American Bee Journal, 



DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO BEE CULTURE. 



VOL. ZII. 



CHICAGO, AUGUST, 1876. 



No. 8. 



Boil it down ! Boil it down ! 

 Give us tne new and useful points— 

 The good— and tliat's enough ! 

 Boil it down! 



GLEANINGS. 



Comb Foundations —Novice says: "A 

 small amount of yellow wax — 1 part iii 4 — 

 will temper the paraffine so that it works 

 beautifully; but with the white wax bought 

 for perfectly pure, of the wax bleachers 

 themselves, we are obliged to use two parts 

 of wax to one of paraffine. This looks very 

 much indeed as if the wliite wax, were not 

 wax, but it may be well to exercise charity, 

 for tlie bleaching process certainly raises 

 the melting point, and m(iy likewise change 

 its tenacity. Well we were going along 

 beautifully, putting pieces into the hives 

 meanwhile, which worked as nicely as 

 could be desired, until our very hot weather 

 of the 13th and 14th, wlien we were alarmed 

 to find the cells stretching themselves 

 downward into ovals instead of hexagons, 

 and it was really amusing to see the troubl- 

 ed look on the countenances (?) of the 

 young bees as they surveyed the work, 

 after repeated attempts at patching up and 

 repairing. Tlie sight of their discomfiture 

 created some merriment among our juve- 

 niles, but we gave a faithful promise to the 

 bees, wliich same shall be extended to our 

 patrons, tliat hereafter they should have 

 material that would stand a degree of heat 

 fully equal to that of yellow wax at least. 



"We can get pure white wax for 50 cents, 

 and foundations made of tins will doubtless 

 answer every purpose; but unless the paraf- 

 fine can be worked in we cannot well make 

 the price less than $1.00 per lb., whereas if 

 the paraffine can be made available, we 

 hope to be able to furnish it iu quantities, 

 as low as 50c. 



"Further experiments show that one part 

 of yellow wax to three of paraffine is so 

 nearly white that it will never be dis- 

 tinguished from that made with white wax; 

 and the melting point is so high, that they 

 will stand safely, exposure in the sun that 

 natural combs would not. If the matter 

 can be arranged so that we can use one 

 article for both brood and guide combs, it 

 will save considerable trouble; and when 

 we get over the present rush, we hope to 

 furnish this article for 50 cents in quantities 

 of 10 lbs. or upwards." 



Hiving Natukal Savarms.— "Keej) a 

 green bush tied to the teeth of a common 

 wooden rake, and a queen cage tied to the 

 bush. Wlien the bees swarm, catch the 

 queen and put her into the cage, then hold 

 ner up among the bees, or fasten the rake 

 near where they are clustering, and your 



swarm is in very convenient shape to 

 handle. Your wire can do it all, after a 

 little practice." 



Novice's Honey Box.— "The top and 

 bottom are wood, and are about 3-16 in 

 thickness. A small hole is drilled K of an 

 inch from each corner, and a long, slim 

 screw is put through tops, and screwed in- 

 to bottoms. By turning these screws down 

 it is plain that you can draw the wood so 

 firmly against the glass, as to cause them to 

 sink slightly into the wood. The screw is 

 just inside the glass which rests against it. 

 If you wish it more ornamental, fold square 

 a 14 inch strip of tin, that is 1-16 longer than 

 the glass; this will cut into the wood, under 

 pressure of the screws, and holds the glass 

 m place, even if it be not cut very accurate- 

 ly. To give you an idea of how cheaply 

 this can all be made, we will remark that 

 the holes are drilled in a block of wood, cut 

 to the exact size, before the thin boards are 

 ripped off. The entrance slots (3) are cut 

 in the bottom boards before they are ripped 

 off from a block in the same way." 



BEE WORLD. 



Extracting Honey. — Kev. M. Mahin, 

 in an excellent article on extracted honey 

 and the use of the extractor, says: 



The best time in the day to perform the 

 operation is the time when the bees are 

 busiest gathering honey; and that depends 

 upon the sources of supply. JSome flowers 

 yield honey only in the morning, as buck- 

 wheat; others yield most abundantly in the 

 heat of the day, as white clover. When 

 bees are gathering honey plentifully, ex- 

 tracting can be done anywhere, and robbing 

 will not be induced, and no bees will dis- 

 turb the exposed honey. At other times 

 great care is necessary. The hives must be 

 kept open as short a time as possible, and 

 the extracting must be done in a room that 

 bees can have no access to. At such times 

 all opening of hives should be done very 

 early in the morning before many bees are 

 astir, or late in the afternoon when activity 

 has mostly ceased. 



The World complains of W. H. Furman 

 and T. H. B. Woody, who owe it for adver- 

 tising and do neither pay nor answer let- 

 ters, asking for payment. The latter 

 owes the A. B. J. over $25, but it can get 

 no word from him of any sort. 



BEE-KEEPERS' MAGAZINE. 



Novice will be after the B. K. M. with a 

 sharp stick, as it was the last one of the 

 monthlies to reach us this month ; not get- 

 ting here till the 20th. 



Thorns fob Transferring.— "While 

 at our office a few days since, Capt. J. E. 



