596 



July, 1907. 



American l^ee Journal 



that means, but it is the common thing 

 to find in colonies such beginnings of 

 cells, and so long as they remain empty 

 no significance is attached to them. 



2. You do not say. whether you refer 

 to comb or extracted honey. When 

 there is any discussion about having rip- 

 ened in or out of the hive, extracted 

 honey is the kind that is meant, and 

 there' is no harm in having extracting- 

 combs darkened by the bees. As to 

 comb honey, it is not desirable to re- 

 move it from the hive until it is sealed, 

 and when it is sealed it is counted ripe. 

 Yet there are cases in which it might 

 be better to leave sections on the hive 

 at least a while after they are sealed. I 

 never tried ripening honey over a wire- 

 screen, but I should not expect it to 

 work the same as having it in the direct 

 charge of the bees. To be sure, the heat 

 would go up, and so would the moisture, 

 and the bees would have no chance to 

 ventilate to drive out the moisture. Be- 

 sides, you would be likely to find such 

 honey 'troubled with wax-worms. Very 

 likely you will want to know how the 

 moth's' eggs can get there if all is so 

 close that no moth can -get in from the 

 outside. I don't know how they do it. 

 but I know they get there. 



3. Your plan ought to work all right. 



The Armstrong T-Super 



Dr. Miller.— 1 express you today one 

 of Elvin .Armstrong's improved T-su- 

 pers. He sent me 2 with a request that 

 I send you one of them. He claims it is 

 a great improvement over his original 

 one. You know I liked that, and I 

 hardlv know whether the improvement 

 is verv great or not. All the difference 

 is in 'the side-tins and the springs in 

 one end. In the original the side- 

 pieces furnished the supports for the 

 tins. In place of the sprmgs a board 

 was permanent like the other end. In 

 the original there was half a bee-space 

 above and below, making a whole bee- 

 space when tiered. 1 hen. he has a ma- 

 chine to cut out tin the size of the sec- 

 tion to put on each one. I hardly know 

 whether I would care to bother with 

 them or not. You see there is no chance 

 for their tumbling to pieces as is 

 claimed of yours. I think either kind 

 is away ahead of the section-holders. I 

 should like your opinion of them. 



J. C. Armstrong. 



Marshall Co., Iowa. 



Dr. Miller.— I send by express to- 

 day to J. C. Armstrong two of my late 

 improved T-supers, and I told him when 

 they arrived to express one of them to 

 you for your inspection. I want you to 

 tell me just what you think of it, 

 through the columns of the American 

 Bee Journal. 1 believe I have some- 

 thing that can not be beat by any one. 

 I think that man from Indiana who 

 found so much fault with the T-super's 

 allowing the sections to drop out so 

 easily, if he could see one of these 

 would change his tune, for you can just 

 throw mv super any old way, or even 

 jump on it with your feet, and it is still 

 there just the same. You will find 2 

 super-springs on the inside at one end. 

 I think 2 or 3 pieces of section, or a 



piece of wood, will answer just as well 

 to keep the sections up square and in 

 place, and will be easier removed, and 

 answer just as well. In my super you 

 can remove any section, one at a time, 

 or you can remove the whole 28 at once, 

 and that with ease. 



You will find a metal cap on one of 

 the sections to keep the tops clean. I 

 am getting a machine made to cut out 

 the bee-ways to match the sections. I 

 expect to use caps on all my sections. 

 I believe they will pay for themselves 

 in one year in keeping the tops of the 

 sections white and clean, and then they 

 will last a lifetime. 'Let me know what 

 you think of the project. 



We have had a very backward and 

 cold spring. Bees did not get any good 

 out of the fruit-bloom as it froze every 

 night while in bloom. I have been 

 feeding for some time, and W'ill have to 

 about 2 week longer, until the alfalfa 

 gets in bloom. I have had 8 swarms. I 

 put them in hives with full empty 

 combs and am feeding them every day. 

 Feeding m\' bees makes them strong 

 and active in spite of the cold weather. 

 E. S. Armstrong. 



Colorado, May 30. 



.^n objection to the T-super is that 

 care must 'be taken in handling, so that 



the super be kept right side up. for if it 

 be turned upside down, or if placed on 

 an uneven surface so that some object 

 may push up against the sections, they 

 may be displaced. To be sure, there is 

 no necessity for such wrong handling, 

 but accidents may occur. Mr. .Arm- 

 strong has gotten up a T-super in which 

 the sections are securely fastened, so that 

 they can not fall out when the super 

 is upside down any more than they can 

 when it is right side up. Of course, it 

 is more complicated than the regular 

 T-super. Instead of 3 T-tins it has 10 — 

 5 above and 5 below ; and instead of the 

 single follower on one side there are 

 4, one on each side and one on each 

 end, although on one of the sides it can 

 hardly be called a follower, as it is nailed 

 on. To allow the upper T-tins to be 

 fastened in place, one of the sides of 

 the super is in 2 parts, the upper part 

 being removable. Besides the usual 

 wedges or springs crowding up the fol- 

 lower at the side, one of the end fol- 

 lowers is crowded up in like manner. 



While some may not think it worth 

 while to be at the extra time and ex- 

 pense for so slight an advantage, others 

 may think differently. C. C. Miller. 



[We would suggest to Mr. .Armstrong 

 that he advertise his T-super. — Editor.] 



RcflcctioHif 



California Bce-Kccper 



W. .v. rKV.\L. Aklcn Sl^tiun. Oakland, Calil. 



Painting Hives 



Some bee-keepers, I find, claim that it 

 does not pay to paint a bee-hive. Paint 

 is cheap, and it does not cost anything 

 to put it on, as one can do it when he 

 has nothing else to claim his attention. 

 For this climate. I find lead and ochre, 

 and lead and any of the metallic paints, 

 the most durable. Two coats applied 

 when the hive is new will easily last 

 15 years, but it is well to repaint them 

 in 5 or 8 years. Where an apiary is 

 near the ocean so that it receives the 

 sea-breezes, the paint will be destroyed 

 sooner than if it were inland. This is 

 said to be due to the air being charged 

 with salt. 



roots are near the surface. Honey-se- 

 creting plants will be benefited. 



Then, it is pretty sure that the weath- 

 er will not be so cool in the nights and 

 mornings after these rains have cleared 

 the atmosphere of the rain-making mois- 

 ture. This will be of untold benefit. 

 While the apiarist will be benefited, the 

 farmer who has his hay cut, and, per- 

 haps, his grain in the shock or stack, will 

 have much of it ruined. Then, the 

 cherry crop on the trees will be badly- 

 damaged. At our place the last load 

 of cherries were sent to the cannery 

 a couple of days before the down-pour 

 came. (You see we had a message from 

 the clerk of the weather that rain might 

 be expected within a few days I ) 



Late Rains 



The Weather In California 



.After two months of the dryest kind 

 of weather, we are- having a spell of 

 wet weather — a weather in which the 

 rain falls in the night or in the early 

 forenoon. The showers for the past 

 3 days — they began June nth — have 

 been sufficient to wet the earth down as 

 far as where the moisture still re- 

 mained. This will be a great blessing 

 to truck-growers and those having small 

 fruits, and all plants and fruits whose 



Owing to the bigness of California, 

 the State has a variety of climates. 

 Seven hundred miles and more of coast- 

 line, with a reach inland of 200 miles, 

 which cuts through snow-capped moun- 

 tains in places and deserts in others, 

 can not help but be responsible for vary- 

 inging chmatic conditions. Xo matter 

 how bad a drouth may be in a large 

 portion of the State, there will be sec- 



