Mar. 7, 1907 



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America ^ea Journal 



191 



Bee-Cellar Heated With an Elec- 

 tric Heater 



Conducted by J. L. Bykr, Markham, Ont. 



Second-Hand Tin Honey-Cans 



" I am done with them," quoth W. Z. 

 Hutchinson in the January Review, 

 speaking of the use of second-hand tin 

 cans for honey. I suspect a good 

 many other bee-keepers have come to 

 the same conclusion ; certainly the 

 writer of this has had all the experi- 

 ence he wants with the article. 



To be sure, second-hand tins accu- 

 mulate on the dealer's hands, and it 

 seems too bad to discourage the sale of 

 them, viewing the matter from that 

 standpoint. But as far as the bee- 

 keeper is concerned, I feel sure that 

 secondhand tins are dear at almost 

 any price, especially if the white table 

 honeys are to be stored therein. 



The second-hand tins I have bought 

 have been, as a rule, unsatisfactory in 

 many ways. Quite a large percentage 

 have leaked, more or less would be bat- 

 tered and rusty either inside or out, or 

 both, and all were invariably niussy. 

 A greater objection is the danger of 

 foul brood, if the cans are received in 

 warm weather. Some time ago I 

 bought some secondhand tins to put 

 buckwheat honey in, and when they 

 came to hand I found the shipping tags 

 of the man who had sold the dealer his 

 clover honey still attached to the tins. 

 As I happened to know that this bee- 

 keeper's apiary was rotten with foul 

 brood, needless to say those cans were 

 " out of sight " in short order. It is 

 only fair to add that the dealer from 

 whom I bought the tins was perfectly 

 honest, and never suspected anything 

 wrong. 



Use of Bee-Smoker and Bee-Veil 



While the discussion was on relative 

 to smokers at the Ontario convention 

 last November, Mr. Brunne claimed 

 that he did not use a smoker during 

 the honey season in managing 110 col- 

 onies of bees. I am not going to con- 

 tradict Mr. Brunne, but I want to say 

 that there must be some personal mag- 

 netism about him, or else his bees are 

 entirely different from any it has been 

 my pleasure to come in contact with. 



But granted that it is possible to do 

 without a smoker, will any sensible 

 bee-keeper contend that that fact would 

 make it advisable to do so ? The most 

 of us don't keep bees for the purpose 

 of seeing if we can manage them with- 

 out a veil or smoker ; on the contrary, 

 the veil and smoker are used in just 

 the proportion that their use will help 



us to work rapidly, with the least in- 

 jury to the bees. 



During queen-clipping I never use a 

 veil, for the reason that bees are not 

 nearly so cross as later in the season ; 

 and, ayain, it is much pleasanter to 

 work without a veil, when the work 

 consists principally in using the eyes. 

 Later on, in the extracting season in 

 particular, I want a veil, every time; 

 not that I dread the stings so much, 

 but more so as a time-saver, for no 

 matter how quiet a strain of bees, there 

 are sure to be in a large yard some 

 cranks flying around the operator's 

 eyes. While it is quite possible to do 

 without a veil even at such times, the 

 practise of some good bee-keepers 

 proves this. Say, wouldn't there be fun 

 in the majority of cases if the opera- 

 tors tried to take off the honey from 

 100 colonies without the use of a 

 smoker'^ 



Mr. !■:. G. Hand, of Fenelon Falls, 

 Ont., winter.s his bees in a cave or cel- 

 lar made by remodelling an old lime- 

 kiln. While he has had fair results in 

 wintering in this cellar, yet the tem- 

 perature was generally a little too low 

 in severe weather, and the walls were 

 inclined to be quite damp. 



While spending a day with me last 

 September, Mr. Hand intimated that 

 he intended to try to remedy these ad- 

 verse conditions this winter by install- 

 ing a small electric heater in the cellar. 

 Just a few days ago a friend living 

 near Mr. Hand wrote me that the 

 heater was a success, and said that he 

 had just come from visiting the cellar 

 on the coldest day we have had this 

 winter, and found the thermometer 

 standing at 47 degrees. 



I might say that Mr. Hand is only a 

 short distance from where the electrical 

 energy is developed, and I understand 

 the cost is quite low; but doubtless 

 with the spread over the country of 

 electric power, many might avail them- 

 selves of a like convenience, even if 

 they should be a considerable distance 

 from where the current is generated. 



I hope in the near future to be able 

 to give the readers of " Canadian Bee- 

 dom " a full description as to how the 

 heater is arranged, and also give re- 

 sults of wintering as compared with 

 other winters when the cellar was un- 

 heated. 



touthern 



smj.'ti'.i^'m 



■■gse:>saaBr;'.' 



Conducted by Louis H. Scholl, New Braunsfels, Tex. 



Does the Elm Yield Honey?— 

 Other Subjects 



So you think the elm. a honey-pro- 

 ducer as well as a great pollen-pro- 

 ducer, do you Mr. SchoU ? I think if 

 you will investigate more closely you 

 will find the bees were at work on the 

 leaves of the elms, gathering this dark 

 honey you mention in a recent issue of 

 the American Bee Journal ; that it was 

 " honey-dew " the bees got from the 

 leaves, and not real honey from the 

 bloom. I never could decide that bees 

 got anything but pollen from the elm- 

 blooms. I am open, however, to con- 

 viction, and would rather know you 

 were right than myself. 



FEEDING COMBS OF SYRUP 



The way I've been feeding my bees 

 this winter is this : I go over the api- 

 ary through tVie middle of the day 

 while it is warm, lift the hives so as to 

 tell which are the light ones, and mark 

 those that I think need feeding. I then 



light the smoker, open the hives, and 

 take out the empty combs right up to 

 the cluster of bees. I make an esti- 

 mate as to how many combs of sugar 

 syrup each colony will need. Then I 

 fill the combs with warm syrup by 

 using a quart dipper with holes punched 

 in the bottom from the inside. The 

 combs are now filled by holding them 

 over a common wash-tub with the 

 syrup dipped up and allowed to stream 

 through the holes in the dipper so as to 

 fill the empty cells in the combs. When 

 one side is filled reverse and fill the 

 other. 



As fast as they are filled hang the 

 combs in empty hive-bodies. The hive- 

 bodies should be above the ground on 

 a bottom-board, and a vessel put under 

 to catch the drip. As fast as the combs 

 are filled stack up the bodies until you 

 have all the combs filled you wish to 

 use. Then about the time the bees 

 stop flying for the day, hang the combs 

 of syrup right up to the cluster of bees, 

 putting in the number you wish each 



