296 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



sons, viz., to rear drones in it, or to 

 enable them to store honey more 

 rapidly." 



1 hope it will not be considered 

 hypercritical when objection is raised 

 both to the form of the question, as 

 well as the answer given. Why bees 

 do any given thing, would seem to 

 pre-suppose a power of reason and 

 volition which they by no means pos- 

 sess, and I have not found that bees 

 construct much drone-comb " to store 

 honey more rapidly " when conditions 

 are normal. 



It seems to me preferable to put the 

 question in this form : Under what 

 conditions do bees build drone-comb '? 

 To which I would answer : When 

 drones are likely to be needed, and 

 when during a honey-flow queens are 

 inactive, either from superannuation 

 or from being in a recuperative state. 

 My observations have been so numer- 

 ous, and the results have been so 

 uniform, I accept it as a natural law, 

 that bees with a queen in a prolific 

 state, are impelled to construct little 

 drone-comb, and with a queen in an 

 unj^rolific state (it matters not how 

 fruitful she may be normally) will be 

 impelled to construct a considerable 

 amount. 



I have always found that for a cer- 

 tain time previous to casting the first 

 swarm, the queen becomes quite un- 

 prolific, and remains so until the 

 swarm issues, by which time she has 

 recuperated, and then again becomes 

 prolific. I have noticed this so re- 

 peatedly, and it is so in accord with 

 similar phenomena in natural history, 

 that I would much question the accu- 

 racy of any observations to the con- 

 trary. Therefore, in using Mr. Hutch- 

 inson's method when dividing for in- 

 crease is resorted to, great precaution 

 should be taken that the queen should 

 not be in or near her resting state; 

 and we are very liable to get such an 

 one in the old way of dividing or 

 driving just before the season of 

 natural swarming. In dividing colo- 

 nies for increase it would seem that 

 the only proper way of using this 

 method would be in employing only 

 young prolific queens. 



In a merely scientific point of view, 

 there are some passages scattered 

 through the book, besides the one al- 

 ready pointed out, that are inaccurate 

 and tend to indefinite ideas. For in- 

 stance, after mentioning the fact that 

 when an empty frame was inserted in 

 the centre of certain colonies before 

 swarming, it was filled mostly with 

 drone-comb and drone-brood, whereas 

 after swarming the same queens and 

 bees when hived upon empty frames, 

 filled them with worker comb and 

 brood. The reason for their different 

 action is then given as follows : " Be- 

 fore they swarmed the bees knew that 

 drones must be provided for the 

 fecundation of the young queens, 

 etc." Now we may not attribute to 

 bees such power of reasoning, nor 

 may we conclude that they are not 

 impelled by laws over which they 

 have no control, and in which they 

 have no volition. 



The fact is, the bee is but a product 

 of natural law. In the first instance, 

 the colonies were in a state of more 



or less inactivity, in which if the 

 queen laid at all, she must deposit 

 mostly drone eggs, which even the 

 workers are at times able to do. In 

 the second instance, recuperation had 

 been accomplished, and the queen 

 and all were impelled to active duty. 

 In both instances the queen and her 

 bees were merely the subjects of nat- 

 ural laws ; and because these laws of 

 rest and activity are beneincent in all 

 directions to the perpetuation and 

 well-being of the bees, we are not 

 allowed to conclude that the bees 

 themselves do any intellectual plan- 

 ning, but rather that their very exis- 

 tence is only to be accounted "for by 

 the fact that they are the merely pas- 

 sive subjects of these (to them) im- 

 pelling and immutable natural laws. 



However, as before said, the book 

 is filled with contagious enthusiasm 

 and pointed suggestions, and I hope 

 all will read it. It will certainly be 

 to their interest to do so. 



Henderson,*© Ky. 



For tbe Amencan Bee JoumaL 



Hiyes fo r Coml i Honey. 



J. H. ANDRE. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Sections Filled w itli Comli, etc. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



During the season of .1886-87 I de- 

 scribed a new hive ; I still think now, 

 more than I did then, that it was the 

 hive for comb honey and for winter- 

 ing bees, but one objection is its cost, 

 and another is its difficulties in 

 manipulating its frames. One rea- 

 son that I made it was, I did not like 

 a large frame, and also I thought if 

 the frames were deep enough to con- 

 tain honey in the tops all of the time, 

 the bees would enter the sections 

 quicker than they would from dry 

 combs, and the sections would be 

 cleaner than they would be if they 

 run across old black comb. In both 

 of these I believe I am correct, but 

 taken all in all, cost and everything 

 into consideration, I would not advise 

 any one to try them, as I wish to be 

 fair, and not mislead in the pursuit 

 of bee-keeping. 



I had not decided until a day or two 

 ago to throw them aside, but while 

 cleaning out a hive that the bees 

 died in the past winter, I saw that 

 their objections over-balanced their 

 good points. 



I shall use a hive in the future 14x17 

 inches. Simplicity depth, frames 

 crosswise, two 6-inch entrances on 

 the side (cut out of side instead of 

 bottom), case of 32 sections, no divi- 

 sion but to rest on strips, and if it 

 troubles to remove the case entire, I 

 will remove the sections. With a 

 division-board a colony can be hived 

 in one-half the hive as two in one 

 hive. I like a loose bottom, but if I 

 cut the entrance in the side of the 

 hive, and place the frames as high as 

 will be practicable, I think I can 

 clean out the cUbns in the winter, and 

 save something there in the way of 

 clasps, etc. 



Bees have gathered but little pollen 

 yet ; it is the most backward season 

 for bees that I ever knew. 



Lockwood,? N. Y. 



I have just read the article of Mr. 

 Dibbern, on page 264. I fear he does 

 not use the right kind of sections, nor 

 take the proper care of them, as he 

 speaks of their becoming soiled by 

 honey that has leaked out, by dust, 

 bleached by the light, or stained by 

 getting wet. 



Basswood sections are easily soiled 

 by any honey that may become 

 daubed upon tliem, but white poplar 

 is free from this objection. Mr. Dib- 

 bern takes Mr. Thielmann sharply to 

 task, as not beinsr a progressive bee- 

 keeper, because he does not use sep- 

 arators ; it seems to me that allowing 

 sections of comb to become covered 

 with dust, bleached out by the light, 

 and stained by getting wet, are not 

 exactly signs of progression, but 

 rather of neglect and carelessness. 

 Of course sections treated in such a 

 manner could scarcely be classed as 

 " number one." I always put my un- 

 finished sections into cases in the fall, 

 and pile them up carefully, putting a 

 tight-fitting cover at the top and 

 bottom of each pile, being careful that 

 there is not a crevice left large enough 

 for even a spider to enter ; and in the 

 spring they come out just as sweet, 

 clean and fresh as when put away. 

 It is possible that the fall-built combs 

 of some localities are dark or yellow, 

 but such is not the case here. Of 

 course dark combs ought not to be 

 used for white honey. 



Mr. D. says : " In an apiary that is 

 run upon correct principles, there 

 will be few or no combs built during 

 the white honey harvest to carry over 

 to another year to be refilled." Of 

 course if the bees are crowded near 

 the close of the honey harvest, a 

 greater proportion of combs will be 

 finished, but I have never found it 

 profitable to do this, especially as I 

 find empty combs so valuable in the 

 spring. 



In regard to getting the combs 

 cleaned up: There is no necessity 

 for putting the sections on the hives 

 and leaving them until the weather is 

 so cool that there is difliculty in re- 

 moving them. They may be placed, 

 upon the hives in the forepart of a 

 pleasant day, and will be ready for 

 removal before night. If left upon 

 the hives several days, the first pleas- 

 ant day should be improved by their 

 removal. The bees may be gotten 

 out of the cases in the same manner 

 as from cases of honey. Smoke as 

 many bees as possible down into the 

 hive, then remove the case and shake 

 it vigorously in front of the hive, 

 which shaking will dislodge most of 

 the bees, when the case may be car- 

 ried to the screen-house and placed 

 upon end, !where the few stragglers 

 will seek the light and escape. To 

 attempt to perform such operations 

 upon a cool fall day would be folly, 

 but upon warm days, such as always 

 come after the close of the honey 

 harvest and before cold weather, it 

 can be managed without any trouble. 



