594 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Sept. 21, 1899. 



that is represented by as intelligent a class of men and 

 women who are so liberal with their practical ideas and ex- 

 periments, for, as a rule, there is no improved implement 

 or method of conducting- an apiary but is given to the bee- 

 keeping world as freely as water — it is not hidden under a 

 " half bushel " to make money out of , as most other pur- 

 suits are conducted. L,ong live the big-hearted, whole- 

 souled bee-keepers ; they are a class of people we should all 

 be proud to belong to. F. L. Murr.^y. 



La Fayette Co., Wis. 



Crooked Section-Combs— Difference in Colonies. 



BV G. M. DOOIJTTI^E. 



QUES. — I am trying to produce section honey without 

 using separators, and have some bulged or crooked 

 combs. Some time ago I read the following in a paper : 

 "In the fall, after extracting the honey from the partly- 

 filled sections, and recasing the sections of empty comb, 

 no separators being used, the combs are not always perfect 

 in the sections. When we find one side a little fuller than 

 the other, we put the two full sides together, and the hol- 

 lowing sides together. No matter if the full sides of the 

 combs should touch each other, when the bees begin oper- 

 ations the following season they will cut right thru, build- 

 ing out the other sides equally, and the occasional crooked 

 ones are thus made straight." Is this right? I have it 

 copied into my diarj-. 



Ans. — The very admission of both yourself and the 

 writer quoted, should convince you that the only way to 

 produce section honey, in the most marketable shape, is to 

 use separators. When a person admits that occasionally he 

 has crooked combs by the non-use of separators, I alwaj's 

 read between the lines that those occasional crooked combs 

 can be multiplied by ten and not be far out of the way. And 

 then those occasional crooked combs condemn the use of 

 any sj'stem which gives an occasional faulty thing, when 

 there is a system equally good in every way that does not 

 give a single faultA' section along the line of crooked combs. 

 But, to the question : 



I wonder if the writer had ever practiced the plan given, 

 and, if so, how it could be that his experience was so much 

 different than mine had been when trying the same plan. 

 In every case where I ever put two combs in sections, or 

 brood-combs even, so that they toucht each other, I have 

 found that the bees alwaj-s left little bridges of comb from 

 one comb to another, so that, when the combs were pulled 

 apart, the cappings of one or both combs were broken, thus 

 setting the honey to running and making the sections in 

 anything but the best marketable shape, unless put back on 

 the hives for the bees to recap the cells. And this is not 

 satisfactory, for in so doing the bees nearly always remove 

 the honey out of these damaged cells, so that the whole pro- 

 cess requires nearly half as long as it does to fill a section 

 from the start. This causes a great waste of time to the 

 colony, for they are thus kept fussing over a bad job in- 

 stead of doing new work. 



My plan has been to place any crooked combs I may 

 chance to have — brood-combs or otherwise — at the top of a 

 warm room, on a piece of canvas, until thoroly warmed 

 thru, when the combs can be bent and straightened to the 

 perfect satisfaction of the operator. In this way I have a 

 perfect thing of it; and as the work is performed in the 

 winter it is much more cheaply done than in having the 

 bees make a " botch job " of it in the summer. 



DIFFERENCE IN COLONIES AS TO SURPLUS. 



QuES. — I have noticed for some j-ears back, that, of 

 many colonies in the spring, which were exactly alike, as 

 nearly as I could discover, some colonies would give an ex- 

 cellent surplus, while others would give very little or none 

 at all. Why is this ? Can you tell us in the American Bee 

 Journal ? 



Ans. — Here is a question that used to bother me greatly, 

 for 1 was formerly troubled in the same way ; but of late 

 years I have succeeded in making the most of my colonies 

 which were workt for honey, produce nearly like results ; 

 that is, if one colony contains 40,000 bees and produces 100 

 pounds of honey, I obtain about that amount from every 

 colony containing a like number of bees ; while one having 

 20,000 bees gives a yield of about 45 pounds, for a small col- 

 ony will not give quite as large a yield in proportion to its 

 numbers as a large one. After carefully studying on the 

 matter I found that colonies I pronounced " exactly alike " 

 on May IS would not be so at the time the honey harvest 



was at its best. The trouble was I did not have a thoro 

 knowledge regarding the working force of my bees at all 

 times, nor of the interior of the hive. 



For instance, the colony which I called the best on Ma)- 

 IS might become the poorest by July 10, at which time the 

 honej- harvest arrived. This might be owing to two causes, 

 one of which would be the failing of their queen, and the 

 other that the colony would reach its maximum of strength 

 some time previous to the harvest — either of which is sure 

 to lessen the yield. 



I have often noticed that a colony which winters ex- 

 tremelj' well, and goes to breeding rapidly in early spring, 

 is generally sure to produce less honey than the colony that 

 begins to breed rapidlj' from 40 to 50 days previous to the 

 honey harvest. The reason seems to be, that the queen in 

 such a colony breeds rapidly very early, ceases her pro- 

 lificness to a very great extent by June 5 to 10, this allow- 

 ing the bees to put the first honey coming in into the brood- 

 combs, rather than forcing it into the sections, as does the 

 queen which arrives at her maximum egg-laying at this 

 time. If this is not the case, the colony becomes demoral- 

 ized by becoming too strong at this time, and so goes to 

 loafing around, or, what is worse still, contracts the swarm- 

 ing-mania — either of which is against a large yield of sec- 

 tion honey. If the bees become over-anxious to swarm, or 

 the queen ceases to be prolific, so that the bees get the start 

 of her and store honey to any great extent in the brood- 

 chamber during- the first of the honej' harvest, that colony 

 will not do nearly as well as will one which does nothing of 

 the kind. 



The remedy is to keep the queen on only a few combs 

 early in the season, or take away a part of her brood to 

 strengthen weaker colonies till the right time has come, 

 when her extra powers will rear bees that will come at just 

 the right time ; then coax her to do her level best, and you 

 will succeed. At this time give all the combs the hive will 

 contain, and let her spread herself to her greatest capacity, 

 then the colony will reach its strongest point just when the 

 harvest is on, and thus bend every energy at storing in the 

 sections rather than crowding the queen, or loafing around. 



Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



A Skillful Canadian Bee-Keeper's System 

 Reviewed. 



BEE-KEEPING, as an industry, or even as an adjunct to 

 farming or other occupation, is not as general in a 

 country so favorable to it as ours as its advantages 

 would seem to warrant. True, it is an occupation for per- 

 sons of leisure, but on a farm where the family comprises 

 several members, a few colonies would be found to give 

 very little trouble, and furnish an article of food which 

 would be not only a relish but a healthful daily adjunct of 

 diet. 



Going further, we may state from experience that after 

 the habits of the bees are commenced to be understood, and 

 therefore the methods of manipulating them mastered, they 

 become a source of real interest and pleasure, and if gone 

 into on an extended and thoro scale, a means of consider- 

 able revenue. If one has the qualifications of being cau- 

 tious, observing, and prompt, bee-keeping can be engaged 

 in without fear of failure, and to persons who swell up and 

 become seriou.sly affected with the stings, it maj' be some 

 comfort to know that after a few stings the system becomes 

 inoculated against the effects of the poison, when a prod 

 from an angry bee becomes of little more account than a 

 mere mosquito-bite. 



The manag-ement of an apiary is not a difficult matter, 

 and needs very little outlay to commence with. One handy 

 with tools can make the hives and nearly all their attacii- 

 ments. True, no matter how full instructions are received, 

 or how many bee-books are read, many points will have to 

 be pickt up by experience and observation, so that to suc- 

 ceed in getting the inost from the colonies, observation, 

 perception and invention play an important part. These 

 and many other necessary qualifications have assisted the 

 very successful apiarist and proprietor of "Evergreen 

 Farm " and bee-yard, Mr. S. T. Pettit, of Elgin County, 

 who now, at the end of 25 years of studious experience, is 

 lookt upon by the more advanced bee-keepers of Canada and 

 the United States as one of the first authorities of apicul- 

 ture. 



On Jul)' 20 we spent most of the day with Mr. Pettit. 

 who, with his son, %vas busy taking off the last of this sea- 

 .son's extracting. Tliis will be finisht in a few days, when 



