8 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



place. It' one or two sections alone 

 are to be removed, and empty ones 

 put in their place, the movable-side 

 need not be taken out, but only the 

 keys loosened, and there is then no 

 re-adjusting except tightening tlie 

 keys by pushing them down with the 

 hand ; and only when a full set are to 

 be removed, are the sides taken off. 



Nothing was said about the speed 

 of taking out one section at a time, 

 but the safety of the comb in the 

 movable-sided" rack is the point of 

 preference, but the speed, as well as 

 the safety, I think, would be in favor 

 of the movable-sided rack. 



I make no pretentions to being a 

 large honey-producer, but on looking 

 over the report of the Northwestern 

 Convention, I find I am more than an 

 average in the amount of surplus 

 honey and the niunber of colonies, 

 and could report more than JSIr, Iled- 

 don of an average per colony of sur- 

 plus honey and increase, and I claim 

 the right to think that the time I gave 

 to my bees had to be used as actively 

 as his. 



Some who reported at that conven- 

 tion are far ahead of him in the aver- 

 age per colony, and have a goodly 

 number of colonies too, that are using 

 the movable-sided racks, and would 

 have nothing else now, having thor- 

 oughly tested the stationery sided 

 racks, and discarded tliem. 



If one finds a few bees in the way, 

 let him put tlie edge of the rack on 

 the back edge of the one already on, 

 and shove it gently from him until it 

 is in place on the other, without hiu't- 

 ing any bees. A % inch space be- 

 Irween the honey-board and sections 

 allows tlie bees to gum the sections 

 on the bottom and top too, in tiering 

 up, and this they invariably do, more 

 or less, for experience has proved it. 



I tried 10 racks in 1SS2 without any 

 honey-board, and with a % inch space 

 over the Inood-combs under the sec- 

 tions, and the sections in these racks 

 were so gummed up that they had to 

 be cleaned off before they were lit to 

 case, while those on a "honey-board 

 ■were clean. My experience with them 

 ■was such that I decided never to use 

 any more racks witliout honey-boards 

 ■with slats on which to rest the sec- 

 tions, to keep the bees from spoiling 

 them with wax. 



The assertion that bees " will squirt 

 in between sections set on top of each 

 other more glue than they will put on 

 those witli % inch space from any 

 other surface," needs some proof 

 when the experience of many is the 

 opposite. True, they would do that if 

 much space was left, but with the 

 sections we use, and such as are prop- 

 erly made, there is very little if any 

 space between the bottom and top of 

 sections tiered up. With regard to 

 the spaces interfering with the work 

 in the surplus receptacles, I refer Mr. 

 Heddon and others to my former arti- 

 cle on that point, which, seems to me, 

 remains unanswered. I, too, " am 

 ■willing to leave the matter to the 

 coming practice of honey producers," 

 and willing or unwilling, there is 

 ■where it must be left. 



Sussex, Wis., Nov. 17, 1883. 



For the American Bee JuumaL 



Cause of Moisture in Hives. 



S. CORNEIL. 



Although in Mr. Ileddon's article, 

 page 590 of the Bee Journal for 

 lSfS3, there are points on which much 

 might be said in reply, it is perhaps 

 better not to have too much of one 

 subject, so I shall not at present say a 

 word more about pollen, humidity or 

 dysentery. But another question is 

 raised on which we differ, and as it 

 relates to a matter which has come 

 under the notice of most bee-keepers, 

 I feel reluctant to let it go by default, 

 without submitting it for their de- 

 cision. I sliall give Mr. Ileddon's 

 statement of the case in his own 

 words. The italics are mine. 



On page 269 of the Bee .Journat- 

 for 1881, he says: "In nearly every 

 repository, or out-of-doors, as soon as 

 a colony is dead, dampness accumulates 

 in the hive, an effect, not a cause of the 

 death of the bees." 



On page 392 of the Bee .Journal 

 for 1882, he says : " I Iiave found that 

 the honey soon gets thin after the warmth 

 of living bees is exchanged for the damp 

 carcasses of dead ones.'^' 



In his late article, page -590 of the 

 Bee Journal for 1SS3, he says : "In 

 regard to the excessive dampness 

 found in colonies having died of dys- 

 entery, it will be found upon close ex- 

 amination, together with more ex- 

 tended observation, that the wet moldy 

 condition is the effect of the death, and 

 not the cause. 



That is, the water which we find 

 condensed on the sealed honey and on 

 the inside of the walls of the hive. and 

 sometimes running out of the flyhole, 

 comes from dead bees. 



On the contrary, I hold that this 

 water is produced by living bees, and 

 that when they die, its production 

 ceases, and I tlunk it is not difficult 

 to understand how it is that a colony 

 whose numbers are daily decreasing, 

 should, in their. efforts to make up for 

 the loss of heat by the reduction of 

 their luuubers, consume more fuel, 

 thus producing an increased quantity 

 of vapor which, if it be produced 

 faster tlian it escapes from the hive, 

 soon accumulates, and is condensed, 

 causing the appearance of matters as 

 we often find them after the bees have 

 died. 



In support of the opinion that the 

 inside of the hive is often dripping 

 with moisture while the bees are still 

 alive, I do not see how I can do better 

 than to give the observations of Mr. 

 Heddon as stated by himself. 



On page 392 of the Bee Journal 

 for 1882, he says : "I saw Mr. Batch's 

 bees come from a close unventilated 

 room, dripping with icate.r and combs 

 all moldy, in excellent condition. I 

 have seen the same on other oc- 

 casions." 



And on page 464 of the current vol- 

 ume, we find him saying : " I am 

 somewhat at a loss to know wliy he 

 (Dr. Tinker) so carelessly passed by 

 the fact, that so many instances are 

 recarded, where bees came out of 

 special repositories perfectly drenched 

 with dampness, and the combs covered 



with blue mold, but with the bees per- 

 fectly healthy." 



I ask those who have had experience 

 to decide wliether the moisture found 

 when we came to examine colonies 

 which have died, emenated from the 

 bees while alive, or from " the damp 

 carcasses of dead ones." 



Lindsay, Ont., Dec. 11, 1883. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



■Will all Pure Honey Granulate 1 



J. w. margrave. 



In Mr. Dadanfs book on "Extracted 

 Honey," etc., he takes the position 

 that pure honey will ahvays granulate 

 in his latitude, and, of course, the 

 converse of tliis, i. e., that honey that 

 does not grauuhite in cold weather 

 is impure, not ripened, or else 

 adulterated. The Toronto Convention 

 came very near taking the same 

 ground. 



I have great respect for Mr. Dadant, 

 as also for the Toronto Convention, 

 and do not doubt the ability or candor 

 of either, yet I citniiot indorse the 

 position. I have handled honey in a 

 limited way for the past 10 years, and 

 have not had a single pound of can- 

 died honey of my own. nor have I seen 

 a specimen of it in this country since 



1 have been here — some 20 years. I 

 do not know why it is ; neither do I 

 know why honey does, or does not 

 granulate, and I do not want to be 

 placed under the ban of suspicion, 

 either. 



I as cordially despise the adultera- 

 tion of honey by glucose, or anything 

 else, as any one, and I have been in 

 full sympathy with all that I have 

 seen written against the adulteration 

 of all foods. I think the man who is 

 guilty of doing so for gain, is guilty of 

 a heinous crime, and sliould sutter 

 the full penalty of a stringent law ; 

 but, as my honey thus far stubbornly 

 refuses to granulate. I must demur to 

 being classed with adulterators. 



It may be said that my " lioney is 

 not well ripened." Well, I think that 

 honey that weighs 12 lbs. to the gal- 

 lon, is not very unripe; as I under- 

 stand it, honey that is not ripe is in 

 danger of souring ; my honey is so 

 thick that in cold weather I can hold 



2 or 3 lbs. on a common case knife. It 

 is so thick that it will not run out of a 

 2 inch molasses gate in cold weather. 

 Our lioney resources are almost iden- 

 tically the same as those Mr. Dadant 

 mentions; heartsease largely predomi- 

 nating. 



Please do not put me on the list of 

 adulterators, nor call my honey glu- 

 cose ; I cannot stand ttiat. 



Hiawatha, Kans., Dec. 17, 1883. 



[The rule is that pure honey will 

 granulate in cool weather, but there 

 are exceptions ; and Mr. Margrave's 

 is one case of exception, evidently.— 

 Ed.] ^^^ 



i^" The annual meeting of the 

 Cortland Union Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation will be held in Cortland, N. 

 Y., on Tuesdav. Jan. 8, 1884. 



M. C. Bean, Sec. 



