1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



79 



DRAWN COMB. 



ITS VALUE TO THE BEE KEEPER; SPKAYING 



TREES DURING BLOOM PROHIBITED IN 



VERMONT. 



By J. E. Crane. 



1 have noticed with considerable interest the 

 discussion in Gleanings in regard to the use of 

 drawn comb. I have used such comb more or 

 less for the past thirty years, and do not think 

 the estimates of its value are at all too high. 

 There are two or three advantages: The bees 

 will till them quicker, comm'^nce working in the 

 sections sooner, and, if a row is placed on the 

 outsides of the clamp in the firsu part of the 

 honey season, these will be filled and finished 

 nearly or quite as soon as those filled with 

 foundation in the center of the clamp. 



A little care should be used to produce the 

 best or fancy combs of honey with these drawn 

 combs. They should all be cut down if they 

 are more than one-half or three-fourths inch 

 thick. If not cut down, the bees hesitate 

 about sealing them; and when sealed they are 

 very apt to have a soiled or dirty appearance. 



After the honey is extracted from such combs 

 in the fall I place them in clamps and put them 

 on top of some hive so that all the honey may 

 be taken out dry and clean by the bees; for if 

 any is left, the next crop of honey when put 

 into these cells is more apt to granulate. 



I much prefer a knife for this purpose to 

 melting them down, as the center of the comb 

 is very liable to be quite to one side of the cen- 

 ter of the section; and with a knife fitted for 

 the work, one can cut down 200 per hour or 

 more. I like to cut them down so as to leave 

 the lower edge thinner than the upper part of 

 the comb, so as to be nearly as the bees would 

 build a thin comb. I like a Bingham & Heth- 

 erington honey knife for cutting down, fitted 

 for the work by first cutting the knife down or 

 ofif nearly one-half its length, and beveling the 

 edge square across like the sides. I have sev- 

 eral thousand such combs cut down and care- 

 fully stowed away for next year's use. 



Inclosed find copy of a law recently passed by 

 our Vermont Legislature. Such a law should 

 be on the statute-books of most of our North- 

 ern States. vSpraying apple-trees while in 

 bloom has done our bee-keeping much' harm 

 here in Vermont. The law reads: 



It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of 

 the State of Vermont: 



Sec. 1. If a person sprays or causes to be sprayed, 

 or puts or causes to be put, any Pails green, Lon- 

 don purple, or other poisonous substance upon 

 fruit-trees while in blossom, he shall be fined not 

 more than forty dollars, and not less than ten dol- 

 lars. 



Sec 2. This act shall take efifect from its pass- 

 age. 

 L_ Approved November 20 896. 



Middlebury, Vt., Dec. 23. 



[The comb-leveler put out by the late B. 

 Taylor, so far as I am able to gather from those 



who have tried it, levels the comb down per- 

 fectly, clear across their bases. I do not see 

 how a knife could doit as quickly or as well; 

 but perhaps it does. 



The Vermont law is brief and to the point. 

 Michigan already has a similar law, and sever- 

 al other States are moving in the same direc- 

 tion. All it needs is for bee-keepers to properly 

 instruct their legislators to give similar laws 

 for every State. If a law were once on the 

 statute-book it probably would never have to 

 be enforced. Its moral influence would be suf- 

 ficient to prevent spraying at the wrong time 

 of the year— Ed.] 



DRAWN COMBS FOR SURPLUS-BOXES. 



WORK IN THE BOXES BEGUN SOONEK; PRE- 

 VENTION OF SWARMING. 



By F. A. Snell. 



This subject of drawn combs has received 

 much attention the past few years, and it is an 

 important matter; and as I have had some ex- 

 perience along this line I will give jome of my 

 ideas. There is no doubt in my mind as to 

 these combs being valuable to a certain extent. 

 In each row of sections I vary much wish to 

 have about three of the central ones contain 

 drawn combs, to be put on each hive run for 

 comb honey at the opening of the surplus-honey 

 flow. I find work is begun sooner than when 

 only foundation is put in. All colonies will be- 

 gin sooner, and with some a difference in time 

 of a week or more. In others it will make a 

 difference of swarming or no swarming for the 

 season. The apiarist with long experience is 

 aware of this. A point that no comb-honey 

 producer should overlook is that of getting his 

 bees started in storing in the supers; and every 

 inducement should be made to this end so as to 

 secure such. Once well at work in the boxes, 

 more supers added at just the right time will 

 do very much to prevent the swarming impulse, 

 and thus secure the largest possible amount of 

 surplus honey. 



These supers, with the central drawn combs, 

 should be put on a little before there is a proba- 

 bility of there being honey stored in them— say 

 three or four days. Never be too late in doing 

 this work, or the swarming-fever may have ta- 

 ken possession of the bees, and then it is too 

 late; for swarm they then will if the honey-flow 

 be a good one. These drawn combs should not 

 be over IJ^ in. thick, I think, as the outer ends 

 of the cells should be made from new comb. My 

 experience has been that comb honey is nicer 

 where the comb is newly built, and I have oft- 

 en sampled that of the two and compared the 

 quality. With me the new is always prefera- 

 ble in both comb and honey. I should not like 

 to dispense with the central drawn combs, nor 

 use such in all boxes. 



One thing I have often observed, that I have 

 no remembrance of seeing mentioned, is this- 



Some combs in the supers are built very thick 

 at base and side walls; others at other times 



