(§* ^OLDEST BEE PAPEI 

 IN AMERICA 



.*t*« 



DEVOTED TO SCIENTIFIC BEE-CULTURE AND THE PRODUCTION AND SALE OF PURE HONEY. 



VOL. XVII. 



CHICAGO, ILL., FEBRUARY 2, 1881. 



No. 5. 



<rt ,C^ rM! ;C1 ^\ h ri rK rtrf ft Q * 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



EDITOH AND PltuPUIETOR, 



974 WEST MADISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL. 



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For the American Bee Journal. 



Hive and Section Making. 



JAMES HEDDON. 



equal to the cheap mineral paints. Of 

 these the Venitian red stands at the 

 head. Next, the French yellow ochre. 

 This is the paint I use for 'hives, rather 

 than the red, on account of its color be- 

 ing lighter and not so heat-absorbing. 

 For winter boxes I use the red, for rea- 

 sons above given. 



CONSTRUCTION OF HIVES, 



or what hive to use. This has been the 

 question of questions with all beginners. 

 I prefer a top-storing hive exclusively. 

 To me, an argument in favor of side- 

 storing is an admission that, the shape 

 or construction of the hive of the advo- 

 cate, is faulty. The Larjgstroth frame 

 seems to me to be the best size and 

 shape to give us the most advantages. 

 I differ with many as to the number of 

 these frames per hive, or, in other 

 words, the proper size of a hive. I be- 

 lieve, with very many of our most suc- 

 cessful producers, that small brood 

 chambers are best, consequently I dis- 



They have objections that though theory 

 may overlook, practice discovers at 

 once. Ttiey are too thick and clumsy 

 for summer, and too thin and cold for 

 winter. 



Now, in regard to the surplus story of 

 the hive, let us consider that under the 

 head of 



SECTIONS. 



How to adjust them to the hive, what 

 size and shape to use, and how many 

 per hive, are the important questions. 

 The method of adjusting that will give 

 us the ele<a>e.it frame and cleanest honey, 

 with the least labor, is my choice 

 always. There are many good methods 

 used, and thought the very best by nu- 

 merous advocates, so I will pass on 

 without further comment. 



The size of the section is a matter of 

 considerable importance. If it was not 

 such a sin and sign of weakness to ac- 

 knowledge a mistake. I would say that 

 I believe the 1 lb. section is going to 

 force its way to the front. All honor to 



I choose the above subject knowing 

 that it is a practical one, and one of 

 much interest and importance to bee- 

 keepers. I shall state only what has 

 been my experience and observation. 

 You will bear in mind that I speak from 

 my side of the question, and that I am 

 aware that I may be mistaken in many 

 points, yet I believe that any one's hon- 

 est opinions, formed from long experi- 

 ence and close observation, must in the 

 main be of value to some readers. 



LUMBER FOR HIVES. 



Here we have nearly all the kinds 

 suitable for their construction — pine, 

 basswood and whitewood. I supposed 

 for years that pine was the most dura- 

 ble of these woods, especially if ex- 

 posed to the weather without paint. 

 Closer observation has convinced me 

 that whitewood is superior to pine for 

 endurance, whether painted or not, and 

 also that it takes and holds paint much 

 better, because the oil does not soak 

 into the wood as it does into pine, but 

 remains outside and dries with the 

 paint, into a perfect gloss. In regard 

 to painting, the same may be said of 

 basswood, but it decays readily if not 

 painted. Whitewood and pine decay 

 very differently— whitewood all on the 

 surface, pine not so at all, but through- 

 and-through the board in streaks. 

 Basswood makes a hive unexcelled, if 

 always kept painted. All these woods 

 are good enough, and I do not hesitate 

 to use any and all of them ; the differ- 

 ence is so small I do not consider it. as 

 I always keep everything well painted. 



PAINT. 



I had supposed that white lead was 

 the b*st paint, but such is not the case. 

 The cheaper mineral paint out-wears it 

 nearly two to one. So do the prepared 

 paints in pails, though they are not 



carded two of the frames of my old 

 standard Laugstroth, and use an eight- 

 frame hive exclusively. 



The porch I found not only extra labor 

 and material, but too much of a spider's 

 home, or saloon for idle bees. I have 

 also discarded that. I prefer a tight 

 bottom-board, nailed, and hermetically 

 sealed by the bees. It is not only much 

 more secure against the bee-moth larva, 

 but the convenience of moving and the 

 solidity of the hive are important fea- 

 tures in its favor. If our bees come 

 out strong in the spring, they oan clean 

 out their dead and do it much cheaper 

 than we can ; if they are weak, the 

 frames should come out any way and 

 their brood, honey and general strength 

 be looked to. 



I prefer a light, single-wall hive to 

 any tilled Willi chaff or other material, 

 tor I find that if we pack our bees we 

 will use a box. and do it more efficiently 

 than the tilled hive will admit of. These 

 filled hives are a kind of sacrifice be- 

 tween asummerand winter hive. They 

 are like a rifle-cane, or jack-knife, cork- 

 screw, screwdriver and toothpick com- 

 bined—a thing never to become staple. 



bright crop only. I use just 5x6 rather 

 than 51.4x614, because I prefer glassing 

 entirely on the outside of the frame or 

 section, believing, as I do, that this is 

 the coming method. Of course, we 

 must not be forced to buy fractional 

 sizes of glass, that being poor economy. 

 I put it on the outside, because we can 

 glass nearly every comb where no sepa- 

 rators are used in storing, and these 

 separators cost me too great a portion 

 of my surplus crop, to say nothing 

 of their fivxl cost and trouble of manip- 

 ulating. I cannot be too enthusiastic 

 in urging the use of handsome sections, 

 and cases put on the market in the 

 brightest and cleanest shape possible. 

 Dovetailing is now done for just about 

 the cost of nails to nail " prize boxes," 

 and there is more than a dollar's differ- 

 ence in the labor of making up, in favor 

 of the dovetailed section. I object to 

 the all-in-one-piece section, and do not 

 use them because of that naughty little 

 sharp corner, that is always catching 

 and causing the next section to leak, 

 when raised up and pushed down into 

 the case ; also, because they are too 

 liable to break, both at the time and af- 

 ter bending, and are not so true and 

 solid as good dovetailed work. I find 

 that by the use of proper methods of 

 ad justing sections to the hi ve.and proper 

 care after so doing, there is no need of 

 those nuisances called separators. 

 Dowagiac, Mich., Jan. 13, 18sl. 



For the American Eee Journal. 



Bee House— Holy Queen, Etc. 



MELVILLE HAYES. 



the judgment of Mr. A. I. Boot in this 

 regard. Mr. W. M. Hoge says to us 

 from England : " It is with the greatest 

 imaginable reluctance that I announce 

 my despair of there ever being a satis- 

 factory traffic in ' prize' or the section 

 honey. If they could be distributed 

 everywhere, with the combs safe and 

 sound, they would be the most salable 

 article ever introduced to the grocery 

 trade, but to deal in them now is to live 

 in a perfect atmosphere of complaints." 



Now I feel that honey stored upon 

 full sheetsof properly made foundation, 

 in 4>.|x434x2 inch (1 lb.) sections, will 

 goto England, and then all over the 

 British Isles, if handled with any kind 

 of skill and care. I speak from a few 

 years' of experience with just such an 

 article, and I feel that they settle the 

 problem. They will " knock the bottom 

 out" of the foreign traffic in comb and 

 liquid in glass jars, just as the -L prize" 

 and larger sections and boxes '■ played 

 them out" here. I pack these little 

 solid fellows in glassed cases of 12 sec- 

 tions onlq, never glassing the honey. 



I use 5x6 sections of 2 lbs. each in my 

 out apiary, and I glass a part of the 



I have twenty colonies in good con- 

 dition, mostly in Langstroth hives. I 

 fed 3U6 lbs. of best " A " sugar ; use a 

 cushion made of two thicknesses of 

 coffee sacking with a layer of cotton 

 between, nicely quilted, laid on top of 

 frames; half inch strips to keep the 

 cushion from coming down too close on 

 top-bar leaving just room for bees to 

 pass over the top • of frames. Have all 

 my. bees in a house constructed espe- 

 cially for the purpose at a cost of about 

 S200. I may describe it to you some 

 time. I know there is some prejudice 

 against " bee-houses," but mine is a 

 success. 



I have two imported queens and one 

 Holy queen. This queen I obtained 

 from Mr. Jones at the National Con- 

 vention. I doubled two reasonably 

 strong colonies, deprived them of their 

 queens for 24 hours; then caged my 

 royal lady ; placed her on top- bars for 8 

 hours ; and sprinkled bees and cage 

 thoroughly with syrup, scented with 

 peppermint, and then after the bees had 

 become quiet, say half hour, opened the 

 hive very quietly and let her go— it was 

 a success. Two weeks later I let a 

 friend have the queens out of two other 

 hives and doubled the bees in with my 

 " Holy " queen, following the approved 

 methods, together with some of my own 

 notions that never have been approved, 

 but '"all 's well that ends well." To- 

 day I opened the hive and found brood 

 in all stages from the egg up. in six 

 frames. She can out lay anything I 

 ever saw. and her bees are remarkably 

 quiet and perfect beauties. . 



There has been fearful mortality 

 among bees in this county. Here is a 

 partial list. J. B. lost 17 out of 20 ; X. 

 S. lost 20 out of 27 ; G. E. S. lost 5 out 

 of 8. These are the worst I have heard 



