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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 13, 



many. The numerous members of the bee-keeping fraternity 

 practice various plans to accomplish their ends in this respect, 

 such as removing or caging the queen, cutting outqueeu-cells, 

 using entrance-guards or queen-traps, extracting, or giving 

 surplus room above. 



Where I run for comb honey alone, I have attained very 

 fair success along this line, by keeping myself well posted 

 concerning the condition of the colonies, and whenever I find 

 one whose brood-chamber is getting nearly full (and this the 

 experienced bee-keeper is enabled to tell at a glance on open- 

 ing the hive, by observing that the bees have begun to whiten 

 and bulge the combs at the top-bars), I put on a super at 

 once, and put in it two or three partly-filled sections to entice 

 the bees to go to work above, which it will usually do at once 

 if there is a sufficient flow of nectar. If I observe that the 

 bees are still hampered for room, then put on another, putting 

 it beneath the first, which should now be partly filled. Give 

 the bees just room enough, and then entice them to go to 

 work above, and you have accomplished your object, and 

 thereby increased your profits and abated the swarming- 

 fever. 



In addition to the above, if it is at a time of the year 

 when the young bees reared would mature at a time to assist 

 in gathering some particular honey-flow, I remove the outside 

 frames, which are usually filled with honey only, and slip in 

 the middle of the colony a couple of frames filled with full 

 sheets of foundation ; this will give the bees and queen more 

 room and work for awhile. 



But it is my opinion, to get at the matter aright, so as to 

 obtain the best results, it becomes necessary for us to go 

 further back, and see that we have got a strain of bees whose 

 energies are spent on honey-gathering, more than on increase 

 alone. There is without doubt a vast difference in various 

 strains of bees in this respect ; while some with a vim are 

 gathering in from field and wood, the various sweets which 

 they can find, others with equal energy are bent on increas- 

 ing their numbers more than their stores, and consequently 

 when winter comes, they find that they have swarmed the 

 harvest-time away, so to speak, and are without stores for 

 winter. 



We should breed only from those queens whose colonies 

 approach nearest our ideal of perfection, considering in their 

 proper order the qualities of hardiness, honey-gathering, 

 gentleness and beauty. 



The Qualities of different strains of bees are as diverse as 

 those of different people, and the intelligent and wide-awake 

 bee-keeper keeps an eye on this point in selecting his breeders. 



Frost, Ohio. 



Hints for Extracting-Time. 



BY A. C. SANFORD. 



The season for extracting honey in this locality usually 

 commences the first part of July, and sometimes lasts until 

 late in August, but seldom. About the first of July the combs 

 should be all extracted clean, because after the first of July 

 the bees will gather white honey, but previous to that time 

 they will work on all sorts of flowers. Dogwood, sumac and 

 clover are the principal sources ; dandelion sometimes fur- 

 nishes considerable nectar. The basswood bloom is the main 

 reliance in this locality, yielding more than all others, and of 

 an excellent quality, the extracted honey being as clear as 

 syrup made from granulated sugar, and, when granulated, is 

 white as milk. 



The way I proceed : The hive I prefer is one with about 

 10 Langstroth frames, or its equivalent, and will admit of 

 being piled one upon another at will. Commence in the 

 spring and add stories to the hives as the bees are able to 

 occupy. Let the queen roam at will until about the first of 

 July, or when you have bees enough reared to harvest the 

 crop, then confine her to the lower apartment and place an 

 excluder over to keep her in the brood apartment. Unless 

 this is done, when you put freshly-extracted combs on, she 

 will immediately fill them with eggs (which we do not want 

 at that season); also the bees will carry the honey up, and at 

 the end of the season the lower story will not contain enough 

 honey to winter the bees. 



To get the honey away from the bees the tools necessary 

 are, a good smoker, a whisk broom, bee-veil, pocket-knife, 

 and I use a tool made by riveting a sickle section to a flat 

 piece of iron about % inch wide by 12 inches long. Grind 

 the back end of the section, rivet it to the iron for a handle, 

 sharpen the end of the iron somewhat to pry the frames 

 loose with. This is a very handy tool to use about the apiary. 

 I use not very rotten maple wood for fuel in the smoker — it 



needs to be just a little damp, or somewhat so, to produce a 

 good volume of smoke. 



The morning, or early part of the day, is the best time to 

 take away extracted honey, as there is apt to be less thin 

 honey in at that time. Blow a few puffs of smoke in the en- 

 trance, two or three raps on the hive, a couple more puffs of 

 smoke at the entrance, then carefully pry off the top, blowing 

 in smoke at the same time. Smoke the bees some between 

 the frames, push to one side drawn combs, and if the bees are 

 not subdued, they will let you know it. Always hold the 

 combs perpendicularly, shake the bees off in front of the hive — 

 a succession of short jerks will do the work usually, although 

 some Italians stick pretty tight. Brush off the remaining 

 bees with a whisk brush. Have a wheelbarrow ready at your 

 rear, with comb boxes and empty combs to replace the ones 

 taken out. 



The first time extracting I put on a queen-excluder above 

 the first story. If you find combs with unsealed larva?, put 

 them below, or do not extract them until next time. Two 

 persons can work to advantage — one to operate with the bees, 

 and one in the honey-room. 



It is better to extract each variety of honey by itself, if 

 possible, but it is not always possible, for the bees will persist 

 in working on sumac when we would like clover honey. I 

 prefer to do the extracting in its season, as soon as it is fit. 

 One must be guided by the thickness of the honey — it should 

 be left with the bees until ripe enough to keep. I believe all 

 bee-keepers should be very particular about this, in order to 

 be able to have a reliable article. If honey is extracted while 

 raw, or very thin, it will soon take a rank, strong taste, and 

 really is not worth over half price. 



I notice that some apiarists recommend adding new stories 

 to the hives until the end of the season, and then extract, but 

 there are some objections to this method. The honey cer- 

 tainly will be fully ripe, and have a good body, but my ex- 

 perience is that such honey does not extract as readily (some- 

 times with difficulty). Then, I want to keep each variety of 

 honey separate, as much as I can. On our own farms we 

 certainly would not want to thresh our wheat, oats, barley, 

 rye and clover and timothy seed in a mass. Then, it takes so 

 many extra hives and combs to put two, three, or four on each 

 hive. Of course, these have all to be cared for when not in 

 use — the moth and the mouse are ever i-eady to destroy them. 



In the honey-room a good extractor is necessary, a 

 honey-knife, draining-can, and a straining barrel or tank. 

 I use a large barrel with cheese-cloth over the top, and a 

 large gate in the bottom to draw honey off. All the gates 

 used should be of large size, as the small ones are a nuisance. 

 Cut the oappings off smoothly, put in the extractor, turn mod- 

 erately ; if the combs are very heavy, only part should be ex- 

 tracted before reversing. It pays to be as careful as possible 

 with the combs, as it takes the bees some time to repair 

 damages. 



I would say right here that it always pays to be clean 

 about everything. Have some water on hand and a cloth. If 

 I get a little honey on my hands, or where it should not be, I 

 clean it up. I can work a whole day and get stuck up but 

 very little. I have had hands to work for me that did lots of 

 work, but when night came the floor and everything was all 

 stuck up. You all can readily see that honey isn't the stuff to 

 smear your boots with, or to anoint your head with, but nice, 

 clean honey is all right in the mouth, especially with bread 

 and warm biscuits. Ono, Wis. 



yk 



What Dr. Miller Thinks. 



Memorial Day. — That first page of the American Bee 

 Journal for May 30 keeps fresh in memory the events of 30 

 and more years ago ; but the two songs on the same page 

 leave one a little doubt whether the "Old Reliable" is federal 

 or confederate. Probably, however, the thought now is of a 

 united nation with no North or South, or rather an undivided 

 North and South. 



Bees and Strawberries. — I think that so far as the 

 testimony goes at present, the verdict must be given that Bro. 

 Secor has established his point that bees seldom work on 

 strawberry blossoms. If, however, there is testimony to be 

 offered on the other side, to the effect that some one has 

 actually seen bees busily at work on strawberry blossoms, it 

 ought to be promptly brought forth. I think Bro. Secor would 

 rather enjoy being beaten in this case, and I'm sure I'd enjoy 

 his defeat. 



Large vs. Small Hives. — G. W. McGuire [page 343] 

 gives some strong testimony in favor of large hives, and cer- 



