

For the American Bee Journal. 



Getting and Caring for Box Honey. 



G. 31. DOOLITTLE. 



As July is the great honey month 

 with most of us, perhaps a lew words 

 about how to secure and how to care 

 for box honey may not be amiss. Your 

 boxes should all lie on the hives before 

 this reaches you, unless some of your 

 colonies are very weak, in which case 

 you should unite them at once in the 

 manner I told you in the American 

 Bee Journal for June, 1S79. 



There is but little chance for surplus 

 honey in boxes from weak colonies, al- 

 though by means of the division board 

 even a nucleus can be made to work in 

 boxes to advantage ; still, as weak colo- 

 nies are generally treated, no honey .is 

 the rule. Therefore, my advice is to 

 have all colonies strong by the middle 

 of June, even if you have to reduce 

 your number of colonies one-half or 

 two-thirds. There is more money in 10 

 hives overflowing with bees than in 

 30 weak colonies. If any have been so 

 slack as not to have boxed their bees as 

 yet. let them do it at once, and do not 

 forget, if you wish a start made in the 

 boxes immediately, to have the centre 

 tier of top boxes full of comb. If you 

 have no comb, use full sheets of the thin 

 foundation in the centre tier, but I am 

 not yet prepared to advise its use in all. 

 If you have no comb except for starters, 

 and do not feel able to purchase founda- 

 tion, go to a hive and cut out of one of 

 the frames a piece of brood large enough 

 to fill just one box. and tit it in place so 

 it will not fall out, placing it in the 

 centre of the top boxes, and your bees 

 will be at work in the boxes forthwith, 

 if strong enough in numbers. If you 

 have been carelessand not cut out your 

 drone comb, use the drone brood for 

 this purpose. When you are taking off 

 your honey, you can cut out this brood 

 iif drone) and throw it away, or leave 

 it. letting the bees hatch, and have it 

 tilled with honey. Of course, this honey 

 will have to be classed as second quality, 

 but as the comb is already built, it will 

 bring more in that shape than if. ex- 

 tracted and the comb made into wax. 



This getting bees started in the boxes 

 early in the season is one secret of suc- 

 cessful honey raising, as a week's delay 

 in starting often makes a difference of 

 a good yield, or no yield at all. 



After all the colonies are at work in 

 the boxes look after them, and if you 

 seel hey are getting crowded for room 

 add more boxes to the sides, (if you have 

 side box hives), or tier up those on top. 

 However, do not do this during the last 



half of the honey season, for if you do 

 you may come out as we (lid once, with 

 all of our boxes nearly tilled but none 

 tit for market. 



As the season draws toward its close 

 shut the bees off the side boxes, and 

 get those on top as compactly together 

 as possible, so that all will be filled and 

 finished, as far as possible, with white 

 honey, and not finished off with dark. 



Next to getting box honey is the care 

 of it. The lack of care is one great 

 cause of the ruinous prices we are often 

 obliged to take in market. Mr. A takes 

 his honey to market after it has stood 

 on the hive till it is dingy with the soil 

 of the bees traveling over it, and is often 

 put up in boxes or cases having a slov- 

 enly appearance, with a determination 

 to sell it for what it will bring, which is 

 often not enough to cover the cost of 

 production of white honey. Mr. B goes 

 a few days after with his snow-white 

 combs put up in handsome cases, and 

 finds lie has to compete with A's in 

 price or not sell at all, as the parties 

 having A's honey know if B's is put 

 along side of A's, they cannot sell a 

 pound of it till all of B's is disposed of ; 

 and thus the price paid for A"s honey is 

 used as a leverage to bring all honey 

 down to that figure. These things 

 ought not so to be. Very good, says 

 one, but how will you change such a 

 state of affairs V There are two ways of 

 doing it. First, get your own honey up 

 in the best shape possible. As soon as 

 it is sealed take it from the hives, going 

 over your whole apiary at least once a 

 week, and take off all that is finished 

 before the bees change the color of the 

 snowy combs. Pack it in a room with 

 a high temperature so it will grow thick, 

 to prevent any leaking of honey when 

 you crate it, or upon reaching market. 

 Keep an eye out for the moths, and if 

 troublesome use sulphur, after which 

 pack it for market in neat, tasty crates. 

 Now, call in all of your bee-keeping 

 friends to look at it, and ask them what 

 shape theirs is in. and inform them as to 

 the probable prices of honey put up in 

 nice shape. Have samples of the bee 

 papers at hand, and do not let one go 

 away without subscribing for one or 

 more of them. Does friend Heddon 

 object ? Friend H., we have not added 

 any more to our ranks, but if they will 

 read the good old American Bee Jour- 

 nal, we shall hope to enlighten them. 

 I do not believe in - l gushing," or large 

 stories to draw the simple into bee- 

 keeping any more than you do, and I 

 admire your sensible articles on this 

 point ; but I tell you, one of those old 

 fogies let loose without a bee paper for 

 a rudder, does more harm to the honey 



