260 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For tlie American Bee Journal. 



Producing Comb Honey— So. 5. 



G. M. DOOLITTLB. 



Having the bees all in, and swarm- 

 ing all done up, the next work is to 

 manipulate the bees and boxes so as 

 to get the largest possible yield from 

 them. Now do not understand tliat I 

 never have a swarm issue after I liave 

 all swarming done (as it should be 

 wlien tlie honey liarvest is at its best), 

 for tiueh is not the case. Some of the 

 first swarms will frequently swarm 

 again, or some of those which were 

 moved so as to draw off the old bees, 

 getting populous again, may swarm ; 

 but in such instances tliey are put 

 back where ttiey came from, after 

 extracting every particle of lioney 

 from the brood nest, and cutting out 

 all the queen cells. Still, as a rule, 

 not many swarms issue after all are 

 prepared as I have described. If a 

 colony is determined to swarm after 

 this treatment, I generally take off 

 tlie boxes and put on a second story, 

 tilled with emiity combs, in which 

 case they will generally go to work 

 with a will. If I cannot make one 

 plan work, I try another; until I 

 strike one that will, and if a colony is 

 bent on swarming and will not work 

 in a hive where the lower combs are 

 filled with brood. I take all the brood 

 away. Colonies having the swarming 

 fever, will not do much of anything 

 but swarm, unless some material 

 change is made with the interior of 

 the hive more than the cutting out of 

 queen cells, and the sooner this fever 

 is broken up (when it comes during a 

 yield of honey) the better the results. 

 However, but few bother in this way, 

 as most of them settle down to busi- 

 ness and stick to it after the swarm- 

 ing proper is over. 



After the colonies are all made up, 

 I see that all nuclei have the means 

 of getting a laying queen as speedily 

 as possible ; then 1 am ready to go 

 over the yard for box honey. In do- 

 ing this, I remove the cap and unkey 

 the cases, when they are pried apart a 

 little in the center, blowing in a little 

 smoke to make the bees run out of the 

 way. As the bees clear aside I can 

 see down the flat side of the sections 

 and if any are capped down to the 

 bottom, they are ready to come off. 

 If ready I pry the opposite side ot the 

 case lose, when the cases are spread 

 apart a little and the one having the 

 finished sections in it, is lifted out. I 

 now smoke the bees off, in the man- 

 ner I described on page 257 of the Bee 

 Joui{NAL for 1881, to get the bees off 

 the brood combs. They can be "eaiiy 

 all shaken off, except a few behind the 

 tin separator. 4. « ii,„ 



I then take the sections out ot the 

 case and place them in boxes which 

 will hold 18 prize sections or 24 of the 

 ^% lb. sections. These boxes have 



nails driven in the bottom so as to pro- 

 ject }^ inch above the bottom of the 

 box, and are so arranged, that, by be- 

 ginning at either side, the nails strike 

 close to one edge of t^lie bottom of the 

 sections, so their weight will keep 

 them pressed close to that side, and 

 then they will not be liable to tip over. 

 The object of these boxes, are first, to 

 prevent killing bees should there be a 

 few not shaken off ; secondly, to pre- 

 vent tlie sections getting daubed, 

 should any of the combs get bruised, 

 so as to leak honey ; and, thirdly, they 

 can be packed nicely on a wheel-bar- 

 row so as to be wlieeled to and from 

 the honey house, as well as being 

 handy to carry from the wheel-barrow 

 into the honey room. Before going to 

 the bee yard these boxes are filled 

 with empty sections, having starters 

 all ready for use. 



When the full sections are all out of 

 the case it is filled with empty ones, 

 and put down at the side of the hive 

 wlien more are taken in the same way, 

 if any more are ready to come oil. 

 Aftei: taking all those finished, the 

 rest are placed close together, and 

 enough partly-filled sections from tlie 

 sides are raised to the top (by lifting 

 cases, sectionsand all) till the number 

 wanted is reached, when the cases 

 filled with empty sections are placed 

 at the sides, in place of those raised 

 to the top. when the hive is closed. I 

 now place a small flat stone on top of 

 this hive, that can be seen from any 

 part of the yard, which indicates that 

 I have taken the honey from it. 

 Thus I keep on till the whole yard is 

 gone over. 



If the yield of honey is still good I 

 work in the same way, going over 

 them again a week later, except that 

 this time the little stone is taken off 

 and placed beneath the bottom board 

 of the hive. ]5y using this stone I 

 can see, by glancing over the yard, 

 just how far I have been each time, 

 and the hives which have not been 

 looked at. 



As a rule, when I am ready to go 

 over the yard again, the basswood 

 yield is drawing to a close, so I work 

 accordingly, by narrowing up the sur- 

 plus room. As the cases are raised 

 from the sides at this time, the fol- 

 lower is moved up, so as to shut the 

 bees out of J^ the side cases, unless in 

 case of some extremely populous 

 colony, which is treated the same as 

 before. By this means the working 

 force is thrown into a more compact 

 space, the result of which is, a ten- 

 dency toward completing the sections 

 they have commenced work in, rather 

 than building comb in more. After 

 another week I go over the whole 

 yard again, this time shutting the 

 bees out of the side boxes entirely, 

 which throws the full force of bees 

 into the top boxes, and, although the 

 lioney season may now be over, by 

 getting this force of bees all together 

 they will cap the partly-filled boxes, 

 where they otherwise would not. 

 This gives sections lighter in weight, 

 but makes much more of our crop in 

 a salable form. 



At the end of another week, all the 

 white honey is ready to come off the 

 hives, and as a rule, my honey harvest 



is over. In seasons when buckwheat 

 does yield a surplus, I seldom let the 

 bees "into the side boxes again, but 

 keep them shut in the top cases. 



Thus I have given you the way I 

 proceed to get comb honey. By going 

 over the yard once a week, tlie honey 

 comes off with a whiteness of comb 

 not attainable when left on the hives 

 till the end of the season, as some do; 

 and also the bees are kept working to 

 their utmost capacity. Those who 

 think they have a better way of pro- 

 ceedure, will doubtless think Doolit- 

 tle does not adopt the best i>lan to get 

 comb honey. I will simply say lliat 

 an average of 92 lbs. each year, for 

 each colony, fortheiiast 9 years, is all 

 I liave to recommend this plan. This 

 ends the production part of this series 

 of articles. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Odds and Ends. 



O. CLUTE. 



Last fall I promised to report this 

 spring my method of wintering, and 

 its success. The winter has been so 

 favorable that it required no skill to 

 bring the blessed bees through all 

 right. He who could not winter with 

 success the past winter must be a poor 

 bee-keeper indeed. A few of my bees 

 were in chaff hives on the summer 

 stands. All these have come through 

 in good condition. The larger part of 

 my bees were in simplicity hives in 

 the cellar. All these are in good con- 

 dition. Not a colony has been lost 

 either out-door or in the cellar. 



The first pollen was gathered Feb. 

 16. After several days of warm, beau- 

 tiful weather the maples opened on 

 that day, and the bees had a liappy 

 time ; but the next day brought a 

 frost that nipped the maples, and 

 kept the bees in. Some of the coldest 

 weather of the season followed. Since 

 the middle of March the bees have 

 been flying more or less every week. 

 Maples, elms, cotton-woods, and box- 

 elders have given pollen and some 

 honey. To-day is clear and beautiful, 

 with a still air, and warm sunshine. 

 Willows are open, and I think some 

 of the cotton-woods. The bees are 

 very active, carrying pollen of a bril- 

 liant yellow, which I think they get 

 from willows, and some of a darker 

 color which I suppose comes from cot- 

 ton-woods. 



Although the winter has been very 

 open, the clover seems not to have 

 suffered. Already the white clover is 

 pushing up its green leaves every- 

 where, and promises to be very abun- 

 dant. The fruit trees are well laden 

 with fruit buds, and if no frosts pre- 

 vent, will give an abundant bloom. 

 On the nights of the 10th and 11 th 

 inst. we had freezing weatlier, which 

 is thought to have been a serious in- 

 jury to the early cherries, but it is 

 hoped that other fruits were not far 

 enough advanced to be injured. 



I hope other bee-keepers are more 

 fortunate than I am in finding work- 

 men who will make hives exactly 

 right. The average workman seems 



