189', 



THE AMERICA^ BEE JOURNAL. 



19 



all have plenty I do not take out any, oven though some colo- 

 nies have as high as 40 to "iO pounds. If any lack in stores, 

 then I take from those colonies having more than is needed, to 

 supply the deficiency in others. A Hoffman frame filled full, 

 vphen spaced as above given, will hold not far from six pounds ; 

 that would be 12 pounds for the two outside combs. The next 

 two would contain about four and one-half pounds each, or 

 nine pounds, while the remaining four, at say two pounds 

 each, would be eight pounds, this making about 2ii pounds in 

 all, which is four pounds more than the highest amount I 

 think is needed for out-door wintering. 



BEES PACKT FOR WINTEK OUTDOORS. 



QuES. — "The hives are single-walled and set on a rack 

 about IS inches from the ground in a fence corner. The fence 

 is six feet high and tight. I have left the super on and a 

 cushion of planer shavings fills this super. I have packt all 

 around the hives and between them with leaves, except the 

 front. The top and sides are boarded up so as to keep all dry 

 during the winter. Is this as good as chaff-packing would be?' 



Ass. — I should say that my correspondent's bees were 

 pretty well fixt for winter, and probably will winter nearly, 

 if not quite, as well as if in chaff hives. Why I say, " if not 

 quite," is that the front of the hives have no packing, as will 

 be noticed. Where hives face the south, as I think all hives 

 should, there being no packing on the south side of the hive, 

 every time the sun shines during the winter it will heat up the 

 front side of the hives, this causing the bees to break cluster 

 and roam along the inside of the warmed up hive, while many 

 bees will be enticed out through this means, to perish in the 

 cold which they will encounter outside as soon as they take 

 wing. This will cause the loss of many bees during the sun- 

 shiny days of winter, providing the breaking of the cluster 

 often, does not cause them to get the bee-diarrhea and die al- 

 together. Now had this front side been chaff-walled it would 

 have taken nearly all day to have gotten it comfortably warm, 

 when the warmth so stored up would have helpt very much in 

 keeping the frosty temperature out at night. Then there is 

 an objection in having more than one colony on any stand or 

 bench, for where they are so fixt it is necessary to have the 

 hives closer together than is convenient for manipulating them 

 to the best advantage ; besides the annoyance which always 

 comes from the whole on the rack or bench being disturbed 

 when any jar or noise is made while working at any individual 

 hive. 



CONSTRUCTION OF SHADE-BOAKDS. 



QuES. — The correspondent next wishes to know how 

 " shade-boards are constructed ;" and says, "My hives face the 

 south, and the bees hangout in summer." 



Ans. — Shade-boards are used for two purposes: First, to 

 shade the hives in summer; and second, to shade the en- 

 trances, so as to keep out the snow and cold winds of winter, 

 and the sun from shining on the entrance so as to entice the 

 bees out to fly when the atmosphere is too cold for them, as 

 spoken of above. For this, any wide board answers all pur- 

 poses, the same being set so as to lean up against the front of 

 the hive, and also being long enough to reach two-thirds the 

 way up the front of the brood-chamber. For the former, a 

 light frame-work is made, generally of carpenter's lath, with 

 lath nailed on the frame at set distances apart, while over the 

 whole is placed a sheet of the largest-sized tin ; or building- 

 paper cut to the right size may be used in place of the tin. If 

 this paper is kept well painted it will last well. I use tin, but 

 others prefer the paper. The shade-board should project over 

 the front side of the top of the hive, far enough to shade down 

 to the entrance, in hot weather, while it is better not to shade 

 the entranceduring May, as the sun helps in warming the hive 

 for brood-rearing. A stone or brick is generally necessary, 

 placing the same on top of the shade-board, in all places where 

 the wind can strike, to keep these boards from being blown off. 



COLOR OF HIVES. 



QuES. — He next says : " My hives are painted brown. 

 Would the dark color make any difference?" 



Ans. — If the hives are thoroughly shaded the color will 

 make little or no difference, but for hives which stand in the 

 sun no other color should be used in painting except white. 

 Hives painted white can stand in the sun without inconven- 

 ience to the bees, and with no danger of the combs melting 

 down. Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



»»* 



Every Present Subscriber of the Bee Journal 

 should be an agent for it, and get all others possible to sub- 

 scribe for it. See offer on page 29. 



Haudy Uncappiug-Box and Its Use. 



BY C. E. PlIEMCIE ii BRO. 



The accompanying illustration is our uncapping-box with 

 a comb in position to be uncapt. You will notice a bar across 

 the box, through which a pin is projecting upward, which acts 

 as a pivot when the center of the end-bar is placed upon it. 

 One side of the comb is uncapt, when it is swung around and 

 the other side cut off, the cappings dropping into the box. 

 The inside consists of two boxes with wire bottoms, one of 

 which is standing outside. 



The object in having two boxes is this : When one box 

 becomes filled with cappings or pieces of comb, it is 

 slipt to the left and allowed to drain while the other is being 

 filled ; when they are b3th full the one to the left, which the 

 honey has all drained out of, is emptied in the wax-extractor ; 



Handy Vncapping Arrangement. 



the full one is then slipt to the left, and allowed to drain while 

 the other is being filled. The honey can be drawn off at any 

 time through the faucet, shown at the right. The cover, 

 which is now folded back, is closed when not in use, which 

 makes its free from ants, robber-bees, dirt, etc., and also 

 furnishes a convenient table or work-bench. We have had 

 one of these in use for five years, and would not think of run- 

 ning an apiary without it. 



[Mr: O. O. Poppleton, when here a few weeks ago, de- 

 scribed an uncapping-box that, in outside appearance, must be 

 very much like the one above. The internal arrangement, 

 however, is different. Mr. Poppleton's, while about twice as 

 long as broad, is made so as to take his frames crosswise. The 

 combs are uncapt on a cross stick, the cappings falling into 

 the box near the end. In the other end the sliced-off combs 

 are hung, and sometimes the man with the knife will have 

 stored in the box quite a number of combs ahead of the other 

 man, who is extracting. If there is one person, he uncaps 

 until the box is filled with combs, and then he is ready for the 

 extractor.— Editor.1— Gleanings. 



Surplus-Yielding Honey.Plants of Florida. 



BY A. F. BROWN. 



Unlike many of the Northern and Western States, Florida 

 is divided into several distinct classes of soils, each affording 

 a peculiar floral and timber growth of its own, therefore often 

 from localities only a few miles apart one's surplus crop of 

 honey comes from different sources. 



The purpose of this article is to give a brief description of 

 the honey-yielding plants, trees, and shrubs found on the 

 several classes of soil, with data as to the time of year, quality 

 and yield of surplus honey, as I am acquainted with them, 

 from a bee-keeper's point of view. 



The division of soils are commonly spoken of as " high 

 pine land," "low flat woods," " high hammock " and "low 

 hammock," " oak scrubs," " river swamps," and a " low-scrub 

 palmetto barren" along the coast, also at places along the 

 coast and Florida Keys— stretches of black mangrove swamps, 

 and at places along the east coast and south Florida are open 



