DECEMBER 1, 1914 



921 



selves out. After they had made a good 

 increase up to the middle of September they 

 went backward on account of these long 

 flights. Before we knew it they had become 

 considerably weakened. It was these bees 

 in particular that we had to send to Vir- 

 gina, as mentioned elsewhere. 



A yard of two-frame nuclei that were fed 

 ui)on Porto Rican honey at the beginning 

 of August built up to fine strong colonies 

 for winter, with stores enough to carry them 

 through to spring. The cost of the honey 

 and the time amounted to $1.50 per colony.* 

 The increase at the swamps cost nothing for 

 feed; but the furthest yard, thirty or forty 

 miles away, had to stand an expense of 

 truck-hauling of ten cents a mile. That 

 would be about $10.00 for 50 colonies, or 20 

 cents apiece. Where there was plenty of 

 fall pasturage the advantage was in favor 

 of the swamj) beekeeping. Where the pas- 

 turage was lacking or fell short, the advan- 

 tage was in favor of the fed colonies. 



The experiment will be tried next season, 

 both in feeding and hauling bees to the 

 swamps. But feeding is a comparatively sure 

 proposition, while hauling to the swamps, 

 while generally cheaper for a given increase, 

 is less certain of good results. 



^ax-renderiiig-seirvice Station ; Mass= 



A NEW service station for Massachusetts 

 beekeepers has recently been announced by 

 Dr. Burton N. Gates, Associate Professor of 

 Beekeeping, Massachusetts Agricultural Col- 

 lege. The College at Amherst has installed 

 a steam-operated equipment which is show- 

 ing high-percentage yields. For instance, 

 one trial in rendering nineteen Langstroth 

 combs gave apiaroximately six pounds of 

 wax. 



Already considerable quantities of comb 

 have been rendered, and arrangement is 

 made for much more ; yet the capacity of 

 the presses is several hundred pounds a day. 

 We suggest that those having work to be 

 done write to Dr. Gates, requesting this" 

 service, whereupon he will send full partic- 

 ulars and an application blank to be filled 

 out and returned before the wax is shipped. 

 Dr. Gates especially requests that beekeep- 

 ers refrain from shipping materials previous 

 to notifying him. It should also be em- 

 phasized that it is not desirable to furnish 

 comb containing honey, not alone from the 

 standpoint of leakage in transportation, but 

 because it hinders efficient rendering. The 



service is offered at a nominal cost, merely 

 covering expenses, a charge of five cents per 

 pound of rendered product. The beekeeper, 

 however, is expected to pay transportation 

 charges, which are slight. 



We believe this idea of a central-service 

 station to be a step in the right direction 

 toward the handling of apicultural products. 

 Moreover, from the success of this project 

 already, we are certain that beekeepers ap- 

 preciate the opportunity atforded them. 

 Dr. Gates informs us also that from time to 

 time, as circumstances and facilities permit, 

 the wax-working operations will be improv- 

 ed and extended — not merely comb rendered 

 into commercial wax, but commercial wax 

 clarified and prepared for various markets 

 and their demands. 



We would remind the beekeejiers that 

 there is a neat income from scraps of comb, 

 scrapings, and burr-comb. This margin is 

 especially profitable when the toilsome and 

 disagreable work of rendering can be avoid- 

 ed at a slight expense. Consider also the 

 short distance of transportation as well as 

 the additional yield of wax possible in 

 comparison with the small percentage ob- 

 tained by the usual laborious home process. 

 Odds and ends of combs should no longer 

 be used to feed the bee-moths. " Save the 

 pieces " and have them extracted at the 

 central station. 



We would suggest that old comb may best 

 be stored by tamping it solidly into a tight 

 barrel or box. The more compact and hard- 

 er it is tamped, the less likely moths are to 

 injure it. Take a piece of two-by-four or 

 other heavy tamp, and pound down the 

 scrap as it is thrown into the barrel. The 

 moths will not trouble wax stored in this 

 way, especially if the material is allowed to 

 freeze once during the winter. It is sur- 

 lirising what an accumulation may be made 

 even in a small apiary. In the larger apiary 

 it will well repay the beekeeper to sort his 

 comb into two grades — bright and dark. 

 Especially handsome wax is obtained from 

 cappings or bright new comb. 



We commend the new service station to 

 the attention of beekeepers. Savings in 

 wax will help meet your next-year's foun- 

 dation bill. 



The Net-weiglit Law ag Applied 

 Comb-lkoiniey Buigiimesg ; Cam 

 Eged gi 



* These fed colonies also gathered some natural 

 stores from goldenrod and aster. 



We have received one decided protest 

 from a subscriber, asking why we did not 

 complain to the powers that be against the 



