762 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



them up; the sections are removed 

 and replaced without aimoyance from 

 propolis, and that, too, very quickly 

 at any time. Propolis will be placed 

 along the inside edges of the side 

 pieces of the sections in the same 

 manner as upon any hive, but there is 

 so little attached to the edges of the 

 top and bottom pieces of well made 

 sections that it is not noticeable, and 

 hence not necessary to clean it ofE at 

 all. 



With the Heddon "case of sections" 

 there is ordinarily twice the amount 

 of propolis stuck upon the ends of the 

 bottom pieces of the sections where 

 they rest upon the tins, and upon the 

 corners of the sections on top, as is 

 placed upon sections on a hive pro- 

 vided with "continuous passage- 

 ways." Moreover, it requires to be 

 cleaned off in order to make the sec- 

 tions of honey presentable. The 

 worst of all is, if tlie sections are not 

 removed as soon as tilled, the tops and 

 bottoms will become so soiled with 

 propolis as to mar the appearance of 

 a nice section of honey. On a hive 

 provided with •' continuous pas- 

 sage-ways," the sections will not be 

 soiled, if left on from one year's end 

 to another. 



The section-cases can be tiered up 

 easier and quicker, and rarely is a bee 

 killed. In adjusting, tiering up, and 

 removing the section-cases of 30 hives 

 having " continuous passage-ways," 

 during the past season, only one bee 

 was killed. There were never any 

 bits of wax to clear away, and ail 

 opperations were easily and readily 

 performed. Still another advantage 

 was the facility with which the bees 

 entered the sections and began comb- 

 building. 



Bees win loiter in the bee-spaces 

 above the brood- frames of other hives 

 for days after the colonies in hives 

 arranged for " continuous passage- 

 ways ' are at work in the sections. 

 Such bee-spaces, representing about 

 180 cubic inches beneath the first case 

 of sections on the Heddon hive, is so 

 much useless space, which must 

 always be occupied by bees to no pur- 

 pose. Again, in lifting off the top- 

 board and cases of his hive, especially 

 if they have been left on very long, 

 they come up with a jar which startles 

 every bee in the hive. On a hive 

 provided with " continuous passage- 

 ways," the cases may be lifted off and 

 replaced so noiselessly as to scarcely 

 disturb an ugly colony. 



One year ago last winter, Mr. Hed- 

 don made statements similar to those 

 above, and said that the advice to bee- 

 keepers to use " continuous passage- 

 ways " in the production of comb 

 honey was " the worst kind of advice," 

 He had made an experiment long ago, 

 and because it did not prove satisfac- 

 tory, he assumes that no other device 

 can. He evidently realized that there 

 was an advantage to be gained, but 

 turned away from the project upon a 

 single failure ! He looked upon it 

 then as does Mr. Doolittle, who not 

 long since stated in the Bee Journal 

 that he had sought a practicable ar- 

 rangement of this nature for the past 

 12 years. There is every reason to 

 believe that " continuous passage- 



ways " tend to the building of straight 

 combs, to say nothing of the probabil- 

 itv of a larger surplus being obtained 

 where they are provided. The only 

 trouble which I have encountered is 

 with the German bees. Whatever Mr. 

 Heddon's German bees may do, those 

 of this locality naturally and irreme- 

 dially build crooked combs, and it 

 would be folly to try to get them to 

 build straight combs without the use 

 of separators. The German hybrids 

 do a little better, but the naturally 

 straight and most regular comb-build- 

 ers are the Syrian bees whose single 

 fault appears to be in the capping of 

 their combs. 

 Xew Philadelphia, Ohio. 



Farm and Workshop. 



Women as Bee-Keepers. 



There is nothing connected with 

 bee-keeping but what a woman can do 

 as well as a man. She should not be 

 expected to manufacture her bee- 

 hives any more than a house-keeper 

 to build her own house ; but as hives, 

 frames and surplus boxes, can be pur- 

 chased so cheaply in the " flat," I know 

 no reason why she cannot learn to nail 

 them together. I should have tried 

 my hand at it long ago, if I had not a 

 partner who is an expert at it. 



Xo one should engage in the busi- 

 ness expecting to find a "bonanza;" 

 but any woman may reasonably expect 

 fair returns for the time and money 

 expended. One or two colonies is suf- 

 ficient to commence with ; and if her 

 knowledge increases in like ratio with 

 her bees, all will be smooth sailing 

 and a prosperous voyage. 



Peoria, Ills. 



MRS. L. HAEHISON.0 



Some women love to be dependent 

 and to be compared to clinging vines 

 which are lifted into the sunshine by 

 sturdy oaks ; there are others again 

 who scorn dependency and can stand 

 erect being guided by the light from 

 heaven and true womanhood. The 

 latter class of women love to be pro- 

 ducers, and in olden time found abun- 

 dant range in manufacturing cloth. 

 Solomon said : " She seeketh wool and 

 flax, and worketh willingly with her 

 hands; she layeth her hands to the 

 spindle and her hands hold the dis- 

 taff." The use of steam has almost 

 entirely dispensed with the old spin- 

 ning-wheels and looms from the house- 

 hold, and so self-reliant woman is pry- 

 ing into every nook to discover some 

 other avenue wherein she can develop 

 her mind and energy. 



Scientific bee-culture is an open field 

 to all women of energy and brains ; 

 here is a free range for discovery, im- 

 provement and production. Why, we 

 do not even have to pay one cent to be 

 admitted to membership of bee-con- 

 ventions, being regarded as superior 

 beings or as ornaments of sufficient 

 value to balance all admission fees, 

 badges, etc.l If we compete with the 

 opposite sex, in making pantaloons or 

 in teaching school, we will be obliged 

 to accept less remuneration than they 

 command ; but who ever heard of a 

 pound of honey selling for less because 

 it was produced by a woman V No 

 "vines" had better embark in the 

 business, or even women of means who 

 know nothing practically of bee-keep- 

 ing, but who purpose to hire their bees 

 cared for by others, and expect to reap 

 a rich reward from their investment ; 

 but any woman who can make good 

 bread, pick a goose, milk a cow, or 

 harness a horse, can make bee-keep- 

 ing a success. 



I know a woman who is going out 

 to wash by the day in order to earn 

 enough money to purchase a colony of 

 bees. I opine that she will make bee- 

 keeping a success as she is bright, 

 smart and self-reliant. She has the 

 misfortune to have a paralytic hus- 

 band, and thus exerts herself to make 

 a comfortable living and to educate a 

 feeble son. All honor to her and 

 other brave women who never shirk 

 the burdens of life. 



For £be American Bee Joamat 



That Wonderful Yield of Honey. 



S. M. W. EASLEY. ? 



On page 700 is an article from a 

 letter, which was not intended for pub- 

 lication, in which I place the honey 

 yiekl of Ventura county at 9,000 tons. 

 I should have said 900 tons from 9,000 

 colonies, spring count. I made the 

 estimate on a basis of 200 pounds per 

 colony ; mine produced 314 pounds. 

 Some small apiaries have secured 

 more, and some larger ones, less. I 

 think that 200 pounds per colony is a 

 fair average, which would amount to 

 900 tons. Mr. Warring bought this 

 apiary of 444 colonies in March 1883, 

 for which he paid $1.15 per colony, 

 and also paying cost of material in 

 bee-houses, tanks, extractors, lease 

 and implements. He leased me the 

 apiary to run on shares, for ^ of 

 the honey and increase. Last season 

 was a poor one. and I extracted about 

 14 tons. I had, on March 1, 1884, 550 

 colonies in two apiaries one mile and 

 a half apart. About one-half of the 

 hives had on supers. I increased the 

 number of colonies to 1,250, all of 

 them with supers. I extracted from 

 the 550 colonies 172,700 pounds of 

 honey, besides what has been used in 

 the family. I had 57 swarms on May 

 1, which was my twenty-fifth wedding 

 anniversary, and my wife wanted to 

 have a celebration, but I told her that 

 if the weather was good, we would be 

 too busy. I had 44 swarms at the 

 home apiary hived by myself and 

 daughter, and 13 at the other apiary 

 hived by two of the boys. That was 

 the busiest day I had during the en- 

 tire season, though we were busy all 

 the time. My daughter and boy (the 

 boy only 15 years old) uncapped and 

 extracted, during the first week in 

 July, 15,000 pounds of honey, and on 

 July 4, they extracted 3,000 pounds. I 

 use an eight-frame extractor; the 

 frames are turned without being lifted 

 out. In a future number of the Bee 

 Journal I will, if I can find the 

 time, give a description of the hive 

 which I use, my management of the 

 apiary, swarming, etc. It differs 

 some from that generally given. 



Springville, Calif. 



