of queen-rearing. Some of those old 

 ' land marks ' make some wild shots, a6 well 

 as we youngsters, and should be promptly 

 corrected." 



I am sorry that I was not able, on 

 account of my severe illness lasting 

 several months, to keep up with the 

 discussions, neither have I the Jour- 

 nals containing them here at the hos- 

 pital, where I am still confined, but 



without knowing what conclusion was 

 arrived at by these two experienced 

 men, my opinion has always been that 

 the bees did not tear down the queen- 

 cells containing live queens. Is it not 

 true that the bees caring for the queen- 

 cells even try to protect these from 

 destruction by another queen already 

 in the hive, or from a virgin hatched 

 ahead of her sisters ? Then if such a 

 vigorous protection of the bees exists, 

 would the bees destroy these cells, with 

 live queens, without the reigning queen 

 first inflicting her fatal sting upon the 

 inmate ? 



I have seen torn-open queen-cells 

 with queens that were still alive, but 

 upon close examination it would be 

 found that they were in a maimed con- 

 dition, caused by the sting of the queen 



