136 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



June, 



shallow frames, etc. During a heavy 

 honey flow he needs large free-spac- 

 ing, loose-hanging fi-ames. Absolute 

 simplicity in hive constracdon Is im- 

 portant, as it tends to facilitate rapid 

 and easy manipulation. In the honey 

 harvest we must work rapidly to keep 

 up with the "busy bee," for if we let 

 her fill the hive full of honey she 

 has the advantage, and we lose her 

 services. We must keep ahead of the 

 bee by giving empty combs, in pro- 

 ducing extracted honey. 



With a large apiary, a bee-keeper 

 needs an assistant who is capable of 

 rearing good queens and forming 

 nuclei, which I am unable to do to 

 any extent. 



The Bee-Keeper is strictly cor- 

 rect, page 123, June number, in re- 

 gard to "Duped Bee-keepers." My ad- 

 vice has been asked by novices, but it 

 would be entirely disregai'ded as soon 

 as some smooth-tongued hive peddler 

 approached them. More than a thou- 

 sand dollars have I thrown away, dur- 

 ing my early experience, with such 

 characters. 



HANDLING ROBBERS. 



As a means to prevent robbing, I 

 use cheesecloth. It is very cheap and 

 durable. I use two sizes — one to en- 

 velop the hive when necessary, and 

 also one piece large enough to lap 

 over the front of the hive, with 

 strings at each corner to draw the 

 cloth tight, and, when necessary, tack 

 it close to sides of hive also. After 

 ten or fifteen minutes I open the cloth 

 at the top to allow the robbers within 

 to escape, and then close it again, 

 repeating the operation about every 

 ten minutes until all have escaped. 

 The home bees are allowed to enter 

 at sundown, though it is better to 

 leave the cloth on the hive for 24 

 hours, if robbing has been persist- 

 ent. If however, the cloth was put 

 on when robbing fii'st began, it may 

 be removed within an hour, as the 

 colony will then have recovered from 

 their disorganization. 



CLEANING CAPPINGS. 



I remove the cappings from the de- 

 capper and place them in shallow ves- 

 sels in shady places about tlie apiary. 

 The bees soon consume all the honey 

 and leave the cappings ready for the 

 solar extractor. I have never been 



troubled by robbers as a result of this 

 process. 



OUEENLESS COLONIES. 

 I never waste time with a queenlesa 

 colony, but break it up, by giving the 

 combs to strong colonies, smoking the 

 adjoining colony and removing to the 

 stand of the queenless one, and shak- 

 ing the queenless bees on the ground 

 in front, thus converting them 

 into honey gatherers. If well 

 smoked, it is often not necessary to 

 move the adjoining colony. 



SECTIONAL HIVES. 



I can see no advantage in the use- 

 of the shallow-framed hives, especial- 

 ly, for extracted honey. More frames 

 have to be handled and the brood is . 

 to some extent divided by two tiers 

 of shallow frames, causing damage to 

 brood in removing. Those I have used 

 are too small for our climate, and 

 induce frequent swarming. There are 

 many good large frames, but my pref-l 

 erence is for thfe Langstroth. For 

 rapid manipulation, I prefer the 20- 

 frame, one-story style, and to remove 

 the honey from one end only at a time,! 

 when extracting, as practiced by 

 Friend Poppleton, as this plan does 

 not discourage the bees, but enables 

 them to more rapidly ifill the empty 

 combs. 



Greenville, Miss., June 12, 1905. 



A VISIT TO DR. BLANTON. 



BY FRED W. MUTH. 



I TAKE pleasure in enclosing here- 

 with a few photograplxs that were 

 taken by me last summer 

 vs'hile visiting our mutual friend Dr, 

 O. M. Blanton, at his home and bee 

 ranch at Greenville, Miss. The doctor 

 is a whole-souled fellow and is one of 

 the greatest bee men in the south. It 

 is simply astonishing that a man, 

 who is fast approaching the fourscore 

 mark, is so very ambitious, and es- 

 pecially in apiculture. Last season, 

 with the aid of his helper, "Ike," he 

 worked some 350 colonies of bees for 

 extracted honey. 



His home apiary is one mile from 

 the city of Greenville, and just a few 

 days ago, we received a letter from 

 him stating that he is starting another 

 bee yard some five miles distant fromj 

 home. His apiary consists principally; 

 of the regular two-story Langstroth| 

 hives, as well as the single story 



