1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



629 



of the pollen that would probably be stored in many of them. 

 But should we pursue the Hannemann method to the letter we 

 should probably make an article of commerce of the pollen 

 harvested, and find a way to preserve it. I think I should sell 

 some of it to Messrs. Perry, Olmstead, and others, who are in 

 need of it for spring feeding. 



A further improvement of the Hannemann system would 

 be the liberal use of comb foundation, particularly with the 

 view of preventing the rearing of the millions of useless 

 drones that have to be sifted out and disposed of. Of course, 

 they would make a splendid food for ducks, and I would cer- 

 tainly make use of them in this way if I reared them at all. 

 Finally, I would adopt the Langstroth or Berlepsch frame in- 

 stead of the bar, a la Dzierzon, thus preventing the mussy, 

 disagreeable work of cutting out the honey, etc. All these 

 are improvements of the Hannemann system, which suggest 

 themselves to the thinking mind ; with them, I believe, Han- 

 nemann might double the yield that he has been able to obtain. 



I wonder what he would think of such yields as Mr. 

 Lovesy reports in the American Bee Journal, page 452, of a 

 bee-keeper in Salt Lake county, Utah — an average of 363 

 pounds of extracted ; or the yield of J. P. Israel, the champion 

 comb-honey producer of the world, reported to be 662 pounds 

 of comb honey per colony. Such yields are phenomenal in- 

 deed. Are they true, or only " on paper?" If Mr. Hanne- 

 mann has seen the photos of 'our honey exhibits at the Centen- 

 nial, or their reproductions, he may now conclude that the 

 North American, with his intelligence and proverbial ingen- 

 uity, can well overcome obstacles that seem unconquerable to 

 him, which, however, existed largely in his imagination. If 

 that does not convince him I am afraid nothing will. — Glean- 

 ings in Bee-Culture. Ontario Co., N. Y. 



The Evolutloti of the Bee-Keepiug Author. 



BY M. O. TANYARD. 



The bee-keeping fraternity has within its ranks more 

 authors, contributors and literary people generally to the 

 square inch than can be found among any other class of peo- 

 ple In the wide world. There are in the United States 800,- 

 000 bee-keepers, and 297,327 (spring count) are contribu- 

 tors and authors. 



If a person has no literary aspirations, and does not wish 

 to have, he should refrain from keeping bees. If he has no 

 literary aspirations, and yet would like to have a "few thou- 

 sand," more or less, he should not neglect to procure a colony 

 to start him off. One colony is sufficient, altho if he desires 

 more they will be of no disadvantage. After obtaining the 

 bees he is now on the broad highway to undying fame. The 

 bee-keeping, would-be author carefully feels his way at first, 

 like a child learning to walk. His first effort is usually ad- 

 drest to the "Question and Answer " department of some bee- 

 publication, and the following letter is a fair sample : 



Beedom, Minn., May 29, 1S93. 

 Mr. Editcb— i hav got too swarms of beas. i thot i wood rite 

 a few lines to the Stinger as i think you bav no coruspondunt 

 hear. 1 expeck my beas to swarm eny minnit. how can I tak oSC 

 hunny an not git stung, if you want to winter 300 swarms of beas 

 How big a suller will it tak. if a man hed 30 tuns of hunny what 

 is the Best way to git the cash fur it. 



Yoors truely, Allis Lovelt. 



He now waits before again trying his hand until he has 

 shed his milk-teeth. In the meantime he has been reading 

 the bee-papers occasionally, and has acquired considerable 

 confidence. He now writes thusly : 



Beedom, Minn., Sept. 20, 1893. 

 EniTDR Bee-Stinger — I didn't hav eny succes with my beas 

 this sumer. i think the reports sum mak about big yelds is exag- 

 jerated. i live hear in the best part of the united staits for beas 

 and i didnt git etiy hunny. i think one resou why i faled to git 

 hunny was becaus i didnt put on eny supers till the trifolium was 

 gon. 1 forgot it. and when the tilia Americana was in blum we 

 had a long wet spell so the beas ciidn't fly. the solidago, coreopsis, 

 varioloid and erysipelas didnt do a thing this fall, i hav got a 

 chance to swap a dubble-barrel shotgun, laminated barrels, 13 

 boar, for 10 skips of beas. i think i sbal do it, as the gun was a 

 good one mnr. Yoors truely, 



Allis Lovely. 



Two years have now past. He has brusht some of the 

 cobwebs from his orthography, chlrography and entomology, 

 and has become full-fledged. He now jumps upon the edge of 

 the nest, gaps, spreads his broad wings, and soars away as 

 follows : 



Beedom, Minn., July 9, 1895. 



Editor " Bee-Stinger:" — I am much gratified at the remark- 

 able advancement that has been made during the past two years 



by the bee-keeping fraternity. There is room, however, for still 

 further progress. If the gross ignorance that is manifested by a 

 certain class of would-be bee-keepers could be eliminated from the 

 bee-periodicals, there would be universal rejoicing. How much 

 longer must an already long-suffering public be inflicted with the 

 contributions of ignoramuses who are not familiar with even the 

 rudiments of bee-keeping. I notice in the last issue of the " Stinger" 

 that Spriggins, of Ohio, says, that, "in order to secure straight 

 combs, when using the no-wall comb foundation, the frames must 

 be wired perpendicularly, horizontally, diagonally and consider- 

 ably." Now, what vile rot that is ! He may be able to make novices 

 swallow that, but he can't stuff it down an old experienced bee- 

 keeper like me. Every person that has a grain of common sense, 

 and upon whom Nature has bestowed any favors whatever, knows 

 that if the hives are placed so that the frames extend north and 

 south, straight combs will be the result. 



Another idiot, whose name I disdain to mention, asks the fol- 

 lowing fool question : "I want to winter my bees in the cellar. 

 What shall I do ?" I would like to say to him that one of the 

 essential things to do in that case, is to lilave the bees in the cellar. 

 You can't winter bees successfully in the cellar unless you do this. 



I would like to gratify you by dwelling longer upon this sub- 

 ject, but other duties are pressing, so I must forbear until some 

 future time. Yours truly, 



Allis Lovely. 



About three years later he writes a book, entitled, "The 

 Apis Mellifica; or a Quick Way to Amass a Fortune," which 

 will be sent to any address, postpaid, upon receipt of 75 cents. 



Somethlug Abottt the " Notre Dame Hive." 



BY JOHN CHBYS08TOM. 



The " Notre Dame hive" is the only hive now in use in 

 our apiary. It has given entire satisfaction. This hive will, 

 in all probability, supersede all our loose-hanging frame hives 

 on its own merits. It combines all the qualities of the box- 

 hive for safe wintering and breeding up in early spring, and 

 all the facilities of the loose-hanging frame hive for easy and 

 safe manipulation of the frames. Moreover, nearly all loose- 

 hanging frame hives may, by our simple device, which costs 

 but a few cents per hive, be converted into the Notre Dame 

 hive — even those that have bees in them. 



As a closed-end or box-hive, when the frames are put in 

 and properly spaced, the hive is contracted, holding the frames 

 so firmly Bxt in place that it may be laid on the side, or stood 

 on end, or even inverted, and the frames will not move. Be- 

 sides, not a particle of air can pass around the ends of the 

 frames. 



What about propolis and the sticking of the frames ? To 

 avoid this nuisance, to a great extent, the ends of the hive are 

 smeared with tallow before putting in the frames. This may 

 be done by using a thin knife much after the fashion of 

 spreading butter on bread. The spaces between the ends of 

 the frames, on the supports, may also be filled with tallow. 

 All this, however, is not necessary ; yet it has proven to be an 

 advantage to the bee-masters. 



It requires but about ten seconds of time to expand or 

 contract the Notre Dame hive as desired. When expanding 

 it, tho, it Is advisable to expand It just enough to let the 

 frames lift out easily and smoothly ; so that in replacing them 

 the bees may not get between the end of the frame and the 

 hive. This hive is always ready to be put on the wagon or 

 cars, because the frames cannot jar out of place. The en- 

 trance to the hive Is very large when entirely open ; but it 

 can, by means of a little slide, be contracted at will to one 

 bee-space. 



What about swarming "? Are not the bees more liable to 

 swarm from box or closed-end hives ? Probably, if confined 

 to eight or ten frames. All the colonies here have a brood- 

 chamber of 16 frames in two stories. Last spring, at fruit 

 blooming, many colonies required 24 frames. Our bees have 

 b5en watcht closely the last three summers, but during all 

 that time we have failed to get so much as one prime swarm. 

 The only swarms we have had were from nuclei, and colonies 

 that had lost their queens. 



We have excellent queens from various first-class breed- 

 ers. The non-swarming of our bees cannot be attributed to 

 inferior stock. It may be accounted for thus : The hives 

 are made larger by adding frames to accommodate the 

 bees In proportion as they multiply. In this way they 

 always have excellent quarters. They are loath to leave such 

 a fine hive. No swarm has ever been seen to leave our yard. 

 About the first of July many of the colonies are on 40 frames. 

 About this time the Asilus acstuans, called in English the 

 lionict-jlji, or vulgarly, the hawk-fly or robber-fly, makes its 

 appearance. This species of bee-eaters abounds here. The 

 result is, that in July and August, bees are killed by the mill- 



