THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



697 



terests," seems to have in it the ring of 

 wortliy fealty to the brotlierliood of bee- 

 keepers. 



Let lis, however, loolv at this matter 

 from another standpoint. When we read 

 tlie liistory of bee-l^eeplng for tlie past 15 

 years, and reflect npon the great progress 

 wliich the science has made, and the 

 means by wliich this progress has been 

 secured; how books and periodicals have 

 multiplied tlirough which every new idea 

 has been spread abroad as soon as it was 

 evolved; how the East has l)een traversed 

 at great expense and discomfort for better 

 races of bees; how queen-breeders have 

 vied with one another in their efforts to 

 produce the most prolific queens — bees 

 with tongues long enough to reach the 

 honey in any fiower— bees that get up 

 earlier, stay out later, work harder, live 

 longer, winter better, and sting as little 

 as possible; how supply dealers have 

 multiplied, and flooded the land with 

 their circulars;— when we reflect upon 

 all these things, we marvel that some 

 faithful friend of our chosen pursuit has 

 not risen in solemn protest against this 

 diffusion of knowledge, and tliis enlarging 

 of our borders. For certainly this pro- 

 gress of which we boast, and in which we 

 rejoice, has exactly the sar e tendency as 

 sugar feeding, namely : to increase pro- 

 duction and to diminish prices. 



In this matter, then, of sugar feeding 

 for winter stores, the chief question in- 

 volved, according to my view, is one of 

 dollars and cents. If bees winter better 

 on sugar syrup than on honey, and if, all 

 things considered, it is money in the 

 pocket of the bee-keeper to feed syrup, 

 then let all who so believe act upon their 

 belief, undisturbed by any conscientious 

 scruples concerning their want of fealty 

 to our brotherhood. 



But there are those who believe that 

 syrup is no better than honey for winter- 

 ing bees. It may not be better than some 

 honey, but that it is better than the honey 

 which is usually found in the brood-combs 

 at the close of the season, I have not the 

 slightest doubt. My own experience cor- 

 roborates this view, and it is supported by 

 the unequivocal testimony of some of our 

 best bee-keepers. Others, again, claim 

 that honey and sugar are so nearly equal 

 in price that the sugar-feeder has all his 

 labor for nothing. Let us see how this is. 



The best granulated sugar in New York 

 market is quoted at to 6 1-3 cents. Clover 

 honey is also quoted at 6}i to 7 cents. For 

 the sake of convenience we will call them 

 both 6 cents at the apiary. According to 

 my method of making syrup— 2 pounds of 

 sugar to one of water— the 2.5 pounds of 

 syrup needed for each colony would cost 

 one dollar, while the 35 pounds of honey 

 would be worth $t..50. Now I can make 

 the syrup for 100 colonies, and feed them 

 in three days; while the 2,.500 pounds of 

 honey would take me as long to extract. 

 A saving of .50 cents on a hive would 

 amount to ¥.50 on 100 hives ; and this would 

 represent the wages of a week's work ; 

 and there are few bee-keepers who would 

 not be satisfied with such remuneration. 



But some may say that syrup made in 

 the proportiim of 2 to 1 is not the equiva- 

 lent of honey. Be that as it may, m my 

 experience 25 or 30 pounds of syrup so 

 made has always proved ample to carry a 

 «olony of bees through from September to 

 fruit bloom, and that is the amount of 

 honey which it is pretty well agreed is 

 necessary to winter a colony out of-doors. 

 Feeders cost something, it is true, but the 

 expense in that direction need not be 

 more than .S5 or $6 per hundred. 



I will now give in detail my method of 

 feeding. If the narration shall discover 

 to my fellow bee-keepers any good points, 

 or if it shall call out the good points in 

 their methods, the chief olijects of this 

 paper will be accomplished. 



I begin to prepare my bees for feeding 

 about the middle of September. The 



brood is usually then reduced to 3 or 4 

 frames. The bees are contracted to H 

 frames, a cliatf division-board being placed 

 on each side of the frames. The amount 

 of honey in the frames containing brood 

 is carefully estimated, and the number of 

 pounds wliich it falls short of 35 or .30, 

 according to the strength of the colony, is 

 marked on the corner of the cover. The 

 amount of luniey left in the hive usually 

 runs from 2 to 5 pounds. This is enough 

 to ensure the bees against starvation till I 

 get around with my feeder. When the 

 hives are all thus prepared, an empty body 

 is placed upon each, and I am ready to 

 commence feeding. 



My feeder is an inexpensive affair, 

 made of a gallon paint-pail and a tin pie- 

 pan. These pails can be had for 2 or 3 

 cents apiece from the painters, and the 

 pans, I believe, are wortli S3 per hundred. 

 Two nicks are cut in the edge of the pails 

 three-eighths of an inch in depth. These 

 are to allow the syrup to flow out when 

 the pail is inverted. Being filled with 

 syrup, a pan is placed on the top of the 

 pail and it is quickly inverted. The syrup 

 is held in the pail by atmospheric pres- 

 sure, while the nick in the pail allows the 

 pan to remain about half full. These 

 feeders are placed on the top of the 

 frames inside the empty body, and the 

 svrup, being close to the bees, is readily 

 taken, even during cool nights. 



I use the best granulated sugar in mak- 

 ing my syrup. I have a boiler which liolds 

 88 pounds of water, and a keg which holds 

 88 pounds of sugar. When the water 

 reaches the boiling point it is poured into 

 a barrel, and upon it are thrown two kegs 

 of sugar. This is stirred till the sugar is 

 thoroughly dissolved, when the syrup is 

 drawn ofl" into the feeding pails. These 

 are then carried out and placed on the 

 hives while they are yet quite warm. 



By the time the pails are distributed 

 another boiler of water is heated, and if 

 we have pails enough, we may keep up 

 our syrup making and feeding until every 

 hive has a pailful. By the next morning 

 the pails are emptied, and the operation is 

 repeated until each hive has its amount. 



My feeder would be improved by having 

 a larger pail. One which would hold 13 

 pounds would, as- a rule, supply the re- 

 quired amount to a colony at two feeds. 

 Whereas, with ray feeder, holding about 9 

 pounds, it is necessary to go over most 

 colonies three times. But the larger pails 

 would cost S14 or .$15 per hundred, while 

 the pails which I use cost comparatively 

 nothing. 



Read at the Indianapolis Convention 



Reversilile Hi?es and Frames. 



J. E. POND, JR. 



The matter of reversible frames . and 

 hives is one that is to some extent en- 

 grossing the attention of the bee-frater- 

 nity, and I have chosen that topic, not that 

 I feel that I caTi do the sublect full justice, 

 but that I may put myself squarely on 

 record, so far as my views in regard to 

 the matter are concerned; and you will 

 please bear in mind that I state views and 

 opinions only, and not in a dictatorial 

 manner, and that I stand ready at all 

 times to defend the position I have taken, 

 without claiming that I alone am correct, 

 and those who differ are in the wrong. 



In the first place we are led to ask, what 

 is tlie necessity for departing from na- 

 ture's laws, and the well settled prac- 

 tice of ages ? The only answer that I 

 have as yet seen is, that by reversing 

 frames we cause the honey they contain 

 to be carried into the sections placed 

 above tliein. If there is any other answer 

 I have not seen it. Now this so-called 

 advantage is more problematical than 

 real, but the theory when first stated pos- 



sessed enough plausibility to lead myself 

 to accept it without testing, and give it 

 my unqualitied approval. The first tests 

 1 made, howin'cr, showed nie its falsity, 

 and 1 at oiK-e "reversed" my opinion and 

 made public that reversal. 



Ill practice, reversing frames is un- 

 natural. So far as the method relates to 

 sections it is of considerable value, and 

 many of them that would otherwise be 

 incomplete can be made perfect. It is 

 true, also, that occasional poorly filled 

 frames can be improved by reversing them; 

 but so far will the plan go and no farther 

 to advantage. It is unnatural, and further 

 more, uneconomical. All the honey forced 

 into sections by the process of reversing, 

 is so forced at the expense of time and 

 labor, caused by the removal ; and this 

 would be saved by causing the honey to 

 be deposited in the sections when first 

 gathered. Again, it is so forced at the 

 expense of the lite of the colony itself. 

 The brood-nest is completely broken up, 

 and the bees left in a terribly bad condi- 

 tion to withstand an inclement winter 

 season. 



I need not say that in order to get the 

 best results, we must work in accordance 

 with natural laws, and not give our bees 

 an extra or unnecessary step to take, or 

 amount of labor to perform ; and it can at 

 once be seen that when honey is first 

 deposited in the bottoms of the frames, 

 and then re-conveyed into sections, that 

 extra time is used and extra labor done, 

 unless it is assumed that the honey could 

 not have been forced into the sections 

 otherwise. Now I admit that he who finds 

 fault without offering a substitute is en- 

 titled to no consideration whatever. I do 

 not pronose to be caught in that trap, and 

 so I offer a substitute; one that is in 

 direct accordance witli the laws that 

 govern the economy of the honey-bee and 

 hive; one that is plain, simple and inex- 

 pensive, and one that works alike every 

 time, and without a single failure. 



One of the chief reasons why the frame 

 hive has not been a complete success, so 

 far as controlling swarming, and the get- 

 ting of surplus placed where desired, is 

 owing to the fact that we have not builded 

 as well as we knew. We have known all 

 the time that bees would not seal up 

 brood in cells more than 7 16 of an inch 

 deep. We have known also that they 

 would not seal up stores in shallow cells, 

 when they could lind deep ones for that 

 purpose. This in itself ought to indicate 

 what is required; but it would seem that 

 the remedy is so simple that it has not 

 been applied. That remedy I have of- 

 fered in the bee-papers, and I again offer 

 it here and as follows : 



Work the frames in the brood-chamber 

 just seven-eighths of an inch thick, and 

 just bee-space apart. By this means no 

 cells will be built over 7-16 of an inch 

 deep, and if sections with deep cells are 

 given, nothing but brood will be deposited 

 in the brood-chamber, so long a-; sufficient 

 room for stores is given elsewhere. One 

 of the recommendations this method has, 

 is, that it requires nothing but what is 

 found in every apiary. No new traps of 

 any kind are required, and further, when 

 the surplus crop is stored in sections, the 

 brood-chamber will be found in the best 

 possible condition for wintering. 



In writing the above 1 have purposely 

 refrainerl from going further than stating 

 my position, in order that nothing but a 

 topic for di.scussion may be presented. I 

 trust that the subject will be ventilated, 

 and I assure you that I have no "ax to 

 grind" in presenting my ideas. 



ly The Pataalitra Bee-Keepers' Association of 

 Ala., request bee-keepers tlirouahout the State, to 

 meet delegates from this Association in Mont- 

 Koniery, Ala., on Nov. H. 18S6, for the purpose of 

 forminE a State association. 'I'he State Asricul- 

 tural Fair will meet there on Nov. 8, and hold one 

 week. Liberal premiums are offered to bee-men. 

 Let me hear from every bee-keeper at once. 



J. R. McLkndon, Pres„ Stoddard. Ala. 



