1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



493 



foundation, or upon colonies that seem to show 

 a special aptitude for finishing up gobacks. 



In looking over Dr. Miller's hive-record 

 book I found there were certain colonies that 

 had produced so many filled sections and fin- 

 ished up so many gobacks. These gobacks 

 are all placed on the hives before the honey- 

 jflow ceases ; so when the season is over, Dr. 

 Miller has nothing but No. 1 filled sections 

 without any unfinished ones, or practically 

 none, to be extracted, to be sold for less mon- 

 ey, or to be filled out after the honey-flow by 

 feeding back — a wasteful, laborious, and dis- 

 agreeable job, because all has to be done dur- 

 ing the robbing season. 



Of course, there is nothing particularly new 

 about placing unfinished sections on the hives, 

 to be filled out ; but, if I mistake not, the 

 general practice is to place such sections on 

 the colonies afte7- the honey- flow. 



Another interesting fact to me was that 

 some colonies are much better for finishing 

 gobacks than for filling sections from the 

 foundation — that is to say, when work is ap- 

 parently started or almost finished, those col- 

 onies show a special aptitude for covipleting 

 work, but they are not as much inclined to 

 start on raw foundation as some other colonies 

 in the yard. 



It seems that the Miller family have a way 

 of finding out the peculiarities of each colony, 

 and those peculiarities are recorded in the rec- 



tricks of the trade that he knows, and suppos- 

 es we all know. The word " goback " is sug- 

 gestive, and worth coining, and j-ou may be 

 sure it will be used in the forthcoming edition 

 of our ABC book. 



Emma also gave me an interesting fact ; and 

 that, was when one has sections that from any 

 cause have tiny drops of honey oozing from 

 the cappings, to put them in a super, place 

 the super on a hive for a few hours, when the 

 sections will all be licked up clean and nice. 

 It appears that the Millerites so manage that 

 their crop shall he^ practically all of it ^o. 1 

 honey ; and yet I suspect that over half of the 

 producers of comb honey have anywhere 

 from 10 to 25 per cent of it No. 2. A word to 

 the wise is sufficient. 



DR. MIIvLER'S out-yard BEES. 



After we had talked about gobacks I took 

 my kodak and placed it on a step-ladder, or 

 rather, I should say, a plant-stand, and took 

 two time views of Dr. Miller's out-yard bees 

 just as he had taken them from the cellar, and 

 before they were moved out to their perma- 

 nent location for the summer. In another 

 column may be seen this apiary together with 

 the home yard in the distance under the ap- 

 ple-trees. The hives on their temporay loca- 

 tion are set out promiscuously, and then when 

 they are moved to their " summer residence " 

 they are placed in regular groups of two. 



mili,Er's sectionai. moving-rack. 



ord-book ; and if the queen is still in the hive 

 next year, that queen and her bees are devot- 

 ed to a special kind of work — it may be to fill- 

 ing out gobocks, to running for extracted 

 honey, if the honey is travel-stained, water- 

 soaked, or discolored, or to producing comb 

 honey from foundation at the start. The col- 

 ony that is good both at producing honey and 

 finishing gobacks is givt n light work, and its 

 queen is used for a breeder. 



Queer, is it not ? that a prolific writer like 

 Dr. Miller should not have told us about his 

 gobacks ; and yet I suspect this matter is like 

 a good many of the other hundred and one 



While I was rambling over Dr. Miller's 

 premises I blundered on to his hive-moving 

 rack. Although something similar is shown 

 in the ABC book he has made some improve- 

 ments, and I therefore took a snap shot at this, 

 or, rather, a half of the whole rack, for it is 

 made in halves for convenience in handling. 

 The halves are placed together on an ordina- 

 ry wagon, end to end. By the arrangement 

 of cleats one can readily see how the hives are 

 placed. It is a very simple and cheaply con- 

 structed affair ; but, like every thing else that 

 Dr. Miller uses, it is as good as the very best 

 — that is, it answers every requirement. 



