1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



151 



Ry the use of drawn combs it will make a 

 difference of a third of a crop more in their 

 favor, even in a poor year. In 1893 I took two 

 hives of bees, as nearly alike as two peas. One 

 I supplied with drawn combs the whole season 

 through, and the other with full starters of 

 foundation comb. The one supplied with 

 drawn combs gave a surplus of 1(32 lbs. of fancy 

 honey; the one supplied with foundation gave 

 a surplus of 120 lbs., and not any more fancy 

 than the first one. It was all from white clo- 

 ver. 



I have been experimenting in this line for 

 quite a number of years, with good results. 

 For this reason I am in favor of drawn combs. 

 I also find that, with drawn combs on during a 

 poor year, I can get nice sections of honey when 

 they would not even draw out foundation. I 

 don't doubt in the least that the day is not far 

 distant when we all shall be using drawn combs 

 made by machinery. 



Elm Grove, W. Va. 



[The article above sets forth from a practi- 

 cal standpoint all or nearly all the advantages 

 that I suggested might accrue. Irom a iheoreti- 

 cal standpoint, as set forth in my convention 

 paper read at Lincoln. That drawn comb will 

 hinder swarming, can hardly be doubted. In 

 all our experience we never had any trouble in 

 preventing natural increase when we gave the 

 bees plenty of empty extraclingcombs; and the 

 same must hold true with the drawn combs and 

 sections, to a very great extent.— Ed.] 



COMB FOUNDATION AND DRAWN COMB. 



FISHBONE IN ORDINAKY FOUNDATION: USING 



THE BUCKWHEAT SEASON TO SECURE 



DRAWN CO.MBS IN SECTIONS; 



GOOD SUGGESTIONS. 



By F. Greiner. 



The value of comb in producing honey, both 

 extracted and in the comb, has long been well 

 understood; and it seems all ought to agree 

 pretty well on the subject, at least now, after 

 all that has been said of late. I am not going 

 to offer any evidence to prove how much more 

 honey may be produced by the use of ready 

 comb, as it is generally conceded the gain will 

 more than pay the cost; but I may offer some 

 suggestions as to how to secure the comb. 



The producer of extracted honey, of course, 

 has no trouble in obtaining all the comb he 

 may need in a £L~"t time; and, once in posses- 

 sion, he is well fixed. It is far different with 

 the comb-honey producer; his combs are sold 

 with the honey, and a new supply must be 

 looked for every year. Fortunately we are not 

 situated as are our German honey producers. 

 After setting forth the advantages of our little 

 pound sections to them, Vogel, the German, 

 made the following reply to me: "Our honey 

 seasons are not to be compared with yours in 

 America. Of this I am sure. It would take us 

 one year to have the comb built in such sec- 



tions; another year to have them filled and 

 finished." When the use of comb foundation 

 was suggested, Vogel again replied : " To secure 

 comb honey, which will attract and satisfy our 

 buyers, the comb will necessarily have to be 

 built from the very start by the bees; comb 

 foundation is not wanted." 



I myself have not yet learned " to chew " 

 even chewing gum; and I still object to the 

 fishbone found in comb honey built on founda- 

 tion; but with our American consumers of 

 comb honey it seems to be different. Evident- 

 ly they chew and like it, and the fishbone meets 

 with their approval. 



It may be said here, that a good grade ol 

 comb foundation could not be detected in the 

 finished product; but of this I am not so sure — 

 at least, I have so far been seeking in vain for 

 such undetectable comb foundation. At our 

 last convention of the Ontario, N. Y., bee-keep- 

 ers, the question of foundation in comb honey 

 came up, and, to my great surprise, not one of 

 the Ontario Co. comb-honey producers present 

 had ever used or gotten hold of that " good 

 grade" of comb foundation. One friend from 

 an adjoining county, I will call him B, as I 

 wish to refer to him again later on, said that 

 he was pretty sure no such undetectable good 

 grade of comb foundation was offered for sale, 

 but that he had made and used such himself, 

 and he also offered samples, which I shall test 

 the coming season. Be that as it may, the ma- 

 jority of our bee-keepers had found that it paid 

 them well to use comb foundation such as they 

 could obtain; and since the honey-consumers 

 do not object to use of it, if they don't object I 

 may offer suggestions as to "how to have the 

 foundation drawn out previous to the honey 

 season." I must, however, first cite another 

 saying of our friend B, above mentioned— a 

 saying which suggested to me the idea I wish 

 to bring out. He said: " Buckwheat honey is 

 and has been a curse to bee-keepers." Why? 

 "The inferior article has lowered the price of 

 honey more than any thing else." 



Now, this may be true; and while I am pon- 

 dering over it the thought strikes me, "Why 

 not use the buckwheat honey-flow for the pur- 

 pose of drawing out section foundation, to have 

 ready for the next season, thus not only reliev- 

 ing the market of at least a part of the inferior 

 product, but also making our chances for a 

 crop of a fine grade of honey the next year all 

 the better?" Now, this is not mere conjec- 

 ture. I have had quite a little foundation 

 drawn in this way, although not exactly for use 

 in sections. The plan will work well, I am 

 quite sure. It would be well to have the su- 

 pers, in which comb-building is to go on, pro- 

 tpcted during this time, as the nights are often 

 quite cold. It will also be found a good plan 

 not to allow too much room, so the foundation 

 may be drawn out evenly all over the frame. 



