68 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



it is generally conceded by the ma- 

 jority of our most successful apiarists 

 that separators are indispensable; if 

 not it should be.— Ed.] 



QUESTIOKS BY EDITOR. 



1. What means do you use to prevent 

 swarming, and how are those means 

 applied? 



2. Do you secure the best results 

 by permitting increase, or by con- 

 trolling it? 



3. AVhich method of increase do 

 you prefer for general purposes, natural 

 or artificial? 



4. Do you think that separators are 

 essential and that the benefit which 

 accrues from them pays for the ex- 

 pense? 



5. Which do you consider the more 

 beneficial and profitable, sending your 

 section honey to marlvet glassed or 

 unglassed? 



6. What size and shape section do 

 you prefer, and why? 



7. Do you prefer allowing the honey 

 to ripen in the hives and be capped 

 over before extracting or curing it by 

 evaporation, and have you tested it? 



8. What style and size pacliage 

 proves the best with you for marlieting 

 extracted honey? 



9. Have you tested artificial pastur- 

 age for bees and if so what liind and to 

 what extent? 



10. Which do you prefer, side and 

 top storing or top storing alone, and 

 why? 



ANSWERS BY L. C. ROOT. 



1. If old stocks arc supplied with 

 young queens it tends to prevent 

 swarming. Eoom for the queen to 

 deposit eggs and for the bees to store 

 honey freely also tend toward this end. 

 Give plenty of ventilation and shade 

 the hive well. 



2. Taking one season with another 

 we prefer no increase of stocks. When 

 we can buy at reasonable prices we find 

 it a gain to secure honey rather than 

 to increase our stocks. We would 

 always have control of the swarming 

 propensity. It is not enough to control 

 swarming. The desii'e to swarm must 

 be prevented. 



3. I would never allow natural 

 swarming. I could practise a better 

 method even with a box hive. I prefer 

 to start nuclei and then build up to 

 sti'ong stocks. 



4. Umphatically, yes. 



5. There is but one way to build up 

 a fine honey market for comb honey, 

 and that is to protect each box with 

 glass. This is to the interest of all. 



6. I prefer a box holding about 1| 

 lbs. This box takes a 5X5 glass. I 

 prefer this box because it holds a good 

 size card for the table. When cased 

 three boxes in a crate, they weigh five 

 pounds; six boxes ten pounds, and 

 twelve boxes twenty pounds. We like 

 them on this account. We think the 

 best interest of all, if we are to have a' 

 substantial honey market favors a 

 larger rather than a smaller box. 



7. I much prefer extracting before it 

 is capped. It saves the bees and the 

 operator much labor and has many im- 

 portant advantages. 



We have tested it very largely and 

 can speak from experience. 



8. We are now having a fine experi- 

 ence with Alsyke clover. It is proving 

 of extreme value. 



Motherwort is valuable, hut we 

 prefer some crop which is of value for 

 general purposes. 



9. We market the bulk of our honey 

 in firkins holding from 50 to 150 pounds. 

 They are wood-bound pine firkins. Our 

 home market calls largely for pails 

 holding from J lb. to 25 lbs. if nicely 

 labelled, and prepared in a tasty manner, 

 a large trade may be built up for such 

 packages. 



