1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



803 



bees always gathered propolis enough to 

 cement the supers to the hive- bodies solidly 

 in a very short space of time, and I do not 

 find it necessary to make use of the Cy- 

 renius hive-lift. I have been taken to task 

 by some friends for saying this, implying 

 that I wanted to "kill" a good thing. I 



SoHom Board 



FIG. 1. 



certainly don't. But if it is possible and 

 practical in many localities to accomplish 

 the same object without going to the trou- 

 ble of affixing the hive-lift, why use it? In 

 localities where no propolis is gathered (and 

 I am glad to learn that there are some) , the 

 hive-lift is a necessity. 



The last question of my New Jersey friend 

 relates to keeping moth out of extracting- 

 combs. I might refer him to the standard 

 text- books. But as I was taken to task at 

 the Geneva bee-keepers' meeting for saying 

 what I did in the apicultural press as re- 

 gards bisulphide of carbon versus burning 

 sulphur, perhaps an explanation would be 

 proper. I purchased bisulphide of carbon at 

 our country drugstore. I was obliged to 

 pay 35 cents per pound. At this price it 

 was too expensive to use in quantities 

 necessary to kill the wax-moth larvae in my 

 extracting- combs and I preferred to use sul- 

 phur as 1 had heretofore, particularly as I 

 had failed with the bisulphide of carbon in 

 accomplishing the object of using it in differ- 

 ent proportionate quantities on the different 

 stacks of combs, but perhaps not strong 

 enough. I placed the drug in a sauce-dish 

 on top of the combs, and covered up all as 

 close as practical. Some friends thought I 

 should have done differently. I can assure 

 them that I usually employ the easiest 

 method. Long years ago I found that sul- 

 phur fumes would settle, being heavier than 

 air, and I have always burned sulphur on 

 top of the stacks of honey or combs, and 

 thus destroyed the wax-moth larvee, and 

 naturally would do the same with the bisul- 

 phide of carbon, for this is of the same nature. 

 At the Geneva convention I was told that 

 bisulphide of carbon could be had in Syracuse 

 at 10 or 12 cents per pound, and that it 

 ought not to cost me more than 14 at the 

 most. Our old friend Betsinger said he 

 would not " monkey " with sulphur when he 

 could buy the bisulphide as cheaply as he 

 could, and as long as the latter was so much 

 simpler to use. When I can buy bisulphide 

 of carbon at 14 or 15 cts. I think I shall use it 

 again, especially as there is no danger of 

 staining section honey with it, which is the 

 case when burning sulphur in too large 

 quantities. 



Extracting-combs need no looking after in 

 this climate during the winter months; and 

 if kept carefully covered up or in a tight 

 room they will be all right till needed during 

 the honey season. The trouble commences 

 after the combs are taken off from our hives. 



We must then fumigate them from time 

 to time till cold weather comes again. The 

 modus operandi is simple enough. In an 

 empty hive-body we either bum a quantity 

 of sulphur on top of a stack of combs, cov- 

 ering up tight, or we evaporate bisulphide of 

 carbon. Our friends across the water bum 

 the bisulphide of carbon. There is no danger 

 connected with this. It bums as alcohol 

 would. The liquid is not explosive; but 

 when the bisulphide has formed a gas, then 

 is the time we have to exercise care or we 

 may produce a destructive explosive. A 

 room should be aired out in which bisulphide 

 of carbon has been evaporated before coming 

 in with a lighted lamp or striking a match. 



Naples, N. Y. 



COMB HONEY BY THE TWO-QUEEN SYS- 

 TEM. 



Strong Colonies for Comb and Weak Ones for 



Extracted Honey; the Advantage of a Dual 



Colony in Each Hive. 



BY A. K. FERRIS. 



[This article follows right on from the one given on 

 page 586 in Gleanings for May 1. From now on this 

 system of non-swarming will be given in consecutive 

 issues. For further particulars see editorial else- 

 where.— Ed,] 



It has been well said that "it is more nec- 

 essary to have a strong colony to produce 

 comb honey profitably than extracted. ' ' In 

 other words, run your weak colonies for ex- 

 tracted and your strong ones for comb hon- 

 ey. But with the two-queen system weak 

 colonies are a thing of the past, as we have 

 noted in the preceding articles on extracted 

 honey. Strong to exceedingly strong colo- 

 nies are all we deal with during the flow. 

 On the other hand, a weak colony shows less 

 disposition to swarm than a strong one. 

 For this reason many run their strong colo- 

 nies for extracted and their weak ones for 

 comb. 



In the two-queen system we take advan- 

 tage of both conditions, and turn both in our 

 favor. In the first place, we have taken a 

 very strong colony and made two weak ones 

 with only a thin partition between them, 

 each having a queen and each receiving heat, 

 one from the other, and consequently both 

 winter well; yet the fact remains that they 

 are in reaUty weak colonies, and they there- 

 fore show no disposition to swarm unless 

 their part becomes crowded; but as each re- 

 ceives the benefit of the other's heat they 

 build up exceedingly fast in spring. In these 

 hives with only a thin partition between the 

 two swarms, the spreading of brood can be 

 practiced earlier, and without the danger 

 that is found in a single colony. In this way, 

 when each half has worked up to five or six 

 frames of brood, and is strong in bees, I 



