Jan. 19, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



37 



extracted some apple-blossom honey ; it has a very distinct 

 flavor, like the aroma of apple-blossoms. The best way to 

 determine the source of honey is to extract some when un- 

 ripe, then observe and cultivate the taste. 



DO BEES NEED SALT IN BROOD-KE.^RING ? 



Question — Do bees necessarily have to have salt in 

 brood-rearing- ? 



Walter Martin — It is not absolutely necessary, but I 

 think they ought to have access to salt in .some form. 



J. E. Lj'on — I never do without salt for the bees in some 

 form. I put from a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful of a 

 solution of salt at the entrance. It soon dries up. but the 

 deposit does not blow away. 



Mr. Adams— Salt is necessary. But in this country 

 the bees get salt from the water. 



Mr. Honnett— Bees are fond of salt. Sometimes a 

 swarm which has absconded from a hive will stay in the 

 same hive after it has been washt with salt-water. 



Mr. Rhodes— The question is. Do they «(•<•(/ salt ? An 

 Eastern writer says men and cattle don't need salt. For 

 proof, he says the cattlemen in the West don't give salt. 

 But our cattlemen do buj' and distribute salt. 



H. Rauchfuss — We formerly salted our bees, and they 

 dwindled a great deal in the spring. Lately we have not 

 done so. and the bees have done considerablv better. 



Dr. McLean — Physicians say it is impossible for life to 

 exist without salt. Bees are like other animals, therefore 

 they require salt. They will procure more or less in what 

 thev eat. Salt exists in almost every food. 



. COLONIES SLIGHTLY .EFFECTED WITH FOUL BROOD. 



Question — What would you do with a colony having 

 just a little foul brood at this time of year, the hive being 

 very strong with bees and honey ? 



Mr. Adams — Let them alone until spring. 



H. Rauchfuss — When can ' you handle "bees in spring 

 without risk ? Kill them. Yoii can buy bees for S2.00 a 

 colony. Boil the honey, and buy bees with the proceeds. 



Mr. Booth — It is against the law to get the monev for 

 that hone}-. 



H. Rauchfuss— The law only says until disinfected. 



Mr. Martin— Can the honey be taken from such hives 

 so as to be first-class, or salable at all ? 



Pres. Aikin— The flavor is destroyed by the heat. 



David Bates — I have had considerable experience with 

 foul brood. If I had such a colony as is described, I would 

 .set it aside and burn the whole thing. If you leave it, you 

 are liable never to get rid of the disease. A neighbor who 

 has been treating it has had it continuously four or five 

 years.. He has kept the whole country alive" with it. The 

 only safe way to handle foul brood at this time of vear is to 

 burn the whole thing. 



Mr. Lyon — There is too much monkeying with foul 

 brood in my neighborhood. It doesn't pay. I would kill it 

 out. Five out of ten colonies will be robbed out before 

 spring, regardless of the present strength of the colonies. 



Mr. Bates — I have been in the bee-business over 45 

 years. I have had it come up in my yard again and again. 

 I have tried to save the colonies infected, but have only 

 made a bad matter worse. They get weak and are robbed, 

 and spread the disease over the yard and the neighborhood. 

 If 100 sections were on a hive, I would not save any of it. 



Mrs. Booth — My honey won't burn. 



F. Rauchfuss— Make a pit, set the hive over it, and 

 after everything has burned that will burn, bury the rest. 



BEES T.\X.^BLE AS PROPERTY. 



Question— What authoritv have you for thinking that 

 bees are taxable as other property ? 



A lengthy discussion followed, which it .seems best to 

 summarize. Some thought that as bees could not be identi- 

 fied they could not be taxt. and exprest surprise that anv 

 one should want his bees taxt, even if they were property, 

 as no object was apparent in having them taxt ; and pointed 

 out that frequently bees were not taxt by assessors. To 

 these objections it was replied that the reasons bees are 

 often not taxt are either that they are often considered in- 

 significant, or that freedom from taxation is considered an 

 inducement to bee-culture ; that runaway bees can be 

 claimed if not lost sight of. and could be recovered if identi- 

 fied, just as horses are : that in general it is not a question 

 of identifying, for bees are generally in hives, not out of 

 them, and hives may always be identified ; that if bees were 

 not property, inspectors could not inspect, nor bee-keepers' 

 proceedings be publi.sht at the expense of the State, nor 



would monej- be invested in bees, instead of in something 

 more secure ; and that if bees were not property, they could 

 not be protected by law. 



SECOND DAY. 

 The following paper was read by Mr. Ben Honnett : 



Improved Apicultural Appliances. 



There is an urgent necessity for an article upon this 

 subject, to elicit the discussion necessary to a formal con- 

 clusion. There is a wide divergence of opinion with refer- 

 ence to appliances, so-calh'd improved. Starting with the 

 Langstroth improved hive are several objections ; that is, 

 the brood-frame resting in wood saw-kerf, which causes 

 many of them to become broken and troublesome at the 

 busiest time. Another is the raised rabbet all around the 

 brood-chamber, which frequently breaks off" on being pried 

 loose from the super. The Wisconsin is an improvement 

 in this respect, as it allows the super to be slid on without 

 injury to the bees, which in- itself is a great consideration 

 where time is essential. 



We next find many other hives patterned in a great 

 measure after Lang.stroth's, to-wit : the Wisconsin, the 

 Wisconsin-Improved, the Heddon .shallow or Heddon deep, 

 all having- their supporters. In my humble judgment a 

 movable-frame hive is correct, no matter what the make. 



So again we have the preference shown in size, some 

 advocating 8-frame and others 10-frame hives. From my 

 own experience I prefer 8-frame hives, for this rea.son : They 

 are more easily handled, the super is more quicklj' filled 

 and more readily refilled when a good honey-flow is on. 

 There being more medium-sized swarms than extra-large 

 ones, is another good reason for 8-frame hives. Of cour.se I 

 do not for a moment believe this is the only hive that is 

 good. I would say that the particular hive that a bee-keeper 

 fancies is more apt to give him good results than any other, 

 from the very fact of his being predisposed in its favor (pro- 

 viding alwa3-s the frames are movable), the main considera- 

 tion being the result in honey. 



Beginners are more apt to be misled about hives than 

 the old bee-keeper. It is a notable fact that almost every 

 novice in bee-keeping makes an attempt to revolutionize 

 the business, which, according to his or her idea, has been 

 conducted on erroneous principles, hence we have the large 

 variety of hives. I have bought bees at various times, and 

 accumulated Langstroth, Langstroth-Grimm, Simplicity, 

 Langstroth-Improved, Wisconsin, Heddon, and others; my 

 preference being the Wisconsin, which I have found to be 

 simple to operate and producing g-ood results. I know it is 

 touching a ticklish spot for me to mention this fact, and it 

 will arouse considerable discussion (and that is what we 

 want with reference to the best hive), so I will leave the sub- 

 ject and proceed. 



The various makes of supers also have many divers 

 admirers. I have tried the T, the pattern-slat, and some of 

 my own make, the latter having bars across the super in- 

 stead of the T, the same allowing only bee-space to enter 

 the super. They workt fairly well, but I prefer the pattern- 

 slat to any other, for this reason : the sections fit the slat 

 to a nicety, and this super keeps the sections cleaner than 

 any other, which is very desirable, as those having plentv 

 of propolis to remove will readily appreciate. Of course 

 the follower can be wedged up to a nicety, thereby giving 

 the bees a minimum of space to gum up. 



I have been using separators for two seasons, and tho I 

 have not met with the success that was desirable, I am sat- 

 isfied that those running their apiaries for comb honey 

 should not do without them. My hives being mostly the 

 Wisconsin. I use the thin wood separator scallopt at the 

 bottom, as I found many that had not been scallopt gnawed 

 at the bottom, thereby evidently wasting- time which should 

 be otherwise employed. 



I carefully examined a new device called the fence sep- 

 arator, which is intended for sections especially prepared, 

 without bee-spaces. I object to the fence .separators for the 

 following reasons : They are not practicable, nor are they 

 profitable to use. A change must be made in every super, 

 giving more width to allow for the separator, which has 

 cleats up and down holding- the fence, which are glued, and 

 in this dry climate fall off. The space between the fence is 

 too small, and will cause the bees to enlarge the same, but 

 at the cost of valuable time. 



It is claimed by the manufacturer that the square no- 

 bee-space sections produce more uniform and sightly combs 

 than others. That remains to be proven. I feel firmly that 

 they are a delusion and a snare in our line. I believe in 



