14 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



it five months, and all came out in good 

 condition. The one I constructed was 

 modified somewhat from the one Mr. 

 Langstroth described in his work, merely 

 for convenience. Having selected the 

 highest ground, near the bee yard, for the 

 clamp, I measured off 16x16 feet, dug out 

 the soil one foot deep, throwing it out at 

 each side for covering; I then set four 

 posts in the center on a square of 8 feet 

 and 6 feet high, pining pieces on top of 

 the posts to sustain the inward pressure, 

 after being covered. I covered the top 

 with strong poles, placing them 8 or 10 

 inches apart, and treating the sides the 

 same, placing the bottom of the side 

 poles on the top of the ground, which 

 would give them an inclination of about 

 45 degrees. On 6ne side put a door, the 

 jamb being a foot wide, and the same 

 position, or slant, as the sides. It is then 

 ready to cover with straw (hay is better), 

 cover all with earth 1 foot thick, and you 

 have it ready for the bees. Make a cover 

 for the door and place it on the jamb on 

 the outside. Cut a hole in one corner of 

 the door 3x3 inches for ventilation ; or 

 ventilating tubes would be better. It is 

 well to let it remain a few days, with the 

 cover off, to dry out before putting in the 

 bees. When they are put in have the 

 hives as dry as possible ; give them up- 

 ward ventilation, and disturb them after- 

 wards as little as possible. 



M. S. Snow. 

 Ono, Wis., Dec. 1, 1875. 



For tlie American Bee Journal. 



Effects of the Extractor ou Brood. 



The question of J. W. Dunn, page 267, 

 December number of the Journal, is 

 often asked, and is a very important one. 

 The various opinions on the subject seem 

 to show a lack of careful investigation. 

 This is not as it should be; and the ques- 

 tion ouglit to be settled beyond all perad- 

 venture before the next season for extract- 

 ing has passed. 



The results of my careful attention to 

 this subject has taught me: 



1st. Eggs can not be thrown out by the 

 use of the extractor. 



2nd. Young larvae are not injured by 

 the extractor unless thrown out. 



3rd. Ninety per cent, of tiie larvae that 

 are thrown out by my extractor are drone 

 larvae. 



The drone larvae owing to the larger size 

 of the cells, and their greater weiglit when 

 several days old, are more easily displaced 

 than worker larvaj. 



As very young larvae and eggs are often 

 removed from the cells, when put into a 

 strange colony, it is necessary to notice 

 whether combs are put into their proper 

 hive or not. I think this the likelist 

 source of error in determining this ques- 

 tion. 



A daily examination of the combs of 

 queenless colonies that had been extracted 

 failed to discover, in several instances, 

 any other change in the contained brood 

 and eggs, than was due to growth and 

 development. 



Some apiarists say: always run the bot- 

 tom of comb forward in the extractor, to- 

 make the honey come out easier. Now I 

 can see no difference in this respect; and 

 theoretically there is none, for the centrif- 

 ugal force acts in a straight line, outward 

 from the center. 



A careless hand will sometimes break, 

 combs by starting or stopping too sud- 

 denly, especially if the gearing is such a» 

 to require a rapid motion of the hand^ 

 thus giving more power over the revolv- 

 ing frames. 



The most common objection that I have 

 observed to the extractors offered for sale 

 is that the combs are too near the center 

 of the machine. Some that are on the 

 market have the comb racks so close to- 

 the center, that the tendency is to split the 

 combs down the middle when in rapid 

 motion. W. C. P. 



Maysville, Ky. 



For the American Bee Journal. 

 Chips from Sweet Home. 



Sept. 14. — Our apiary numbers 108 

 hives, of which 50 are storing in boxes, 

 slinging from 15, 41 comb-building, and 

 two have queens not layinsr. 



Since we have Italianized our apiary 

 we are troubled but little by the moth; 

 ants and spiders are worse this year. 



Some time since some writer said that 

 the Italians built larger cells than the 

 black bees. A few days since we got a 

 swarm of black bees, and had an oppor- 

 tunity to verify it; their worker comb 

 measured 100 cells in two inches square 

 (or four square inches), and the Italian* 

 only 83 in two inches square. Is this dif- 

 ference in size an improvement or not? 

 Are Italians smaller by being raised in 

 cells by black bees? 



We use all good drone comb for guide* 

 in surplus boxes. To secure this we are 

 cutting out drone comb, and have our 

 comb-builders fill in with worker comb; 

 for this purpose we employ nuclei and 

 weak swarms, giving tliem from 2 to 3 

 full combs of brood and one or two empty 

 frames or combs, from which we have cut 

 drone comb; these we keep strong by 

 crowding with a division-board, and ex- 

 amine once every two or three days, ac- 

 cording to the tendency to build drone 

 comb, which is regulated by the amount 

 of honey being gathered, building worker 

 if scarce, and vice versa. 



How would I secure the greatest amount 

 of box honey ? I would have large hives; 

 if Langstroth frame, 9x17 inches outside 

 measurement; I would have 13 frames. 



