. 652 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



for either comb or extracted honey, he 

 would use a Quinby frame, six inches 

 deep. 



The progress that bee-culture has 

 made since he began the business, has 

 been greater than it could ever be dur- 

 ing our time, or that of the present gen- 

 eration. 



On the subject of adulteration he 

 boldly and severely criticized Mr. Per- 

 rine to whom he sold 20,000 pounds of 

 pure honey, which the purchaser adul- 

 terated and sold. 



He explained the method of adulterat- 

 ing comb honey, and recounted an ex- 

 periment he had made with glucose. He 

 took glucose one-third, and extracted 

 honey two-thirds, put his bees in con- 

 finement, and soon had all his beautiful 

 combs filled with nice honey (?). It 

 killed all his bees within three weeks ! 

 From this he concluded that if it killed 

 his bees in three weeks, it would kill a 

 man at once, if he ate it. 



He paid a tribute of respect to the 

 honesty and integrity of the bee-keepers 

 of Texas, more especially to the mem- 

 bers of the Texas State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association ; he praised the zeal and 

 courage exhibited during the bad sea- 

 sons, and insisted that we must not be- 

 come discouraged when the seasons 

 failed. He and Bro. Graham had been 

 in the habit of selecting new men, who, 

 in their opinion, would make successful 

 bee-keepers ; some they would conclude 

 were in the business for the money — 

 money without work — others were will- 

 ing to work, and learn the ways and 

 nature of the bees, and to study the best 

 methods of practical management; they 

 had never been disappointed, as the 

 former class had long since given up the 

 pursuit, and drifted into other employ- 

 ment, while the latter were among the 

 brightest lights in bee-culture to-day. 



To make bee-keeping the most profit- 

 able, we must curtail expenses, get the 

 cheapest hive and fixtures, which will 

 give the easiest access to the hive and 

 manipulation of the bees, and the best 

 results. 



He has been working for some time to 

 institute a bee-keepers' experiment sta- 

 tion at the agricultural college, which 

 shall provide for a lecturer on practical 

 and scientific bee-culture, in connection 

 with a sufficient apiary to illustrate 

 practical bee-keeping. While he had 

 been able to accomplish but little toward 

 it, yet he had received considerable en- 

 couragement. 



A rising vote of thanks was tendered 

 to Dr. Marshall for his interesting and 

 able lecture. — {Corwluded next week.) 



The Right Time to Transfer Bees. 



The question is frequently asked, 

 " When is the best time to transfer bees 

 from box to frame hives ?" To this the 

 usual answer is, "Fruit-blooming time." 

 The books say so, and we all have been 

 taking it for granted that it is true, 

 but my experience now says it is not 

 true, and that we have all been making 

 mistakes in transferring at that time. 



The reasons given for transferring at 

 that time are, that there are fewer bees 

 and less honey then than at any other 

 time. It is true there are fewer bees, 

 but it is not true that there is less honey. 

 My experience is that between fruit- 

 blooming and clover-blooming, bees con- 

 sume stores rapidly in brood-rearing, 

 and that they have less stores at the be- 

 ginning of clover-blooming than at any 

 other time ; and the fact that there are 

 more bees then than at fruit-blooming is 

 a strong point in favor of transferring 

 at that time. 



The more bees there are when trans- 

 ferred, the quicker they will build up, 

 and the better it is for them. 



Last spring I transferred a number of 

 colonies in fruit-blooming time, and 

 some at the beginning of clover bloom- 

 ing. None of those transferred in apple- 

 blooming built up in time for the honey- 

 flow, but nearly all of those transferred 

 at the opening of clover bloom stored a 

 surplus. The reasons for the difference 

 are apparent. There is always some 

 loss of brood in transferring, and a 

 check in the work of the queen. The 

 brood and eggs at fruit-blooming time 

 make the workers on white clover, and 

 if destroyed in transferring at that time, 

 the loss is felt in the honey crop. 



The brood and eggs at the beginning 

 of clover bloom do not make workers in 

 time for the honey-flow from that 

 source ; and their loss is no loss to the 

 honey crop, but rather a gain, for they 

 would be consumers and not producers. 

 If bees and not honey is the object, bet- 

 ter results can be obtained by transfer- 

 ring at the beginning of clover bloom. 



H. F. Coleman. 



Sneedville, Tenn. 



Handling the Gentle Hybrids. 



Every authority I ever consulted sets 

 down the hybrid as a vicious bee. I 

 have not found it so. I have now hand- 

 led all kinds, from those that the traces 

 of yellow bands were so slight that I 

 just called them blacks, up to the light- 



