582 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Sept. 12, 



the glass. Besides, when the honey granulates, it does not 

 look well in glass. 



Onr advice to those bee-keepers who wish to try the home 

 market is this: Put up your honey partly in the 6l)-pound 

 cans, and partly in barrels, and fill it into tin cans of different 

 sizes as occasion requires. 



To those who wish to handle the honey but once, and sell 

 it in a lump on the largo markets, we will give the advice of 

 putting it all up in the regular 60-pound can. But let every 

 one remember that a good market for honey, and a good pay- 

 ing price for the honey, cannot be secured unless one works 

 for it. Hamilton, 111. 



[This is the last of the interesting and practical series of 

 articles on " Extracted Honey " begun by Mr. Dadant in the 

 first number of the American Bee Journal for 1895. In 

 future numbers, there will be published more from the same 

 source, though probably on other equally important subjects 

 relating to bee-culture. — Editor.] 



Brine Method of Caring for Empty Combs. 



BV J. A. GOLDEN. 



Every once in awhile the question is asked, "How shall 

 we keep the moth-worms out of combs?" and the answer in 

 general is, " Fume with sulphur," which is always a very un- 

 pleasant task. Therefore, Mr. Editor, I wish to give the bee- 

 keepers my method of preserving combs, for all persons that 

 have ever had brood-combs to take care of know that it re- 

 quires vigilance In the strictest sense, to be successful, and 

 then one finds he has combs that must go into the wax-ex- 

 tractor ; besides, it always ruffles my temper to have a nice 

 brood-comb mutilated by the pesky moth-worm, more than 

 any other mishap in bee-keeping. 



Having had entire success in curing bee-paralysis, of the 

 most malignant type, and every case treated has remained 

 permanently cured up to this time, not even one bee has ever 

 shown the least symptom of the malady ; although some of 

 our great, good, and wise bee-keepers have honestly differed 

 from me in their opinions, after testing the remedy, from the 

 fact that they did not succeed in curing the malady; while I 

 believe all admitted that their bees did not die off nearly so 

 fast as previous to treatment, at the same time there are many 

 who have proved the salt remedy efficacious, so far as I have 

 been able to hear from — so I use the same remedy for moth- 

 worms. 



Having accumulated a good many beautiful combs, from 

 one year to another, and it worried my patience to find every 

 once in awhile a mutilated comb, caused by the moth-worms, 

 I sorted out 40 beautiful, unsoiled combs, and the balance I 

 rendered into wax. I made a strong salt-brine, and fully 

 saturated the 40 combs with the brine ; this was done over 

 two years ago, and there has never been any trouble from 

 the moth-worm since. If the treatment proves effectual 

 against the ravages of the moth-worm, bee-keepers ought to 

 know it. 



My plan of treatment here at the house-apiary is as fol- 

 lows (and after treating three or four combs one can treat 

 them quite speedily and effectually, remembering that a thor- 

 ough test is always the surest road to success in any problem 

 in life — anything short of this causes disputes, contention and 

 unpleasant sayings, and a failure in the end) : 



^ake, say one quart of brine, putting in all the salt the 

 water will dissolve. Take an empty brood-frame, cover one 

 side with wire-screen, by tacking it on with small tacks. 

 Spread on a table an oilcloth, take a brood-comb, lay it on 

 the table, and pour the cells, on one side, full of brine (I use 

 a gum sprinkler). Then lay on top the frame with wire-screen. 

 Lay on the table another brood-comb, lift up the comb full of 

 brine and turn over and hold it over the empty comb, and 



give the frame a quick upward jerk, and the brine will quickly 

 pass into the cells of the empty comb. Drop the screen-frame 

 on the comb just filled, and lay the comb just emptied down 

 on the table, the other side up ; pick up the one now with the 

 screen on top, turn it over the one just emptied, and with a 

 quick upward motion you will complete the comb. Thus you 

 continue the work, refillingand emptying until all are treated. 

 The brine should be quite warm, and will adhere to the cells 

 better. 



The wire-screen prevents the combs from breaking when 

 throwing the brine out with the sudden upward motion or 

 jerk. When the combs are dry, they will look frosty ; thus 

 they can be laid away, and, when wanted for use, give them a 

 good rinsing in a boiler of tepid, clean water, when purer 

 combs cannot be given to the bees. This is the experience of 

 the writer. Reinersville, Ohio. 



^ 



What Dr. Miller Thinks. 



The Swarming Habit. — Bert Lownes, on page 549, 

 makes a strong argument against the possibility and desira- 

 bility of breeding out the swarming habit. He says the de- 

 sire to swarm " has existed ever since the bees were created, 

 and I can truthfully say, will exist until they become extinct." 

 That settles it that there is no possibility of getting rid of 

 swarming, except for one fatal defect, that no proof of the 

 truth of that statement accompanies it. Even supposing he 

 proves that bees have always swarmed, he would need to 

 prove that they will swarm, and always have swarmed when 

 not at all crowded, etc. 



As to the desirability of getting rid of the habit, he is not 

 so positive. He only thinks that no drones would be reared if 

 there were no swarming. But others may think they would 

 be reared if swarming were forever to cease, so the matter of 

 desirability stands just as it did before. 



There is some encouragement in knowing that Mr. Lownes 

 has faith that it is both possible and desirable to prevent 

 swarming. I confess that my faith in that direction is not as 

 strong as it once was — that is, my faith in its possibility — and 

 if he will give us some practical way for the prevention of 

 swarms, I'll not quarrel with his views as to the swarming 

 habit. 



The Kingbird. — I'ts very kind in Bro. Ford, on page 

 553, to comfort us with the thought that the kingbird confers 

 a benefit by killing off the unnecessary population of our 

 hives, but the thought will not down that we might discrimi- 

 nate more wisely if the destruction were left to us instead of 

 the kingbird. 



An ApoLOGy. — I hereby apologize to Bro. Abbott for 

 hinting at the possibility of his making a mistake. And now, 

 Bro. Abbott, please refer me to the page in Gleanings from 

 which you quoted "Sweet clover is a sort of weed," that I may 

 take that editor of Gleanings in hand. Just a postal. 



Ripened Honet. — So important is the matter that I make 

 no excuse for again referring to the words of Mr. Pringle, 

 quoted on page 555, on which Mr. Abbott has so forcibly and 

 wisely commented. I thiuk it is true that the average sample 

 of extracted honey on the market is not as good as the aver- 

 age sample of comb honey, and I further think it could be and 

 ought to be better. For comb honey must be snow-white to 

 bring the highest price, and if taken while the comb is snow- 

 white, the contents of the comb will not be as rich and good 

 as if left longer on the hive. This richer and better honey we 

 can have with the extractor, and if every bee-keeper took 

 pains to put none but such honey on the market, I don't be- 

 lieve there could be the same difference in the price of ex- 

 tracted and comb that now exists. People are willing to pay 



