676 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Oct. 28, 



claims. He says that he "fancies " one will be surprised at 

 the results of experiments in this line, leaving us to infer that 

 he may have experimeuted, but I am sure we would all be 

 better satisfied if he would give us facts and figures. I will 

 take the liberty to ask Mr. Deacon a few questions : 



When foundation, especially heavy foundation, is used, is 

 not this septum or base much thicker than the bees would 

 make it if the foundation had uot been given ? Do the bees 

 leave this septum or base unchanged, and simply add enough 

 of their own wax to raise the cells to the proper height? I 

 am not prepared to believe this. If the foundation is reduced 

 to the usual thickness of honey-comb, what becomes of the 

 portion manipulated by the bees ? Is it " drawn out," or is it 

 scraped off and thrown away ? 



Admitting, for argument's sake, that comb foundation 

 affords nothing but the base, I think every bee-keeper has 

 seen times when this base was of suCBcient advantage to the 

 bees in affording them a place to deposit their scales of wax, 

 to repay its cost, and more. 



Mr. Deacon makes merry over the claim of a man from 

 Nebraska, that his foundation has wax enough in the partly- 

 raised walls to enable the bees to finish the comb without any 

 additional wax. If the Nebraska man erred, he erred in very 

 good company. In " Langstroth Revised " (page 372) I read : 

 "It is a remarkable fact that the bees 'thin out' their foun- 

 dation to a certain extent and make it considerably deeper out 

 of the same material. When it has been made wUhathin 

 base and a heavy wall the bees draw it out more readily into 



comb." „ 



I am curious and anxious to know what such "idiots as 



Charles and C. P. Dadant have to say on this subject. 



Decatur Co., Iowa, Sept. 20. 



[Yes, you'd better postpone the rest of that Rip Van Win- 

 kle nap, Mr. Kevins, for next week will appear an article 

 from the Dadants, in reply to Mr. Deacon's article on comb 

 foundation. We requested the Dadants to write it, and we 

 think after Mr. Deacon reads it he will feel like imitating Rip 

 Van Winkle. —Editor.] 



More Apiarian Observations and Conclusions. 



BY "PEE STUDENT." 



"Those Fool Capers."— On page 497, Mr. Bevins nar- 

 rates the experience a great many bee-keepers have every 

 year. Somehow they fail to connect the experience of former 

 years, so as to have it available at the right time and place ; 

 this, Mr. B. admits on his part, but he should not get discour- 

 aged and retire in silence for " 20 years," for if there is to be 

 as much progress made in bee-keeping during the next score 

 of years as there has been in the one just past, he must be 

 counted on to do his share of the necessary "capering." 



Closer Attention Needed.— What little I know about 

 bees I have pickt up at odd times during the last 25 years 

 from books, bee-papers, and practice, and now I study the 

 disposition and strength of each colony, and endeavor to know 

 how best to proceed when the time comes to put on supers, 

 and thus avoid giving too much room, or allowing the bees to 

 become crowded. Except at the end of the season I never 

 take off a super without putting another on, and If conditions 

 are favorable for bees to work, all strong, or fairly strong, 

 colonies, have three supers on within 20 days from the open- 

 ing of the season, and when the fourth one is needed the first 

 one should be well capt ready to bo removed ; and from 7 to 

 9 o'clock, while the fleld-bees are busiest, there will be but 

 few bees in the top super, and very little smoke needed for 

 removing or putting on the escape-board. 



10-frame Langstroth hives by putting a 5-inch board across 

 the rear of the hive during the honey season ; and my cubical 

 hives are of proper size for the same supers. I noticed some 

 years ago that during a poor season the fourth or rear row of 

 sections, where 28 were used, would scarcely be toucht, when 

 the other three rows would be filled and capt, and as we have 

 so many poor seasons here to one good one, I concluded to re- 

 duce the supers to correspond In space with the requirements 

 of the bees and the seasons, and during the best seasons but 

 three supers are needed at the same time when properly man- 

 aged. Supers of this size are especially adapted to weak per- 

 sons and to women bee-keepers. 



Taking Suters Off Without the Escape. — I use 'a 

 three-legged table with top 18x36 inches, and about as high 

 as the top of the hives, on which I put the empty super and a 

 box the size of a super, and taking advantage of the absence 

 of the workers in the early part of the day I use no smoke at 

 the entrance, but lift one side of the cover about a half inch, 

 and smoke gently for 20 or 30 seconds ; take off the cover 

 and lift the super high enough to brush the bees from the un- 

 der side to the super below; place it on the box on the table 

 and cover it; pry the super loose from the hive, and use 

 just enough smoke to drive the bees down and up, out of the 

 way, but not out of the hive ; then place the partly-filled 

 supers (or super, if I am using but two) on the empty super 

 on the table, and put all back on the hive before the bees 

 have time to get in the way, and by deftly handling every- 

 thing I can take ofif a full and put on an empty super every 

 five minutes, carry the full super into the honey-house and 

 bringing out an empty one for the next hive. 



A super with a loose board for a bottom will answer the 

 purpose of a box, but thin boards tackt on are preferable. 



When I have taken off five or six supers I take the first 

 one brought in and put it on a table near an open window 

 covered with wire-screen and furnisht with a house bee-escape, 

 and- in removing the sections brush the bees, if any, into the 

 box under the super ; set the super aside when empty, and 

 take the box out and empty the bees in front of the hive where 

 they belong. Very few bees will take wing while in the 

 house, if handled gently, for having filled themselves from any 

 uncapt cells they could find, they will be found clustered in 

 one corner of the box waiting to be disposed of. The mor» 

 completely the honey is capt, the less of bees will be found in 

 the supers, and often I find less than 20 bees in a super so 

 managed. 



There is a best time for doing all our work if we can only 

 find out when that time is, and practical experience with close 

 observation is our best schooling. 



Best Size for Supers.— I work for comb honey alto- 

 gether, and supers holding but 21 4Kx4Jixl% sections give 

 me better satisfaction than larger ones, and I use them on the 



Shade-Boards. — I never get so busy as to forget the com- 

 fort of the bees and provide two boards for each hive. They 

 are made of four " shakes" (clapboards) 6 inches wide and 3 

 feet long, nailed on two cleats 1x2x24 inches. One shade- 

 board will protect the top, east and south portions of the hive, 

 while the other will protect the west side, or end, as the case 

 may be. These shade-boards can be made for 5 cents each, 

 and they are simply indispensable where the mercury regis- 

 ters from 95 to 105- or more in the shade, as it often does 

 here in .luly, August and September, and the combs in hun- 

 dreds of hives on this coast have melted down the past sum- 

 mer on account of insufficient shade and ventilation. 



Ventura Co., Calif. 



Bee-Paralysis— Laying Queens Fighting, Etc. 



BV FRKD BECHLV. 



I see on page 481, that Dr. Gallup recommends exchang- 

 ing queens to cure paralysis. I can say that I can endorse 

 the Doctor's recommendations. In 1895 my bees were a 



