1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



813 



dictionaries) ; has printed them with their meanings, and now 

 attempts to misrepresent the Standard by calling it "ob- 

 scene, filthy, blasphemous, etc." No one with a particle of 

 brains would be influenced against the Standard by such an 

 unwarranted attack, and no one but a vulgar, hyena-headed 

 monster would use such unfair and unchaste means to meet 

 honest competition. When you buy a dictionary be sure to 

 get The Standard. It has no superior, and I doubt if it has 

 an equal to-day. Dr. C. C. Miller, you will remember, was the 

 editor of the bee-terms found in The Standard ; and especially 

 in that regard there is no other dictionary that can touch it. 



Later. — On Jan. 1, 1896, the prices of the Standard 

 Dictionary will be greatly advanced, but all orders placed be- 

 fore that time will be filled and delivered to you free of trans- 

 portation, at the present cash prices, which are as follows : 



2-Vol. Ed. 1-Vol. Ed. 

 Full Morocco, with Patent Ref. Index. . .$22 00 $18 00 

 Full Russia, " " "... IT 00 14 00 



Half Russia, " " "... 15 50 12 50 



Half Russia, without " " ... 15 00 12 00 



As I am acquainted with the resident agent here in Chi- 

 ■cago, all orders, with the money for same, can be sent to the 

 Bee Journal office, and I will see to it that they are promptly 

 and properly filled. 



Remember, the above prices hold only until Jan. 1, 1896. 



^n)OX)i^ i\)C Bee-Papers 



HONEY AS A COSMETIC. 



Here's what that old bachelor — E. E. Hasty — has to say in 

 Review : 



"O yes ! honey matters are a little down at the mouth ; but 

 just rub a little on your wife's cheeks, according to American 

 Bee Journal, page 588, and see how sweet and beautiful she 

 looks next day. Never mind that suggestion that crops may 

 get insufficient to rub our faces with." 



But that'll do you no good. Hasty, unless some fair Euge- 

 nia gets so much on that you stick to her. 



SIZE OF HIVE. 



First, the hive must be large enough to hold sufficient 

 stores and accommodate the colony. To illustrate : Here we 

 have no honey to speak of from July or August till June. 

 Sometimes September will give a living, and sometimes not. 

 At times in April and May a little is gathered and at once 

 used, but never added to store. The bees will fly more or less 

 every month, and much in fall and spring, and breeding must 

 start early to keep up the colony, or they perish iu early 

 spring from lack of numbers. In March, April, and May, and 

 usually the first half of June, breeding goes ou as rapidly as 

 the strength of the colony will permit, provided the old stores 

 are abundant, consuming much honey. I count on about -10 

 pounds average as necessary, so that, as a rule, an eight-frame 

 hive is not large enough unless sofitJ/uJJ of honey — no empty 

 combs ou which to cluster. So we must use a 10-frame hive, 

 or carry a stock of feed for use in the spring. — R. C. Aiken, of 

 Colorado, in Gleanings. 



COMBS FOR WINTERING. 



The construction of frames bears directly upon the subject 

 of wintering, particularly In regard to maintaining the requis- 

 ite degree of warmth. Closed-end frames conserve the warmth 

 of the colony in each range to a greater degree than those with 

 open ends. They are in accordance with nature. The comb struc- 

 ture, whether in a hollow tree, or a box, or a straw hive, is 

 such. My experiments with artificial comb have served to 

 throw much light upon this feature in frames as applied to 

 wintering. Even with closed ends, natural comb is seldom at- 

 tached more than half way down, while the artificial combs 

 are fixed closely the entire length of each end-bar. As a test 

 of temperature, I placed a thermometer in the bottom of the 

 tray containing saw-dust, locating it directly above the cluster 

 and found the average iu colonies containing natural comb to 

 range from SO-' to 35^ F, while in the wooden comb it stood 

 at 60- when the outside temperature was zero. I made these 

 experiments several times with the same results. Further- 



more, the comb spaclngs in my hives are 1}4 inches from cen- 

 ter to center. The artificial combs are H of an inch thicker, 

 which limits the space to ?() of an inch. Notwithstanding 

 thicker combs and narrower spaces, consequently less bees oc- 

 cupying a given area, a temperature of 60- against 35^ is 

 maintained, showing conclusively the advantage of not only 

 having closed ends, but combs attached as closely as possible 

 to the end-bars. — L. A. Aspinwall, in Review. 



KEGS AND BARRELS FOR HONEY. 



Having told how to wax kegs and barrels, allow me to ask 

 why not use those made of soft wood, which needs no waxing? 

 Leaky kegs and barrels can never be made entirely safe by 

 waxing them. The shrinking and swelling of the wood, as ex- 

 posed to wet and dry, will break the wax ; and sometimes a 

 heavy jar, when moving the barrels, will crack the wax and 

 start them to leaking. Good workmen can make tight vessels, 

 and they cost no more than leaky ones. A barrel or keg prop- 

 erly made of the right kind of wood needs nu waxing, and the 

 waxing is quite expensive at best. — G. M. Doolittle, in Glean- 

 ings. 



FRAMES AND SPACERS. 



I dont wish to discourage the Doctor nor my good friends 

 at Medina in their efforts at improving our implements, but it 

 has always been a wonder to me how bright, practical men like 

 these could be led to adopt the Hoffman frame. I know that 

 there are other bright, practical men who use this frame, and 

 it may be that I am too dull to discover its merits, but to me it 

 seems like a cross between the loose-hanging frame and the 

 closed-end frame, but lacking the highest merits of both. 



The Doctor asks for advice in regard to self-spacers. The 

 most satisfactory with which I am acquainted are closed- 

 end frames ; closed the whole length, plain and smooth with 

 the edges pressed so firmly together that no cracks are left in 

 which to put propolis. — Editorial in Review. 



EXPERIENCE VFITH ROBBER BEES. 



One day I found lively times at No. 82 — with robbers. I 

 went and got some hay — not a few spears, but a whole armful 

 — threw some loosely at the entrance, and then kept adding till 

 the entrance and the entire hive were covered. Then I got 

 buckets of water and thoroughly wet down the hay, and left 

 the bees to their fate. I left the hay for a week ; but there 

 was no appearance of robbers shortly after the hay was put 

 there. When I looked into the hive a week or so later I found 

 a good colony there ; but the robbers had e->iptied the three 

 outside combs before they had been stopped, i' they had not 

 been meddled with I think the colony would have been ruined. 

 No. 19, in the opposite row, was having a little trouble with 

 robbers at the same time, but I didn't think it would amount 

 to much. I didn't notice it till a week or two later, when I 

 found it empty of honey, with the queen and a dozen bees. If 

 I had given it a good " feed " of hay it might have been saved. 

 — Dr. Miller, in Gleanings. 



BUY OR MAKE HIVES, WHICH ? 



Question. — I hope to winter my bees in good shape and be 

 ready to use some new hives next summer. Now what I want 

 to know is whether it will be better to buy them ready made, 

 or make them myself, as I am handy with tools and ran have 

 plenty of time through the winter. X. Y. Z 



Answer. — I don't believe I'd buy them ready made, and I 

 don't believe I'd make them entirely myself. Instead of buy- 

 ing them ready made I'd buy the stuff all cut ready to nail to- 

 gether, and then I'd put them together myself. 



At the factories where they make a business of making 

 hives and other appliances for bee-keepers they have so many 

 advantages that they can get out the stuff far cheaper than 

 you can. In fact, if you can get anything to do by which you 

 can earn a dollar a day you better take it than attempt to 

 compete with the factories making hives. 



In the first place they get their lumber in large quantities 

 and of just the right kind, and so get it cheaper, and in make- 

 ing hives by the thousand they can get along with the least 

 possible waste. Then they have machinery .just adapted to 

 the work, and when the machinery is set all ready to cut a 

 certain piece they can rush through a thousand pieces in a 

 short time. With ordinary tools you can't begin to make a 

 hive so accurate, and after you've handled movable-comb hives 

 long enough you'll find out they ought to be made with great 

 exactness. 



If you think you can make by hand bee-keepers' supplies 

 as cheap as you can buy them, just try your hand at making a 

 few section-boxes. Even with the best joiner's tools, if you 

 could make five or ten of them in a day it's more than I would 

 expect, and you could buy them for 1 or 2 cents.— Stockman. 



