1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



299 



gave nv.- Ill dcclions of honey; and if either 

 of them swarmed we never knew it, as we 

 can not watch our bees very closely, so we 

 were not very sure on this point. Won't 

 you please tell us what you think, know, or 

 can find out about this plan, especially as 

 to its influence on swarming? The writer 

 would be grateful to read something on this 

 subject. J. L. Howe. 



Robbinsville, N. J., Dec. 26. 



[I would not be able to give you any defi- 

 nite answer as to when the method you de- 

 scribe was given. Possibly what you refer 

 to may be a series of articles by the editor, 

 describing and recommending the "double- 

 decker " plan of running for comb honey. 

 This is nothing more nor less than two- story 

 colonies, each story having a large amount of 

 brood; in a word, the colonies are made 

 powerful by stimulative feeding or by unit- 

 ing, the queen being given unlimited room 

 in which to lay eggs. This results in few or 

 no swarms when extracted honey is produc- 

 ed, and very little swarming when comb 

 honey is the object. But in localities of 

 short honey flow, especially if the seasons 

 are dry, such colonies will give better re- 

 sults in extracted than comb. The plan is 

 particularly well adapted for outyards where 

 the owner can visit them only at stated 

 times even during the swarming season.— 

 Ed.] 



successful bee-keeping on a city lot. 

 I am sending you two pictures showing an 

 arrangement for shading colonies kept in a 

 city back yard. This first season I increased 

 from the first hive, at the left, to four. 

 From the second hive at the left I had one 



no honey at all. I also fed back two dozen 

 unfinished sections. Ail the colonies are in 

 Danzenbaker hives. J. A. Phillips. 



Washington, D. C. 



[Mr. Alexander says his hives do better 

 without shade; but there are other localities 

 where this would not be true. This would 

 be so in your case. — Ed.] 



HONEY INSTEAD OF BEEFSTEAK; BBEAKING 

 THE RECORD ON HONEY-EATING, 



I think my family of four can beat Mr. 

 Coultrin, page 96, in eating honey. From 

 July 6 1902, to Dec. 31, 1902, we consumed 

 170 4 J X 4 i section s of com b honey. For 1903 

 the figures for family are 370 lbs. ; 1904 we 

 sold short, so we had only 356 lbs, ; ly05 we 

 consumed 3^6 lbs., and have about 140 lbs. 

 to do us till honey comes. One 4JX4J sec- 

 tion just does us for breakfast when we have 

 buckwheat cakes 



We have some 5^X6^X11 sections. These 

 do us all day. 



Honey takes the place of beefsteak with 

 us we not having had a pound of beef in the 

 house in four years. 1 like comb honey, and 

 had trouble to get honey enough to eat be- 

 fore keeping bees. 1 tried the extracted; 

 but what I got had a metallic taste that I 

 did not like. I suppose it was corn syrup. 

 I am a railroad engineer, with a farm. I 

 had a few bees when a boy at home on the 

 old homestead; and when I got a place of 

 my own I got some bees before I had a 

 chicken. A. C. Armstrong. 



Warner, N. Y., Jan. 23. 



[There is no question at all that honey is 

 a strong food, and would, to a very great 



AN ARRANGEMENT FOR SHADING HIVES. 



additional swarm, this latter having one of 

 the Caucasian queens sent out by the Agri- 

 cultural Department. From the first hive I 

 took off 36 pounds of comb honey; from the 

 second, 44, while many of my neighbors got 



extent, take the place of beefsteak; but say, 

 friend Armstrong, your family breaks the 

 record as hon^y eaters. Can't you give 

 us the se^-ret of stimulating the honey appe- 

 tite in the average consumer? If every one 



