April, 1909. 



American T^ee Journal 



much as the exclusion of unwholesome and 

 dangerous substances may easily be controlled 

 in our imports without a tariff; and, like 

 beneficiaries of tariff in general, they wish to 

 conceal their intentions under the cloak of 

 public welfare. They keep our eyes on the 

 dangerous germs of foul brood while they 

 quietly abstract from the public 5 cts. on 

 wax and 2 on honey, and this, too, while 

 we are trying to get the people to consider 

 our honey a desirable, cheap, and wholesome 

 food. 



Perhaps it may be well not to be too 

 insistent on a rise in tariff at a time 

 when there is a general cry for lower 

 rates, and when even some of tjie men 

 who have made fortunes from high 

 tariffs are beginning to say tariffs should 

 be lowered. 



Using the Uncapping Knife. 



Opinions differ as to whether an un- 

 capping-knife should be used hot or 

 cold. Perhaps they always will differ. 

 What may be best under one set of 

 conditions may not be best under an- 

 other. As to whether the stroke of the 

 knife should be up or down when un- 

 capping, it would seem there should not 

 be the same difference of opinion. 

 There has been some discussion re- 

 garding these matters in Gleanings, and 

 while there seems no great convergence 

 of opinion regarding the first point, 

 there seems some tendency toward a 

 general preference for the downward 

 stroke of the knife. Louis H. SchoU 

 says: 



I have tried both the up and the down 

 stroke in uncapping tons and tons of honey, 

 using many different knives, and I often won- 

 der why the upward stroke is used. I have 

 tried it often, especially to find the better 

 way, and I have come to the conclusion that 

 downward shaving is what I prefer. It seems 

 easier to me; the knife can be handled bet- 

 ter: the comb need not be tilted so far, and 

 the cappings fall over and off readily instead 

 of banging to the knife. 



Shaking to Start Work in Sections. 



Geo. W. Williams, the enthusiastic 

 apostle of shaking bees, gives this as 

 his method of procedure when a col- 

 ony seems slow to start work in sec- 

 tions : 



To begin with, we will give the hive a vigor- 

 ous kick or two to ease up our rising temper, 

 and, incidentally, to cause the bees to fill 

 themselves sufficiently with honey. Next, give 

 them a few puffs of smoke, and then dump 

 every bee, queen, drones and all, with a 



food sharp thump, in a pile in front of the 

 ive: and as we put the frames back we 

 will put the honey and capped brood in the 

 center, and the younger brood to the outside, 

 and the job is done. Now, if the bees do not 

 start to work in the sections, and in all of 

 them alike, before morning, it is because they 

 are_ different from mine; and I will always 

 believe that their education has been neglected. 

 It would do your eyes good to see the beauti- 

 ful cases of honey taken this season from 

 just such a colony. In all my manipulations 

 I try to keep the fact constantly before me 

 that a thorough shaking never fails to bring a 

 colony into the same psychological condition 

 that characterises a newly-hived swarm; and, as 

 I go among them, and find one that, for any 

 cause, fails to come up to the standard I have 

 set, I "shake" it. — Bee-Keepers* Review. 



"Bunching" Bees for Winter. 



For II years Oliver Foster has prac- 

 tised with satisfactory results, in Bent 

 County, Colo., a plan of outdoor pack- 

 ing that certainly has a good look. He 

 hunches together 8 hives, 4 side by side 

 in a row, and back to back with this 

 another row of 4. For best results there 

 must be no cleats on sides or back ends 



to prevent making a solid block of the 

 8 hives, neither must there be any pro- 

 jection of covers. If necessary, plain 

 boards may take place of covers. The 

 idea is to have the hives on a level sur- 

 face, close together, with no space be- 

 tween them, either at the back or side. 

 Mr. Foster's plan of packing, especial- 

 ly with regard to entrances, seems par- 

 ticularly to be commended. He says in 

 the Bee- Keepers' Review : 



For convenience in packing we will nearly 

 close the entrances, and then cover them all 

 over with packing, so we will now form win- 

 ter entrances at the top of the hives; jix2 

 inches is large enough. These may be cut 

 from the top edge of the hive bodies, or they 

 may be provided for in the cover. The to? 

 entrances for the four outside hives should 

 be in the middle of the exposed side, while 

 those of the 4 inside hives should be in the 

 corners next to the outside hives. This will 

 bring two entrances on each side of the block, 

 and equally divide the distance between them. 



In closing the lower entrances, leave an inch 

 or two open at one side, that side farthest 

 from the center, and lean a piece of tin or 

 board 6 or 8 inches square against the hive 

 over the opening to form a small, dark ante- 

 room in front of each lower entrance. This 

 will relieve the bees of any possible occasion 

 to worry before the change in entrance is 

 discovered, provide a dumping ground for dead 

 bees, and a clustering place for live ones, 

 it needed, in warm weather. See that all 

 entrances are mouse-proof, and we are ready 

 to pack. 



Lean a layer of straw up against the block 

 of hives all around on 4 sides, and bank earth 

 against it. Lay straw over the top also, let- 

 ting it project over the edge of the block all 

 around, or 4 inches deep. Lay it so that the 

 straws will radiate from the center outward. 

 Then pile straw on a foot or more deep in the 

 middle. We will cover this with earth also, 

 but to keep it from rolling off over the edge, 

 make a hoop the size of the block, 4 inches 

 deep, of 1x4 strips of board, and lay this on 

 the straw. Now shovel on all the earth that 

 will stay on, spatting the steep sloping sides 

 down smooth and snug into the corners. 



SchoU and Divisible Hives. 



Inquiry has been made as to Louis 

 Scholl's management of divisible-brood- 

 chamber hives. Advocating shaking as 

 a means of arousing the energy of bees 

 (Gleanings), he claims that the various 

 manipulations of the season shake ener- 

 gy into the bees, and incidentally gives 

 the following resume of his manage- 

 ment: 



To stimulate breeding, the upper and lower 

 stories of the broodchamber may be exchanged. 

 This tears up the colony, and the brood-nest 

 is re-arranged by the bees, which has a stimu- 

 lating effect on them. Later the two shallow 

 stories are exchanged a^ain, and one with 

 empty combs is slipped in between them to 

 "knock swarming in the head." Just before 

 the honey-flow they are torn up again, as the 

 two lower stories (there are three now for 

 the brood-chamber) are exchanged again. The 

 top story, which is now partially filled with 

 honey, so that the bees are crowding out the 

 brood, is raised up, and a new super with 

 foundation placed under it. This makes still 

 another shaking; and, how those bees do 

 workl 



Honey in Jelly-Tumblers. 



.^s containers for e.xtracted honey, 

 jelly tumblers have the advantage over 

 bottles that they need not be thrown 

 away by the consumer, but are of value 

 as tumblers. An objection has been 

 that unless kept right side up they allow 

 the honey to leak. O. L. Hershiser 

 has overcome this difficulty, and at the 

 same time the difficulty of granulating. 

 He says in the Bee-Keepers' Review : 



"The tin lid of the jelly tumbler fits snugly, 

 but docs not seal air-tight. However, it may 

 he made to seal air-tight by the use of a 

 paraffined paper disk cut large enough to pro- 

 ject about 3-16 of an inch beyond the edge 

 of the top of the glass. This is placed on 



top of the glass while the honey is still hot, 

 and the tin cover is forced down over it, 

 thus tightly sealing the glass. So thoroughly 

 may jelly glasses be sealed by this method 

 that I have frequently carried them loose 

 in my grip or pocket on long journeys, and 

 for a considerable length of time, paying no 

 attention to keeping them right side up, and no 

 leaking occurred. 



"The paper used for the disks is what is 

 known to the paper trade as paraffined paper. 

 The lighter colored and comparatively heavy 

 stock should be used, as it makes a closer 

 fit, and seals more securely, than the lighter 

 grades. 



"Honey sealed up in this way will remain 

 liquid until sold and consumed, if that be 

 within any reasonable time. The writer has 

 no difficulty in so preserving honey in a 

 liquid state for the space of 2 years, and he 

 has samples still perfectly liquid that were 

 put up for _ show purposes at the Pan-Ameri- 

 can Exposition, nearly 8 years ago.'* 



Vicious Goldens. 



"We have complaints from all sides 

 of the very yellow bees, which are more 

 vicious than the old hybrids. Yet we 

 are obliged to furnish these bees, in 

 spite of their temper and lack of hardi- 

 ness. There are strains of very yellow 

 bees that are gentle and hardy, but they 

 are the exception. According to our ex- 

 perience, there is no better bee than the 

 old leather-colored Italian, and we are 

 inclined to think a slight mixture of 

 black blood helps the harvest." — L'Api- 

 culture Nouvelle. 



Number of Bees Afield at One Time. 



In Prak. Wegweiser it is stated that 

 the number of bees afield at one time 

 from an average colony is about 10,000. 

 This was decided by taking the weight 

 of a colony when all the bees were at 

 home and comparing it with the weight 

 when all were afield, making the ob- 

 servations at a time when the bees were 

 getting nothing from the fields. 



But would as strong a force go afield 

 when nothing was doing as when there 

 was the incitement of gain? 



Again, what was considered an aver- 

 age colony? 



The probability is that if we could 

 find out the truth about it, we would 

 find that what is an average colony in 

 the apiaries of some of our best honey- 

 producers, at a time when honey is com- 

 ing in a flood, would be found to have 

 in the field at one time a much larger 

 force than 10,000 bees. 



Ideal Location for an Apiary. 



Here is the idea of E. D. Townsend, 

 as given in Gleanings: 



"The ideal location for an apiary is a clear- 

 ing of about 2 acres in the midst of woods. 

 I like to have the timber surrounding this 

 apiary of second growth, for the second growth 

 IS denser than the first, and affords a better 

 protection against the prevailing winds in the 

 spring. Then if I could have this timber to 

 my liking it would be about 50 feet high." 



But some one replies, "The idea I why, 

 that's 10 times as much land as is need- 

 ed. A place cleared just large enough 

 to hold the hives, and trees twice as 

 high, would be the ideal condition for 

 best protection." But listen to Mr. 

 Townsend's reply: 



"Such a condition, however, is just what we 

 do not want, for howling winds might be 

 blowing overhead that would chill every bee 

 that ventured above; and, at the same time, 

 if the sun were shining the temperature in- 

 side the enclosure would, perhaps, be such that 



