54 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



He has liud experience with wood 

 separators and half-pound sections, 

 and those contemplating a change in 

 their surplus arrangements to conform 

 to what just now seems to be a '' popu- 

 lar idea." may do well to pause and 

 consider awhile, before making the 

 proposed general alteration. 



I will here remark (although we 

 have high authority to the contrary) 

 that for us to think of dispensing with 

 separators for surplus honey would be 

 likegoing-backtoold box hives, minus 

 brimstoning the bees. 



I will now give a few brief reasons 

 as to why I am strongly in favor of 

 using some kind of separator for sec- 

 tional boxes. 



First, When wood is used, the bees 

 do not travel as much over the honey, 

 preferring to cling to the separator, 

 especially when the nights are cool 

 and honey is coming in slowly ; conse- 

 quently the combs do not get so badly 

 soiled, as when used for runways or to 

 cluster upon. 



Secondly, We can get just as much 

 honey witli, as without them, and have 

 the sections evenly tilled, giving them 

 a much nicer and more attractive ap- 

 pearance, which is always appreciated 

 by the connoisseur. 



Thirdly, If we are in the habit of 

 glassing our honey,— they are simply 

 indispensable. 



Fourthly, That those of us who like 

 to take off the tilled sections as soon 

 as capped, and move the unlinished 

 ones to the center of the rack, would 

 have a troublesome job without sepa- 

 rators between the sections, for, while 

 some combs would rub against each 

 other, others would be too far apart, 

 making the whole operation a trying 

 ordeal. 



Fifthly, Upon general principles to 

 have tlie combs built just as we want 

 them, believing that straight combs 

 are more attractive than crooked ones, 

 whether or not we may wish to use 

 glass— and that the cost of separators 

 are nothing in comparison to beneUts 

 received. 



We want our honey in shape to com- 

 mand tlie highest market price and 

 give the best satisfaction to the con- 

 sumer—believing that a white bass- 

 wood section, well and evenly tilled 

 with honey, is an article of " beauty" 

 and a " joy " to possess— better than 

 wheat, for it can the more readily be 

 exchanged for gold or greenbacks and 

 at a far more remunerative price. 



Peoria, Wyoming Co., N. Y. 



[The samples of separators are re- 

 ceived, and some of them look as 

 though they had done excellent service. 

 We do not believe that tliose who are 

 producing a fancy article of comb 

 honey can afford to dispense with the 

 use of separators. We think they are 

 indispensable; with very careful work 

 some may do without them for a time, 

 but, for producers of comb lioney in 

 general, they cannot be dispensed 

 with, — without costing more for extra 

 time and care, not only while sections 

 are on the hive, but in crating for 



market, than their entire cost, each 

 season. 



For many reasons wood is prefera- 

 ble, and when cut so nicely as are 

 those sent by Mr. Isham, we can see no 

 objection to their use. — Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bees Removing Eggs. 



O. E. COOLEY. 



"Do bees remove eggs from one 

 cell to anotlier V" Yes ; and from one 

 comb to another, sometimes. A col- 

 ony of mine lost its queen, about 

 July 1st, and after waiting a sufficient 

 length of time for them to have 

 reared another, I gave them a frame 

 of brood, containing brood in all 

 stages, from the egg to luitctiing bees. 

 I let it remain until all of the brood 

 had been capped, at least two weeks; 

 in fact, most of it had hatched out. 

 but there was no queen cells built on 

 it, and no queen in the hive. 



Again I exchanged frames, putting 

 back the frame first taken from the 

 qiieenless hive, which was now again 

 full of brood in all stages, but still 

 the bees built no queen cells on that 

 frame, nor on the frame next to it, on 

 either side. I thought it useless to 

 do anything more with them, and 

 thought I would wait, and, perhaps, 

 Mr. Alley would liU an order for a 

 queen that I sent liiui, and paid for, 

 over three years ago, but the queen 

 did not come. About six weeks after 

 giving the last frame of brood, I dis- 

 covered that the hive had a queen, 

 and was filled with brood. The bees 

 must liave moved an egg and built a 

 queen cell in some other part of the 

 hive, or the queen could not have been 

 there. 



Eidgeway, Iowa. Jan. 2. 1883. 



For tbe American Bee JoumaL 



Our Honey Resources. 



W. H. STEWART. 



Some are of the opinion that 100 

 colonies of bees are as many as can 

 be made profitable within a radius of 

 five miles, while others believe that 

 each inhabitant of the rural districts 

 might keep 100 colonies to advantage, 

 as far as pasture is concerned. We 

 are not aware that any one has ever 

 demonstrated practically, that either 

 opinion is well founded. You can- 

 not expect me to give my views, in 

 full, on this question, in one short cliap- 

 ter, but I will just give a hint, and 

 leave the matter for further consid- 

 eration. 



I hold that all animate life is gov- 

 erned by tlie same universal law, from 

 which there is no divorce. The law 

 that dictates that one class of beings 

 shall live by the sweat of their brow, 

 is just as arbitrary to every other 

 class of living ci'eatiires. 



Veiy much of the work of the bee 

 is done in tlie night ; much is done in 

 tlie swamps, on the mountains, and in 

 the forests, and even that portion of 



her work that is done in our imme- 

 diate presence is by us, by no means 

 fully understood. 



Her cut is so slight, her blow srj li._'ht, 

 And ifiven in such rapid succession. 

 Our nerve is so slow, 'tis but littie we know. 

 By our most labored observation. 



The two planes of life, occupied by 

 the honev-bee and the human family 

 are widely separated, and in the na- 

 ture of things we can comprehend 

 about as miicti of her plane of life as 

 she can of ours ; very little more. 

 Yet, as both are subject to the same 

 law, when we learn how we can ob- 

 tain from the nectar-secreting plants, 

 a portion of their choice sweets, then 

 we have obtained a reliable key that 

 unlocks the dark mystery that would 

 otherwise conceal very much of the 

 labors of the honey-bee from our 

 vision. If we would know the re- 

 sources of the honey-bee, we must 

 first learn our own resources tor ob- 

 taining wealth. 



We have learned, by experience, 

 that our stores are only born of labor, 

 and that the measure of stores cor- 

 responds to the amount of labor that 

 we are able to accomplish ; and, 

 further, that the better and more ad- 

 vantageous our surroundings are the 

 more labor are we able to accomplish 

 in a given time. As man is able to 

 accomplish more under favorable con- 

 ditions, even so is it with the honey- 

 bee. If we allow them to increase 

 their number of colonies bv natural 

 swarming, then it is highly" probable 

 that much of their time in' the height 

 of the honey season is consumed in 

 preparing a new home in some old 

 hollow tree. And, again, if we de- 

 tain the swarm, and give them no 

 better home than a straw basket or 

 empty rough box. they must labor 

 throiigh the whole season to prepare 

 their rude home for the coming 

 winter. But if they are properly 

 divided, and the new colony given a 

 good frame hive, filled with sheets 

 of brood-comb, or even sheets of 

 comb foundation, they are often 

 found able not only to prepare for 

 winter, but to give us large yields of 

 surplus honey. Thus we perceive that 

 favorable conditions inside of then- 

 home is, in reality, a honey resource. 



The life of the bee in the working 

 season is only six weeks, and it has 

 been proven during the last season. by 

 Jerome Wiltse, Falls City, Xeb., that 

 she is able, and does gather honey from 

 the field at the age of six days after 

 hatching, if surroundings are favor- 

 able ; and then she has but five weeks 

 more that she can work. 



Kow, we come to a most important 

 question, viz. : " Wliat is the bee to 

 work at during this five weeks ?" Is 

 she to build combs for brood and stor- 

 age V Is she to stand guard at her 

 door to protect what little she has 

 against robbers V Is she to be tor- 

 mented out of her wits, by being 

 stified with smoke, and having her 

 nest all torn to pieces every day or 

 two, by unwise bee-keepers ; or will 

 we prepare and protect her home, and 

 let her gather hone); all the remaining 

 five weeks of her life y 



I have stated that human life is a 

 key to the life of the bee. If we were 



