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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May '^6, 



entrances direct Into the surplus apartment, beside the lower 

 or main entrance ; for, In this way, the bees were saved all 

 the extra travel up through the crowded hive. And then, as 

 they could fly direct to these upper entrances much time would 

 be saved, as the bee could fly much faster than It could go on 

 foot, even tho the lower part of the hive was empty. Thus a 

 much larger yield of honey could be secured to the owner, 

 for " time was honey " when the honey harvest was on. 



Along about this time E. Gallup, I think it was, made the 

 discovery and gave it to the world, that the bee which col- 

 lected the nectar did not deposit it in the comb, but when it 

 came into the hive with its load it gaive that load to another 

 bee — usually a bee so young as not to have become a field- 

 laborer yet — the young bee holding the nectar in its honey- 

 stomach till It was evaporated to the consistency of prime 

 honey, when this young bee deposited it in the cells, wherever 

 it was most needed, whether In the surplus apartment or in 

 the brood-chamber. A few tried to argue Dr. Gallup down, 

 but he had the proof ou his side by telling how he saw the 

 field-bees pass their loads of nectar over to the younger bees, 

 how the nectar was evaporated, etc. This upset the dlrect- 

 to-surplus-apartment-entrance plan, and to-day no such en- 

 trances are seen, except, perhaps, on some old hives which 

 have been stored away for years. 



Being of an Investigating turn of mind, I wisht to prove 

 which was right — Gallup or the others — so some 23 years ago 

 I constructed observatory hives, beside which I have watcht 

 for hours, both day and night, and every observation proved 

 Gallup to be right. Then the " rightness " of his ideas was 

 also proved many times over by a change of queens from black 

 to Italian, and vice versa, when at the proper time, before any 

 of the new queens' bees became field-laborers, all the workers 

 from the original queen would be seen coming in with their 

 loads of nectar, while the sections revealed scarcely a bee but 

 those fiom the newly-establisht mother. 



If Gallup and myself are right, this doctrine now being 

 put forth is as fallacious as was the old multiplicity-of-en- 

 trance plan, and if fallacious, it would be well to know it, for 

 such knowledge will save much work to our bee-keepers when 

 the little each one does along this line is put into the aggre- 

 gate. Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



Ripening Extracted Honey Artificially. 



BY E. B. TYRRELL. 



I promlst to write concerning the ripening of extracted 

 honey. I must thank Mr. J. A. Bearden for his article on 

 page <56, but he mistook my meaning, for I am In favor of 

 artificial ripening of honey, providing it is practical. Altho I 

 am not speaking from experience, yet for the sake of drawing 

 out arguments and opinions of those who have had experience 

 and getting at the truth of the matter as I wish to ripen arti- 

 ficially, if I can, and yet do not wish to make a mistake, I 

 will take the artificial side of the question. 



I will take the position that ripened honey is that which 

 reaches a certain consistency, or thick enough so that a saucer 

 of it when cold may be turned upside down without running 

 out, and it doesn't mdkc (Uiy difference whether it reaches this 

 consistency ichile in the hive or out of it. 



Admitting this to be a fact, I will venture the statement 

 that honey can be brought to this consistency as well arti- 

 ficially as by the bees, because heat produces evaporation no 

 matter In what way applied, and if honey is placed in a shal- 

 low pan with a large surface I can see no reason why it will 

 not ripen as well as the bees can ripen it. Of course, no doubt 

 the bees may ripen it faster, as the fresh nectar gathered 

 each day must be reduced as much as possible during the night 

 to make room for the next day's harvest. 



Many, and in fact nearly all, writers admit that more 

 honey may be secured if extracted as fast as gathered, and 

 will not this extra honey pay for any extra labor implied by 

 extracting during the flow ? I believe that the reason that 

 more honey is secured by extracting as fast as gathered must 

 be because It draws from the field-force as well as from the 

 honey to build the capplngs, and as these cappings are of no 

 use to the extracted-honey producer (except for beeswax), and 

 in fact are a nuisance; for who would not rather extract 

 honey from comb with no cappings, and especially this honey, 

 than to be bothered with an uncapping-can and an uncapping- 

 knlfe, making a slow, sticky job out of what would otherwise 

 be fairly clean ? I believe uncapping takes all the flower 

 from extracting, and if I can do away with the uncapping cau 

 and knife I certainly shall do it. 



Now, if you don't agree with me (and you certainly all 

 don't) just jump right up and knock my theories a.U to pieces 

 with facts ; it certainly will take facts to convince me I am 



wrong, and If your facts are good I am willing to be convinced, 

 but I believe that this talk about artificially ripened honey not 

 being as good as naturally ripened honey is nearly all preju- 

 dice, and most of those who extract after the harvest have 

 not tried the other way, or else did not do their very best in 

 artificial ripening, and attend to every detail. 



Now, I don't wish any one to go Into artifical ripening of 

 honey on account of what I have said, but I do wish to know 

 the truth about this matter, as It means dollars to me ; and 

 any light on this subject through the Bee .Journal will be 

 gratefully read by me. Genesee Co., Mich. 



m 



Something More About Section-Cleaners. 



BY J. A. GOLDEN. 



Upon request I am glad to give my experience as to 

 propolis sticking and gumming the sandpaper when in a soft 

 condition, which explanation inadvertently was overlookt in 

 my former article. 



Yes, if a section contains touch propolis upon its surface, 

 like sections when oilcloth is used over them, or any section 

 badly gummed up; but as I use. In my method, a bee-space 

 only, I have but little chunk propolis. In taking sections 

 from the supers I use an old jack-knife to take off any bulky 

 surplus propolis as I lift the sections out, consequently what 

 remains on the sections I do not find any inconvenience In 

 cleaning every vestige of stain and propolis from the section. 

 As I am not a large producer, I usually set what honey I want 

 to dress in the cellar until it is cool — sometimes over night — 

 and dress it in the morning. 



My experience is that a pretty coarse sandpaper — about 

 No. 3 — would be better than a finer grade. Of course the 

 polish is not so nice. 



On the wheel device, which was illustrated in the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, I cleaned over 1,000 sections beautiful and 

 bright as ever was put on the market by any bee-keeper,before 

 re-coating the wheel with sandpaper. 



To re-coat, take a sponge and saturate thoroughly with 

 hot water, then strip the old paper off and apply a new 

 coating. 



There is a great difference as to how a section is held to 

 avoid gumming. If it is held crosswise the grain of the wood 

 there is but little danger of propolis sticking, but if held the 

 opposite the paper does not cut the wood so readily. That is 

 my observation, at least. 



There is also another thing, let me here add. If leakage, 

 honey daubed on the section or propolis, it is sure to stick on 

 the sandpaper belt or wheel. Of co'jrse, no one would expect 

 a machine to overcome this, but if wiped off the work will be 

 complete ; but after propolis becomes hard I did not find a 

 single section that caused any gumming of the wheel. 



Morgan Co., Ohio. 



Do Italian Bees Produce Better Honey ? 



BY' EDWIN BKVINS. 



It is with considerable hesitation that I attempt to answer 

 the question of Mr. Hart, on page 269, because he confines 

 the privilege of answering to the wise ones in apiculture, and 

 I am not one of these. Then an editorial foot-note suggests 

 that the question affords a chance for some one to distinguish 

 himself, and I am not writing for distinction. Nevertheless, 

 I am going to say something in the way of reply to Mr. Hart's 

 question, as to why the Italian bees produce a better quality 

 of honey than the blacks or others. 



I do not know just how extensive Mr. Hart's reading has 

 been, but this Is the first time that I have known any bee- 

 keeper to intimate that the quality of the honey produced by 

 Italian bees was any way superior to that produced by other 

 bees. Many times it is claimed that there Is a difference In 

 the whiteness of the cappings of the honey, but this difference 

 Is in favor of the blacks and some others, and against the 

 Italians. As to the honey itself, I have never seen an opinion 

 that the quality of the honey produced by anyone race of bees 

 was superior to that produced by the other races where all 

 had access to the same sources of supply. 



Mr. Hart thinks the difference, If there is any, may be 

 accounted for on the supposition that the Italians are better 

 mechanics or chemists then other bees, if It is a fact that bees 

 make honey. Now, I believe that Mr. Hart Is satisfied in his 

 own mind that bees do not "make" honey. He is giving un- 

 due deference to the opinions of some who do not know much 

 about bees, and yet can do considerable talking about them. 

 The ignorance which leaves one to believe that bees make 



