October, 1909. 



American ^ce Jonrnal j 



desirable stock. I do not recommend 

 so late queen-rearing. 



When it comes to the matter of 

 stores, I am going to repeat a few prin- 

 ciples given early in this series of arti- 

 cles ; I feel they are worth repeating 

 several times until bee-keepers get to 

 know them. It is in regard to the ar- 

 rangement of the brood-chambers for 

 winter. Now, right as the honey sea- 

 son is closing is the time to make 

 whatever adjustment of the brood- 

 chambers are to be made to put them 

 in proper shape for best wintering. 

 And the very first thing is. 



Big Hives are Best. 



Suppose you have taken off a super — 

 all the supers on the colony — and there 

 is yet a little honey coming in, say you 

 may anticipate needing storage-room 

 for one-third to half a super full. It 

 surely does not pay to put on a super 

 of sections for that amount of honey 

 only to have an unfinished lot of sec- 

 tions — do not think of such a thing. 

 Some advise giving an extracting- 

 chamber and get it that way — this is 

 much better. I believe the best way is 

 to put that extracting-chamber at the 

 bottom ; just lift the hive and set in 

 t-his " extra," and put the hive right 

 in plenty to take all the honey, and the 

 back on. This will make storage-room 

 in plenty to take all the honey, and the 

 old combs now above being well 

 stocked the late stores will be tempor- 

 arily stored in these extra combs, and 

 when the season is closing and the 

 brood being curtailed they will move 

 up much of this and put it as high as the 

 room will permit. This will put that 

 brood-nest in the very best possible 

 shape for successful outdoor winter- 

 ing. Another point is that so often 

 these late stores are not of the best; 

 this puts them in the best possible 

 position to cause them to be the very 

 first consumed, and so are out of the 

 way by late fall or early winter. 



There are still other reasons why 

 such an arrangement of the brood- 

 chamber is of value. Besides the fact 

 that you have fewer unfinished sections 

 this way, and your late honey well 

 cared for, there is no danger of the 

 colony being crowded out of proper 

 breeding room late in the season when 

 a lot of young bees for winter are 

 wanted. With those extra combs bc- 

 loiv, the colony can fix their brood-nest 

 more as they wish, more as they do in 

 a state of nature when they are not 

 hampered. The most natural way is 

 the brood-nest deeper than wide, and 

 if any empty comb be present it should 

 be at the hotlnm, alu.uys; that is, in the 

 winter. And when spring comes abun- 

 dance of room is an encouragement to 

 vigorous work, and the best building 

 up of the colony. 



Do not for a minute think that so 

 much space will be any detriment to 

 the colony, either through the winter 

 or in the spring time; they can keep 

 just as warm as though the hive were 

 only half as deep. I do most surely 

 recommend that such big brood-cham- 

 bers are desirable throughout the en- 

 tire year, except just when we want the 

 chamber contracted for the purpose of 

 getting the bees into the super. I am 

 going to tell something more that will 

 be strange teaching to some — it is this : 



When you come to a colony with a 

 super say two-thirds worked, just as 

 the flow is about to an end, and I would 

 tell you to lift that brood-chamber and 

 put a set of empty combs underneath, 

 I would expect to hear you say that 

 would spoil the super above, they 

 would not complete it. But remember 

 that it is a common principle or rule 

 that the colony K/rcavs wants to put the 

 stores above the brood. If they cannot 

 get it above they put it as nearly so as 

 they can, and stick to that rule. 



So, then, when the season is about 

 closing, the last round of supers are 

 on, and to put more on would in all 

 probability cause you to have a lot of 

 unfinished or even simply stained su- 

 pers, just give an extra set of combs 

 below, leaving the super in its place 

 above the brood-nest proper, and the 

 honey will go to its proper place. Then 

 if there should be more than the super 

 will hold, the colony is in no way in- 

 jured, but benefited, and your work 

 has been simplified at the same time. 

 If you do not have the sets of extra 

 combs, give a chamber with one or two 

 combs in the center, and the balance 

 starters or foundation (though I do not 

 recommend foundation, for several 

 reasons), or even parts of combs. 

 Should you give the starters, and the 

 bees should build comb in them, it 

 would be largely drone-comb, if the 

 queen above is an old one, and there 

 be little or no drone in the hive; but 

 there will be very little brood put in 

 this when the flow is over, if the time 



be in August and September. You can- 

 not do this in mid-season, for the comb 

 built the'n would be nearly all drone, 

 until they had a good supply of it. and 

 it would be filled with brood. But they 

 will build this drone-comb only for 

 store purposes when the season is 

 winding up, and use it mainly for that , 

 purpose; then the apiarist has from 

 that to well into the spring to cut it 

 out at his leisure. Any honey stored 

 in these combs and left there beneath 

 during the winter will be consumed, 

 so that in the first examinations in the 

 spring it is empty and easily removed 

 to be turned into wax. 



Do you object on the ground of the 

 extra cost of those extra brood-cham- 

 bers? You do not need to; the first 

 cost of all these needed is not by any 

 means a large sum, and the saving in 

 time, the better wintering, the stronger 

 colonies obtained by their use, the 

 fewer sections spoiled, and all the ad- 

 vantages and uses of them, make it one 

 of the best and safest investments in 

 the stock of fixtures. One full crop 

 season will gain you enough to pay 

 every cent of the first cost of these 

 bodies, leaving you with that much 

 more invoice value, and the next and 

 following years you have them without 

 cost. Also referring back in this series 

 of articles, you will find you have need 

 of these in the matter of swarm con- 

 trol. As I see things now, I am first, 

 last, and all the time, in favor of large 

 brood-chambers ; but contractible at 

 the option of the apiarist. 



By W. A. PRYAL. Alden Station, Oakland. Calif. 



Honey Quotations 



The honey quotations given in the 

 papers are seldom reliable, especially 

 those given in the dailies; then, at 

 times, the prices given even in the bee- 

 papers are incorrect. All of this arises 

 from several causes, the main one be- 

 ing that the market men who supply 

 the newsgatherers with this data are 

 always on the alert to shade prices in 

 their favor. It is well never to sell at 

 such published prices; only use those 

 figures as a sort of guide. Better write 

 several reliable dealers that you have 

 such and such honey, sending a sample 

 thereof, for sale, and find out what you 

 can get for it. You might mention that 

 you have written to other dealers, and 

 you will sell to the one offering you 

 the best inducements. Never hold your 

 honey too long, unless you are positive 

 you will do better by so doing. 



Honey has taken quitea tumble here ; 

 comb honey retailing at the stores for 

 10 cents per small section—just one- 

 half of what it was a year ago. It can- 

 not be on account of any increased 

 production, for it commenced to fall 



long before it was known what this 

 year's yield would be. Then, this year's 

 crop is not above the average, as near 

 as 1 can learn. In some places it may 

 be set down as a failure. I believe. The 

 cause, mainly, for the slump is that the 

 financial conditions compel consumers 

 to retrench ; the apiarist is one of the 

 first to "get it in the neck," to use a 

 slang phrase that suits financial de- 

 pression. The bee-keepers will rejoice 

 with the return of prosperity, or what 

 is better, the resumption of normal 

 conditions. What is hurting this coun- 

 try is the set of men who rule the 

 money and trade markets, and grind 

 out the people's sustenance as they see 

 fit. But I must draw the line at purely 

 economical subjects. 



The California Pepper-Tree 



Next to the eucalyptus and the acacias 

 no tree has been more widely planted 

 in California for ornamental purposes 

 than has Schhtus moilc, or the Peruvian 

 mastic-tree, or, as it is now more com- 

 monly known, the California "pepper- 



