434 



into operation. Such discussions were gen- 

 erally looked upon in the light of pastime. 

 Perhaps some of those who used to discuss 

 wax production to the exclusion of honey 

 may have been serious enough to hope that 

 so roe person would try the scheme and 

 thereby satisfy curiosity. 



The bee is primarily a honey-producing 

 insect, and I don't think that man will ever 

 be able to alter its nature enough to change 

 it into an insect whose principal object in 

 life will be to produce beeswax. 



While working bees for wax alone — that 

 is, to the exclusion of honey, may be but a 

 dream; yet working bees in such a manner 

 as to increase the amount of wax obtained, 

 and the i^rofit from the apiary thereby, is, 

 in my opinion, possible in most localities — 

 at least that is my belief. The basis of this 

 belief is that during a flow of honey the 

 bees will produce a ceiTam amount of wax 

 without any appreciable decrease in the 

 amount of honey that is gathered, and that 

 the average beekeejaer does not secure all of 

 this wax. 



As to methods of securing this wax, the 

 most simple is by proper spacing of the 

 frames in the super, and by the proper 

 uncapping of the combs. By proper spac- 

 ing I mean wide spacing; that is, eight 

 frames to a ten-frame super. I have visited 

 apiaries of manj^ extensive beekeepers and 

 found the frames in the supers spaced the 

 same as in the brood-nest, and have heard 

 .some of these same beekeepers boast as to 

 how thin they could slice off the cappings. 

 They were working their bees so as to get 

 as little wax as possible, and prided them- 

 selves on that fact. 



In the matter of spacing, my experience 

 has been that just as much honey can be 

 obtained when the combs are spaced wide, 

 and, when uncapping, slice the comb down 

 even with the wood of the frame. This also 

 makes it easier to take out the full frames 

 of honey from the supers; and it is also 

 easier, when uncapping, to slice off a good 

 (hick slice of comb than merely to remove 

 the bare cappings. 



In this matter of wide spacing, conditions 

 also play a part. With strong colonies the 

 combs can be spaced wider than in weak 

 ones; and during a heavy flow of honey 

 wider spacing can be practiced than when 

 the flow is light. This wide spacing, I also 

 think, holds down swarming in a measure. 



In tropical or semi-tropical climates 

 where there are long spells during which 

 time the bees gather merely enough honey 

 on which to live, considerable comb can be 

 ©btained by having it built in the brood- 

 nest. Under sach conditions combs so built 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



are clear gain; for if the bees are left to 

 their own devices, nothing is obtained from 

 them. 



In the matter of working bees for wax 

 alone, there are certain conditions under 

 which it can be done. I know this to be a 

 fact, because I have done it. I think I have 

 told of the manner in which it was done, in 

 previous articles to Gleanings. But as that 

 was some years ago, and I supjDose most of 

 the readers have forgotten what I then said, 

 or that I ever wrote anything on the sub- 

 ject, I will risk telling the tale again, 



HOW BEES WERE WORKED FOR WAX ALONE. 



In Cuba, that is, in most joarls of it, the 

 principal honey-flow is during the winter 

 months, the heaviest flow being during De- 

 cember and January. In summer the bees 

 are practically idle ; but in early spring and 

 early fall there is a light flow of honey, 

 during which the bees breed like mad, and 

 swarm accordingly. As a rule the honey 

 gathered during these spring and fall flows 

 is of very poor quality, and of little value, 

 even if it were possible to secure it, which 

 is not the case, for the bees have no desire 

 to store this honey in the su^jers, their sole 

 idea being to turn it into brood. It was 

 during this spring flow that the bees were 

 worked for wax. The process was simple. 

 Care was taken that none of the combs in 

 the brood-nest contained any drone comb ; 

 then the queen was confined below with a 

 queen-excluder. In the super the combs 

 were interspaced with empty frames, care 

 being taken to see that those combs in the 

 super contained no drone comb. Under 

 those conditions the bees were possessed 

 with the idea of building drone comb. As 

 the queen was below she could not lay in 

 this new drone comb when built; and as 

 the bees desired drone brood the comb was 

 held open for the queen to lay in, no honey 

 being stored in it. After the hives had once 

 been prepared in the manner indicated, the 

 production of wax was a simple matter. All 

 that had to be done was to make the rounds 

 of the supers twice a week and cut out this 

 newly built drone comb. When the early 

 floAV came on in the fall, all combs needed 

 for the winter flow were drawn out. 



By the foregoing procedure considerable 

 wax was obtained when, under ordinary 

 practice, nothing could have been obtained 

 from the bees but increase; and as increase 

 was not desired, the wax obtained was just 

 so much clear profit. 



In conclusion I wish to say that I think 

 I have made it clear that I do not believe 

 that bees can be worked for wax alone — 

 that is, to the exclusion of honey, under any 



