1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOLRNA' 



371 



place a shallow brood-chamber where the old hive stood. I 

 then take off the supers from the old hive and put them on 

 the new hive, putting a queen-excludinK honey-board between 

 the supers and the brood-chamber. I then put the swarm into 

 the new hive, and in a few hours they are at work again in 

 the sections. As the supers are. tilled I place another shallow 

 brood-chamber on top of the flrst brood-chamber, and let them 

 fill up for winter. If the honey-flow slops before the second 

 brood-chamber is full, and there is no fall run of honey, then 

 the bees will have to be fed ; or, if I have bees enough, I unite 

 them with the old colony, which usually has plenty of honey 

 if the season is good. 



I put a shallow brood-chamber on the old colony, and if 

 the season is good, or there is a fall run of honey, they will 

 "fill it, which can be extracted. I leave the honey-board on 

 only 3 or 4 days, or until they get started in the brood-cham- 

 ber, and I am not troubled with the queen going into the 

 supers. I use foundation in the brood-chamber as well as in 

 the sections. Sometimes I use only starters in the brood- 

 chamber. 



I use two brood-chambers to winter the bees in, and think 

 that bees winter better in them than any hive I have tried. 



Jersey Co., 111. 



Suggestiotis OH Section-Cleaners, Etc. 



BY A. F. FOOTE. 



I want to thank Mr. C. P. Dadant for his kind and com- 

 prehensive answer to my questions about rendering beeswax, 

 on page 2.58. While I produce hardly a tenth of a " hundred 

 dollars worth" of wax yearly, I want the best in that as well 

 as everything else pertaining to bees ; that is why J subscribed 

 for the "Old Reliable," and I am getting good interest on the 

 investment all right, my only regret being that I did not begin 

 before. 



HOLDING SECTIONS ON THE CLEANER. 



Mr. J. A. Golden gives me a little light (page 322) on 

 how to hold the sections un the cleaner to keep the sandpaper 

 from gumming. Thanks to him and the Bee Journal, I have 

 a section-cleaner, patterned after the one illustrated on page 

 83, only mine is a combined perpendicular and horizontal 

 affair, and works nicely. The wheel is 9 inches in diameter, 

 a sheet of sandpaper being just wide enough to cover the per- 

 pendicular side, or I would have made it larger. I weighted 

 the surface of the wheel by filling 14 holes of uniform depth 

 and distance apart with melted lead, which gives it greater 

 momentum and a steadier motion. No glue is used to fasten 

 either the felt or sandpaper, but instead I tackt them on, 

 close to the edge with small staples, which are not the least in 

 he way, and can be removed in five seconds to renew the 

 andpaper. 



I want to tell Miss " Flody " that to the end of the shaft 

 that carried the needle I have attacht a nice, little turning- 

 lath, by which all sorts of pretty and useful things can be 

 turned out, and also an arrangement for attaching a drill for 

 drilling holes through iron. 



After getting everything in working order, I invited my 

 wife to the shop to see what could be done by " Poote "-power, 

 " properly applied." What does she do — after looking it all 

 over critically — but to ask mischievously if I couldn't contrive 

 some way to attach the "barrel churn " to it and do the fam- 

 ily churning at the same time while cleaning sections, etc. 



If that man Clark gets his idea (page 258) of holding a 

 tool on the side of a grindstone instead of the top, patented, I 

 hope he will not sue me for infringement, for I had my ma- 

 chine all contrived before his letter appeared. 



My -40 colonies of bees, with two exceptions, are unusually 

 strong in all respects, and the prospects for a good honey 

 harvest were never better. Plenty of moisture combined with 

 warm weather has developt the clovers — white and Alsike — to 

 a splendid growth, and I expect to see the blossoms within 10 

 days at farthest. 



I have a convenient place fixt up in my shop on purpose 

 to keep the Bee Journal for easy reference, and I find it a 

 great help in many a time of need. 



After writing the above I pickt up the last Bee Journal 

 and came across Jno. S. Bruce's description of his section- 

 cleaner (page 332). The idea struck me so favorably that I 

 went to work immediately and made one. In less than four 

 hours I had it ready to attach to the turning-lathe end of my 

 machine. After cleaning a number of old and very dirty sec- 

 tions, bottom slats to supers, wedging-boards, etc., I decided 

 that for rapid work it beats the sandpaper about " 16 to 1." 

 It cleans out the "scallops " in good shape, and I am not sure 

 but it would "clean out" the Spanish fleet If Sampson could 

 find it. 



Instead of using a solid roller and extra piece of tin, as 

 Mr. Bruce suggested, I used only a single tin, fastening each 

 end to a block of hard wood about an inch long, thus leaving 

 the space between the blocks hollow ; this lets all fine propo- 

 lis drop through the holes out of the way, doing away with 

 the necessity of using "fire and water" to clean it, for it 

 never clogs. To remove what accumulates on the inside, I 

 bored a hole in one of the blocks. In perforating the tin, I 

 used a small awl, first covering it with pieces of leather to 

 near the point, as a gauge to make the holes of uniform size. 

 Fitting sections for market, a little extra touching up with 

 the sandpaper will be a good thing. 



Thus, owing to the American Bee Journal and its willing- 

 to-tell-what-they-know correspondents, I have another val- 

 uable addition to my apiarian fixtures. I will surely have to 

 send the editor another §1.00 — next year. 



Mitchell Co., Iowa, May 30. 



% 



FACING COIMB HONEY. 



Opinions, Suggestions and Advice from the 

 Commission-Men. 



Thinking that those who quote the honey market for the 

 American Bee Journal, and handle honey extensively every 

 year, might be able to help bee-keepers somewhat along the 

 line of packing comb honey for city markets, we sent to them 

 the following letter: 



Chicago, May 81, 1898. 



Dear Sirs : — You doubtless have noticed what has ap- 

 peared lately in the bee-papers regarding the facing of comb- 

 honey. The hottest part of the discussion was called out upon 

 the publication of this paragraph, written by one of the most 

 prominent comb-honey producers in this country: 



" And I also claim that there is nothing out of the way, if 

 any one chooses to do so. in shipping cases of honey having 

 XXX facers and XX or X honey inside, on comynission. Yea, 

 more, I claim that there would be nothing dishonest in filling 

 the center of the case with buckwheat honey, the same hav- 

 ing XXX white-honey facers, providing it was shipt on com- 

 mission, every case alike, and the producer thought it to his 

 Interest to do so." 



Will you kindly write us your opinion of the above para- 

 graph, and also on the general subject of facing or putting up 

 comb honey for the city markets ? As an experienced honey- 

 commission man, we feel that your opinion, suggestions and 

 advice, would be of great value to bee-keepers who desire to 

 realize the most out of their honey. 



We should be pleased to have as prompt a reply as possi- 

 ble, so that we can publish it in time to be of service this 

 season. 



Thanking you in advance for your kindness, we are 

 Very truly yours, 



George W. York & Co. 



We here give all the replies that were received in time for 

 this issue of the Bee Journal : 



George W. York & Co. — 



Ocntlemcn : — I would not put up honey faced with a nice 

 article and filled with inferior lots. It cannot but injure the 

 business, and I think it would be a poor way to build up a 

 business. I like to have things about what they appear. 

 Yours truly, M. H. Hunt. 



Detroit. 



George W. York & Co. — 



Oentlcmen : — Replying to yours, just received. If a 

 honey-producer desires to establish his reputation and brand 

 of honey in any market, thus securing the very best results 

 every year, we believe his only way to do so is to pack his 

 honey absolutely honest, the front to be a fair sample of the 

 entire grade. Those desiring to ship a lot of honey and let it 

 sell for what it will fetch, without any brand or regard for 

 reputation — it might be well enough to ship it well faced up 

 without any owner's brand upon it, and thus sell upon its 

 merits. Atho it is practical, it is hardly policy to advocate. 

 Buyers, the last few years, seldom buy without opening sev- 

 eral cases of any lot, and thus decide the question. 



Very respectfully, Batterson & Co. 



Buffalo. 



George W. York & Co. — 



Dear Sirs : — We note your favor, and in regard to pack- 

 ing comb honey would suggest that the facers should repre- 



