THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL AND GAZETTE. 



209 



For the Ainericau Bee Journal and Gazette. 



Artificial Honey- Comb. 



Several writers in the Journal have expressed 

 their views of the great value of empty honey- 

 comb. I tully concur with them, and hope its 

 importance will be still further urged upon the 

 attention of bee-keepers. So vakiable has it 

 been considered by European bee-keepers, that 

 attempts have been made to manufacture arti- 

 ficial comb for the use of new swarms. Such 

 attempts, however, so far as I have been in- 

 formed, have resulted in producing merely a 

 thin sheet of wax with the impression of the 

 bottom of cells fixed upon each side of it. The 

 production of perfect sheets of comb with cells 

 of full size, complete in every respect, and 

 ready for the reception (.if eggs and brood, seems 

 never to have been attempted, or, at any rate, 

 not to have been successful. Still, I believe it 

 can be made, and even more perfectly than the 

 bees themselves make it; and, what would be 

 of great importance, the amount of drone-comb 

 in a hive could be regulated exactly in accord- 

 ance with the will of the bee-keeper — having 

 much, a little, or none at all, as the whole body 

 of the hive could be completely filled with 

 worker-comb. I say it could be made more 

 perfectly than the bees make it, for all the cells 

 could be made of the same size, whereas, if you 

 measure across the mouth of a dozen or more 

 worker-cells in one part of any piece of comb, 

 and the same number from another part of the 

 same comb, you will find some difference. I 

 think I have devised a plan by which perfect 

 comb can be made, and made cheaply and strong 

 enough to bear transportation by express. The 

 machinery necessary for making it would be 

 rather expensive, but, once made, comb could 

 be produced rapidly. But the question arises, 

 would there be any demand for it ? I simply 

 know that I want it, and would be glad to pay 

 any one who would produce it for me. Whe- 

 ther others want it is what I wish to learn 

 through this Journal, and what it would be 

 worth to a bee-keeper, per sheet, of the size of 

 a Langstroth frame — say eight inches by seven- 

 teen. One bee-keeper, in reply to the question 

 of value, said it would be worth a dollar a sheet, 

 but I think that too much. Still, if you will 

 refer to an article, page 179 Bee Journal, by 

 Mr. L. L. Fairchild, you will see that a swarm 

 placed in a hive filled with empty comb, pro- 

 duced two frames of surplus honey and thirty- 

 five pounds in boxes, fully fifty pounds in all — 

 worth, at thirty cents per pound, ^lo, while a 

 swarm two or three days later, placed in an 

 empty hive, " scarcely laid in stores suflicient 

 for their winter food." In this case, if ten 

 trames of comb were used, each comb was 

 worth $1.50. 



R. BiCKPORD. 



Skneca Falls, N. Y., March 28, 18G7. 



[Several years ago we devised and patented 

 an apparatus for making artificial honey-comb 

 foundations having rudimental cells, with ease 

 and mathematical accuracy. We found, how- 

 ever, that wax, or a composition of which wax 



is the cliief ingredient, is not adapted for trans- 

 portation, unless the foundations be packed in 

 a manner both troublesome and costly. Very 

 beautiful and light foundations, sufficiently firm 

 to bear transportation while new, can bo made 

 of gutta percha; but they soon become so fri- 

 able even when not used, that that material 

 cannot be employed. We have also experi- 

 mented with other materials, though without 

 satisfactory results so far. What is W:;nted is 

 some substance combining cheapness, lightness, 

 strength, and durability. If such be found it 

 will still remain to be ascertained whether there 

 will be any advantage in using artificial foun- 

 dations, if honey-combs, as built and filled by 

 the bees, can be rapidly emptied by the centri- 

 fugal apparatus lately invented and about to 

 be tested. ] 



For the Americau Bee Jourual and Gazette. 



Early Superseding of a Q leen. 



Visiting a friend's apiary in Danville, Ky., 

 last month, (Feb.,) I noticed on the 27th, on 

 the alighting-board of a last year's hybrid 

 Italian swarm, a dead drone, apparently just 

 emerged from a cell. Thinking it rather early 

 for drones even in that latitude, (;37j°,) I 

 opened the hive, and was surprised to find a 

 queifii-cell, with the end opened, and the lid 

 still hanging to it, as if a queen had just 

 emerged. Further examination revealed an- 

 other queen-cell opened on its side, and on 

 the other side of the frame another cell still 

 closed, and a slightly, well-developed young 

 queen near it. 



Further examination was not so critical as 

 I now wish it had been, but no other drones, or 

 drone-brood, or worker-brood were seen, nor 

 was the old queen found. Tiie sealed queen- 

 cell was cut out and given to a queenless col- 

 ony, and this colony strengthened with a well- 

 filled trame of sealed brood from a strong col- 

 ony. The bees from all the colonies in the 

 apiary were carrying in pollen freely on the 

 2Gth and 27th of February. I have not yet 

 learned whether these young queens became 

 fertile, nor can I understand why a fertile 

 queen, as this one 7mist have been, was super- 

 seded so early in the season. 



H. BiCKFOKD. 



Seneca Falls, N. Y., March 27, 18G7. 



If yon wish to catch any of the bees, make 

 a bold sweep at them with your hand, as tliough 

 there were no such thing as a stiug in the 

 world. The bee will bf so astonished that he 

 will not sting at first. Then hold him in 3rour 

 closed hand, without pressing him, and he" will 

 not sting. I have so caught three or four at a 

 lime. If you want to do an^^tliing with a single 

 bee, catch him "as if you loved him" between 

 your finger and thumb, where the tail joins on 

 to tiie body, and thus he cannot sting you. 



