AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



333 



Before I take up the subject that 

 moves me to write this article, I am 

 tempted to denounce the sharp corners 

 of the one-piece sections. They have 

 worried me this season as never before. 

 Somehow or other, more nice sections 

 have been gouged for me this season 

 than ever before, by the sharp corners 

 of these same one-piece sections. There 

 is no reason why they cannot be better 

 made. It would be just as easy to 

 finish them with an easy, round corner 

 as any way, if proper' machinery were 

 used. Any manufacturer who will give 

 us a one-piece section with smooth, 

 round corners, will no doubt get his 

 reward in the way of patronage. 



The honey season promised so fair 

 last May, that I was tempted to carry 

 the tiering system too far for the out- 

 come of the season, and this gave me 

 nearly 500 unfinished sections with 

 which to take up my experiments of last 

 season — "feeding back" to have them 

 finished. 



I selected 3 colonies to do the work. 

 The brood-chambers were contracted 

 with sealed combs of honey, and brood 

 in all stages. The feeders used are the 

 same size as the section cases, except 

 the projection at the back of the hive to 

 give room for the feed holes. The 

 "climbers" (or partitions) in the feed 

 boxes must not be more than a half 

 inch apart, or the bees will build bits of 

 comb in them if long in use. 



Continuing the experiment from last 

 year, the feeders were placed directly on 

 top of the brood-chambers, as the most 

 convenient and best place for them. 

 The section cases were tiered on the 

 feeders, in the usual way, and when one 

 case was pretty well filled, and the most 

 advanced sections began to be sealed, 

 the case was lifted and another one put 

 under it. Tin separators were used in 

 T cases, and the partly sealed unfinished 

 section combs were uncapped with the 

 uncapping knife, and trimmed when they 

 needed it, to go between the separators. 



If nice work by the bees is desired, 

 every cell must be uncapped, or there 

 will be an irregular surface on the face 

 of the sections, and the color of the 

 capping will not be the same. 



The fullest sections were put on the 

 sides and ends of the cases, and those 

 containing less comb and honey were 

 placed in the center. The cases were 

 put in readiness as they were needed to 

 keep the bees supplied, for the uncap- 

 ping of the sealed spots will set the 

 honey to dripping, and there will be 

 waste, if the work is done long in 

 advance of their use. 



Now, about the feeding. How much, 

 and how often, and in what condition to 

 feed ? These are matters that were 

 looked after and watched with much 

 care and no little interest. As to how 

 much may be fed at a time would, in a 

 practical point of view, depend on how 

 much empty comb was in the section 

 case at the time the feeding was done, 

 but experience has led me to feed three 

 pounds of good, thick honey per day, 

 diluted with one and one-half pints of 

 water. This is fed just before sunset 

 every evening, rain or shine. 



To most people, this would look like 

 light feeding to have comb built and 

 honey stored right along — and so it 

 would look to me if I had not taken the 

 pains to investigate the matter. 



If you will take a clean surplus comb 

 and place it in the center of a surplus 

 case when the bees are gathering nectar 

 from white clover rapidly, and when it 

 is filled with nectar fresh from the 

 fields, remove it and subject it to a 

 temperature of about 90° under a cur- 

 rent of air, until the nectar in the comb 

 is evaporated to the consistency of good 

 thick honey, you will find by weighing 

 the comb, before and after the process 

 of artificial evaporation, that the loss by 

 evaporation is from 50 to 66% per cent. 

 Thus, in a practical way, 3 pounds of 

 standard honey is a fair representation 

 of from 6 to 9 pounds of nectar per day, 

 which is a splendid income per colony 

 during a good honey-flow from white 

 clover in my locality. 



Of course, the feeding may be done 

 more rapidly, but it is a question of 

 economy and profit, and the matter must 

 be settled on this basis. I have reason 

 to believe that the nectar from some 

 sources will lose in evaporation as much 

 as 80 per cent. ; and even with white 

 clover much depends on the state of the 

 atmosphere when the nectar is gathered. 



Two colonies were made to finish up 

 480 sections that were in all stages, 

 from one-fourth to three-fourths full of 

 comb and honey, and that the work was 

 done at a good margin of profit there 

 was no room to doubt. 



The third colony was put to work to 

 solve a knotty problem, to-wit : How 

 much liquid honey is necessary to com- 

 plete a pound of comb-honey ? Perhaps 

 this question will never be settled to a 

 dot, but in a practical way I think I 

 have settled it. 



This trial colony was prepared as 

 described above, and was put to work 

 on a case of partly-finished sections, and 

 after they had begun work in full force, 

 and had the case of partly-filled sections 



