1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



595 



use the same cases for both comb and extracted honey, for the 

 very good reason that after our extracting-combs are once 

 built they must be preserved if we wish to derive all the 

 benefits that are expected from the production of extracted 

 honey, and nothing is better to contain these combs while not 

 in use than the very cases In which they have been built. 



I do not see where Mr. Deacon (page 563) found instruc- 

 tions from us to make the top-bar of the extractlng-frames 

 IJs square. We do not make them this heavy, and if we 

 have ever recommended any such top-bar it must have been 

 by some error. Our book, " Langstroth Revised," gives the 

 thickness as % Inch, which is rather light for brood-frames, 

 but all right for an extractingframe 6 inches deep. As to 

 the bottom-bar, we make them J^ inch thick, for two reasons : 

 In the first place, we make our end-bar only '4 inch thick and 

 nail it Into the bottom-bar. Instead of nailing the bottom-bar 

 into the end-bar, as usual with the Langstroth hive. On the 

 other hand, we have found, and probably many others have 

 noticed also that It very often happens that the bees build 

 more or less brace-combs and bridges between the brood-cham- 

 ber and the super, or between the several supers, and when 

 they make these braces very strong It sometimes happens 

 that a thin bottom-bar will bend and yield when the super is 

 taken off. This is our reason for making the heavier bar. 

 This is a very unimportant matter, anyhow, as we ha^e 

 plenty of room in our hives and supers for what wood is 

 needed, and the cost is very nearly the same. 



DO ITALIAN BEES GATHER BETTER HONEY ? 



I notice that there has been quite a discussion in the 

 American Bee Journal as to whether, and why, the Italian 

 bees gather better honey than other bees. I have noticed 

 this peculiarity myself a number of times, more especially 

 when honey-dew and clover honey are to be found at the same 

 time. I have also noticed in August black bees on buckwheat 

 bloom while no Italians could be found on It. Evidently the 

 Italians were finding something better, for they were working 

 as faithfully and as successfully as the others, and, in fact, 

 the honey crop of the Italians was In many instances of 

 greater quantity as well as of better quality. 



To me, there is but one explanation of this fact. The Ital- 

 ians have more developt olfactory nerves than the others, and 

 are better fitted to select their food. It would also appear 

 that their taste and likings are similar to ours, and that what 

 suits their palate best is also our choice. In the choice between 

 clover honey and honey-dew the contrast Is so great that there 

 Is nothing apparently extraordinary in a markt preference 

 for the former product ; but in discerning between buckwheat 

 honey and knot-weed, the Italians undoubtedly show a very 

 notable ability and good taste. Hancock Co., III. 



Bee-Chat, or Various Notes and Commetits. 



BV HERMAN F. MOORE. 



Red-Cloveb Italians. — As to pure Italian bees, or cer- 

 tain selected strains of them, working on the big red clover, 

 why can't we have a general experience-meeting from all the 

 readers of the American Bee Journal? If we can lengthen 

 the tongues of bees by selected breeding, let us know It. If 

 they (the long-tongued bees) come from some particular dis- 

 trict In Italy, let us know that. In a year like this the pos- 

 session of such bees would mean thousands of dollars to api- 

 arists all over the United States. 



Section-Cleaners — In the midst of all this talk about 

 machines for cleaning sections, let me make adiscordant note. 

 The people don't want the sections so clean. They don't eat 

 the wood. They cut it off and throw It away at once. More 

 than that, the mere presence of the wax and bee-glue or prop- 

 olis on the wood of the section is to them a badge of purity 

 and honor. Again and again have these expressions been used 

 to me: "No bee ever made that." "It's too pretty." 

 "That's the way a man makes honey." Just hand them a 

 comb well smeared with propolis, and they say : " Ah, that 

 looks right." "That reminds me of the honey my father used 

 to get on the farm." "That is real bee-honey," etc. 



The people have it in their heads that comb honey is made 

 without bees, and they don't want any of It. Argument Is 

 useless — they have just made up their minds, and Immovable 

 as an oak they stand. Let me tell you, if you want to sell 

 them any of ynur honey, don't dwell too strongly on the fal- 

 lacy of this belief, for you only antagonize them to no pur- 

 pose. Only when you become well acquainted with them, and 

 have won their confidence by fair dealing and good stuff, can 



you use your heavy arguments and deal sledge-hammer.blows, 

 and do good in so doing. 



A Little Bee-Experience. — Tho my mother began 

 keeping bees over 80 years ago, and I have been more or less 

 associated with bees ever since, this is my first year to have 

 my own bees at my own home. I have increast from one col- 

 ony to 8, and intend to winter 10. Next year I shall try to 

 produce the maximum of honey from 10 colonies, and prevent 

 all swarming over one from each colony. My better tjalf Is 

 intensely Interested. We find the sting of a bee is not serious 

 for either of us, when promptly removed with the fingers. I 

 purpose to undertake a campaign of education among the 

 near-by farmers; distribute Alsike clover leaflets among 

 them, try if we can't crowd out the cockle-bur with sweet 

 clover, etc. 



Spraying Cross Bees. — I want to ask J. A. Golden 

 whether he thinks it would be all right to spray the bees with 

 ether or chloroform when they are a little cross. That is just 

 what he was doing, when he used sunflower to smoke them. 

 No wonder they were easily quieted. Mrs. Moore had a sort of 

 asthmatic cough as a finale to her la grippe. To relieve her a 

 pipe full of stramonium leaves — sunflower leaves — and salt- 

 peter was advised. "The only objection," the doctor said, 

 " was that all these were narcotics." 



Try well-dried rotton wood, and see if that does just as 

 well, Mr. Golden. 



Two Story Brood-Chambers. — The more I think over 

 and experiment on it, the more 1 am convinced that two stories 

 for brood in early spring is necessary to the greatest success, 

 viz.: greatest number of pounds of surplus honey, when honey 

 comes. Now, can't Editor York get a show of hands, some- 

 how ? Number of pounds of surplus (comb or extracted) for 

 the last five years In one-story brood and in two-story brood- 

 chambers. I think it would be largely in favor of two-story 

 brood-chambers. The only objection to this plan for general 

 adoption is the undue booming of supply dealers' business, but, 

 " the greatest good to the greatest number." 



Drawn Comb. — I see that L. Stachelhausen thinks that 

 just as much comb honey as extracted can be produced by the 

 use of drawn comb foundation. I think not; in extracted 

 honey production the same combs can be returned and refilled 

 several times in the same season, and the work of finishing 

 the sides and corners of the comb is greatly in favor of large 

 frames, from which every bee-keeper knows our liquid honey 

 is taken. 



This is a question of Interest to all bee-keepers, for if as 

 much comb honey as extracted can be produced by any known 

 process, that will result in removing hundreds of tons of ex- 

 tracted honey from the market ; or rather, it will go to th& 

 market as comb, and the price of extracted honey In th& 

 wholesale markets might in case of a general production of 

 comb instead of extracted, be doubled. 



Suppose, Mr. S., you try three colonies for comb and three 

 for extracted honey under the very best conditions, and report 

 results. 



Fence-Sections. — I am trying fence-sections, and shall 

 reserve my final verdict until a crop of honey produced In 

 them shall declare. But there is no question that if we can, 

 by their use, prevent air-holes around the edges, they will be 

 much more popular with the consumer. He thinks of nothing 

 else than the loss of the wood and wax, and, Doolittle to the 

 contrary notwithstanding, prefers a section fastened to the 

 wood all around. He doesn't have in mind the more or less 

 convenience of using the section on the table, but solely of the 

 two or three extra ounces of honey he thinks he is getting. 



My trade has always been nine-tenths liquid honey. Peo- 

 ple say, "Comb has too much wood," "too little honey,' 

 " they're too dry," etc.; and In a lot of pound sections they 

 have a quick eye for those sealed along the edge. 



Facing Honey. — Don't you ever face your honey or 

 your apples. No consumer ever demands it, no matter what 

 the commission merchant or the grocer wants. Every con- 

 sumer calls it " lying and stealing," and I think so, too. It is 

 no answer to say people expect to be fooled ; they don't ; they 

 are constantly trying to guard themselves against it; they 

 don't expect it any more than Richardson expected to pay 

 Sheridan's bill. Sheridan had been driving out three or four 

 hours in a hackney coach, when, seeing Richardson pass, he 

 hailed him and made him get in. He instantly contrived to 

 introduce a topic upon which Richardson (who was the very 

 soul of disputatiousness) always differed from him ; and at 

 last affecting to be mortified at Richardson's arguments, said : 

 " You really are too bad; I cannot bear to listen to such 



