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THE AMERICA]^ BEE JOURNAL. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A Visit to Dr, Tiiilier's Apiary. 



J. A. BUCHASTAN. 



As there are no good apiarists with- 

 in many miles, and being anxious to 

 compare notes, I decided to visit some 

 bee-keeper of prominence. The an- 

 swers given to questions in the Query 

 Department of the Bee Journal by 

 Dr. G. L. Tinlier, being so much in 

 harmony with my views, I decided to 

 visit him and make his acquaintance. 

 I did so last September; and after 

 introducing myself and receiving a 

 pleasant welcome, we were soon 

 '■ among the hives." 



The aj)iary was a model of neatness; 

 all the hives are new and faultless in 

 construction. As the frames all rest 

 on metal rabbets, they may be re- 

 moved without irritating the bees. 

 No quilts are used over the brood- 

 frames, which are made of white 

 poplar. The top-bars, I think, are 1 

 inch wide, and the spaces closed by 

 the use of smooth, square sticks cut 

 from white poplar, which leaves a 

 clean white surface, making the use 

 of the close-htting honey-board easy. 



The Doctor is a machinist, and has 

 excellent machinery for cutting out 

 hives, sections, etc. The beautiful 

 sections made from white poplar are 

 the acme of perfection. The " Im- 

 proved Victor " is made and used at 

 the Doctor's apiary. Its distinguish- 

 ing feature is continuous passage- 

 ways; the sections are but ]J£ inches 

 wide, and a honey-board made of very 

 thin, strong slats of the same width as 

 the top-bars of the brood-frames and 

 resting directly on the same. Small 

 saw cuts are made in the edges of the 

 slats, forming a honey-board, into 

 which are inserted long strips of per- 

 forated zinc. There is no trouble 

 about putting on the cases of sections, 

 as they are pushed to place from the 

 end oiE the hive, without danger of 

 killing bees; when adjusted there are 

 no bee-spaces, and there is no chance 

 for brace-comb building, and where 

 starters have been put into the sec- 

 tions with care, the combs will be 

 perfectly built. The sections are 

 brought down as close to the brood- 

 frames as possible, leaving no chance 

 for waxing or propolizing the sections; 

 there are no bee-spaces or "loaflng- 

 grounds." The queen can see to the 

 top sections, but cannot get up there 

 to lay any eggs. 



It may be asked, can more honey be 

 secured by this arrangement than by 

 the use of the zinc honey-board with 

 two bee-spaces intervening V A single 

 experiment made in my apiary last 

 season leads me to doubt. In putting 

 on the zinc honey-boards and section- 

 cases at the beginning of the honey- 

 yield last season, in one hive I put 3 

 zinc honey-boards ; then the case of 

 sections. Did the bees go up into 

 them at ally Oh, yes; they did, and 

 finished them in good style as quickly 

 as any other ; and best of all the 

 combs were of snowy whiteness ; but 

 much depends upon the strain of 

 bees. 



Some years ago there was every 

 possible effort made to bring the sec- 

 tions close to the brood-nest, and the 

 thickness of the tops of the brood- 

 frames was reduced until they were 

 unable to sustain any considerable 

 weight, which soon became crooked 

 and unsightly. However, it was not 

 long until it was discovered that 

 when brought so close to the brood- 

 combs, especially when old and black, 

 there was more or less dark wax used 

 in building the combs, and also 

 greater liability of the queen's enter- 

 ing the surplus receptacles ; hence the 

 invention of the zinc honey-board 

 with its break-joint, double-bee-space 

 features. It may be, by using the 

 continuous passage-way system,' hav- 

 ing the perforated -zinc for the bees to 

 work through, they might stop at the 

 gate long enough to clean off, before 

 entering the parlor; but I am inclined 

 to think that I should prefer to have 

 some more space between the depart- 

 ments. 



A word about the Doctor's Syrio- 

 Albino bees : Without smoke or 

 protection of any kind, many of the 

 hives of full colonies and nuclei were 

 opened and inspected without in the 

 least annoying the bees. These bees 

 are beautiful, and the queens are 

 large and prolitic. The Doctor's 

 method of securing large queens is by 

 cutting a twig from a young basswood 

 tree and pointing it so as to be able 

 to remove a larva from a well- 

 advanced royal-cell, and in its stead 

 placing a very young larva taken from 

 a worker-cell. He remarked that he 

 had discovered this some time ago, 

 and herein lies his secret of securing 

 perfectly-developed queens. But the 

 plan was not new to me, for 10 or 12 

 years ago I described the same pro- 

 cess in Gteom'jigs; but as the Doctor 

 had never seen nor heard of it, the 

 discovery was also original with him. 



Holliday's Cove, 6 W. Va. 



For tbe American Bee JournaL 



Carbonate of Sofla for Bee-Stings, etc, 



MRS. DR. E. H. MASON. 



The sting of the bee being an acid 

 poison, the antidote for it would be 

 carbonate of soda. The moment one 

 is stung he should put liis fmger-nail 

 close under the point of the sting, so 

 as not to press on the upper part of 

 the sting, and draw the sting out. 

 Then apply a strong solution of soda 

 to the wound, before it closes by 

 swelling, and if it is a child or a 

 nervous person that is stung, apply 

 the soda several times. If stung very 

 badly, or many times, dissolve a half- 

 tea-spoontul of soda in a little water 

 and drink it. 



The above antidote is also good for 

 stings of wasps, yellow-jackets, bum- 

 ble-bees and hornets ; and where per- 

 sons have over-eaten of honey and are 

 taken with cramps and pain, a half- 

 tea-spoonful of soda and ten drops of 

 peppermint dissolved in a wine-glass 

 of warm water, will give relief at 

 once. It will be found that mostly 

 where bee-stings have given trouble. 



has been the result of injudicious 

 treatment of incompatible and pois- 

 onous applications, or by rubbing and 

 scratching the wound into swelling 

 and inflaraation, sores and blood 

 poison, more from the poison of finger- 

 nails than from the stings. In cases 

 where one cannot apply the proper 

 antidote, just pull out the sting and 

 never touch, rub, or think of it, and 

 in time it will get well of itself. 



Persons of pure, active blood and 

 steady nerves are but slightly affected 

 by a bee-sting. For myself I would 

 much prefer the clean sting of a bee, 

 to the virus-soiled spear of a .Jersey 

 mosquito, which might inoculate one 

 with the poison virus of many sick 

 and diseased bodies, and which is 

 always in waiting for one with its 

 poison-soiled spear ; whereas from the 

 bee one gets nothing but clean, pure 

 bee-virus which is a preventive of 

 rheumatism. The bee never stings 

 but the one time, whereas the mos- 

 quito can spear all summer. 



New York,o, N. Y. 



For tne American Bee JoumaL 



Convenient Cliaff Hiies, 



F. P. STILES. 



Notwithstanding the increasing 

 favor shown cellar-wintering, there 

 are many who, for various reasons, 

 will continue to winter their bees on 

 the summer-stands, using chaff hives 

 or packing-boxes for extra winter pro- 

 tection. There is little doubt but 

 that chaff hives would entirely super- 

 sede packing-boxes, were it not for 

 the acknowledged inconvenience of 

 performing many of the needful ma- 

 nipulations during the busy season, 

 necessitating either the removal of 

 the brood-frames, or the entire " ark." 

 Time and strength are both too valu- 

 able to be needlessly wasted, and as 

 several bee-keepers have expressed 

 themselves as being pleased with my 

 arrangement of chaff hives for sum- 

 mer use, I will describe it. 



The brood-chambers of my hives are 

 made without bottom, the ends being 

 Ja-inch thick and the sides J^-iuch. 

 They are 97^-inches wide inside, hold- 

 ing 7 Langstroth frames, which, by 

 the way, are as many as can be used 

 in this locality, if the largest amount 

 of comb honey is desired. The stand 

 is sufficiently large to allow a space of 

 3 inches on all sides of the brood- 

 chnmber, and has 2 entrances cut 

 through the floor as long as the hive 

 is wide inside, so that the bees enter 

 the hive from beneath. Two of the 

 four pieces forming the sides of the 

 bottom stand are placed slanting, for 

 alighting-boards leading to the en- 

 trances. Upon this stand, resting in 

 rabbets, are two sections and a pitch- 

 roof forming an outer-case, both the 

 sections and roof being rabbeted on 

 all four sides, allowing the use of one 

 or more sections equally well. Thus 

 you see I have a complete double- 

 walled hive, the outer case of which 

 can be removed at pleasure. 



This outside case and stand is iden- 

 tical with those used by Mr. A. E. 



