1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



133 



MUTUAX, ODOR. 



The middle or partition wall of the outer 

 protecting case has two ■/sX4 slits opposite 

 and between the two stock- chambers, and 

 this maintains sufficient communication so 

 that the same odor pervades both stocks — 

 seeing that the chambers do not touch each 

 other or the floor. These slits are arranged 

 so they are never stopped by the bees, which 

 has always been done where the Wells per- 

 forated dividing-board has been used be- 

 tween two stocks. I do not say it is imper- 

 ative that the same odor should permeate 

 both stocks at the busy season, but it is cer- 

 tainly a correct feature in connection with 

 this turn-over plan of uniting. 



ALTERNATIVE PLAN — ONLY USUAL EN- 

 TRANCE NEEDED. 



Another important item with my turn- 

 over method is that it can also be carried 

 out with only the one entrance to each 

 stock; and after the entrance of one stock is 

 closed the latter may be made to supply 

 automatically and continuously the already 

 doubled working force with maiure workers 

 without further attention beyond allowing 

 the bees communication through excluder 

 zinc set in the dividing or partition wall. 



The closed-in lot, having no direct open- 

 ing for exit or admission except through the 

 supered lot with its wide-open entrance, will 

 never have its combs clogged with stores; 

 and with a prolific queen during the warm 

 season it will produce a mass of brood and 

 young bees such as few bee-keepers may 

 realize. 



VARIATIONS IN UNITING OR DIVIDING; YOU 

 MOVE ONLY AN ENTRANCE-SLIDE. 



My double hanging-chamber hive, all 

 within a sheltering or protective case, pro- 

 vides for many variations in uniting or di- 

 viding, simply by the action of pushing 

 along one or the other of the usual entrance- 

 slides. 



ADVANTAGES. 



1. With the hanging chambers the brood- 

 nest is always under control, as the stock- 

 chamber can be withdrawn any time the su- 

 pers are on, and the latter are not moved. 



2. The turn-over, or immediate uniting of 

 the working force of two stocks into one, 

 enables one to take advantage of an early 

 honey-flow. 



3. The denuded lot produces more bees 

 because the stock combs can not be crowd- 

 ed with stores, and especially not with an 

 excess of pollen. 



4. For late autumn flow the plan is par- 

 ticularly valuable, as one of the two stocks, 

 having no direct entrance, is always drain- 

 ing into the supered lot. 



5. In tropical climates where bees can not 

 or will not breed during the best honey-flow 

 because the stock combs are immediately 

 clogged with stores, the closed in side will 

 continue breeding all the time. 



6. The union is carried out with no shift- 

 ing of hives, and no special floor. You just 

 move a slide. 



7. In like manner you can turn back the 

 bulk of the workers from the finished su- 

 pers, in the morning, and, later in the day, 

 the combs are almost clear of bees. 



8. No worry about the bees flying to the 

 wrong spot or settling around on other 

 hives. 



9. No shaking bees from combs. 



10. No need for bee-escapes. 



11. No time wasted in clearing supers. 



1*2. By this method of clearing supers no 

 pin holes are made by the bees in the beau- 

 tiful cappings. 

 Heathfield, Eng., Nov. 23. 



EXTRACTING DURING THE HONEY-FLOW. 



Exchanging Combs as Fast as they are Capped 



with Empty Ones; does Honey Improve 



with Age? 



BY G. C. GREINER. 



On p. 375, .June 15, 1910, Mr. Southworth 

 makes light of my way of extracting honey, 

 and calls it" dabbling in it at intervals." I 

 am no hand to enjoy long controversies. 

 After I have had my "say " I am generally 

 satisfied; but to bring out a few more facts 

 which Mr. S. overlooks, and explain to oth- 

 ers why his article is misleading in a num- 

 ber of points, I will make a short reply to 

 his article above mentioned. 



In the first place, Mr. Southworth does 

 not take into consideration that we all must 

 work in our own harness. Each one's en- 

 vironments are so different from every other 

 one's that uniform rules can not be adhered 

 to. What is practicable and advisable for 

 one may not be so for the other. For in- 

 stance, I run my home apiary and have no 

 outyards. All my time is spent with or 

 near my bees. If I am not actually engaged 

 with them I am busy in my kitchen garden, 

 which joins my bee-yard, or I may be doing 

 some work in my woodshop, which also 

 joins my bee-yard at one end. In this way 

 I am at all times within sight and hearing 

 of my bees. If I had to manage a number 

 of outyards it is very likely that I would 

 have to adopt different plans. 



Then Mr. Southworth overlooks the fact 

 that my management produces more and 

 better honey, with less work, than he can 

 get by his tiering-up plan. I admit that a lit- 

 tle time may be gained by tiering up at the 

 time when bees need more room for storage; 

 but it isn't nearly as much as Mr. S. imag- 

 ines. During the course of years that I 

 have practiced extracting before the end of 

 the season, I have learned to take the ad- 

 vantage of every motion I make; and I be- 

 lieve I can make the exchange of four combs 

 nearly as quickly as Mr. S. can place an 

 empty super under a full one. If it should 

 take a little longer, the advantages gained 

 by exchanging would fully overbalance the 

 Utile time lost. At first sight it may seem 

 like a small matter to exchange four combs. 

 It would be if I used the small half-story 



