.THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



409 



tSllxat and IJoxu. 



ANSWERS By 



James Heddon, Doivagiac, Mich. 



Getting Bees Out of the Cases. 



Will Mr. Heddon please tell us liow 

 lie gets the bees from the cases when 

 lie takes them from the hive V 



Samuel Fish. 



Milan, O., July 31, 1883. 



Answer.— Our method of getting 

 bees out of sections is as follows : 

 Xow, you will remember our sections 

 all have open tops, and the opening is 

 % of an inch wide. When we uncover 

 the case before removing, we blow 

 the smoke between the sections, by 

 passing the nozle of the smoker across 

 each row, as we press the bellows. 

 Four repetitions of it, in rapid suc- 

 cession, starts nearly every bee down- 

 ward. Inclined to fill himself with 

 honey, and there being none uncap- 

 ped above, he immediately starts be- 

 low. We now blow with our mouth 

 a lively cool blast across the ranges, 

 the same as we did with the smoker. 

 This drives them more than smoke, 

 after being smoked. Now, as you 

 lift your case, there should not be 

 more than 40 to 100 bees left in it. 

 Next we remove the case to our 6 foot 

 square summer house ; the upper half 

 of which is wire cloth all around, and 

 two of its sides are doors. In this 

 house we pile up the cases qrosswise 

 to each other. The bees immediately 

 go on to the screen, which screen is 

 double, and prevents the feeding of 

 outside robbers through the net work. 

 Now you can remove the cases to the 

 honey house free from bees. Throw 

 open the doors and the bees return to 

 their hives. In place of such a screen 

 liouse, a revolving window, or similar 

 device in any room, may be used. 



Comb Fuiindatiou for Surplus Honey. 



Mil. IlEonoN :— In the Bee Jour- 

 nal of July 25, replying to W. B. 

 Dresser, of Michigan, you say : " I 

 use full size pieces of foundaLion,"etc. 

 You were referring to section lioxes. 

 Do folks generally eat comb honey 

 made on comb foundation 'i Somehow 

 1 was under the impression that it is 

 not very clean or wholesome, and was 

 only intende'l for brood and extracted 

 honey. I tliink I should bile it with 

 my eyes shut, and not smack my lips 

 much. But then, it may be I am 

 prejudiced just a little, and not in tlie 

 spirit of advanced and enlightened 

 bee-cultnre. I use foiiiulation, but 

 in the brood-chamber, with a very 

 small bit in the honey boxes for a 

 Starter, not enough, you know, to 



hurt; and may be you will say, not 

 enough to do any good, either. Please 

 say something about this article 

 (foundation) as to its purity as food, 

 etc. W. P. Hancock. 



Salado, Texas, July 30, 1883. 



Answer.— My rule in selling any 

 commodity to my brother man, is the 

 one laid down by that great and 

 loving reformer, Christ. " Do unto 

 others as ye would that they should 

 do unto you." Almost all will admit 

 that it is our duty to do so ; but all do 

 not see the fact that we likewise owe 

 a duty to ourselves, and it is a second 

 duty, to stop right there, in very 

 many instances. 



For three years, and at a time be- 

 fore manufacturers were making a 



very delicate foundation for surplus 

 combs, or, at least, before I obtained 

 any, I used full sheets of foundation 

 in an my sections. No person in this 

 county, except myself, knew there 

 was such a thing as comb foundation. 

 I sold this honey in my home market 

 readily, and only one person during 

 that three years ever made a remark 

 regarding it, that came to my ears. 

 Getting hold of an unfortunate piece, 

 one man observed : " That honey I 

 got of you seemed to have too tough a 

 comb." Large numbers spoke the 

 praises of my comb honey. So much 

 for the effect upon the trade. 



Now, in regard to the healthfulness 

 of wax. So far as I can learn, noth- 

 ing is more wholesome to take into 

 the stomach than honey comb. Being 

 perfectly indigestible by the human 

 stomach, no effort is made to digest 

 it. In eating warm biscuit, the par- 

 ticles of comb intermingle all through 

 the dough in such a manner as to give 

 the gastric juice of the stomach a 

 better chance to do its work. Parti- 

 cles of wax are smooth, not harsh 

 or irritating to the stomach or intes- 

 tines, and the chemical effects are 

 said to be slightly stimulating. 



Now, as regards cleanliness of the 

 foundation. Of course to persons 

 who do not know what they are eat- 

 ing, if there are no ill effects, no harm 

 is done. To those who do, and who 

 are prejudiced against it, as Mr..H. 

 may be, allow me to say, let us reason 

 together. Trusting that the reader 

 knows chemically of what .impurities 

 consist, we will pass by, asserting 

 that high degrees of heat destroy all 

 impurities. The degree of heat which 

 is brought to bear, when rendering 

 wax, destroys all impurities that may 

 be lurking about the combs melted. 

 I consider that when properly ren- 



dered , beeswax is as pure and whole- 

 some for chewing gum as any nugget 

 found upon the spruce tree. 



Since I have been making comb 

 foundation, and receiving students, 

 I have had a large number of assist- 

 ants in the wax room,and I have never 

 had one but was more or less of the 

 time chewing scraps of wax. Neither 

 have I ever had one, who has been 

 with the honey, from the cake of bees- 

 wax to the delicate white combs upon 

 the table, who spleened against the 

 use of comb foundation for surplus 

 honey. What is good enough for me 

 is good enough for my customers. 

 What is not good enough for me, is 

 not good enough for my customers. 



Kentucky Bee and Honey Show. 



The Kentucky State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will hold its annual meet- 

 ing in Louisville. Ky., Aug. 29 and 30, 

 at the Southern Exposition building. 

 We hope to have a large attendance of 

 the bee-keepers of the State, and also 

 of other States, both North and South, 

 as the convention will be in session 

 during the week of the Honey and 

 Bee Exhibit. And premiums amount- 

 ing to $60 are offered by the commis- 

 sioners of agriculture of Kentucky, 

 for Kentucky honey, and $40 by the 

 Exposition, for the tinest Italian bees 

 in Observatory hives. The premium 

 on bees is open to the world, and we 

 liope to see a fine display. 



The Bee-Keepers' Convention and 

 Honey and Bee Show will be held in 

 the same week of the great exhibi- 

 tion of fruit, for which over $2,000 in 

 cash premiums will be paid. 



We extend a cordial invitation to 

 all bee-keepers' societies, to editors 

 of bee publications, to honey-pro- 

 ducers, and queen breeders, and all 

 who are interested in apiculture, to 

 be with us. We hope to have the 

 father of modern bee-keeping with us, 

 the Rev. L. L. Langstroth, to whom 

 a cordial invitation has been given. 



Reduced fair on all railroads, both 

 North and South, will be offered to 

 all who attend the Great Southern 

 Exposition. It will doubtless be the 

 grandest exposition ever held in the 

 United States, in magnitude, and 

 nearly equal to the Centennial. 



N. P. Allen, Sec. 



1^ The Northwestern Iowa, and 

 Southwestern Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, will hold its next meet- 

 ing on Sept. 4, 1883, at John Swan- 

 zey's, 2 miles South of Ridot, Stephen- 

 son County, 111. There vv'ill be facilities 

 to take persons from the station to 

 Mr. Swauzey's. 



Jonathan Stewart, Sec. 



^" Do not let your numbers of the 

 Bee Journal for 1883 be lost. The 

 best way to preserve them is to pro- 

 cure a binder and put them in. They 

 are very valuable for reference. 



