Oct. 15, 1911 



hive- ventilating experiments was ever car- 

 ried out; and whether the fact that a single 

 porous mat was in use, or the hive was her- 

 metically sealed above the frames, made any 

 difference provided there was a liberal or 

 large entrance. If this was much contract- 

 ed, the inside temjierature rose at once, and 

 a force of bees immediately started fanning 

 outside. The two thermometers, placed 

 one on each side of the entrance, and project- 

 ing inside the hive, always showed a differ- 

 ence of several degrees. This fact, in con- 

 junction with the results of each phase of our 

 experiments, pointed unmistakably to the 

 conclusion that the bees under all conditions 

 carry out their own ventilation — that the 

 exhausted air is driven out on one side of 

 the entrance while the fresh air is being 

 drawn in at the other. 



May this not be accounted for by the 

 probability that the bees give off a consid- 

 erable amount of carbonic-acid gas, which, 

 being heavier than the atmosphere, would 

 descend to the lower part of the hive, and 

 therefore necessitate its being driven out 

 from the bottom? The fact that the bees 

 try to close up every chink above shows 

 that bottom ventilation is their system. 



Dampness and mojdy combs within the 

 hives in our climate of Australasia in win- 

 ter is due chiefly to insuflficient bottom- 

 ventilating space, and I always advocate 

 a fairly large entrance during the winter. 



Auckland, New Zealand. 



633 



COMPARATIVE PROFIT OF EXTRACTED, SEC- 

 TION, OR BULK COMB. 



BY LOUIS SCHOLL. 



BEE-KEEPING IN JAMAICA. 



Some Misstatements Corrected. 



BY SEPTIMUS NASH. 



I read with Interest the article In August 1st 

 number, p. 463, written by Mr. W. C. Morris, and 

 wish to make a few comments on what the writer 

 has to say on the subject of bee-keeping in Jamai- 

 ca. His first two sentences read: "The bee-keep- 

 ing industry in Jamaica is only in its infancy. 

 There is flora to support profitably a million and a 

 half colonies, and there are only 112,000 colonies." 



The area of Jamaica is 4200 square miles. Assum- 

 ing that the odd 200 square miles are unprofitable 

 for the bee industry, being swamp lands or under 

 cultivation of canes, grass, etc., there are 4000 

 square miles left which are more or less suitable 

 for bee-keeping. According to Mi'. Morris, there 

 are 112,000 colonies of bees here — probably a fair es- 

 timate — thus making about 28 colonies of bees per 

 square mile. Does that sound like a country in 

 which the bee-keeping industry is in its infancy? 

 Mr. Morris states that 1,500,000 colonies could be 

 kept here profitably— an average of 375 colonies per 

 square mile, and he further adds that the average 

 crop obtained is 50 lbs. per colony, but that with in- 

 teUigent management it could be increased easily 

 to 200 lbs. We bee-keepers would like to know 

 whether there is another country on the face of the 

 earth, of the area of Jamaica, that supports an ave- 

 rage of more than 28 colonies of bees per square mile 

 and makes 5,600,000 lbs. of honey, the result secured 

 from the figures as given. What would you think 

 of Mr. Morris' Jamaica supporting 375 colonies of 

 bees per square mile, and producing a crop of 

 30,000,000 lbs. per annum? 

 Black River, Jamaica. 



Continued from page 617. 



at 8 cents per pound, this must be deducted 

 from the $6.60, leaving $5.00 for the 40 lbs. 

 of comb honey in the can. 



The average yield per colony of bulk comb 

 honey is about 100 lbs.; and as extracted 

 honey must be used to put up the comb 

 honey with, both are generally produced in 

 the same hive. The extracted-honey supers 

 are placed on early in the season to catch 

 the early honey before the season is well 

 enough advanced for the best work in the 

 comb-honey supers, and use is also made of 

 them again at the end of the flow to catch 

 the honey, which otherwise would result in 

 a great deal of unfinished comb honey. 

 Thus the comb honey is produced rapidly 

 during the most favorable part of the sea- 

 son or the honey-flow, and during a time 

 when the bees are secreting wax more rapid- 

 ly, which lessens the delay in comb-build- 

 ing and consumption of honey otherwise 

 necessary. Using the extracted supers in 

 the early spring furnishes the bees extra 

 room and keeps them contented longer, so 

 that, when still more room is provided by 

 giving the shallow supers with frames filled 

 with full sheets of foundation when the flow 

 begins, there is no desire to swarm, as is the 

 case when supers with sections are given to 

 a crowded hive. 



Instead of using the regular deep hive or 

 those of the Langstroth dimensions through- 

 out for supers as well as for the brood-cham- 

 ber below, the shallow supers, hyi inches 

 deep, are used most extensively now, as 

 these are the most suitable in size to use for 

 the manipulations as outlined above for the 

 production of bulk comb honey. It is pos- 

 sible to use a much lighter weight of foun- 

 dation in the shallow frames, being both a 

 saving, and making the presence of such 

 less susceptible in the finished product than 

 if heavier foundation were used. For ex- 

 tracted honey the shallow frames are also 

 well adapted, as their comb surfaces are 

 more easily uncapped before extracting, as 

 the knife reaches across their width entirely, 

 and one stroke uncaps the entire surface. 

 Room can be given to the colonies more 

 gradually as needed with the shallow supers, 

 which is a great advantage over the deeper 

 and larger hives for colonies that are not able 

 to take care of so much room at one time. 

 The writer is using these shallow supers 

 throughout for the brood-chambers as well 

 as for the supers, and their great advantages 

 enable him to accomplish manipulations 

 throughout the season that result in larger 

 profits. 



As there is a very large demand for bulk 

 comb honey in Texas, greater than for the 

 other two kinds together, its production has 

 been most profitable for many years, and 

 hence is the most extensively produced by 

 far. 

 New Braunfels, Texas. 



