706 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



J^ov. 11, 



their combs, extract it, or enouRh to leave only this amount, 

 for heavy combs of honey are liable to be jarred loose and be 

 broken down. 



The upper story of extracting-combs are left on, but all 

 surplus arranRements in connection with comb honey should be 

 removed, or the bees will "stain" them badly, and render un- 

 sightly for future use. Also, their clustering on the founda- 

 tion starters will generally result in that coming down, and 

 being lost, with the need of putting more in to take Its place. 



In loading bees in cars (try always to secure cattle cars) 

 you need a number of ] x2 inch strips to lay several on the 

 floor to raise the first tier of hives off from the floor, to allow 

 ventilation ; then lay more on top of the tier to raise the sec- 

 ond tier, and thus all the way throughout the car. 



I find that 250 colonies in two-story hives make a very 

 comfortable carload, tho more can be put in if care is used. 

 Be sure the end ventilators of the car are open, and then leave 

 the doors wide open so that when the train is in motion a 

 strong current of air rushes through and among the bees. If 

 the car has ventilators on top, turn the " hood " so as to carry 

 a current of air down into the car, and thus help to keep 

 things cool. But whenever possible secure open cattle cars, 

 for these are the finest self-ventilators out. It should be 

 needless to say, yet it is well worth repeating, to load all col- 

 onies on cars with combs running lengthwise of the car, paral- 

 lel with the Iron rails of the track, never crosswise. In haul- 

 ing on wagons load, where practical, so theconibs stand cross- 

 wise of the wagon and road. I have used common, heavy 

 farm wagons without springs, and in all my hauling, of hun- 

 dreds of colonies, from a few hundred yards to 20 miles, I 

 have seldom had a comb to break down — certainly not one out 

 of five hundred — and I have traveled over some very rough 

 roads; but, as I have said above, my combs are principally in 

 Ho£Fman frames, and most have three horizontal wires to the 

 frame. 



When arriving at the destination open the hives as soon 

 as possible, so the bees can have a flight. If there is honey 

 coming in the bees will be at work within an hour— in fact, in 

 less time, frequently. 



To one moving around all over the country, a model, sys- 

 tematically arranged apiary is a thing not likely to be keptup 

 long. When we can secure a field or open spot, order can be 

 observed in arrangements ; still, I have found most of my 

 locations were in the woods, and the hives were scattered 

 around about as they would happen to be shot out of a can- 

 non, the hive-entrances facing every point of the compass. 



As soon as possible after getting the hives placed and 

 opened, I set each hive up on a couple of sticks of stovewood ; 

 this raises them about four inches from the ground, and is all 

 the hive-stand I ever use nowadays. Two or three seasons I 

 dispeust with alighting-boards, using the screen as a bottom- 

 board, or removing it entirely and allowing the bees free 

 access to come and go from the whole bottom of the hives. 



Half way up on the front of the hives I had two 1 J^^-inch 

 auger holes bored, one above the other, with a I^-inch space 

 between them. At the center of this space was screwed a 

 button \% inches wide and 4% inches long ; by turning it tho 

 size of the entrances was enlarged the full width, or closed to 

 only a single bee-space. These I found to be fine entrances, 

 and the bees preferred them to the bottom entrance. I had 

 200 colonies arranged thus, and I liked the arrangement very 

 much indeed. My hives at that time wore all the S-frame 

 size, but now I would prefer for a general purpose hive the 

 10-frame size. In honey-flows I used the 8-framo size tiered 

 three high. The big colonies gave good results, and I then 

 made and put iuto use 50 Iti-framo hives, with the upper 

 story in two parts of 8 frames each. In fact, I used 8-frame 

 bodies for the upper stories. These hives I gave the name of 

 "Jumbo." They have proved "Jumbo" In more than one 



way. With two queens in the lower story and 16 extracting 

 combs above, one gets "a right smart bit" (as our Florida 

 Crackers express it) of honey from one single colony. For 

 extracted honey these "Jumbo "hives have many advantages, 

 but are rather cumbersome for the " migrator." 



For comb honey a hive that is shallow and square rather 

 than oblong, and capable of expansion and contraction, is the 

 hive of all hives. Then use the Capt. Hetherington tall sec- 

 tion, and large yields of comb honey can be produced. 



But comb honey cannot be produced to advantage by a 

 man following migratory bee-keeping, his business lies solely 

 in extracted honey. The 10-frame two-story Langstroth 

 hive is the hive he will find the most advantageous. Outside 

 of his hives and screens, his only tools needed are two or three 

 tents, a good extractor, a couple of honey-knives, and two or 

 three good smokers. Let the thousand and one odd traps 

 " stop home." His handiest honey-package is a barrel. One 

 of the^e with a screen half way up inside, and a Ix I inch bar 

 of wood across the top will make his uncapping-can. A small 

 solar wax-extractor might be carried, but what is more prac- 

 tical in the line of his business is a square, double-tank gal- 

 vanized-iron boiler. I have one 14 inches wide, 20 inches 

 deep, and 30 inches long inside the tank ; a little smaller at 

 the bottom than at the top. There is a one-inch space be- 

 tween the two at the bottom. They cost about $5.00, one is 

 worth a dozen solar extractors where there is any amount of 

 wax to render. Have two or three pails of water in the outside 

 tank, and the same in the Inside one. Then put in the comb 

 and keep adding more. When thoroughly melted, let stand 

 till cool, then turn out the cake of- wax, scrape ofiT the residues 

 on the bottom, and it is ready for market. 



Volusia Co., Fla. 



That " Detestable Bee-Space " Again. 



BY C. E. MEAD. 



But few have tried closed-end frames, and sealed tops 

 tight down on top of the frames, or compared the wintering 

 and springing results of closed-end and tops, and log and box 

 hives, with the hanging frame that allows a free circulation 

 of air both around the ends and over the tops of the frames. 

 Why is it that so many practical apiarists advise closing the 

 bees, by the use of two tight division-boards, to the exact num- 

 ber of spaces the bees actually occupy between the combs, and 

 covering the frames on top tightly? To economize the heat, 

 enable them to keep warmer, and to breed up faster in spring. 



I have long practiced wintering bees in hives two stories 

 high, packing in September. The top story contains three 

 frames of solid sealed honey, and one of brood, with the 

 queen on that frame. The brood is in the lower story under 

 these four frames ; the balance of the lower story filled out 

 with light or partly-filled frames. I put }i-inch boards over 

 the two outside frames in the lower hive. The top hive has 

 the four frames in the center of the hive, and two tight divis- 

 ion-boards close to the frames of honey. I cover the four 

 frames in the top hive with a y-inch board tight on the tops 

 of the frames ; fill the space between the division-boards and 

 sides of the hive with sawdust ; put on another body (or two 

 empty supers) and till in 8 inches of sawdust on top of the 

 second story ; put on a board cover with M inch sticks clear 

 across under the cover, to let the packing dry out ; then 

 screw a board on the back of the three hive bodies, with 

 paper underneath, and you can winter nuclei and have them 

 strong for white clover. 



In the southern part of the United States they do not 

 have the " wintering problem," but do have plenty of propolis, 

 and the separate frames, not touching end-bars, and hardly 

 the top-bars, will be most practical and easy to handle. It 

 takes no honor or glory from the keen perception, inventive 



