THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



ing it is wisest to leave it in the combs 

 till the bees commence capping it." 



Honey may soar if thrown from the 

 combs when it is just gathered, and it 

 may be wisest to leave in the combs 

 till the bees commence capping it, or 

 until it is solidly capped over, but my 

 little experience does not prove nor 

 tend to prove that either proposition 

 need be adhered to. 



Sjuie extract the honey while thin 

 and evaporate by sun heat in a long 

 tank lined with tin covered with glass ; 

 others use nothing of the kind but sim- 

 ply run the honey thick and thin into 

 a cylindrical tank holding from six to 

 ten ga'lons and placed in the sun with 

 light doth tied over top. 



A tank three to five feet in diamefer 

 and six to seven feet high seems to be 

 the favorite style. 



I am free <o say that honey thick and 

 thi?i (as we are pretty sure to find it in 

 a whole day's work) can be ripened per- 

 fectly by use of the tank only. 



Properly arranged the tank should 

 set lower than honey house so that hon- 

 ey can run directly into it from the ex- 

 tractor, by the time the tank is filled 

 the honey near the bottom will usu- 

 ally be ready for storing away or ripen- 

 ing ; then, unless other storage is avail- 

 able we must draw off a sufficient amount 

 to give room for the next run, and so on. 

 In a region where showers are liable to 

 fall the tank must be covered by some 

 kind of roof. 



In practice enough more honey can 

 be secured in one season by using tank 

 or some other ripening apparatus to pay 

 its cost many times over. 



Galvanized iron is a good material 

 and is much used for both tanks and 

 extractors. 



Very large tanks should have an 

 iron hoop around the middle as well as 

 top to add strength. 



I have not written the above to crit- 

 icise such able authorities as has been 

 quoted, but because it seemed to me 

 the subject should be treated more fully, 

 or if you please more added. 

 Dewey, Kans. M. J. Wilsey. 



FEEDING. 



"How long will a swarm of bees live 

 on what honey they carry with them 

 from the parent hive when they swarm? 

 If they are hived on foundation starters 

 and the weather turns cold and rainy so 

 they cannot work in the fields for per- 

 haps a week, what will become of them ?" 



These are questions that have been 

 asked me, but like Dr. Miller I can only 

 answer, "I don't know," as I have never 

 tried it, as, for some reason or other, I 

 could never bring myself to starving 

 anything to see how long it could live 

 without being fed. 



If the weather is cold and wet so the 

 bees cannot work, unless they have an 

 abundance of honey, I am forced to feed 

 them, the same as I would any other 

 creature that I knew was hungry, or — 

 well, I can't be comfortable myself. 



Does it pay ? Some of the wise bnes 

 think it does not pay to feed artificial 

 pollen in the spring or sugar syrup to 

 encourage brood rearing. Perhaps it 

 does not sometimes and in some places, 

 I can only answer for myself and tell my 

 experience this spring ; whether it pays 

 or not I cannot tell till next fall. 



^Ve have had the worst weather for 

 bees this year up to the present time im- 

 aginable ; weeks at a time of cold, cloudy, 

 wet, windy weather, with only how and 

 then a warm, sunny afternoon when the 

 bees could fly and go to the fields. 



My bees were wintered on eight 

 frames ; had plenty of fall honey for 

 stores, and came through the winter in 

 good condition. March 25th they car- 

 ried the first pollen. About /Vpril 5th I 

 first placed artificial pollen (corn meal 

 and flour mixed) in the yard where they 

 could get it. Just as soon as the sun 

 would come out, even when the wind 

 was blowing hard from the north, mak- 

 ing it too cold for them to fly far from 

 the hive, they were at work carrying it 

 in. Before April 20th the strongest col- 

 onies needed more room, and in spite 

 of the bad weather the ten- frame hives 

 are hardly large enough to accommo- 

 date some of them now. About April 

 15 th I connnenced feeding them a little 



