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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



July 28, 



written the paragraph going the rounds of the press, only to 

 combat the idea put forth by Mr. Snyder, that Improper grad- 

 ing was the cause of the low prices of honey as compared 

 with former years, during which years hocey was rarely 

 graded at all by the majority of bee-keepers. 



My saying that I should doubt the wisdom of facing or 

 improper grading of honey ought to have stopt all cavil at 

 once. But, on the whole, I am very glad I wrote as I did, 

 and that this discussion has followed ; for, through the dis- 

 cussion, very much along the line of education regarding the 

 crating of honey has been brought out which otherwise would 

 never have seen the light. My shoulders are broad and strong, 

 and If the pounding of me (or even vituperation, as indulged 

 In by "Skylark") will bring out something of use to the 

 world, I can but rejoice. Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



[We notice In the foregoing that Mr. Dooliitle thinks that 

 If we had quoted all he wrote for Gleanings on the subject of 

 facing comb honey, "there would have been ?io discussion." 

 Then we wonder how it comes that in the very same paper 

 where Mr. Doollttle's article appeared in full, there was such 

 a hot discussion, and "roasting " of Doolittle, that the editor 

 of Gleanings cut off discussion In that paper. 



The weak point In Mr. Djolittle's defense Is where he 

 emphasizes the words " sent on comniission," just as If that 

 made any difference as to the honesty of the action. To our 

 mind that makes it so much worse, for then the commission- 

 man is made the scapegoat 



To face comb honey for market is wrong, every time and 

 everywhere. — Editor. 1 



Management for Extracted Honey. 



BY JOHN NEWTON. 



In running an apiary as I do, partly for comb and partly 

 for extracted honey, I usually select the strongest and best 

 colonies for comb honey, and the rest are run for " extracted." 

 When the spring work has been done — such as clipping 

 queens' wings, etc, and before the honey season opens — I see 

 that my extractlng-combs and supers are clean and in proper 

 condition for the honey season. My supers are the same size 

 as the brood-chambers, only one comb less is used ; eight 

 combs 8J4X16'4 comprising my extracting super. 



As the season opens, my supers and queen-excluders are 

 brought from the store-room, the smoker is lighted, and the 

 bees smoked, the excluder placed over the brood-chamber, and 

 one super is put over the excluder on all colonies to be run for 

 extracting honey, aud are strong enough to need room. After 

 the honey-flow fairly opens I make It a rule to see what is 

 being done in the supers, or colonies not yet having extra 

 room, so that If more room Is needed it may be given at once. 



1 never allow a shortage of room for storing. In doing so, 

 two objects are sought : One is to discourage swarming from 

 over-loading, and the other Is to receive the greatest amount 

 of surplus honey. I run all colonies two stories high. When 

 super No. 1 is about two-thirds full, It Is raised and super No. 



2 placed under it. 



I might here say for those who have not so many spare 

 combs, that It can be workt by extracting one-half of the 

 combs at a time, always placing the combs with the most 

 honey to the center of the hives. By doing this, you will get 

 well-ripened honey, and It does not allow the bees to be over- 

 crowded or in need of store-room. 



As the season advances, and In four or five days after you 

 have placed on the second super, super No. 1 will be ready for 

 extracting, but here let us be sure that our honey is well 

 ripened before extracting. We all know that nectar which 

 the bees collect from the flowers Is thin and watery, and must 

 be fully evaporated to make the best honey. The bee-keeper 

 should be equally wise and not extract his honey until it is 

 capt over. This requires a little more labor of uncapping, but 

 then we get honey far superior, and the wax for our trouble. 

 We do not want honey that has been ripened artificially. All 

 honey should be allowed to ripen In the hives ; the honey will 

 have a better body, and Is superior In flavor. 



Now we must see that our extracting and store rooms are 

 in good order — everything clean and tidy. When visitors 

 come to see me I never feel ashamed to show them into my 

 extractlng-room ; I know they will not be disgusted and depart 

 saying, " I do not want to eat any extracted honey If every 

 bee-keeper is as dirty as Newton ; It Is not fit to eat." 



I have seen extractlng-rooms all daubed and sticky, and 

 the bee-keeper also. Let us put a good, clean article on the 



market and command a good price. Have our extracting and 

 store-rooms In good order, the extractor placed In position on 

 a box or bench in good order, and high enough to let a pall 

 under the tap ; the honey-cans the same In the store-room 

 with the strainer secured around the top; uncapplng-can 

 placed In position, knife sharp, dish of warm water to place 

 the knife in when not In use uncapping, which will assist 

 much in the work. 



My uncapping-can is just an oblong box with a bent tin so 

 as to drain the honey to one end and run It In a dish. My 

 screen for holding the cappings Is one of the screens of my 

 solar wax extractor. When the screen is full It Is placed in 

 the solar, and another one put In its place, and If it is a nice, 

 sunny day the same night we will have no cappings to wash 

 for vinegar, but they will be Into nice yellow wax, and th© 

 honey which was in them can be placed In the store-can none 

 the worse for going through the solar. 



Now, when everything Is ready — the comb-box, wheelbar- 

 row, and the smoker going good — I proceed to the bee-yard 

 and go around to those hives from which I wish to extract, 

 placing the entrance-blocks on, and giving a few puffs of 

 smoke. This will cause an excitement, and warm up the 

 honey, and will greatly aid in extracting. We must be cau- 

 tious not to give too much smoke, which Injures the flavor of 

 the honey. Now proceed to that part of the yard at which 

 you wish to start, and after giving a few more puffs of smoke 

 in the top, tear off the quilt and take out one comb, placing it 

 at the entrance so as to give more room In the hive to shake 

 and brush the bees from the combs, and prevent killing and 

 making the bees angry, placing each comb as the bees are 

 cleaned from them into the comb-box. After all combs are 

 out, close down the hive, remove the entrance-blocks, and pro- 

 ceed to the extracting-room. Uncap and extract. 



A little caution must be taken in turning the extractor: 

 Start slow, gradually getting up speed, and there Is not much 

 danger of breaking the combs. After extracting, place the 

 combs to one side until evening, then replace them on the 

 hives. If I was working, as I mentioned before, extracting 

 the half super at a time, I would carry a set of combs with me 

 and replace them as soon as the full ones are taken out. After 

 the day's extracting Is over, and all honey Is run Into store- 

 cans, cover up the extractor, uncapplng-dlsh, etc., so as to 

 keep them clean until needed again; and thus I work on un- 

 til the honey season Is over. During the last extracting the 

 bee-tent is usually brought into use to prevent robbing. 



After the extracting season Is finally over, and all combs 

 extracted, they are piled three high on hives, with a quilt be- 

 tween the brood-chamber and supers, with a corner turned 

 back to allow the bees to clean them up, or, if placed In the 

 yard some distance from the bees, tiered up, the combs spaced 

 to allow bees access to them, they will soon clean them up. 

 But I prefer the former way, as it does not cause the same ex- 

 citement. After combs are clean and sweet, they are again 

 placed In the store-room with a sheet of paper between each, 

 until they are wanted again the following spring. — American 

 Bee-Keeper. Ontario, Canada. 



Shallow-Scallopt Sections in Tiering-Up. 



BY EDWIN BEVIN8. 



Allow me to say to "Arkansas" (page 422) that his 

 trouble about tierlng-up arises from the fact that he uses sec- 

 tions which are not scallopt deep enough. When two sections 

 such as I use are placed side by side, the scallops make an 

 opening of H Inch. If separators are used that come up even 

 with the tops of the sections and divide this passage there Is, 

 of course, a Ji inch bee-space on each side of the separators; 

 and this Is ample for the bees to work through. With shal- 

 lower scallops I have had some of the trouble that "Arkan- 

 sas " complains of. 



I cannot quite agree with Dr. Miller that it Is no great 

 matter if the bees cannot go up freely between the outside 

 sections and the side of the super. It Is a waste of time for 

 bees to travel around to the other side of the section In order 

 to get above, and there are times when time Is honey as well 

 as money. With a }-4-inch space at the sides the bees seem to 

 go up freely. 



The Doctor's answer to "Arkansas'" second question 

 shows that he misapprehended his meaning. It was not the 

 space between supers that bothered "Arkansas," but the 

 space between the upper edges of the separators and the 

 scallopt edge of the section. " Arkansas " can get around his 

 trouble by using sections with deeper scallops, and also by 

 using separators scallopt on their upper edges. 



Decatur Co., Iowa. 



