April 25, 1907 



-"^r^EfSity^ 



American ISae Journal i 



served him right if he lost all his bees. 

 The man was so taken back at this 

 that he never denied the accusation, 

 and left the factory at once. 



It seems he had gone through the 

 Jones apiary and taken out all the 

 fullest combs of brood he could find ; 

 they were then taken home and given 

 to his colonies to strengthen (?) them. 

 As he lost his entire apiary, this cer- 

 tainly was a case of " taking fire into 

 his bosom " with a vengeance, and 

 about on a par with the case of a thief 

 going along the road one night and 

 stealing the bed-quilts on which a 

 smallpox patient had died, the quilts 

 having been hung outdoors that even- 

 ing for an airing. 



Cement Hive-Stands 



This is an age of cement construc- 

 tion, so it is not to be wondered at that 

 bee-keepers are turning to this durable 

 and inexpensive material for making 

 hive-stands and other things con- 

 nected with the apiary. 



While at the Brautford convention 

 R. H. Smith, President of the Ontario 

 Association, was telling me that they 

 are this winter making a number of 

 these hive-stands for their own use. If 

 I remember correctly, they make them 

 in the form of a cross in molds made 

 for the purpose. While it is not possi- 

 ble to make them very rapidly, unless 

 one has a number of molds, yet if the 

 work is done in the winter, or other 

 time when the beekeeper is not busy, 

 this is no serious objection. Of course, 

 if the work is done in the winter, it 

 will be necessary to have some place 

 to do the work where the frost does 

 not bother. 



The thing that struck me most for- 

 cibly was the extreme cheapness of 

 such stands, Mr. Smith assuring me 

 that the cement required for each stand 

 did not cost over 2 cents each. As to 

 cost of sand required, with most of us 

 that is simply a matter of the labor re- 

 quired for hauling. 



With the rapidly advancing prices of 

 lumber, we need not be surprised if 

 within 10 years the most of the present 

 wood-stands will be superseded by 

 cement ; indeed, some have already 

 used cement bottotns for their hives, 

 but this departure at present is but in 

 the experimental stage. 



Comb OP Extracted Honey for 

 Beginners ? 



At the recent Brantford convention, 

 the question as to whether a beginner 

 should produce comb or extracted 

 honey, was provocative of more dis- 

 cussion than almost any other topic 

 presented. In the Canadian Bee Jour- 

 nal Mr. E. G. Hand, who conducts a 

 " page for beginners." has the follow- 

 ing to say on the subject : ^~^n 



A question that presents itself to every 

 beginner is whether he shall run his bees for 

 the production of comb honey or extracted 

 honey. He often decides in favor of comb 

 honey, because he figures that the outlay for 

 supplies will not be so large — no extractor, 

 uncapping-knife, tin cans, or anything of 

 that kind to buy. The production of flrst- 

 clasB comb honey at a profit is a thing, how- 



ever, that can be accompllBhed only by a per- 

 son who thorouglily understands the hand- 

 ling of bees, and the money spent for section 

 supers, sections, foundation, cases, crates, 

 etc., and the time rei|ulredto put these things 

 together (breaking probably half the sections 

 the first time it is tried) will come to nearly 

 as much as woulil start In the plant necessary 

 for the securing of uxtracted honey. 



Another thing : When you have a stock of 

 extracting combe ami a good extractor, you 

 have them for all time if properly cared for; 

 and if you ever want to sell out, these combs 

 are worth money— a lot of it. In the produc- 

 tion of comb honey, everything except the 

 supers must be bought and put together every 

 year, and is sold with the honey. It is also 

 much more difiicult to control swarming 

 when running for comb honey, and without 

 control of swarming comb honey can not be 

 produced successfully. 



There are plenty of other reasons, too, but 

 these will suffice for the present. After you 

 have been running the bees a year or two and 

 have become acquainted with them and with 

 your locality, if you feel like having a " try " 

 at comb honey, by all means have it. You 

 will be far more likely to succeed than it you 

 tried it first go off. 



Quilts Over Frames 



As to what percentage of bee-keep- 

 ers on this side of the Atlantic use 

 quilts over the frames, I would not 

 have the slightest idea if asked the 

 question. Editor Hutchinson has 

 never used a quilt, and he says in a 

 late issue of the Review, " If any one 

 thinks I ought to use quilts, I wish he 

 would write me." Commenting on this 

 in the British Bee Journal, D. M. Mac- 

 douald says : 



" I don't suppose many American apiarists 

 will trouble to i;oramunlcate with Mr. Hutch- 

 inson, and 1 knijw 999outof every IIXXI active 

 bee-keepers on this side ' think he ought to 

 use quilts.' Moreover, they would give him 

 the most convlnclngargument men could pro- 

 duce by unanimously voting that they are the 

 best and most natural covering for frame 

 tops. The ease of manipulation with these 

 coverings Is an important point well worth 

 consideration. The pleasure In handling 

 frames thus wrapped up is one of the delights 

 of opening up a powerful colony, because 

 they lend themselves to a gentle, expeditious, 

 and effective examination of the contents of 

 a hive without unduly exposing or agitating 

 the bees." 



While I personally would use noth- 

 ing but quilts, yet I am aware that a 

 large number of extensive apiarists 

 have no use for them. If for no other 

 reason I would use them because they 

 allow, as Mr. Macdonald points out, an 

 examination of the colony without un- 

 duly exposing or agitating them at 

 times when the weather is none too 

 warm. 



My bees are all packed on the sum- 

 mer stands, and during the first week 

 in April I pushed the top packing for- 

 ward and lifted up the quilt at the 

 the back of the hive, and formed a 

 good idea as to the condition of every 

 colony in the yard. Not more than 2 

 hours were required to examine 100 

 colonies, and the majority of them 

 were hardly aware that they had been 

 molested. Had boards been on instead 

 of quilts, I would have hesitated to 

 open the hives so early in the season, 

 as when bees are agitated so early in 

 the spring there is great danger of 

 some colonies balling their queens. 



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



Long- Distance Bee-Keeping- and 

 Swarming 



With 10 bee-yards to look after all by 

 myself, with one horse and rig, I 

 have been having my hands full. The 

 mesquite-trees have surprised many of 

 us by coming into bloom just about 4 

 weeks ahead of time, and then they 

 opened up with such a rush that it re- 

 quired our attention at several yards 

 all at one time. Since my nearest api- 

 ary is only 10 miles from home, and 

 the farthest ISO miles, with the others 

 scattered very much, it means a good 

 deal of "humping" to get around. 

 But with short cuts and systematic 

 management I believe I am able to han- 

 dle from £00 to ijOO colonies, all by my- 

 self, except during the time of harvest- 

 ing the honey— taking it off the hives. 



Swarming — how to control it — is one 

 of the much-discussed problems with 



out-apiaries. By leaving shallow ex- 

 tracting supers on all the colonies all 

 the time to prevent crowding in the 

 brood-chamber, and keeping the bees 

 at work when there is something for 

 them to do, giving freer ventilation by 

 enlarging the entrances, and, if neces- 

 sary, breaking up the solid brood-nest 

 of sealed brood and providing laying 

 room for the queen, it has been possi- 

 ble to curtail swarming until the honey- 

 flow came on ; and this is all that is 

 necessary in our localities here in the 

 South. As soon as the honey-flow be- 

 gins, and the swarming fever does not 

 already exist in the colony, the bees 

 bend their whole energies toward stor- 

 ing honey, and swarming is entirely 

 forgotten, it seems. Then the thing 

 to do is to provide super-room and not 

 let the bees become crowded. In this 

 way I have kept down swarming to 2 

 percent for 7 years. 



