SEPTEMBER 1, 1916 



807 



Two discarded supers, well-braced, act as a 

 stand for the extractor at the end of the 

 tent where two posts are firmly set, to 

 which the extractor is braced. A small 

 barrel is used for the cappings. An old 

 Novice extractor with the basket removed 

 makes a good strainer can. A double thick- 

 ness of cheese-cloth is put over the top, and 

 over this a fine wire screen. From this the 

 honey is drawn into the cans. 



I always use a strong light wheelbarrow 

 when collecting honey from the hives. This 

 is wheeled in and out of the tent thru the 

 loose flap at the end. Two light carrying- 

 boxes each of the capacity of a ten-frame 

 super are used on the wheelbarrow, kept 

 covered with a heavy robber-cloth. Boxes 

 used for the square 60-lb. honey-cans make 

 a good carrying-box. I put two together, 

 removing the inner side, and nail a good 

 handhole at each end, with also a cleat 

 across each end inside for the combs to rest 

 on. Such a box is strong, light, and just 

 the right size. 



On July 14 with such an outfit as I have 

 described, my 18-year-old boy and I drove 

 seven miles to the Cortez apiary, and by 9 

 A. M. had tlie tent set up. By 2 P. M. we 

 had extracted 1300 lbs. of tlie finest man- 

 gi'ove honey, and had it ready to load on 

 the wagon. In the mean time we had our 

 dinner, cut the weeds and grass about the 

 apiary, made an increase of two colonies, 

 and waited on several parties who came to 

 buy honey. 



Aug. 9 I visited this apiary again and 

 found many of the supers full and others 

 partly full of white mangrove honey. I 

 estimated the amount then in the supei's at 

 about 800 lbs. If I take 500 lbs. of this as 

 surplus it will make an average of a little 

 over 150 lbs. i^er colony. 



MY WAY OF MAKING INCREASE. 



I have also increased from 26 to 37 colo- 

 nies. This was done by a method which I 



ha\e practiced for years. It tends to pre- 

 vent swarming, and has given good results, 

 lu reviewing the bees, when they first show 

 a disposition to swarm, as I find a, colony 

 that is congested with bees and brood, 

 and is, perhaps, starting cells, I select one, 

 two, or more frames of sealed and emerging 

 brood witli adhering bees, and place them 

 in an empty hive. I generally throw a 

 handful of grass or leaves against the en- 

 trance. When another in similar condition 

 is found I again remove one, two, or more 

 frames of brood as before, and add them to 

 the others i^laced in the empty hive. This 

 practice is continued until the brood-cham- 

 ber is full. Besides the bees that adhere to 

 the combs T occasionally shake the bees 

 from one or more frames into the colony 1 

 am building up. Bees so united do not 

 fight. Care should be taken that these 

 built-up colonies have a good supply of 

 honey. When the brood-chamber is full of 

 brood and bees a super is often added and 

 filled with frames of brood and honey. 



" Pulled queens," that is, queens just 

 emerging from the cell," are readily accepted 

 by these built-up colonies. Lacking .such 

 queens, a cell may be given, and they are 

 very rarely torn down. Such built-up colo- 

 nies can even be found without a cell, as 

 when the work is well done they will build 

 good cells of their own.' Of course all such 

 colonies should be inspected in due time to 

 make sure that they have queens. 



When formed early in the season I often 

 secure some of my best yields of surplus 

 honey from these " built-up " colonies. By 

 this method we keep all colonies strong, 

 and have no weak nuclei to nurse. 



The bees along the coast have given the 

 best results this season; but while they Avere 

 busy storing seagi-ape and mangrove honey 

 the inland apiaries were showing a steady 

 gain from cabbage palmetto. 



Bradentown, Fla., Aug. 13. 



SOME OF THE HONEY -PLANTS OF PARAGUAY 



BY .J. BROWN 



Tucked away in the heart of South 

 America is the little-known republic of 

 Paraguay; in the heart of Paraguay is 

 Villarica, a town of some 15,000 inhabi- 

 tants, a little less than three miles to the 

 east of which lies my present home. As I 

 look toward the rising sun from my open-air 

 bed-chamber my eye passes over my apiary 

 of some fifty colonies, and pauses a moment 

 on the gentle slope behind, thick with wav- 

 ing palm and orange-trees. Beyond this 

 declivity stretches for two leagues a level 



grassy plain, which I am unable to see from 

 my position. Then comes my horizon, a 

 2d00-foot wall of forest-clad rock, running 

 north and south, called the Sierra de Ibitu- 

 ruzu. Place yourself in imagination on the 

 summit of this, and try to picture the 

 leagues upon leagues of crowded primeval 

 forest that stretches northward and east- 

 ward, inhabited by strange and uid<nown 

 animals, and tribes of human beings but 

 little above them. But two days' journey 

 on horseback, from where I write these lines, 



