PUBLISHED EVERY WEEK 



AT $1.00 PER ANNUM. 



35tli Year. 



CHICAG-O, ILL., APRIL 11, 1895. 



No. 15. 



Coi;)tributcd /Krticlcs^ 



On Lm-portaiit A-piarian Subjects. 



Handy Arrangement for Weighing Hives. 



BY L. G. CASH. 



I will give my method of weighing hives to ascertain in- 

 crease of honey or amount of winter stores in the hive. "^ : 



Take four common screw-eyes (I use No. 108), and screw 

 one in each corner of the bottom-board. Next take four stout 



I 



% 



pieces of twine about 4 or 4JJ feet long. Take four stout 

 wire hooks and tie one to one end of each string, the other 

 end of the four strings to be brought together and tied into a 

 ring, or else made into a loop. The four wire hooks hook into 

 the screw-eyes, making a swing to swing the hive. 



Now take two pieces of 2x2 inch pine, about 5 feet long, 

 and fasten the ends together with a common barn-door hinge, 

 or strap-hinge, which will allow the two pieces to fold in the 

 form of an inverted "J. To one end I nail a strip across, each 

 side projecting about 8 inches, to form a "foot;" the other 

 end rests on my shoulder. Fasten a hook or stout screw-eye 

 about half way from the end on the shoulder and hinge ; take 

 a pair of old-fashioned steelyards, swing them to pull on the 

 shoulder, hang on the strings below, and you have a pair of 

 scales that beat carrying either hives or platform scales. 



The bees need be disturbed but very little, as all that is 

 necessary is to swing the hive clear of the ground, mark the 

 weight of the empty hive on the under side of the cover, and 

 when the super is put on add its weight, and the amount of 

 honey in the hive can be easily ascertained. 



The four screw-eyes are left in place permanently. 



Russelville, Mo. 



No. 6. — The Production of Comb-Honey. 



BY EMERSON T. ABBOTT. 

 SECTIONS. 



I have taken it for granted that no one in this day will 

 think of trying to secure a first-class marketable article of 

 comb honey without using sections. The market seems to 

 demand that these sections should not weigh more than a 

 pound when filled. I am quite sure, however, that bee-keepers 

 have catered to this demand at a loss, for it is my candid opin- 



ion that a given number of bees will store more honey in a 

 two-pound section than they will in a one-pound section. But 

 if sections are used open all around, as illustrated in a former 

 article, and no separators are used, the difference in favor of 

 the two-pound sections will not be so great. 



Also, I take it for granted that the sections used wil! be of 

 the one-piece variety, as there are not enough of any other 

 kind used at the present time to make them worth mentioning. 



I do not think it pays to use anything but first quality of 

 these, for surely they are the cheapest in the end, and will add 

 enough to the looks of the honey to more than pay the differ- 

 ence. Of course, we must produce honey as cheaply as possi- 

 ble, in these days of poor crops and cheap things, but there is 

 a possibility sometimes of getting things too cheap, and when 

 it comes to No. 2 sections, or even creain for the producer of 

 first-class comb honey, it is getting it down a little too fine, in 

 my opinion. I prefer the 1% section. 



• QUEEN-EXCLUDING HONEY-BOARDB, ETC. 



I have said nothing about queen-excluding honey-boards, 

 as I look upon them as a needless expense for the comb-honey 

 producer. I have had a queen go into the surplus arrange- 

 ment only once in ten years. Neither do I say anything about 

 reversing, divisible brood-chambers, etc., as Michigan seems 

 to have a patent on all of these things — and I am perfectly 

 willing that she should keep them, with a lot of other' use- 

 less traps that are of no practical utility to the rank and 

 file of bee-keepers ; and, surely, a beginner has no more use 

 for them than a dog would have for two tails. Their utility, 

 in fact, is about the same. They would both make veryjgood 

 freaks for a museum. If anyone makes a business of revers- 

 ing nowadays, I do not know it, and, as to a divisible brood- 

 chamber, I will have to change my mind materially as to the 



A Press for Folding One-Picce Sections. 



benefits to be derived from it before I would think for a mo- 

 ment of using one, or recommending it to anyone else. 



COMB FOUNDATION. 



I have my own ideas about the use of comb foundation, 

 and I may say just here, (for the benefit of Dr. Miller) I have 



