MAY 1, 1914 



331 



aiiiing thirty years or more I have kept 

 bees in quite a variety of localities, have 

 had varied season and honey-tiows, four or 

 live varieties of bees and their crosses, and 

 this is the conclusion that I feel justified in 

 coming" to. 



In conclusion let me say that I am not 

 ignorant of the method of putting some of 

 the brood into the super. This undoubted- 

 ly helps in a measure, but only in a meas- 

 ure, and also has its disadvantages. 



Biantford, Ont., Canada. 



[We wish to indorse, as emphatically as 

 we can, Mr. Holtermann's argument in 

 favor of drawn combs in preference to full 

 sheets of foundation. While the beekeeping- 

 fraternity at large will acknowledge of 

 course that the former are superior, they 

 have not yet begun to appreciate how much 

 mure superior they are. Last summer some 

 colonies refused to enter extracting-supers 

 with foundation, but they would enter su- 

 pers with drawn combs without the least 

 hesitation. 



Another thing Mi*. Holtermann brings 

 out that will bear emphasizing is the value 

 of drawn combs for preventing swarming. 

 If we could, we would shout this on the 

 housetop of every extracted-honey produc- 

 er, because it will prevent the loss of a good 

 many swarms, and the loss of a good deal 

 of nectar that might othei-wise be secured. 



iSo important do we regard drawn combs 

 that we sent down to our Florida apiary 



last winter 6000 frames of foundation ; and 

 one of the " problems " that our Mr. Mar- 

 chant has had to tackle is to force the bees 

 to draw these out and make increase at the 

 same time. If he had had drawn combs he 

 would have had 25 to 50 per cent more in- 

 crease. 



Many and many a time we see beekeepers 

 who are careless about storing tlieir combs. 

 The worms get into them, and in other cases 

 hundreds and thousands of them are stacked 

 up in all kinds of heaps on the honey-house 

 floor, where they get bruised and broken, 

 and sometimes we find them in the back 

 yard where the sun melts them down. The 

 owners say they will pick them up " some 

 other time;" but they don't. The facts are, 

 these drawn combs, next to the bees them- 

 selves, are the best capital the extracted- 

 honey producer can have. If a full sheet 

 of wired foundation is worth, say, 16 cents, 

 a frame of drawn comb ought to be worth 

 35. In a good year they might be worth 

 even 50 cents. 



The problem with many beekeepers should 

 be to get their frames of foundation drawn 

 out before the honey season. This can be 

 done by placing a full sheet between two 

 frames of brood, Avhen the sioreading of 

 brood can be practiced with safety. If 

 possible, get the combs drawn out in the 

 fall, during buckwheat or soon after; and 

 when once drawn, stack them up carefully 

 in the honey-house, where they can be fumi- 

 gated, ready for next season's use. — Ed.] 



SHALL APICULTUMAL EDUCATION BE ENCOURAGED? 



BY OREL L. HERSHISER 



Beekeepers may be divided into two 

 general classes, more or less sharply de- 

 fined, one believing in offering the best of 

 apieultural advantages and encouragement 

 to any and all who may wish to learn the 

 science; the other, including all who do not 

 believe in so broadly offering such advan- 

 tages and encouragement. 



In the former class may be included the 

 educators engaged in apieultural instruction 

 in schools and colleges; bee-inspectors and 

 government apiarists; authors of books on 

 apiculture; editors and publishers of api- 

 eultural periodicals, and most of the writ- 

 ers, correspondents, and contributors to 

 them ; and most of the members of beekeep- 

 ers' associations, especially those who read 

 papers and make addresses, and otherwise 

 give instruction. 



Inasmuch as nearly all apiarists who 

 produce honey to sell avail themselves of 

 every opportunity to hear if not to engage 



in the instruction and proceedings of bee- 

 keepers' conventions, it would seem that 

 nearly or quite all the entire membership 

 of the craft would be included in the former 

 class. However, paradoxical as it may 

 seem, it is well known that some apiarists 

 who are leaders in convention proceedings, 

 and otheiTvise prominently engaged in api- 

 eultural educational work, are also opposed 

 to offering educational encouragement to 

 students desiring to qualify themselves a? 

 beekeepers. It api^ears that the two classes 

 of beekeepers overlap each other, some in- 

 dividuals being not only on the fence but 

 on both sides of it at the same time. 



Opponents of the scheme of education 

 and encouragement evidently fear that any 

 considerable accession to the ranks of bee- 

 keepers will result in an overproduction of 

 honey and consequent decline in prices to a 

 point where beekeeping will cease to be a 

 remunerative occupation. It should be re- 



