THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



141 



and gently rapped or jarred with my 

 closed hand or with my foot, and left 

 there until the bees leave it, when it is 

 taken to tlie honey room. 



At the close of the honey liarvest a 

 different method is necessai'y because, 

 if then left exposed, the bees will soon 

 find it and appropriate it to their own 

 use. Therefore to avoid this, I place 

 the clamps edgewise on the brood- 

 chamber cover and close down the 

 hive cap and allow the bees as they 

 leave the honey to return to their hive 

 through escapes made of wire cloth 

 and tacked over a hole made in each 

 gable end of the cap. (My hive is a 

 double walled or chaff hive and the 

 caps admit of a plenty of room over 

 the brood-chamber to set 100 4i X 4:^ 

 sections.) By the use of these escapes 

 the bees can pass out but cannot re- 

 turn. Therefore I can leave my lioney 

 there until convenient to remove it. 

 When taken off in the afternoon the 

 bees will be all opt by evening or at 

 the farthest by the next noon. It will 

 thus be seen that I do not take each 

 section from the clamp and brush the 

 bees off, as some do, but simply let the 

 bees leave the sections when they 

 please. By this method I can take the 

 honey off of one liundred colonies in a 

 few hours. It usually takes longer to 

 carry the honey to the honey house than 

 it does to remove it from over the bees. 



ANSWERS BY DK. G. L. TINKER. 



1. Sections should be removed from 

 the hives as soon as fully capped over. 

 When comb building ceases, then it is 

 imperative that tiiey be removed or 

 else the bees will soil the cappings 

 with propolis and begin to empty a 

 cell here and there and injure the ap- 

 pearance of the lioney. 



It has been held that honey has a 

 better flavor by allowing it to remain 

 on the hives till time to prepare for 

 winter, but I liave not been able to 

 detect any difierence. After removal 

 from the hives the flavor of comb honey 

 depends much upon the care taken of 

 it. If placed in a damp, cool cellar, 

 its fine flavor will soon be lost and the 

 honey become thin and run through 

 the cappings and at last get sour. It 

 should always be kept in a warm, dry 

 room. Ours has kept the best in a 

 room over the sitting-room where it is 

 very warm in summer and in winter 

 time warmed by the Are in the room 

 below. In this room it seldom be- 

 comes candied if left the year around 

 and the flavor is fully preserved. The 



17 



combs, if any, containing a speck of 

 pollen should be placed by themselves, 

 where they can be olten examined for 

 the moth larvte. As soon as all danger 

 from this source is past, the honey 

 should be cratefl ready for sale. 



2. If we had but few sections to re- 

 move we would go to the hives and 

 take them off one by one and shake 

 the bees down in front of the hives, 

 but where there is a large amount to 

 be taken, this process is too slow, and 

 unless one is spry about it, the bees 

 will bite into the cappings. The best 

 plan in my experience has been to 

 open the hive over the sections and 

 blow in a large quantity of smoke and 

 drive the bees down, then quickly re- 

 move the sections, when nine-tenths 

 of the bees will be driven out before 

 stopping to bite the cappings, and the 

 ■few left may, with shallow section 

 cases, be nearly all slndven out. The 

 cases of sections should then be car- 

 ried into a honey room with one win- 

 dow that may be opened outward, as 

 often as many bees gather upon it, 

 until all have gone back to the hives. 

 If one has no honey room, then the 

 cases of sections may be placed in a 

 large box and covered with a sheet 

 which may be lifted and shaken every 

 little while till sill the bees are out. 



ANSWERS BY IRA BARBKR. 



1. In answering your first question 

 as to taking ott' honey as fast as the 

 sections are filled, andhowit iskeptin 

 line condition for three or four months, 

 cannot be answered so that it will be 

 any benefit to your readers, without 

 taking more space than perhaps you 

 may think is needed. I take off the 

 sections as soon as I can after they 

 are filled, and give empty ones, as long 

 as there is any prospect of gaining 

 anything by it. The honey is placed 

 in the honey room the same day it is 

 taken off, and is kept in a pile, until 

 ready to case, and send to market. 



A room to keep honey in should be 

 light (the lighter the better) and 

 should be so constructed that it may 

 be thoroughly aired any time ; in fact, 

 every warm, dry day, and closed every 

 damp day, no matter how warm the 

 day may be. All cool days, a fire 

 should be kept going and the room 

 kept closed. 



My honey room is 14 by 22 feet, and 

 I pile the sections in tiers across the 

 room, and leave a pass about two 

 feet wide, next the wall, all around, 

 so you see that none of the honey is 



