762 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15 



sack was made and into this was packed a 

 quantity of combs. It was then immersed 

 in a big extractor-can of boiling water— the 

 water kept hot by means of a steam-jet. 

 The bag was thoroughly punched for per- 

 haps half an hour, then weighted down. 

 The surface was next dipped off. Last of 

 all, the contents of the bag were then put 

 into the German wax-press and squeezed. 

 Now for the results: In some cases the 

 amount of wax taken from the bag punched 

 under water was about 33 per cent of the 

 whole amount obtainable, and other times 

 50 per cent. I had supposed the amount 

 would be much larger; but when the refuse 

 in the bag was put into the press we found 

 we were able to secure twice and sometimes 

 three times as much; and, what was more, 

 the wax was cleaner and better The wax 

 skimmed off from the hot water contained a 

 large amount of dirt, while that from the 

 steam-press was comparatively clean and 

 yellow. I am satisfied from the experi- 

 ments, which were repeated again and 

 again, and always with the same results, or 

 practically so, that the old bag plan of melt- 

 ing beeswax used to waste somewhere 

 about 50 per cent of the amount of wax in 

 the combs. 



This may sound a good bit like shop talk. 

 One doesn't have to buy a press. He can 

 make a very good one out of a half-barrel, 

 with a 4X4 oak studding for a lever. 



ARE WE RETROGRADING? 



Bro. Hutchinson, in commenting on an 

 article that appeared in the Rural Bee- 

 keeper, by L. Stachelhausen, criticising the 

 Hoffman frame, in the last Review, says: 



I know that good practical bee keepers (some of them) 

 prefer the Hoffman frame, and the argument used is 

 that hired help can't space them in a regular manner. 

 The man who has not in his eye enough of mathematics 

 or adaptability enough to be taught to space frames 

 with sufficient exactness is too low in the scale of 

 intelligence to be given a place in the apiary. Accurate 

 spacing of frames is a small problem compared with 

 some that must be learned by the really helpful helper. 



I am sincere in believing that the addition of projec- 

 tions on our brood-frames, lock-joints (so-called dove- 

 tailing) to the corners of our jjives, reversible bottom- 

 boards, or those with a "drop," covers with more than 

 simple cleats to prevent warping, are simply steps in 

 getting away from a simplicity that should be cherished 

 as the apple of the eye. 



If Bro. Hutchinson has an idea that the 

 only merit of the Hoffman frame is regu- 

 lar spacing, then he has failed to see some 

 of its good points. Personally I never had 

 any trouble in spacing the old-style Lang- 

 stroth; but the great mass of small bee- 

 keepers whom / have run across either don't 

 know how far to space them or haven't that 

 mathematical eye. I like a self -spacing 

 frame after the pattern of the Hoffman or 

 full closed end— one that I can handle in 

 twos and threes. I do not like, for exam- 

 ple, to have to finger over each frame as one 

 has to do with the old-style Langstroth to 

 get the brood-nest in proper shape. I have 

 been out working with the bees more this 

 season than usual, and I have not yet used 

 a pry of any sort on our self- spacing frames 



(I don't mean that a pry is not a conven- 

 ience and even a necessity when the propo- 

 lis is cold). 



As to the lock corner of the hives, it cer- 

 tainly makes a stronger joint; and where 

 the hive-bodies are handled roughly or mov- 

 ed to outyards this is quite an item. 



Regarding the hive-covers, we should all 

 like it if we could get back to the old flat 

 cover; but the scarcity of lumber makes 

 this impossible. It is not a question of pref- 

 erence, but a question of availability and 

 price. One can, in a small way, perhaps, 

 buy a few wide boards for his own use— 

 wide enough to cover his hives, with a sim- 

 ple cleat at each end; but the big factories 

 can not begin to do it, and are compelled to 

 use three-piece covers. Really I can not 

 see that the three-piece cover, Hoffman 

 frame. Dovetailed hive, and bottom-board, 

 are any more complicated than Mr. Hed- 

 don's divisible-brood-chamber hive with clos- 

 ed-end frames and thumbscrews, break-joint 

 slat honey-board, and "drop" bottom-board,* 

 which Mr. Hutchinson recommends in his 

 book, "Advanced Bee Culture." If "sim- 

 plicity " is so important a desideratum, then 

 the Heddon hive (and a good one in my 

 opinion) should be discarded. 



Basswood in this locality has not amount- 

 ed to much. The young trees gave down 

 liberally whenever they blossomed; but gen- 

 erally this seemed to be an off year for 

 blossoms. 



Do not put on to the general market No. 

 2 and off and mixed grades of comb honey. 

 Feed such back to the bees, extract them — 

 do any thing with them rather than spoil 

 the market. 



If the honey crop this season could be 

 measured by the amount of clover in bloom 

 as compared with former years, we could 

 flood the market several times over. No 

 danger of that. 



As we have said before in these columns 

 we say again, sell your honey early. New 

 honey, right off the hives, always has the 

 advantage. Consumers learn to expect new 

 honey just as they expect new maple molas- 

 ses. It is generally poor policy to hold back, 

 waiting for better prices. Anyhow, manage 

 to get it sold before the holidays— the sooner 

 the better, as a rule. 



The Wooster (Ohio) Summer School of 

 Teachers made us a visit a few days ago to 

 look over our bees, and to post themselves 

 on one department of their nature-study 

 work— bee culture. They came over in a 

 body, 150 strong, headed by Prof. E. F. 

 Bigelow, one of the department editors of 

 St. Nicholas Magazine. We will give you 

 a picture of them later, after we had in- 

 ducted them into the science of bee-keeping. 

 More anon. 



* This bottom-board is made now by most factories, 

 yet in the quotation just given it is condemned. 



