766 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mv. 28. 



/Vn^ot^g tlpe Bee-Papers 



Gleaned by Dr. JUiller. 



NEW OB OLD COMB. 



In France the opinion has been held by many that, be- 

 tween -i and 6 years, the combs are too old to be of any use to 

 the bees, as the cells are by that time too small, on account of 

 the successive generations of bees hatching in them, and be- 

 cause they "darken the honey." This last opinion is due to 

 the dark sealings. Every one knows that bees will seal their 

 honey very near the color of the comb; and here the races 

 give different color to the soalings of honey. I have frames 

 and combs that have been in use ever since I began bee-keep- 

 ing ; and when we first started we bought jar hives which had 

 been used many years, so I know that twenty-year-old comb is 

 very good, and I would not call it old ; nor am I now discard- 

 ing any. — P. J. BAi-DEXsrEBGER, in Gleanings. 



MAILING QUEENS LONG DISTANCES. 



Our American friends seem at last to have solved the diffi- 

 culty of sending queens to Australia. Quite a number have 

 reported to us the receipt of queens from Doolittle, Root, etc., 

 in first-class condition. — Australian Bee-Bulletin. 



somnambulist's teibulations. 



Did you ever manipulate a hive having a sort of " spare " 

 upper chamber for the reception of the super? Quite recently 

 I wrestled for more time than I care to tell, to release a super 

 from such a predicament. Somehow every frame in that 

 brood-nest seemed to have formed a remarkably close and 

 strong attachment for that super, and I doubt not if I was 

 longer effecting a separation of that union than many a court 

 is in dissolving the bonds of matrimony. But by calling all 

 my determination into play, the divorce between the two was 

 •eventually secured. But in straightening my bended form to 

 give relief to my aching back, and baring my dripping face, 

 wreathed in triumphant smiles, to catch a passing breath of 

 air, my eye caught something else. There right before me 

 stood a friend convulsed with laughter because of his having 

 witnessed my superhuman efforts to free that super. After 

 ■extracting all the fun from the incident possible, he remarked 

 for my edification and consolation: "There's more useless 

 and fraudulent traps made and sold to unsuspecting bee-keep- 

 ers than can be found connected with any one other business. 

 And you, as a class, have proven yourself truly American, in- 

 asmuch as you are delighted to be humbugged." 



sticky fly-paper in foul brood time. 



As there is some doubt expressed in the "A B C" as to our 

 being able to get all the bees, I will tell you how we did. We 

 brimstoned them after night, and let the hive stay on the 

 stand over the next day. Having the entrance corked tightly, 

 we took a sheet of tanglefoot fly-paper and cut a hole in "it 

 over the corked entrance. This caught every straggler. — 

 G. W. Martin, in Gleanings. 



A villainous paragraph. 



From the compliments the Roots and Yorks have been 

 paying one another, I was sure they were on extremely good 

 terms, but on page 652, American Bee Journal, in an edito- 

 rial, Editor York alludes to the folks at the Home of the 

 Honey-Bees as " Rootvillians." Who would believe that Mr. 

 York would be guilty of calling such names, and what could 

 have upset the friendly relations that apparently existed be- 

 tween them? I want to warn Mr. York that if he ever has 

 occasion to refer to my name, I don't want him to allude to 

 me as a " Miller-villain." 



feeding bees in cold weather. 



On lifting up the quilts one sunny afternoon in February, 

 I found the hives to be very destitute of honey ; four or five 

 out of the seven colonies I then had did not show a single cell 

 of sealed honey. I knew then that 1 would have to feed, and 

 that very shortly ; but how and what to feed I did not know. 



I went to H. S. Sutton, an old and successful bee-keeper, 

 of whom I had bought uiy first bees the spring previous, and 

 laid my case before him. He asked if I had any frames of 

 honey ; to which I replied I had not as much as one ounce of 

 honey about my place, excepting what the bees had them- 

 selves, and that was very little. He told me to buy about 

 eight or ten pounds of section honey for each colony, and to 

 lay the sections flat on top of the frames, and to tuck the 



quilts and cushions in tightly to keep the heat from getting 

 out, and let them alone. He said there would be honey enough 

 in the under side of the sections to last them until it was time 

 to take off the cushions and quilts some afternoon, and I 

 could then score the top capping with a table fork, and 

 put the hive-cover on and leave the quilts off awhile, and 

 the bees would carry the honey down to their combs. 



After getting the above directions, and a good lecture 

 thrown in on the importance of seeing that bees have enough 

 in the fall to take them through the winter, I went home to 

 act accordingly. 



I carried the above instructions out to the letter, and 

 never hud bees come out in the spring in better condition. — 

 Ed. Jolley, in American Bee-Keeper. 



prevention of drones. 



All our brood-combs are now built on full sheets of 

 worker-foundation in horizontally-wired frames, and by the 

 aid of our slatted top-bars all sagging is prevented and a scant 

 ;-4-inch bee-space is always maintained, hence no drone-cells 

 can be stuck in extra corners, and we now have 50 or more 

 colonies that, altogether, do not have enough drone-comb to 

 fill a single frame. We have this season examined many 10- 

 frame hives of Langstroth size where the combs had been 

 built just as the common bee-keepers usually have them built, 

 with starters or half-sheets of foundation, and we found our 

 small, handy hives contained far more room for ivm-kcr-brood 

 than the larger hives as commonly used. Queen-breeders may 

 need drone-traps, but for producing surplus honey I would not 

 pay express charges on a quantity of the best traps yet in- 

 vented. The honey-producer who is rearing drones that need 

 capturing is not up to the first rank. Plenty of worker-brood 

 foundation is the best investment he can make. — B. Taylor, 

 in Review. 



CELLARS FOR WINTERING BEES. 



Many inquiries have come in for a cheap, practical win- 

 tering-cellar. A friend of mine some years ago built wintering 

 quarters for his bees, that, while cheap, have given good re- 

 sults. 



A hole 12x18 feet and T feet deep was dug on a dry 

 knoll. On one end a slanting stairway was dug and wooden 

 steps put in. A frame of 2x-i studding was set up inside the 

 dugout and sided on the outside of the frame with inch sheet- 

 sheeting. Begin at the bottom and place two or three boards 

 on edge, and dirt that had been thrown out is packed between 

 the boards and the dirt walls, and tamped quite hard. Sev- 

 eral ties should be nailed temporarily across the frame in the 

 center to keep the walls from being pressed together. The 

 joists across the top will keep it straight there. When it is 

 filled to the top of the first boards; put on two or three more 

 and again fill as before, and so proceed until the top of the 

 frame is reached. The frame had better be eight feet high 

 and two feet above ground, so the dirt can be banked up 

 snugly around it to shed the water and keep the cellar dry. 



Set rafters with at least two feet projection at the eaves 

 to shed the drip well away from the building. Cover with a 

 good roof of sound boards, or better, shingles ; lay a floor of 

 loose boards on the joists above, fill in between it and the roof 

 with dry straw or leaves. Make a stand of scantling 10 

 Inches high around the outer walls to set the hives on. The 

 doors should be at least two in number, one upright one at the 

 bottom, and one sloping one at the top of the stairs to shed all 

 water and keep the cellar dry. 



Such a cellar will hold 100 colonies. It can be built for 

 $30 for material, and a few days work. If the outside and 

 edges of the siding are well coated with coal-tar before the 

 clay is packed in, it will last 25 or more years, and be a first- 

 class wintering-place. Where stone is to be had cheaply, it 

 would probably be as cheap to make the walls of that material; 

 it would last longer, but would have no other advantage over 

 lumber. — B. Taylor, in Farm, Stock and Home. 



. * * A A A A A < 



Earu Vour Own Subscription.— Any present 

 subscriber can earn his or her own subscription to the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal for one year by sending three new subscribers, 

 with §3.00. A copy of " Bees and Honey " will also be mailed 

 to each new subscriber, and the Bee Journal will be sent to 

 the new readers from the time the order is received up to the 

 end of 1896. This is an easy way to earu your own subscrip- 

 tion and at the same time help to circulate the Bee Journal. 

 Remember, getting 3 new subscribers pays for your own sub- 

 scription for 1 year ! Of course, no other premium will be 

 sent in addition. This is a straight offer by itself. 



