1870.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



127 



5th. What would be the advantage of artifi- 

 cial combs of material indestructible by worms? 



By request of Mr. Bickford— who expected to 

 be present but one day— th'3 last question was 

 taken up first, and Mr. Quinby. called upon to 

 introduce the subject. He exhibited a frame of 

 artificial comb of his own invention, made of 

 tin and sheet iron. It was coi^ted with wax and 

 filled with honey by the bees, some of the cells 

 were sealed over. The queen would deposit 

 eggs in the cells, and in one p'ece as many as 

 four litters of lirood had been hatched, but the 

 queen preferred the tin. 



Mr. Bickford asked Mr. Quinby the following 

 questions : 



1st. Jrlad he used that kind of comb in a hive 

 exclusively '? 



2d . What will it cost per hive ? 



3d. Had he made whole frames of sheet iron 

 alone ? 



4th. Are you willing to use it in your own 

 apiary ? 



5th. What will be the effect of metallic combs 

 upon the bees in winter? 



6th. Can you test it the following winter ? 



7th. How do you propose to supply bee- 

 keepers, with machines or combs ? 



8th. Would it pay to sell combs? 



Mr. Quinby replied to the questions as fol- 

 lows : 1st. He had not. 2d. About $3 per 

 hive. 3d. Had not. 4th. Was testing it. 

 5th. Could not tell, as he had tried it only this 

 season. Gth. Had only four sheets of this comb 

 filled with honey, but Mr. Von Douzen has six 

 sheets. 7th. Have not determined what to do ; 

 had applied for a patent which had been rejected 

 on account of Mr. AVagner's patent on the base of 

 cells. 8th. Did not know, but thought they 

 would sell, as they would be a great advantage 

 with the honey extractor, and metallic combs 

 could not be destroyed by the moth and we 

 would not be troubled with drone comb. 



Mr. Bickford said that he had a plan for a 

 machine to make comb out of wax or other 

 substance, had made some comb, but a machine 

 would cost about $200, and he did not think 

 enough would be sold to pay for the investment. 

 He had all the bees he could attend to, and they 

 were supplied with tolerably straight combs. 

 A few years ago he would have taken more 

 interest in the artificial combs than he now 

 does. 



Mr. King said that he was willing to invest 

 $200 to make a machine to furnish artificial 

 comb for sale, but agreed with Mr. Bickford that 

 it would not be remunerative. Mr. Bickford had 

 kindly explained his invention and offered it 

 without price for the good of the cause, but he 

 is in communication with other parties who, he 

 thinks, will soon produce artificial comb of a sub- 

 stance having none of the objections of metallic 

 combs, and yet indestructible by the moth, but 

 considered the latter of less importance, as strong 

 stocks of Italians are in no danger of injury by 

 the moth, and practical, enterprising bee-keepers 

 should keep no other. Experimenting is very 

 expensive, and he would prefer to have some one 

 else furnish machines and make artificial combs, 

 but he could sell a large amount. 



Mr. Allen, Mr. Hetheringtonand others spoke 

 on the subject, when Mr. Root called the associa- 

 tion to order ; said we were violating our rules 

 by exhibiting inventions. 3Ir. King said Mr. 

 Quinby was excusable on account of his age. 

 Mr. Hetherington asked Mr. Bickford if he had 

 actually made a piece of perfect comb out of 

 wax. Mr. Bickford replied that lie had on a 

 small scale, but calculated the machine would 

 make a square foot per minute, and he could 

 prove that a frame of comb was worth $1.50 to 

 beginners. 



Mr. Quinby said he had heard of some instan- 

 ces where swarms without combs gathered more 

 lioney than those supplied with empty combs. 



Mr. Baldwin, Sen., said last spring they had 

 plenty of empty combs, and hived a laige number 

 of swarms in hives with combs and about an equal 

 number in hives without combs. The swarms 

 put in hives without combs, have stored nearly, 

 double the amount of box honey stored by tho.>e 

 supplied with empty combs and are much 

 stronger, though there is not as much honey in 

 the body of the hive, lie thinks the unusually 

 abundant yield of honey enabled the bees to fill 

 the empty combs before the queen could occupy 

 the proper space with brood to keep the stock 

 strong in number. 



Mr. Adset said he had some experience in 

 putting swarms into hives filled with empty 

 combs, and obtained six to eight, and even ten 

 boxes of surplus honey from such stocks, but 

 he had never obtained more than four boxes 

 from swarms put into emj.ty boxes. 



Mr. W. A. House thought the colonies had 

 been too much confined. If there had been 

 more boxes the bees would have tilled them and 

 allowed more room for the queen to rear brood. 

 Mr. Haskins thought that empty boxes would 

 obviate the difficulty. 



AFTERKOOX SESSION. 



By motion of Mr. Root the other questions 

 were considered together, as each one tlepended 

 on the others. He favored non-swarming and 

 the use of the honey extractor. Said they had 

 a great many empty combs last spring, and 

 used large hives. In one week's time they took 

 eighty-three pounds of honey with the extractor 

 from one hive, and did nothing to stimulate 

 breeding except the exchange of empty combs 

 for full ones removed. From one hive they took 

 371 pounds, the stock now has 75 pounds and 

 has made no attempt to swarm. From another 

 hive with boxes they obtained 155 pounds of 

 box honey under similar circunrstances. 



Mr. Allen had sold drained honey for a higher 

 price than he could get for box honey. Mr. 

 Bickford had sold 850 pounds of box honey for 

 50 cts. a pound in New York, and thought 

 extracted honey worth 50 cents a i^ound, and 

 we can get it if we only ask it. If you ask less 

 than for box honey, purchasers will think it is 

 worth less. 



Mr. Hetherington said that while in New 

 York, lately, he heard it said that a better price 

 could be obtained for honey if only two or three 

 dealers sold it, for when it goes into the hands 



