144 



THE AMERICAN APICUUTURIST. 



comb needs to go through the extrac- 

 tor, and back into the hives again. 

 The honey is always thin and unripe, 

 and is stored iu tin cans 28 inches deep 

 and 17 inches in diameter. In such 

 open-top cans and in an airy place it 

 always becomes cured. If it should 

 begin to ferment, I would dip the fer- 

 menting portion from the top and 

 place it iu a broad and shallow pan iu 

 a dry and airy place. If this failed, it 

 is only lit for vinegar, though it might 

 be thickened by boiling. Aftertesting 

 artificial plan of evaporation, I have 

 concluded that the bees can cure honey 

 cheaper than any one else. 



3. Heating honey to a temperature, 

 even if it is not very high, destroys 

 that exquisite flavor that makes it de- 

 lightful above other sweets. Extract- 

 ing before it is ripe has the same 

 efl"ect. There seems to be a flavor im- 

 parted to honey at about the time it is 

 sealed, that actually appears to be 

 made by the bees. Heating honey 

 darkens the color also. 



4. To liquefy candied honey that it 

 may have the flavor it had iu the hive 

 and sealed, is a pretty hard task to 

 perform, as we cannot get the real 

 flavor of honey to perfection outside 

 of comb honey. However, I would 

 prefer to liquefy candied honey by 

 the heat of the sun; next, I would sur- 

 round the honey with hot water. 

 "While the last method would be sure 

 to detract some of its flavor, the first 

 would not be enough to be very notice- 

 able. While we may notbe able to pro- 

 duce extracted honey having as delicate 

 and fine a flavor as comb honey, 

 we may rely on producing extracted 

 at eight cents, when comb sells at 

 twelve and one-half, as something else 

 besides flavor is required. 



each nucleus a young queen or a ripe 

 queen cell. These nuclei can be built 

 up easily to strong colonies by giving 

 them more frames of brood when 

 needed. A full strong colony can and 

 does rear far more brood, or gather a 

 much larger amount of honey than a 

 weak one, and by this method the 

 strong colonies keep the weak ones iu 

 force, and by so doing after-swarming 

 is prevented, and the largest amount 

 of stoi'es and new colonies (when de- 

 sired) are obtained; to get the best 

 yield of honey however, the smallest 

 possible increase of colonies should 

 only be allowed. 



2. I do not allow any after-swarms, 

 and by using the method mentioned in 

 answer to question number one, I find 

 no difllculty in preventing them. In 

 case, however, any should come out, I 

 should remove all queen cells from tlie 

 parent hive and return the swarm at 

 once, and give plenty of room. 



3. There is no practical method 

 that is worthy of the name. "Circum- 

 stances alter cases" most decidedly iu 

 bee-matters, and the rule for one lo- 

 cality would probably fail in some 

 other. The nucleus plan of making 

 increase mentioned in answer one will 

 probably be the easiest and most sim- 

 ple plan for the novice to follow. 

 Experts fail, however, in their nttempts 

 iu this direction, and the novice must 

 not expect to do better than they. 



It would require along article to 

 give a practical answer to this ques- 

 tion, as it demands a full knowledge of 

 apiculture in all its ramifications to 

 produce the best results. The novice 

 had better go slow and be guided by 

 the experience of the best writers both 

 of textbooks, and articles in our jour- 

 nals, more particularly iu the -'Apicul- 

 turist." 



ARTIFICIAL INCRKASE. 



1. When desirable to increase the 

 colonies in the apiary, what method do 

 you practise? 



2. How do you manage with after- 

 swarms? 



3. Is there any practical method for 

 preventing swarming? What is the 

 best plan for the novice to adopt? 



ANSWERS BY J. E, POND. 



1. I allow no natural swarms, and 

 have for years practised the so-called 

 "artificial swarming" method. I form 

 nuclei early in the season, by taking a 

 frame of brood from each of such colo- 

 nies as can spare them, and give to 



ANSWERS BY A. E. MANUM. 



1 and 2. I usually allow the bees to 

 swarm naturally once and prevent all 

 second swarms by removing all but 

 one queen cell the fourth day after the 

 swarm has issued, and then again iu 

 four or five days, though perhaps one 

 per cent will follow the young queen 

 when she goes to mate. In such a case 

 they are returned, when they seldom 

 attempt to swarm again if a card of 

 eggs and larva is given them. 



3. I think there is a practical method 

 to prevent swarming, though it cannot 

 be successfully practised except by a' 

 practical apiarist, a detailed descrip- 

 tion of which would be too loii": 



