1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



491 



of the above article, that I should ever have 

 the pleasure of supplementing- an article of 

 his for Gleanings, as I do now, from the 

 Home of the Honey-bees; but it is the unex- 

 pected that generally hapipens. 



We passed through a sort of fairyland on 

 that journey. Logwood was in full bloom; 

 and as the train rushed along its serpentine 

 course among the mountains, the hills, val- 

 leys, and plains appeared one undulating 

 sea of yellow blossoms. 



There were quite a number of bee-keep- 

 ers on board; and somewhere about the sta- 

 tion called Four-Paths we were joined by 

 Mr. Hooper, the distinguished apiarist of 

 the island. He told us he was having a 

 splendid flow just then, and he and his 

 boys were busy extracting. As we passed 

 the railroad stations near which his apia- 

 ries were located we could see by the full 

 barrels and comb-honey supers stacked up 

 for shipment that his statement was true. 

 The sight of those full barrels gave us fel- 

 lows a sort of inspiration. 



Mr. Alexander speaks of the perishing or 

 dwindling season. Let me explain what 

 this is. In most localities in Jamaica there 

 is no hone\' coming in from the fields be- 

 tween August and October. During this 

 period judicious stimulating should be prac- 

 ticed. Mr. Alexander has given it a com- 

 paratively refined name; the real Jamaican 

 name is "hard times." These "hard 

 times " follow immediately upon the swarm- 

 ing season, April to June. Where no effort 

 is made to prevent after-swarms, the parent 

 colony is left impoverished, while the late 

 swarms have no time to build up before the 

 "hard times" overtakes them. Can we 

 wonder, then, that, where no feeding is 

 done, the bee-keeper as well as bees ex- 

 perience dwindling times, perishing times, 

 hard times? It is the careless bee-keeper 

 all over the world who allows this condi- 

 tion of affairs to exist, that generally con- 

 demns bee-keeping as a failure, and quits 

 the business with " blasted hopes." 



Under normal conditions, September 

 swarms are of comparatively rare occur- 

 rence. Of course, even in a small island 

 like Jamaica localitv' makes some differ- 

 ence. 



Most beekeepers in Jamaica, when start- 

 ing in the business, make the mistake of 

 adopting kerosene-box hives; and Mr. Alex- 

 ander is no exception to the rule. A kero- 

 sene-box, let me sa3% is almost identical 

 with that which contains two five-g.illon 

 honey-tins. The sides are only 's in. thick, 

 thus offering scanty protection from the 

 rays of the sun. Besides, being ridiculous- 

 ly frail, they are liable to collapse, under 

 a weight of honey, at any time. There is 

 not one progressive bee-keeper that I know 

 who has not discarded them for something 

 more substantial. 



Mr. Alexander is a pleasant gentleman, 

 and an enthusiastic bee-keeper. He is a 

 fellow who knows how to defend his own 

 views too, and I shall not forget the spirited 

 discussion we had on our way to Kingston 



that day, and the manner in which he de- 

 fended his kerosene-box hive and simple 

 method of queen-rearing. 



There are many interesting items in the 

 above article which I can not now comment 

 upon. However, let me say that, in order 

 to secure large crops of honey in Jamaica, 

 abee-keeper must have his colonies bubbling 

 over with bees in October. They will then 

 be able to store the necessary amount in the 

 brood-nest from bellflower or Christmas pop, 

 and make a start in the super besides, so 

 that, when the logwood bursts into bloom, 

 the latter part of December, all hands will 

 be ready for work, and the bee-keeper will 

 have the pleasant task of pilings on the su- 

 pers. 



If the readers of Gleanings desire it, I 

 will say something more in a later issue 

 about bee-keeping in Jamaica. 



Geo. W. Phillips. 



COMB-HONEY PRODUCTION. 



how to Get all the Sections No. 1 and Fancy. 

 Part 3. 



BY OREL L. HERSHISER. 



The colony, having been built up to great 

 strength, and prepared for the harvest ac- 

 cording to one of the foregoing methods, is 

 now, at the opening of the honey- flow, 

 ready for the first super. It is not advised 

 to give the super to the colony before honey 

 is being gathered in sufficient quantity to 

 insure continuous work in the drawing out 

 and building of the combs. The more rap- 

 idly the combs are built and finished, the 

 better will be the appearance of the prod- 

 uct. Usually the proper time to put on the 

 super is when the upper edges of the top- 

 bars of the brood-frames begin to have a 

 white and fresh appearance, indicating 

 that the bees are gathering honey and se- 

 creting wax. 



For fancy comb-honej* production, only 

 the very best white sections should be used. 

 These should be provided with full sheets 

 of the best extra thin comb foundation, care 

 being taken that it is securely attached 

 lengthwise of the middle of the top of the 

 section so it will not drop down when sub- 

 jected to the heat of the hive and weight of 

 the bees which will cluster upon it. To in- 

 sure further the true building of the combs, 

 the hive should be placed perfectly level, 

 especially in the horizontal direction that is 

 at right angles with the sides of the combs 

 in the sections. 



The best results will be obtained if the 

 first super contains a few fully drawn sec- 

 tions of comb, of which the comb- honey pro- 

 ducer usually has a supply saved over from 

 the previous season. The super thus pre- 

 pared is g-iven to the colony. The upper 

 section of the brood-chamber having been 

 removed, and the super substituted in its 

 place, the space formerly occupied by the 

 colon}', while being bred up for the honey 

 harvest, has been diminished, and the bees 



