12 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



fore they move it up into the sections, is a 

 valuable point. We were told by some- 

 body, a good while ago, that the bees which 

 gather the honey never carry it up into the 

 sections, but that they just take it inside of 

 the hive and deposit it in the first empty 

 combs they come to, leaving the nurse-bees 

 to put it out of the way, and put it in supers 

 or wherever it belongs. While writing in 

 regard to this matter, a little incident of 

 years ago occurs to my mind. The honey 

 was coming from bassvvood in great floods. 

 Somebody called me just when 1 was put- 

 ting some empty combs back into the hive, 

 the combs having just been extracted. This 

 hive was the old-style American, with an 

 open side. Well, these cotobs were put 

 just inside of the hive, without being moved 

 up into place, and the open side was leaned 

 against them. I did not have time to put it 

 in place and turn the buttons. The bees 

 were working heavily, and the entrance was 

 pretty well crowded. When I came back, 

 half an hour later, the incoming laden bees 

 had found the opening, and were going in 

 there because it was a shorter cut. The 

 outside comb that was not moved up 

 against the rest of them contained quite a 

 little freshly gathered honey. The workers 

 w^ere so eager to find a place to put it, they 

 simply put it in the outside of these empty 

 combs. Yes, and here is one more fact : 

 That same season, somebody was guilty of 

 leaving some pieces of comb on the alight- 

 ing-board of an American hive. The honey 

 came so rapidly one day that I saw quite a 

 lot of honey sparkling in the cells of this old 

 neglected dry comb. lu their haste, the 

 workers had evidently dumped it down 

 there, and hustled off to the fields for more; 

 Now, then, to get back to our subject : The 

 honey-gatherers— at least sometimes— drop 

 their tnin watery nectar into the very first 

 bit of comb that comes handy. It would 

 also seem quite natural that even this hasti- 

 ly dumped-down honey should be evaporat- 

 ed more or less before it is moved back in- 

 to the hive or up into the sections ; but we 

 do not know it for a fact. Can somebody 

 enlighten us on this point V 



THE COMBINATION SYSTEM. 



SHOULD EXTRACTED HONEY BE SECURED FROM 



CO.MBS HAVING ONLY A MODERATE DEPTH 



OF CELL? 



'HEN 1rritin{f the article on page Sb'i, I ex- 

 pected somebody to take me up on the 

 point you make in your comments there- 

 on. I agree with you, that it does not 

 look like good policy to take away the set 

 of extracting-combs before the bees have made a 

 start in the sections. The only reason why I did 

 not ads-ocate raising them up and leaving them on 

 awhile, as you suggest, was that 1 had never tried 

 it: and without trying it I could not be certain just 

 how it would work. I know it will seem strange 

 that I should have neglected to thoroughly test so 

 important a point in the system [am advocating; 

 but 1 must admit that such is the fact. The plan 

 always worked well as I gave it, and so I never 

 thought it worth while to experiment further un- 

 til two years ago. In 1886 I was so busy that, be- 



fore I realized it, all my bees that were in shape for 

 a trial weie at work in the upper story, in the 

 midst of a honey-flow; and it was too late for a fair 

 trial. Any bee-keeper in this part of Illinois will 

 readily see why I did not test it last season. You 

 can't make experiments In honey production when 

 there is no honey. 



I never like to recommend any thing I have nev- 

 er tried, so I kept silent on that point. Since it 

 has come up, though, I will say that it is my opin- 

 ion that it will pay, under some circumstances at 

 least, to leave the extracting-combs on until a 

 start has been made in the sections. This will be 

 some more labor, and will increase the proportion 

 of extracted honey produced; but there will not be 

 such a break in the work of the colony, and not so 

 much liability to swarm. 



By the way, my bees do not swarm nearly so 

 much as most others' seem to. I do not know 

 whether the difference is in management, locality, 

 or bees; but it seems to me there is a difference. 



SECTIONS FILLED WITH COMB. 



lam heartily glad to see so many testify to the 

 worthlessness of old combs in sections. It will 

 probably be hard work to get it into the heads of 

 some that it is any thing else than wicked waste to 

 melt up nice combs; but 1 think we can persuade 

 the majority that all section combs not in the best 

 possible condition bad better be made over. It is 

 not likely that mahy very soon will grasp the whole 

 truth that it will not pay to save any such sections 

 at all. 



Judging from the comment the subject has re- 

 ceived, it is a new idea to many that sections filled 

 with comb are any thing else than an advantage. I 

 have been convinced to the contrary for some 

 time. If you will turn to page 445, Gleanings for 

 1883, you will find the record of an experiment 

 made by me in 1883 that showed me that founda- 

 tion was superior to comb in sections. For the 

 benefit of those who may not have the back num- 

 bers, and did not attend the convention, I will say 

 that the experiment consisted of putting on each 

 hive about an equal number of sections containing 

 natural comb, worker foundation, and drone 

 foundation, the worker foundation being fresh, 

 while the drone size was old and hard. At least 

 1500 sections were so arranged. To quote the arti- 

 cle alluded to, *' The worker foundation was drawn 

 out and finished first; the natural comb next, while 

 the bees seemed verj- averse to working the drone 

 foundation." Each year's work since has only help- 

 ed to confirm me in the belief-that the use of comb 

 in sections was unprofitable. 



There has been a great deal of talk about the 

 hard septum left by foundation, and the effect it 

 might have on the market ; but I have always been 

 more afraid of the old sections left over from the 

 preceding season. A section of comb left all win- 

 ter, to bleach and harden and become blackened by 

 dust, etc., is not an inviting subject for mastica- 

 tion, even if it contains the best of honey, and we 

 have plenty of evidence that usually it does not. 

 It just occurs to me, that the reason why extracted 

 honey is never quite equal in flavor to the best 

 comb honey, and is usually much inferior, is that, 

 on account of being placed in deep cells, it remains 

 longer in an unripened condition. J. A. Green. 



Dayton, 111., Dec. 10, 1887. 



Friend G., I am really ashamed to find 



