138 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



as they are the same size as the frames 

 that hold the sections. The way I 

 get good, strong extracting combs, I 

 lay the drone comb on a bench, and 

 lay on one of these brood-frames, with 

 a thin-bladed knife cut the comb 

 on the inside of the frame, and the 

 comb will tit in tight. It is hardly 

 necessary to wind a string around it 

 to keep the comb from falling out, as 

 the frame being so shallow, the bees 

 will soon have it fastened to the frame 

 all around, when it forms a strong 

 extracting comb that will last for 

 years. 



There is not the least danger of 

 the queen laying in these combs. 

 After they are drawn out they are 2 

 inches thick, and even thicker; I 

 have had them 3 inches thick. They 

 are nice to uncap. The uncapping 

 knife will reach clear across the comb, 

 it being only 4)4 inches deep. The 

 comb is stronger, and it will bear 

 handling better than if it were the 

 full size Langstroth frame; but the 

 best of all is, if you have no reversible 

 extractor, these shallow combs can 

 be reversed inside of the extractor, 

 and 8 of them can be put in at one 

 time. Eight of these frames will hold 

 more honey than 4 of the brood- 

 combs. 



My experience has been that when- 

 ever a case of extracting dtone-combs 

 were on a hive they would not build 

 drone comb below in the brood-cham- 

 ber ; even if I put in an empty frame 

 and let them build comb it would 

 always be worker comb. It is natural 

 for them to have drone comb in the 

 hive, and if it is kept directly over 

 the brood-chamber, they will not build 

 it below. Besides, what harm is it if 

 the queen does get up there and lay 

 in the drone comb ¥ 



I work on the tiering-up plan. The 

 drones will hatch out in due time, the 

 cells will be filled with honey, and 

 that is just the way I get them started 

 to work in the cases. When I put 

 the first case on a hive, I take a frame 

 from one of the colonies that has 

 brood in the surplus case, and put it 

 in with the case that goes on the next 

 hive. This is what I call a '■ baiter " 

 or a "decoy," and the bees will go 

 right to work. 

 East Saginaw,© Mich. 



them as " trowels." I look upon this 

 as another ephemeral illusion. The 

 formic acid in honey is probably a 

 secretion that is added to it while the 

 honey is being handled by the bees. 



Dr. C. E. Rulison— I, too, have 

 watched bees for hours, when they 

 were sealing honey, and the work is 

 all done with the mandibles. 



For tne American Bee Journal. 



Nortlieasterii licliipn Conyeiilion. 



The Xortheastern Michigan Bee- 

 Keepers' Association held its fifth 

 annual meeting on Feb. 2, 18,87, at 

 Bay City, Mich. After the reports of 

 the Secretary iind Treasurer had been 

 read and accepted, and the members 

 had paid their dues. President Taylor 

 read his address. 



After the address the following 

 query was asked : " Do bees, by 

 means of their stings, add formic acid 

 to the honey when capping it V" 



Dr. L. C. Whiting— I have, for 

 hours, watched bees at work sealing 

 honey in an observatory hive, and 

 never saw any indications that the 

 bees brought their stings into use, 

 either to add formic acid or to use 



INDUCING BEES TO WOBK IN SECTIONS 



Dr. Eulison— Use shallow brood- 

 nGsts. 



W.Z. Hutchinson— A good flow of 

 honey will start them the quickest of 

 anything; but with me they start 

 much quicker when the sections are 

 tilled with empty combs. 



President Taylor— With me comb 

 foundation has given more satisfac- 

 tory results than empty combs. 



Dr. Whiting— I once saw 25 colo- 

 nies very quickly started to work in 

 the sections by raising the cover and 

 the covering over the sections, thus 

 allowing the warm air to pass up 

 through the sections. 



AV. E. Harris— I thought reversing 

 the brood-combs had settled this 

 problem. 



W. Z. Hutchinson— With very shal- 

 low combs but little is gained in this 

 respect, as the combs are about as full 

 of brood upon one edge as the other. 



Dr. Rulison — The shallower the 

 combs the less the need for inversion. 



TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE. 



President Taylor— With the tem-l 

 perature at 40° I believe bees will 

 winter as well.if the air is dry, as they 

 will at a higher temperature but a 

 vioist atmospnere. 



W. Z. Hutchinson— One of the re- 

 cent queries in the American Bee 

 Journal, asked if the presence of 

 water in a cellar added to the mois- 

 ture of the air. 



Dr. Rulison— I once contended for a 

 dry atmosphere in which to winter 

 bees, and Prof. Cook replied that in 

 the College bee-cellar the water 

 usually was 6 inches deep, yet the 

 bees wintered well. 



Dr. Whiting— This all depends upon 

 the relative temperature of the air 

 and water. If the water is warmer 

 than the air, there will be evapora- 

 tion ; if colder than the air, the mois- 

 ture in the air will condense upon the 

 water. Ice in a cellar will dry the 

 atmosphere. 



PREVENTION OF SWARMING. 



Dr. Whiting— I had a neighbor that 

 kept his bees from swarming by out- 

 ting out queen-cells and slicins off 

 the heads of the drones before they 

 hatched. 



W. Z. Hutchinson— Mr. Simmins 

 says that bees will not swarm so long 

 as they have unfinished combs be- 

 tween the brood-nest and the en- 



Dr. Whiting— In the days of box- 

 hives I knew of a swarm being hived 

 in a tall hive. The first season it 

 built the combs about one-third the 

 way down. Tlio next season it 

 swarmed before the hive was one-half 

 full of combs. 



Dr. Rulison— I have tried this 

 method several times, but it is not 

 always a success. 



W. Z. Hutchinson— I have never 

 tried the plan, but Mr. Heddon says 

 that the Simmins' method of prer 

 venting swarming is a "fallacy." I 

 am sorry to hear so much against the 

 system, for now that "chip "on Dr. 

 Miller's shoulder seems further from 

 my reach than ever. 



R. L. Taylor— I have never had any 

 success in repressing swarming. 



W. Z. Hutchinson— Unless it was 

 in an out apiary I fail to see benefit 

 in preventing swarming (i. e., of yi)'s4 

 swarms), unless the harvest was un- 

 usually early and short. I have 

 always secured more honey from a 

 colony (and its increase) that swarmed 

 than from one that did not swarm. 



Honey-plants were discussed at 

 some length, but the opinion pre- 

 vailed that their cultivation was un- 

 profitable, unless they furnished 

 something aside from honey. Alsike 

 clover was the favorite, and the 

 furnishing of seed to surrounding 

 farmers was recommended. 



Quite a number of instances were 

 mentioned to show the advantage of 

 a space below the combs in winter. , 



"Old or young bees for winter" 

 was one of the queries that came in 

 for its share of discussion. W. E. 

 Harris preferred to have all the bees 

 hatched before the middle of October; 

 W. Z. Hutchinson agreed with him. 

 He would have them all hatched 

 sooner than that, rather than later, 

 and have the bees prepared for win- 

 ter early. President Taylor had in- 

 duced late breeding by feeding the 

 bees sugar, yet the bees wintered 

 well. 



All agreed that it was better not to 

 unite weak colonies early in the 

 spring. , ^ ^ 



The following oflflcers were elected: 

 President, R. L. Taylor, Lapeer; 

 Vice-President, John Rey, East Sagi- 

 naw ; Secretary, W. Z. Hutchinson, 

 Rogersville ; and Treasurer, Dr. L. C. 

 Whiting, East Saginaw. 



The convention adjourned to meet 

 next December, in East Saginaw, 

 Mich., in connection with the Michi- 

 gan State Bee-Keepers' Association. 

 W. Z. Hutchinson, Sec. 



Bee-Legislation, etc.— James Hed- 

 don, Dowagiac, ? Mich., writes : 



Dr. Miller has been studying the 

 question of bee-legislation for years, 

 and then was unfair enough to sur- 

 prise us with its announcement. I 

 did not kuow there was so much 

 argument on his side; I thought it 

 was all "jug-handle" proposition. 

 I am not sure that any of us can suc- 

 cessfully answer his last article, and 

 I shall not try it, and give him the 

 case for the present at least. 



Errata.— There was a slip of my 

 pen or the " typo," for I never place 

 any kind of surplus receptacles " un- 

 der" the brood-nest, and do not ad- 

 vocate it. See my answer to Query, 

 No. 375. 



[To change the word on to "no" 

 will make the answer read correctly. 

 —Ed.] 



