Aug. 3, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



485 



Bee-Shed of Thos. Wickersliain, Wlialcoin Co., Wash. 



One should, by all means, have the honey-house so 

 arrang-ed that the honey from the extractor will run 

 directly thru the separator, thence to the tank without any 

 handling- whatever, and after a short time the honey can be 

 drawn off, and it will be absolutely clean and marketable. 



In my hone3'-house I keep the tank always full, draw- 

 ing off about five cans at a time. In this way you always 

 have a good pressure to draw from, and then as the honey 

 evaporates it will settle to the bottom, and the thinnest will 

 be on the top, so you are always drawing off the heavy, 

 thick honey. 



HoNKY-C.\NS. — When there is a call for a shipment of 

 honey, cans should be washt clean of all the dust or honey 

 that has been scattered on top of the cans, as often is the 

 case in filling. 



In every instance the cases should be new and clean ; 

 new looking, so the general appearance will be attractive. 

 Do not use oil-cases, by turning them to hide the marks, as 

 it is not a first-class case, and not a very strong one after 

 being- once torn up and reconstructed. 



Draw a sample of every grade, and have the cases so 

 markt to correspond with the sample, that there will be no 

 difficulty in locating the diff'erent grades, as represented b3' 

 the sample. 



Fiu^iNG Cans. — I would recommend that the honey be 

 weighed in the cans, putting in just 60 pounds to the can — 

 120 pounds to the case. If this would work well, which it 

 should, there would be no question about the tare, as it 

 would be checkt up at 120 pounds to the case, and nothing 

 said about the tare. We tried this plan one season, and got 

 some ill that way, and if I handle the honey for the asso- 

 ciation this season I will do all that I can to get the pur- 

 chasers to accept the honey in this style. 



The main point to be careful about is to see that the 

 honey is drawn into the cans from a well-filled tank, and 

 that it is well ripened, and that the proper sample has been 

 taken from each lot. Keep the cans very clean on the out- 

 side as well as the inside, and there will be little trouble 

 about unmarketable hoiiej-. 



As a rule, we in the valley have a good, heavy grade 

 of honey, and with a little care we can build up a good de- 

 mand for our produce, which will bring a ready market and 

 a good figure. 



Bee-Keeping- in tlie State of Wasliing'ton. 



BY THOS. WICKEKSHAM. 



THINKING that a description of some of our Puget 

 Sound methods of keeping bees might be of interest to 

 some of the many readers of the American Bee Journal. 

 I herewith send a photograph of a bee-shed of my own con- 

 struction, which has proven very satisfactory. 



The shed is 60 feet long and 12 wide, and contains 36 

 hives. At the left end, where you see the window, I have a 

 room bee-tight for storing honey, supplies, etc. 



The lattice-work allows ventilation and light sufficient 



to make it quite comfortable for hand- 

 ling bees in summer. I have a row of 

 hives on the opposite side of the shed, 

 the same as is shown in the picture. 

 Some seasons I place the hives on the 

 ground in the center of the shed, and 

 pack hay around them for winter ; 

 other tiines I leave them on the sum- 

 mer stands, and have not been able to 

 decide which of the two ways is better. 

 I don't think this is a first-class coun- 

 try for honey in the way of quantity, 

 but I doubt if there is a State in the 

 Union that will excel in quality. 



Last season I got 1,800 pounds of fine 

 comb honey from 21 colonies, and in- 

 creast to 36. The prospects so far this 

 season are very poor, having only two 

 days of sunshine in May and April, 

 and but very little better and still rain- 

 ing in June. It is somewhat discourag- 

 ing for the manipulation of nectar. 

 However, the bees are in fine shape for 

 work, if " Old Sol " should put in his 

 appearance. 



Whatcom Co., Wash., June 2. 



[We wish that others would follow 

 Mr. Wickersham's example, and send 

 us photographs of things they have found helpful in their 

 work with the bees. We could hardly agree to use all that 

 might be sent in, but we would try to use as many as we 

 could of the pictures, accompanied by descriptions. — Ed.] 



CONDUCTED BY 



r>R. C. C. MJ/-7.EK, JUareng-o, III. 



[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal ofBce, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.] 



Building Comb from Brood-Frames up thru the Sections. 



Why do my bees build up from the frames thru the bot- 

 tom of the sections ? I never had any trouble in that way 

 until last season. I have the "A B C of Bee-Culture," but 

 it doesn't mention a case like it, at least I can't find any. 



Minnesota. 



Answer. — The trouble likely occurred because the bees 

 were crowded for room, in which case the evident remedy 

 would be timely increase of surplus-room. Too much space 

 between frames and sections might also be to blame. 



Nucleus Balling the Queen. 



I have a one-comb observatory hive, and about a month 

 ago I put a frame of brood-comb in it (some of the eggs had 

 just been laid) and about 200 bees ; the brood became chilled 

 and died, but the bees remained. Last week I secured a 

 virgin queen from a third swarm and put her into the ob- 

 servatory, together with about 400 of her own bees ; all 

 seemed lovely and harmonious for three days ; the bees 

 started to clean up the comb and to carry out the dead 

 brood, but on the fourth day, when I examined the hive, I 

 found the bees had the queen " balled," and were trying 

 hard to sting her. I took her out for a few hours, gave her 

 some honey, and let her run back into the hive again, when 

 the bees immediately attackt her as before, running wild 

 after her, and I was forced to remove her for safety. Why 

 should they attack her after so many days, and how can I 

 make them accept her ? She is still a virgin. City. 



Answer. — It is hard to give a satisfactory "why '| for 

 all the antics of bees with regard to queens. Sometimes 



