172 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Topics of Interest. 



Preventing MHmi in tlie Sections, 



G. M. DOOLTTTLE, 



A correspondent wishes to know how 

 brood can be kept out of the section 

 boxes, and why such a state of affairs is 

 more prevalent than years ago. Years 

 ago, when all the hives in use contained 

 2,000 or more cubic inches, brood in 

 surplus boxes was of rare occurrence, as 

 our correspondent suggests, but since the 

 apiarists of our land have come to cut 

 down the size of the brood-chamber to 

 less than two-thirds of the size which 

 was formerly used, so as to get a larger 

 surplus of comb-honey, brood in the sec- 

 tions is of quite common occurrence. 



Nothing is more provoking to an apia- 

 rists, when he goes to a hive expecting 

 to find all of the boxes filled with nice 

 white honey, than to find them filled with 

 honey down to within an inch or two of 

 the bottom, as he expected, and the rest 

 filled out with brood. 



Another thing which causes this state 

 of affairs to exist is the excluding of all 

 drone comb from the brood-chamber, for 

 bee-keepers have learned that the rear- 

 ing of hosts of drones is one of the rea- 

 sons that more honey was not formerly 

 obtained. Bees will have drones, and if 

 they cannot secure them in any other 

 way they will cut down worker comb and 

 build in drone, still if any drone comb is 

 on the sections they seem to prefer to 

 have the queen "go up stairs," and lay 

 in the honey apartment, rather than cut 

 down comb already built. 



TO KEEP THE QUEEN BELOW. 



Now, there are three ways of keeping 

 the queen down below, where she be- 

 longs; the first of which is a large brood- 

 chamber, as has already been hinted at. 

 But £Cs this is a kind of remedy that is a 

 loss to the bee-keeper, no one thinks of 

 using such a hive at the present time. 

 About the time that contraction of the 

 brood-chamber began to be thought of, 

 comb-foundation was invented, and it 

 soon became apparent that if the queen 

 could not find any drone comb in the sur- 

 plus chamber, where the bees were 

 averse to brood in any event, the remedy 

 would be complete. 



Then, again, honey stored in worker 

 comb presents a much finer appearance, 

 so we were not long in deciding that if 

 we would reap the best results we must 



fill our sections with worker foundation, 

 which the larger part of our bee-keepers 

 do to-day. But contraction became a 

 fever in the minds of some, and was car- 

 ried to such an extent that the queen had 

 not room enough left below in which to 

 indulge her egg-laying capacity, even for 

 worker brood, so we had sections filled 

 completely full of worker brood. 



Not to be foiled, bee-keepers soon 

 brought into use perforated zinc, the per- 

 forations of which were so nicely made 

 that they would readily allow a worker 

 to pass through it, but when the queen 

 came to try the same thing she could not 

 get through. In this we have a perfect 

 thing, so where a perforated honey-board 

 is used it is impossible to have brood in 

 the surplus apartment. There has been 

 quite a little theorizing regarding this 

 method of keeping the queen where she 

 belongs ; some claiming that not so much 

 honey could be obtained where the bees 

 were compelled to pass through so small 

 an aperture to reach the sections, " for," 

 said they, "bees are often loath to enter 

 the surplus boxes anyway." 



However, time, that prover of all 

 things, has shown that these theories are 

 false, for facts prove that as much honey 

 is stored where perforated honey-boards 

 are used as is stored without them, and 

 they are beginning tobe considered a nec- 

 essary part of bee-keeping, whether we 

 work for comtJ or extracted-honey. But 

 it was soon found that all-metal honey- 

 boards were too expensive, and that they 

 would be kinked and warped by use ; so 

 again the inventive genius of the apia- 

 rist was called into play and we had a 

 combination of zinc and wood, which 

 gave us a much better board, in that it 

 was more rigid and not so liable to get 

 out of shape ; besides it was much 

 cheaper and answered the purpose 

 equally well. 



IF YOU HAVE NO HONEY-BOAEDS. 



But some may say, "All very well, but 

 I am not so prepared for this season ; 

 what am I to do if I find brood in my 

 sections ?" Well, there are two or three 

 ways of working when brood is found in 

 the sections, and it depends somewhat on 

 the stage the brood is in when found. 

 If in the egg or larva form, take the sec- 

 tions off the hive and carry them to the 

 cellar, leaving them there for four or five 

 days till the brood spoils, when they are 

 returned to the hive, and if the queen 

 does not enter them again they will be 

 filled and look as well as if no brood had 

 ever been in them, for the bees will 

 remove every particle of offensive matter 

 making all as good as new. 



