186 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



told me that he has had no recurrence 

 of the trouble. 



I have since seen many cases of 

 foul brood, the result of importing 

 some bees from the South, and find 

 that in the first stages it may be easily 

 eradicated by the use of absolute 

 phenol, fed with diluted honey. First 

 extract all the honey that the affected 

 colony may have, and pour the medi- 

 cated feed directly into the cells of 

 brood, as well as empty cells, and 

 upon the bees, if they should be in the 

 way. Phenol is carbolic acid in a 

 more concentrated form, and is one 

 of the greatest disinfectants known. 

 All having any trouble with foul 

 brood among their bees should try 

 this remedy ; they will find that this 

 much-dreaded disease will soon yield 

 to this treatment. 



Cato,0 Mich. 



Read at the N. E. Michigan Convention. 



Items in Bee-KeeBinE. 



K. L. TAYLOR. 



In bee-keeping the spirit of the 

 adage. " Take care of the pence, and 

 the pounds will take care of them- 

 selves," is as applicable as in financial 

 matters, so I will recount some of the 

 '• little things " whicli I have learned 

 in my experience in the apiary. 



HOW TO CUT rOUNDATIOK. 



The most convenient way I have 

 discovered to cut foundation into 

 pieces of the right size for sections, 

 is to take a board a foot wide or more, 

 and somewhat longer than the sheets 

 of foundation, to one end of which 

 nail a head-board against which to 

 lay the sheets of foundation to keep 

 them even. This head-board should 

 extend above the main board about 2 

 inches. Now on each edge of the 

 main board, beginning from the head, 

 at intervals corresponding to the size 

 of the pieces into which it is desired 

 to cut the foundation, securely nail 

 blocks so placed as to extend suffi- 

 ciently above the board as to slightly 

 overtop the largest pile of foundation 

 it is desired to cut at one operation. 

 These blocks are to guide the rule, 

 and are much better for that purpose 

 than nails. 



Now fill the board with foundation, 

 putting in as many piles as the width 

 of the board will accommodate, tak- 

 ing care to keep them of an equal 

 height, and with a good knife, a good 

 lubricator, and a straight edge, begin 

 at the foot of the pile of foundation, 

 and it will be found but the work of 

 a moment to cut from 100 to 500 

 pieces of just the size required. 



For cutting the wax there is noth- 

 ing so good as a case-knife of good 

 material, with about one-half of the 

 length of the blade removed in such a 

 manner as to leave the remaining part 

 of the blade with a slant from the 

 point of the edge back. Of course the 

 knife should be pretty thin. 



For lubricating the knife for cut- 

 ting wax, nothing is better than a 

 solution of Babbitt's concentrated 

 lye. This lye cannot be well kept ex- 

 posed to the air. and it seems to lose 



its virtue when kept any great length 

 of time in solution ; but I have found 

 that it can be kept conveniently in a 

 dry state in a common Mason fruit- 

 jar, if the cover of the jar be kept 

 screwd down. 



MATERIAL FOR BEE-FEEDERS. 



If wooden feeders are used, no 

 doubt many have had trouble as I 

 have with their checking, so as to 

 cause leakage. By using basswood 

 for feeders I have entirely rid myself 

 of that trouble. 



HOW TO CARRY BEES. 



For carrying bees into the cellar 

 and taking them out, where two per- 

 sons are at command, I have found 

 very convenient a horse made by 

 fastening two pieces of light scant- 

 ling about 18 inches apart, side by 

 side, and supplying the platform thus 

 made with 4 legs of convenient height. 

 The scantling may be fastened to- 

 gether by simply nailing four or five 

 pieces of narrow board across, leaving 

 a space clear for a pair of handles like 

 those of a wheel-barrow at each end ; 

 that is, the ends of the scantlings are 

 to serve for handles. The legs should 

 be well braced. Upon this two per- 

 sons may carry 2 or 3 colonies easily, 

 rapidly, and with little disturbance 

 to the bees. This horse will also be 

 found very convenient for carrying 

 empty hives, cases with sections, etc. 



DARKENING CELLAR WINDOWS. 



The easiest and most effective way 

 to exclude the light from windows in 

 a bee cellar, is to tack over the sash 

 of each a piece of tar-paper, such as 

 is used in the walls of buildings. If 

 it is desired to use the window for 

 ventilation, and at the same time to 

 exclude the light, make a light box 

 about 6 inches deep without top or 

 bottom, of such size that when set on 

 its side it will just slip into the win- 

 dow-frame ; fill this box with hay or 

 straw, kept in place by narrow slats 

 nailed across both top and bottom, 

 then slip it on its side into the win- 

 dow-frame in such a way as to leave 

 the sash free to open and shut, and 

 there will be ventilation day or night 

 without danger of admitting light. 



HOW TO SHEET WAX. 



Some may be interested in knowing 

 thb proper method of dipping wax 

 for foundation-making. It is a very 

 simple process, but it cost me a good 

 deal of time to learn one or two very 

 simple things. I cannot enter into 

 details, but will say that there cannot 

 be much trouble if the dipping-boards 

 are kept sharp ; that is, keep every 

 corner of every edge (side and end) as 

 pronounced and perfect as sharp tools 

 can make them on straight-grained 

 wood, and see that the boards are 

 thoroughly water-soaked, and then 

 have the wax barely warm enough to 

 prevent its hardening on the surface. 

 In other words, the temperature of 

 melting wax is the best temperature, 

 though it will answer to have it a few 

 degrees warmer. It should be re- 

 membered that it requires consider- 

 able time to reduce the temperature 

 of boiling wax. 



A GOOD WAX-EXTRACTOR. 



Having a large number of combs to 

 render into wax, I found it a slow 

 operation to effect this with the Swiss 

 wax-extractor, so having a can about 

 2 feet in diameter, and 20 inches deep, 

 I had a basket made of perforated 

 tin, such as is used in the Swiss wax- 

 extractor, about 5 inches deep, and of 

 a diameter just such as to allow it to 

 slip feely inside the can. The basket 

 is strengthened with heavy wires 

 across the bottom, and has legs of 

 folded tin about 4 inches long, and 

 wire rings for handles. 



To operate it, I put the can on the 

 top of the cook-stove in my honey- 

 house, with 2 or 3 inches of water in 

 it ; put in the basket and fill up with 

 combs, frames and all, and cover 

 closely. With a tire under it, the 

 water being shallow, it boils quickly, 

 the steam melts the combs in a few 

 minutes, when the frames can be re- 

 moved aud the can refilled — a process 

 which may be repeated several times 

 before removing the refuse ; before 

 doing which, opportunity must be 

 given for all the wax to run through 

 the basket. Of course care must be 

 taken to keep the can always supplied 

 with water. The melted wax may be 

 drawn off through a faucet in the can. 



Lapeer,o* Mieli. 



IFoT the American Bee Jonmai. 



How to MM Honey, 



A. D. STOCKING. 



Mr. Joshua Bull, on page 133, has 

 exactly given my experience in mark- 

 eting honey, in a much better manner 

 than I am capable of doing. I have 

 long argued this manner of selling 

 honey, and I believe that if this plan 

 was more generally carried out, it 

 would soon solve the problem of the 

 honey market. His plan of small 

 cases for family use I have used for 

 several years, and I am satisfied that 

 I have sold more honey than I could 

 have done without them. I made 

 them to hold from 6 to 18 one-pound 

 sections of several different sizes. 



Like Mr. B., I had nice show-cases 

 standing in a prominent place on the 

 counters of the grocers ; I also would 

 leave some of these small cases with 

 them, and many a time I have sold a 

 small case where but one or two sec- 

 tions would have been sold but for 

 them. I gather up the cases in the 

 spring, and mine are good yet. Those 

 who have not tried this plan would be 

 surprised at the results. I also have 

 found an excellent market amongst 

 the farmers. I have had the market 

 prices of Chicago quoted to me, but I 

 have placed my honey by the side of 

 imported honey, and have always sold 

 it at a higher price ; and then the con- 

 trast between my nice, clean honey, 

 beside the other, would be so great 

 as to advertise mine. 



Almena, P Mich. 



There Is no Mistake in insisting that— 

 as in all other things, so in advertising— the 

 best is the cheapest, no matter what its first 

 cost tnay be. 



