90 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Feb. 9. 1899. 



A Slatted Separator for Inset Sections b,eing- demanded, 

 the A. I. Root Co. are preparing- to meet the demand. 



Large or Small Hives, according to A. E. Manum. in 

 American Bee-Keeper, is a question for each one to decide 

 for himself. The Dadants are rig-ht in using- larg-e hives, 

 and G. M. Doolittle is right in using small hives. 



Painted Hives are preferred by C. Davenport. They 

 keep in good condition for 20 years, -svhile unpainted ones 

 begin to decay in seven or eight years. He does not believe 

 with Doolittle that bees do any better in unpainted hives. — 

 Bee-Keepers' Review. 



Peppermint Honey as gathered in the West is reported. 

 in the Progressive Bee-Keeper, as "curious looking stuff." 

 Of excellent flavor, " but the cappings have exactly the ap- 

 pearance of moldy combs, even on the closest inspection by 

 the naked eye ; and yet there is no mold about it." 



Honey Carried from Brood=Nest into Sections. At 



time of fruit-bloom, E. A. Daggitt gave each colony a super 

 of partly-finisht sections. At the clo.se of fruit-bloom quite 

 a little surplus was found in the sections, but it proved to 

 be buckwheat honey, showing that it must have been car- 

 ried up from the brood-chambers. — Bee-Keepers' Review. 



Big Hive-Entrance for Winter — Mr. Rutfy formerlv 

 closed carefully all cracks and openings in his hives, made 

 the entrance as small as possible, and yet each spring he 

 found moldy combs, spoiled stores, numerous cases of diar- 

 rhea, queenlessness, etc.; while at the present time with en- 

 trances open full width, and colonies ready for winter by 

 the middle of August, he has excellent results. — Muenchener 

 Bztg. 



Winter Feed." We often get inquiries on how to make 

 a bee-candy for a winter feed when combs of sealed stores 

 are not to be had. The best candy is the Good or Scholz. 

 and is made in this way : Mix sugar and honey into a stiff 

 dough ; allow it to stand for a couple of days in a warm 

 place and then knead in more sugar. Granulated sugar may 

 be used; but powdered, or, better still, confectioners', is 

 much better." — Gleanings. 



Tali Sections are Finisht Faster and Better at the sides 

 than ^square sections, says R. C. Aikin, in the Progressive 

 Bee-Keeper. In comb-building, combs alwaj's progress 

 much faster downward than sidewise, so the square section 

 is finisht down the center before at the sides ; while the tall 

 section will be finisht farther down and stand transporta- 

 tion better. For this reason he also favors bottom starters 

 for any sections that are to be shipt. 



Wax-Sticking and Cracking. -Dr. Miller having directed 

 to wet a wooden mold to keep wax from sticking to it, I. \V. 

 Beckwith says, in the Bee-Keepers' Review, that no amount 

 of wetting or soaking will do if the wax is put in very hot 

 and allowed to cool slowly. He sets the ves.sel of caking 

 wax, when convenient, in ice-water, and if it shows a ten- 

 dency to crack, as it seldom does, he runs a thin knife-blade 

 half an inch deep between the wax and tin. 



Foul Brood.— G. Sawyer tells, in the British Bee Jour- 

 nal, how he uses the McEvoy method of curing foul brood. 

 He thinks it an advantage to give j^oung queens, and does 

 not agree with Mr. McEvoy that it is needless to disinfect 

 the hive. He says : 



" My method of procedure is first to examine the hive, 

 and, if found afl'ected, I do nothing else in the apiary that 

 day. Meantime, I make some rough frames, in which strips 

 of foundation about '^-inch wide are fixed. After the bees 

 have ceast flying for the day. I go to the hive, shake off all 

 bees from the combs and replace with the frames fitted with 

 starters. The diseased combs and frames are then promptlv 



burnt. which, wlien burnt out, have a bucket of water — to 

 which a plentiful supply of carbolic has been added — thrown 

 over the ashes. This is important, because the honey, when 

 getting hot, is apt to run, and if in the vicinity of other 

 bees, they will be sure to get at the melted honey and carry 

 it off to their hives. The bees under treatment remain on 

 the starters for three daj-s, during which time no food is 

 given. On the expiration of the three days, the bees are 

 shaken ofl^ the ' starters ' into a clean hive on as many full 

 sheets of foundation as they will cover, and fed up 'w'ith 

 some good syrup medicated with naphthol beta. By this 

 time they will appreciate the food, and, with me, bees so 

 treated soon work up into a strong colony. Finally, the old 

 hive is disinfected as recommended in the "Bee-Keepers' 

 Guide-Book,' and the frames of starters together with all 

 old quilts burnt." 



Formic Acid for Foul Brood. — Foul brood appeared in 

 the apiary of J. Pontonnier, and the editor of Revue Inter- 

 nationale advises him to try formic acid. He took 100 grams 

 of water, 100 grams of 25 percent formic acid, and 50 grams 

 alcohol, thus making a 10 percent solution of the acid. 

 He used 100 g-rams of this solution upon each colony. With- 

 out brushing off the bees, he sprayed each comb with an at- 

 omizer, thoroughly going over everything, unsealed as well 

 as sealed brood, and cells containing honey, excepting no 

 part. Three such treatments, perhaps a week apart, seemed 

 to leave the colonies in health. But avithorities in this 

 country have little faith in drugs. A rather discouraging 

 thing for drug treatment is that while cures are frequently- 

 reported across the -ivater, there is no persistent settling 

 down to anv one remedv as successful. 



Pressure for Wax=Extracting is advocated in the Bee- 

 Keepers' Review. The editor thinks the man who renders 

 old combs in the solar extractor los.ses '< or - j of his wax, 

 with steam '3 is lost, and with boiling- '4, I, W. Beckwith, 

 by means of a squeezer made of two planks hinged together, 

 got the wax out so entirely that the residue was dry and 

 mealy instead of being the usual hard cake of slumgum. 

 F. A.Gemmill took 21 pounds of slumgum left by the steam 

 process, and by boiling- and putting through a screw-press 

 he got seven pounds of the finest wax. With the press he 

 got from eight Langstroth combs three pounds of wax, one- 

 half of which had perhaps been given in the foundation. 



Bee=Escapes Are Not Liked by Mr. Bruce for extract- 

 ing-supers, because they allow the honey to get cold for ex- 

 tracting. For comb honev he prefers to pile supers 10 or 12 

 high " with a generous light-admitting screen-escape ar- 

 rangement on top." F. L. Thompson failed with the same 

 arrangement, using it late in the season when bees are 

 sluggish. — Progressive Bee-Keeper. — Mr. Thompson will 

 probably succeed if he sets his piles in the hot stin, espe- 

 cially if bees are busy. 



Work for the Bee=Keepers' Association. -If the bee- 

 keepers of this country would support the United States 

 Bee-Keepers' Association to the necessary extent to enable 

 it to permanently engage an expert salesman, whose busi- 

 ness it would be to develop a demand for honey put up and 

 guaranteed by the Association under its official trade-mark, 

 we firmly believe that every member who produced 100 

 pounds of honey annually would derive, in increast price, 

 the cost of membership. — American Bee-Keeper. 



Lumber for Sections. — Editor Hutchinson, of the Bee- 

 Keepers' Review, says a man must use "a mighty deal of 

 nice consideration " before he turns out a first-class section. 

 In the matter of timber alone there must be great nicety. 

 The wood of old trees is too dark. Only young-, thrifty trees 

 yield white wood. It must be cut in winter when the timber 

 is frozen, and must be sawed before it thaws, for if sawed 

 when not frozen it will be of a dark cream color. Spring 

 must find the little, short planks piled uj). but not too closely, 

 or it will mildew. 



The Secret of Well-Filled Sections, Editor Hutchinson 

 (Bee-Keepers' Review.) seems inclined to think something 

 that has yet eluded our gra.sp. Better filled sections have 

 been claimed for fences, because there was freer communi- 

 cation. Editor H. ag-rees with E. A. Daggitt that, on that 

 basis, the best filled .sections ought to be those secured with- 

 out separators, but expresses his conviction that "combs 

 are more perfectly attacht to the sections when separators 

 are used than when none are in use." No doubt a good 

 manv will hold a diifei-ent view. 



