1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOLRNAl,,. 



455 



super under the first when the first is perhaps half filled. If 

 yon want sections very white, don't wait till the outside sec- 

 tions are all sealed. Some advocate taking out the sections 

 singly as fast as each one is sealed. You'll hardly keep that 

 up very long on a large scale. Too much work. Take off the 

 whole super as soon as all are sealed except the four corner 

 sections, and perhaps a few others. Then take out of the 

 filled supers all that are not fully sealed, put them together in 

 a super, filling up with empty sections, if necessary, and put 

 back on the hive to be flnisht. 



Getting Honey When Others Do Not. — Gleanings re- 

 ports Vernon Burt as getting honey when others in his region 

 were getting none, the secret being that Mr. Burt had fol- 

 lowed the Boardman plan of feeding in advance so as to have 

 the brood-nest full, which otherwise would have had to be 

 filled with the houey that was put in the supers. 



Hive-Tool. — For prying loose frames, supers, etc., a 

 screw-driver is quite commonly used. The editor of Glean- 

 ings is on the hunt for a better tool, and the fraternity, as 

 usual, are prompt to give help, so it is to be hoped that a good 

 tool of the sort will shortly be on the market. Fred S. Thor- 

 ington says, in the Progressive Bee-Keeper, that he takes the 

 top layer of a buggy-spring. 



Comb vs. Extracted Honey. — R. C. Aikin seems to think 

 there is not such a very big difference between the amount 

 produced by a colony, whether comb or extracted ; while G. 

 M. Doolitlle says he has repeatedly proved that the average 

 yield of extracted will double that of comb. But he says that 

 with the same labor he can sell oouble the amount of comb, 

 and generally get double the price. — Progressive Bee-Keeper. 



Weight of Sections. — F. Greiner says, in Gleanings, that 

 the wood in sections should not be less than 'H-iuch thick ; 

 1,000 sections weigh about 60 pounds. When they are 

 enough thinner to weigh ouly 50 pounds, the bee-keeper loses 

 $3.5<_) on a thousand sections, because the wood is sold with 

 the honey at 10 cents a pound, bringing $6.00 a thousand or 

 $3.50 more than the cost. The editor says many western bee- 

 keepers prefer sections nine to the inch, because the freight is 

 less. But it would have to be a long haul to make the freight 

 on 10 pounds equal $3.50. 



Improvements in Section-Cleaners still continue. In 

 Gleanings, Arthur Howe describes a cleaner he has made, 

 using an old bicycle as the power, geared so that one pedal 

 revolution equals a wheel 66 inches in diameter. Above is a 

 master-wheel of an old sewing machine, connected with a pul- 

 ley on the pollsbing-lathe, which has two polishing-wheels, 

 one covered with No. 1)4 sand-paper for the rough work, and 

 the other with emory-cloth to finish with. 



In the same paper, H. Perry's suggestion is to have a disk 

 fitted out with rasps next the periphery, and with sand-paper 

 in the center. The rasps are to take off the bulk of the prop- 

 olis ; then by sliding the section to the center of the disk the 

 sand-paper Is to finish the job. 



Contraction of Colonies. — Messrs. Hutchinson and Taylor 

 are in controversy with the editor of Gleanings. The latter 

 referred to the contraction of the brood-nest as a fad that had 

 perhaps past away. Editor Hutchinson replies : 



"So far as I know, no one has practiced contraction of 

 old establisht colonies — those that had their broodnests tilled 

 with bees, brood and honey — it was only in hiving swarms that 

 contraction was practiced. It is possible that some practiced 

 contraction with establisht colonies ; it seems that you have 

 understood it that way, but you are the first man I have ever 

 met who so understood it or practiced it." 



Mr. Root says contraction of establisht brood-nests is re- 

 ferred to in •' Langstroth-Revised," and in Root's "ABC of 

 Bee-Culture." After consulting back volumes of the Review, 

 American Bee Journal, and Gleanings, he confesses that there 

 were more cases than he had supposed of contraction at time 

 of swarming, but still thinks the majority were of the other 



kind, and gives the following from Miller's " Year Among the 

 Bees " : 



" Up to the time of putting on supers, the desire has been 

 to have the bees occupy as many combs as possible. . . .When 

 It comes time to put on supers they are reduced to four or five 

 frames." 



Bringing the matter down to recent date, he gives the fol- 

 lowing quotation from the Belgian L'Abeille for June, 1898, 

 In its regular department of instruction for the month : 



" In order to force the bees to occupy them Immediately, 

 it is advisable to limit at the same time the space which the 

 colony occupies to about -;; of its capacity. If this practice 

 brings the colony to the swarming point, the swarm is put 

 upon a few frames." 



It is very evident that the two gentlemen have been look- 

 ing at opposite sides of the shield, if indeed they have not been 

 looking at two different shields. 



Marketing Honey.— R. C. Aikin gives, in Progressive, 

 the general principles upon which he proceeds, as follows : 



"Having studied out the situation I try to do what is 

 right, and what I can do. If the city and general markets 

 will not pay good prices, I decide that the poor at home have 

 a better right to cheap eating than has the man with capital. 

 It costs me a little more to sell out in small lots than to sell at 

 wholesale, so I charge a little above the wholesale price, and 

 let my neighbors have my honey. The poor man's 50 cents 

 will buy just as many pounds as the rich man's, one price to 

 all — no cut for quantity. I try to make my extracted take the 

 place of foreign sweets — sugar, syrups and glucose. My comb 

 honey I hold higher, because it requires more skill, which 

 means more preparation on my part to be able to do it well — 

 to produce it. I take trade whenever my neighbor has what 

 I need, and would buy." 



Bee-Q,uilts.— Those who still use sheets or quilts over 

 their frames may be interested to know how Fred S. Thoring- 

 ton manages it, as given in the Progressive Bee-Keeper. 

 He says: 



" For a cloth cover over frames, sections, etc., I use heavy, 

 unbleacht sheeting boiled in linseed oil, in which some rubber 

 cut in small pieces has been thrown, the oil and rubber boiled 

 together for a few moments before the cloth is put in. The 

 cloth should be held upon a stick in the air occasionally, and 

 be kept well stirred while being boiled. When done, hang to 

 dry a short time before being folded or cut into blankets to fit 

 the hive. Rubber from the soles of shoes or boots, if good, 

 will do to use. I have used blankets made as above mentioned 

 for years, and find the bees do not gnaw them much. Oil 

 enough to cover the cloth when boiling is all that is wanted." 



Selling Granulated Honey.— R. C. Aikin says he has 

 changed his practice, and now does not try to keep his ex- 

 tracted honey liquid, but sells it in the granulated state. He 

 thinks there is no trouble about it when people get to under- 

 stand it. Of course he gives printed Instructions for the man- 

 agement of granulated honey. G. M. Dooiittle thinks it is the 

 only really practical way to sell extracted honey. If sold in 

 the liquid form, the customer thinks he has been imposed upon 

 when the honey granulates. Grocers have less " daub " with 

 granulated than with liquid. Another very important point, 

 if correct, has perhaps not been given In print before. Mr. 

 Dooiittle says : 



"Then every time granulated honey Is liquefied, there 

 comes to it that nice aroma, so inviting to the smell and taste, 

 which it had when fresh from the combs, while that long 

 standing in the lic.uid state, loses this aroma, to a certain ex- 

 tent." — Progressive Bee-Keeper. 



Honey as Food is a neat little 24-page pamphlet 

 especially gotten up with a view to creating a demand for 

 honey among should-be consumers. The forepart of the 

 pamphlet was written by Dr. C. C. Miller, and is devoted to 

 general information concerning honey. The latter part con- 

 sists of recipes for use in cooking and as a medicine. It 

 will be found to be a very effective helper In working up a 

 home market for honey. We furnish them, postpaid, at these 

 prices: A sample for a stamp ; li5 copies for 20 cents; 50 

 for 35 cents; 100 for 65 cents; 250 for $1.50; 500 for 

 $2.75. For 25 cents extra we will print your name and ad- 

 dress on the front page, when ordering 100 or more copies at 

 these prices. ^ 



Every Present Subscriber of the Bee Journal 

 should be an agent for it, and get all other bee-keepers possi- 

 ble to subscribe for It. See premium offers on page -tSS. 



