440 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



candid opinion is, tliat reversible 

 frames, like many other uew things, 

 will soon be laid away as cumbersome, 

 troublesome, and not sufficiently val- 

 uable to pay for the time needed to 

 operate them. 



The idea of reversible frames may 

 prove a profitable speculation to the 

 supply dealer for a short time, but no 

 one else, in my opinion, will ever re- 

 alize any profit from them. Let those 

 who may choose, test them if they 

 like, but as for me I want no more of 

 them. 



Foxboro, Mass. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Comb Honey-Rack Again. 



JOHN HODGSON, JR. 



I send vou another engraving of my 

 honey-rack with description and im- 

 provements, as the former cut and 



Fig. l.—Eack with side closed. 



description given on page 96 of the 

 Bee .Touknal for 18S3 did not give a 

 correct idea of the rack. This second 

 mention of it is due to many who 

 have been making a multitude of in- 

 quiries about this rack, and other 

 honey-racks. 



Figure 1 represents a closed rack 

 with a honey board with slats (which 

 can be made any width to suit the 



3-16 of an inch by loosening or tight- 

 ening the wedges. 



The row of sections on the top, in 

 Fig. 2, are full and removed, and the 

 section-board C is being put in their 

 place. This cut and the description 

 given above will enable any one, by 

 careful examination, to understand 

 this rack. 



Fewaukee, Wis. 



Read at Arcadia Farmers' Convention. 



Bee-Keeping for Profit. 



E. A. MORGAN. 



There are very many works treating 

 upon this subject, which are more or 

 less a help to the beginner ; but what 

 I have learned is by experience, and 

 in many instances it has been dearly 

 bought. To succeed in this business, 

 a person must first understand the 

 natural laws governing the honey-bee. 

 He can then tell at a glance what 

 should be done to promote their best 

 interests. For as Josh Billings says, 

 "A bee is sudden in liis impressions, 

 and hasty in his conclusions." It is 

 therefore very necessary to do what 

 you do, just at the right time, to se- 

 cure the best results. 



Many farmers in this vicinity have 

 tried bee-keeping from time to time, 

 and are satisfied that it is very profit- 

 able, and while all was favorable they 

 made it pay well, but sooner or later 

 something turned up which they did 

 not understand, and all were lost. 



In bee-keeping, as in all other pur- 

 suits, it is all important to make a good 

 beginning ; and to do this, it is as im- 

 portant to get good stock as it is 

 with your cattle, horses, or hogs. 

 n<iving obtained this, next in import- 



FiG. 2.— Back with side opened. 



width of sections used), and with a 

 full set of sections in place. The 

 portable side A is held in its place by 

 the V shaped beveled wedges B B. 

 Tbe section-board C in Fig. 2 is in- 

 tended to take the place of a row of 

 sections, when it is necessary to have 

 the bees work in only a part of a set ; 

 and when there is a shortening up in 

 the honey flow, then one or more of 

 these boards can be used. 



Figure 2 shows a rack with the 

 wedges B B removed, the portable 

 side A loose, and the section space 

 open to remove from or till with sec- 

 tions as the case may be. The wedges 

 B B are of great advantage in case of 

 the sections swelling or shrinking, as 

 the side A can be let out or drawn up 



ance is a thoroughly practical hive. 

 And in bee-keeping for profit, it is 

 necessary that the main feature of the 

 hive should besimphcity, which would 

 at once exclude doors, drawers, and 

 traps of all kinds. The combs should 

 be movable, so that the operator can. 

 in a moment's time, remove any or all 

 of them to another hive if necessary, 

 which is often the case in spring when 

 clogged up with dead bees or dirt. All 

 hives and frames should be alike, and 

 the frames interchangeable, which is 

 very necessary in feeding, in strength- 

 ening weak colonies from strong ones, 

 in extracting, in queen-rearing, and 

 in many other things. For this climate 

 I would recommend the Langstroth 

 hive, holding 10 frames or brood 



combs, which, being shallow and open 

 at the top, admits of the bees going 

 directly into the surplus boxes from 

 the main hive ; and being directly 

 above their brood, they receive the 

 heat of the cluster, which is very es- 

 sential, especially in cool weather, to 

 aid them in manipulating wax. This 

 hive can be made to accommodate 

 any sized colony by the use of a close- 

 fitting movable division-board. This 

 hive is not too large nor too small, 

 and will receive surplus receptacles 

 for .50 pounds of honey, and can be 

 tiered up to any height desired. It is 

 not, however, the best out-door win- 

 tering hive, on account of its shallow- 

 ness. Bees in this hive require some 

 sort of winter protection ; but when 

 we figure its advantage as a summer 

 hive, above the cumbersome and 

 costly out-door wintering hive, we 

 can well afford to pay the difference 

 of winter preparation required for 

 this hive. 



Just a word about boxing for sur- 

 plus honey. Many beginners and in- 

 experienced bee-keepers constantly 

 encounter difficulties in first getting 

 their bees to go up into the ooxes ; 

 and after the first set of boxes have 

 been filled, much valuable time is 

 often lost in finishing and capping the 

 sections, and getting the bees to be- 

 gin anew in other boxes ; and not un- 

 trequently a strong colony will send 

 out a uew swarm in preference to 

 making a beginning in new boxes, 

 which, of course, is very ruinous to 

 their owner. In short, the profit of 

 the apiary, where it is run for sur- 

 plus, is governed largely or wholly by 

 the amount of box or section honey 

 stored, and this depends entirely upon 

 the readiness with which bees can be 

 made to work in boxes. Since the 

 time in which bees store surplus 

 honey is divided into short seasons 

 during the summer, known as lioney 

 flows, it is all important that the bee- 

 keeper has his colonies in condition 

 to " improve every shining hour " to 

 the best advantage, as these honey 

 flows are sometimes " few and far be- 

 tween. My plan of boxing is to use 

 foundation starlersinall sections, and 

 put on but one crate at a time, as it is 

 not difficult to induce bees to work in 

 one crate, where it would be impos- 

 sible to start them in three or four. 

 When one crate is about half filled, 

 put on another, and so on until the 

 frames are covered, making it a rule 

 to take off the first crate of honey be- 

 fore the last empty box is put on, so 

 that but one filled crate is taken off 

 and one empty crate put on at any 

 one time, thus avoiding the necessity 

 of much sudden chmige, and remov- 

 ing the difficulty of starting bees in a 

 full new set of boxes. This process 

 of rotation, if carefully adhered to, 

 will sometimes save hundreds of 

 pounds of honey to an ordinary bee- 

 keeper, in one season. One more sug- 

 gestion on this point. Arrange your 

 crates so tliat the sections will run 

 parallel with the brood frames, thus 

 giving the bees a tree passage into 

 the boxes, and not merely a small 

 square hole, as is the case when they 

 are placed at right angles, which is 

 often the cause of much delay and 



