@) (3 OLDEST BEE PAPERf^T 



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





VOL. XVII. 



CHICAGO, ILL., AUGUST 3, 1881. 



No. 31. 





Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Proprietor, 

 974 WEST MADISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL. 



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An Assistant for the Apiary. 



Knowing that our readers desire to 

 be informed of all the " new things " 

 intended for the apiary, we give on 

 this page an engraving of " Davis' 

 Honey Carriage, Revolving Comb 

 Hanger and Recording Desk, Com- 

 bined." The engraving is very plain, 

 but in order to give the many uses 

 for which it is intended, we have re- 

 quested Mr. Davis to describe them, 

 which he has done, as follows : 



This invention is the outgrowth of 

 years of hard labor in the apiary, and 

 is gotten up entirely from practical 

 experience. 



1. It consists of a honey-safe, sup- 

 plied witli corrugated adjustable honey 

 frame supports, so arranged as to hold 

 the combs perpendicularly, and pre- 

 vents them from coming in contact 

 with each other, and thereby being 

 bruised. 



2. Forward from the honey-safe, 

 over and on each side of the wheel, is 

 a tool-box, large enough to carry all 

 the tools, fuel for smoker, queen ca- 

 ges, clamps, etc., required while work- 

 ing in the apiary. 



3. The top of this tool-box is shing- 

 led, so that when turned forward over 

 the wheel, it rests on an adjustable 

 support, and forms a strong aud con- 

 venient writing-desk. 



4. Hinged on the forward right 

 hand corner, is awash basin, conveni- 

 ent for cleansing the hands and 

 tools of honey, etc., while in the 

 apiary. 



5. A revolving comb-hanger is sus- 

 pended by a thumb screw and swivel 

 from the end of a lever, which can be 

 drawn from the right side of the 

 honey-safe, and a frame of comb sus- 

 pended and revolved for inspection. 

 If found to need pruning, or if queen 

 cells are to be cut, the revolving bar 

 can be firmly secured in any position 

 by turning the thumb screw ; and a 

 second lever drawn from the honey- 

 safe, directly under the first one, and 

 below the bottom of honey frame ; 

 through the end of this an adjustable 

 rod passes, with a revolving stirrup on 

 the upper end, which straddles the 

 bottom bar of the comb-frame, which 

 is held as firmly as if held by both 

 ends by an assistant, and the operator 

 can proceed to prune or cut out queen 

 cells, having free use of both hands. 

 When not in use, these levers can be 

 pushed back into the body of the safe, 

 and are entirely out of the way. 



6. The honey safe is furnished with 

 a metal-dripping drawer to catch the 

 honey that may leak from the combs ; 

 this slides out on the handles : be- 



For the American Bee Journal. 



How I Wintered My Bees. 



WM. DOLLING. 



It now seems that the cellar carries 

 the premium on wintering, being most 

 successful, but all bee-keepers cannot 

 have a good cellar or a good bee-house; 

 I have not, and so 1 have to do the 

 best I can on the summer stands, and 

 that is, by my experiencej a good chaff 

 hive. I know of none better than the 

 Quinby, with the tight-end frame. It 

 also makes a great difference as to the 

 manner of using the chaff ; if packed 

 too tight it will not permit the mois- 

 ture to pass off sufficiently, and if too 

 loose, it will not retain warmth 

 enough. 



I began packing bees last October, 

 in the following manner : I removed 

 the division-boards on each side of the 

 brood-nest, and in their places I put 

 a frame, made of lath, x / 2 inch higher 

 than the combs ; in these frames I 

 tack old carpet (ingrain carpet is the 

 best), then I take the division-board 



Honey Carriage designed by John M. Davis, Spring Hill, Tenn. 



neath this is a 20x24 inch metal-lined 

 drawer, 4 inches deep, which slides 

 out and is suspended by the handles, 

 forming a convenient place in which 

 to put broken combs and fragments of 

 wax. 



The top of the honey-safe stands 

 about as high as an ordinary Langs- 

 troth hive, and requires no stooping 

 to transfer honey from a hive to the 

 carriage. By placing a strong board 

 in the bottom of the dripping-pan, 

 crates and boxes of honey can be 

 wheeled from the apiary to the honey- 

 room, without fear of damaging the 

 comb. 



The most convenient cover is cloth, 

 with a roller at each side, and is rolled 

 back, the same as the enameled-cloth 

 honey-board, when bees are trouble- 

 some ; during a good yield of honey, 

 when the bees are not disposed to rob, 

 it is useless to use the cover. The en- 

 graving represents the drawers parti- 

 ally drawn out : a frame of comb in 

 the revolving hanger and the tool-box 

 and wash basin open. 



and put it on the carpet-frame in such 

 a way as to leave a J^-inch air-space 

 between the two ; then I put 5 or 6 

 pieces of lath across the brood-nest 

 (from which I have taken the honey- 

 board), resting with each end upon the 

 end of the carpet-frame ; over these 

 pieces of lath I put a piece of ingrain 

 carpet, and then have a space of one 

 inch all over the brood-nest. I find 

 the bees in the spring dry and warm, 

 and holes made through the combs 

 for winter passages are unnecessary. 

 Then I fill the remainder of the hive, 

 6 inches on each side and 6 inches on 

 the top, with chaff of any kind. I 

 have now a space left of 6 inches to 

 the peak of the cap, which remains 

 empty. A one-inch auger hole in each 

 gable end gives sufficient ventilation 

 of air. These auger holes are opened 

 or closed, according to the weather. 



When winter commences in earnest 

 I open the entrance, which is % by 5 

 incn, its whole length, and put a little 

 box, that fits close over the entrance, 

 with a tube 10 inches long made of su- 



mac. I call this box a storm-house. 

 This storm-house is of great advan- 

 tage to the bee-keeper ; the entrance 

 will not get filled with dead bees, as 

 the bees will carry the most of the 

 dead ones in this store house. It 

 keeps the mice out, nor will the en- 

 trance become closed with ice and 

 snow, and the bottom-board will keep 

 perfectly dry. By this way of pack- 

 ing I have lost but 3 out of 37 

 colonies by actual death ; 2 of them 

 in box hives, and one in the Ameri- 

 can ; 2 queenless colonies and 2 weak, 

 old queens being the cause. My bees 

 have no hill or wood protection; they 

 stand upon the very bank of the big 

 Canadaway Creek, and had to take 

 the full force of every blizzard that 

 came across lake Erie. I am the only 

 one in this section of the country who 

 has wintered bees with success on the 

 summer stands. 



To my close attention to bee-keep- 

 ing, and study of the Bee Journal, 

 I attribute my success in wintering 

 bees. I not only read the Journal, 

 but I study it. I thank you very much 

 that you will enlarge the Journal 

 for the next year, and give it a more 

 convenient shape. 



Dunkirk, N. Y., June 21, 1881. 



For the American Bee Journal 



How to Rear the Best Bees. 



S. S. BUTLER, M. D. 



The great question is how to rear 

 bees that will winter almost any 

 where and almost in any way — bees 

 that will ever be a satisfaction, in- 

 stead of a disapointment. In the first 

 place I want them of the yellow race, 

 as they are decidedly superior, and 

 from some locality where there had 

 never been any forced queens raised, 

 and after getting such stock thor- 

 oughly tested in regard to their work- 

 ing qualities. 



My favorite way is to let them take 

 their own course in the spring (keep- 

 ing them well snugged up), and rear 

 my queens and drones from those that 

 build up first, as they will certainly 

 prove superior in every respect. My 

 experience has been that those that 

 work best in the fall prove to be best 

 in the spring. After making up my 

 mind which I desire to breed from, I 

 contract their hives, giving them, 

 every few days, brood just hatching 

 out, taking eggsand larva' from them, 

 and thus getting the hives quickly 

 filled with bees so as to have them 

 swarm out, and have the cells ready 

 by the time the strongest of those I 

 am not rearing queens from are get- 

 ting ready to swarm. 



After they are out, the best way is 

 Mr. Doolittle's plan of finding the 

 clipped queen, and putting her in an 

 empty hive on the old stand, moving 

 the oid hive but a short distance, so 

 that they may be united again, if de- 

 sired. Then select the queen cells af- 

 ter the colony is quietly settled on the 

 old stand, open the old hive, and I 

 usually find from 5 to 8 cells, either 

 sealed or the larvae nearly grown, 

 which shows that they are about ready 

 to be sealed. Mark all such, and also 



