296 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURJS[AL. 



D. Burrell wrote me that a number of 

 bis colonies bad died by reason of 

 their stores of sugar becoming granu- 

 lated. I find that the thin lioney is 

 more apt to granulate than thick, 

 well-ripened honey, and the bees 

 cannot live on it in cold weather. The 

 granulated particles are of no use to 

 them, and the remainder is so thin as 

 to be unwholesome food for them in 

 cold weather. Besides, any little 

 warm spell will cause the thin liquid 

 to sour, causing bee-diarrhea even 

 after the brunt or winter has passed. 

 I lose more bees in March and April 

 from these causes than from all other 

 causes combined. 



Last week 1 found a rather small 

 colony that actually had starved with 

 ■plenty of comb honey in the hive, and 

 only one comb removed from the 

 cluster. They had a patch of brood 

 as large as my hand in two combs, 

 and I had taken out extra combs and 

 put the combs with honey close to 

 the brood-nest, but I did not notice 

 that it was granulated ; then a few 

 days of cold weather came, and they 

 could not get enough out of it to keep 

 them and their brood warm. I have 

 noticed others dwindling and leaving 

 their brood-nest to starve (they would 

 even cluster in some other part of the 

 hive) ; and in every case when I cut 

 into their honey I found it granulated. 



I find that all of my colonies that 

 wintered in good condition, and are 

 strong, have thick, waxy honey in 

 their hives— with no grain in it. I 

 claim that this thin honey was gath- 

 ered late in the fall, or too late to 

 ripen well. We liad a long, cool fall 

 last year. My loss would have been 

 greater than at present (20 colonies), 

 but my bees had a sort of half flight 

 in February that enabled them to get 

 rid of some of the thin honey juice. 

 The remedy for it is extracted iioney, 

 ted warm. 



Tipping the brood over will not 

 injure it, as Mr. H. Clark mentions 

 on page 220. I fed a nucleus frame 

 of comb honey last spring, by laying 

 it flat on top of the frames of a strong 

 colony, before unpacking them ; they 

 filled it with brood head downward. 



New Richmond, ? Mich. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Marion Co,, Iowa, Convention, 



The Marion County Bee-Keepers' 

 Association met at the residence of 

 Dr. II. J. Scoles, in Knoxville, Iowa, 

 on April l.""), 1886, President B. F. 

 Woodcock in the chair. The attend- 

 ance was large, and an increased in- 

 terest was manifested by all. 



The reports of those present gave 

 great encouragement for a grand 

 harvest from the labors of the blessed 

 bees. The majority had wintered 

 their bees in cellars or caves. The 

 temperature was kept at from 40° to 

 4.5<^, Fahr. A few wintered their bees 

 on the summer stands. Of 292 colo- 

 nies put into winter quarters 288 were 

 reported in good condition and very 

 strong. Several reported drones fly- 

 ing, and brood in frames from side to 

 side. 



Mr. Ileddou's new hive was ex- 

 hibited by Mr. J. W. Bittenbender, 

 and its merits discussed. All were 

 favorably impressed with the hive, 

 and were unanimous in the opinion 

 that Mr. Heddon's patent was good, 

 and should be respected. Some en- 

 thusiastically declared that it would 

 work a revolution in bee-keeping. 



The one question of importance and 

 interest asked and discussed was, 

 "How shall we prevent or control 

 swarming and yet obtain the best 

 yield of surplus honey V" 



Bees were never in better condi- 

 tion. The season is nearly two weeks 

 early. Prospect for bloom of lioney- 

 plants is excellent — never was better. 

 Count on 100 pounds of surplus honey 

 to the colony for Marion county, for 

 1880. • Albbiit M. Bkobst, Sec. 



OfQcial Report of U. S. Entomologist. 



Proiliiction of Wax, Feeflini, etc, 



N. W. M'LAIN. 



Experience has taught me, in com- 

 mon with all progressive apiarists, 

 that in the production of wax for 

 honey-comb building, there is serious 

 prodigality. Much valuable time is 

 lost and much energy is expended, 

 which, in view of the shortness of the 

 honey-producing season in nearly all 

 parts of the United States, results in 

 a serious reduction of the possible 

 efficiency and honey-producing capac- 

 ity of bees, and a corresponding cur- 

 tailment of the profits possible to be 

 realized from the industry. To over- 

 come this waste of time and prevent 

 the large consumption of honey re- 

 quired for producing wax for comb- 

 building, the comb foundation ma- 

 chine and the honey extractor have 

 been almost universally adopted by 

 progressive bee-keepers. 



As another step in economic 

 methods for securing the best results 

 from the cultivation of bees, I have 

 made some experiments in what may 

 be called wax-feeding or furnishing 

 wax. 



The price of beeswax in the open 

 market ranges from 20 to 35 cents per 

 pound, according to quality, and 

 varying with the supply and demand. 

 Estimates can easily be furnished to 

 prove that the production of every 

 pound of wax costs the bee-keeper 

 ten times the sum realized from its 

 sale. If account be taken of the loss 

 resulting from having the time and 

 energies of the bees expended in wax 

 production, instead of honey-produc- 

 tion, at a season of the year when 

 there is most imperative need for 

 uninterrupted and diligent activity in 

 honey-gathering, and of the value of 

 the "honey consumed in producing 

 wax, and of the labor required in 

 preserving and preparing the wax for 

 market, it will readily be seen that 

 the production of a pound of wax, 

 costs the producer many times the 

 current prices realized. About 20 

 pounds of honey are consumed in 

 producing one pound of wax. If a 

 method of management can be de- 

 vised and introduced by which the 



loss sustained in wax-production and 

 comb-building can be still further 

 reduced, a corresponding percentage 

 will be added to the profits of those 

 engaged in the industry. 



I observed that if pieces of new 

 comb were exposed on a warm day, 

 the bees would tear ofl pieces of the 

 wax and carry them to their hives for 

 use in comb-building. I then put 

 pieces of new comb in a shallow, 

 square tin-pan having a close-fitting 

 cover, and having holes in the bottom. 

 This pan being placed on the cloth 

 covering the comb frames in the hive, 

 holes were cut in the cloth registering 

 with the holes in the bottom of the 

 pan, thus affording a passage for the 

 bees into the pan. The heat arising 

 from the bees produced a high tem- 

 perature in the closely-covered pan, 

 keeping the wax phastic and easily 

 worked. When such auxiliary re- 

 sources were furnished, comb foun- 

 dation was drawn out and completed 

 with great rapidity, and this work 

 appeared to be performed largely by 

 the young bees, aided by the Held bees 

 at night, as the comb- building pro- 

 gressed more rapidly by night than 

 by day. There being no necessity 

 for wax producing, the working force 

 labored without hindrance during the 

 day in the fields, and with equal 

 energy by night in the hive. When- 

 ever the space above the frames is 

 not being used for superstorage, this 

 method of furnishing wax may be 

 employed without inconvenience. 



DEVICE FOB FEEDING SUGAR SYKtJP. 



I have also devised a fixture for use 

 in the brood-chamber in the body of 

 the hive, which serves a variety of 

 uses, and proves well adapted for the 

 purposes for which it is designed. It 

 consists of a wooden frame of the 

 size of those used for brood-frames, 

 the strips of which it is made being % 

 of an inch thick and 2 inches wide. 

 Parallel with the top-bar of the frame 

 I suspend three tin troughs, one 

 above another. These troughs are 

 1?^ inches wide and 2 inches deep, 

 and the length corresponds with the 

 inside measure of the frame. Be- 

 ginning 114 inches below the top-bar, 

 the troughs are suspended, 1 inch 

 apart, by means of a small screw 

 from the inside of the end of the 

 trough entering tlie side-bar of the 

 frame. The first trough next to the 

 top-bar has a partition, one-fifth being 

 intended to contain water, and the 

 remainder is used to supply honey or 

 syrup. The second trough is used to 

 supply pure wax shavings, and the 

 third is used for supplying flour or 

 meal as a substitute for pollen. These 

 troughs should be painted and sanded 

 inside and out, as bees do not readily 

 get a foothold on the smooth tin. 

 The trough for food and water is 

 supplied with floats to prevent the 

 bees from drowning. 



This fixture, supplied with food, 

 sally water, shavings of pure, bleached 

 wax, and flour, I place in the centre 

 of the colony as early in the spring as 

 it is desired to stimulate brood-rear- 

 ing, in order that tlie colonies may be 

 strong in numbers when the blossoms 

 appear. 1 use this device also for 



