656 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



is loaded at the lower end with a little 

 solder, about as large as a No. 1 shot. 



Six of these gates or doors fill the box, 

 and each one of them is independent of 

 the others. 



E, E, represent holes in the tin box by 

 which to tack it to the hive. 



As a bee comes out, it raises the door, 

 which drops down as soon as it is out. 

 The doors are up from the bottom about 

 ^ of an inch, so that a bee from the 

 outside could not enter. To capture 

 robbers, it is reversed. 



The escape described by Mr. Wilcox 

 is good, and works well. I would not 

 take $5.00 for the idea. I put It to 

 work as soon as I received the Bee 

 Journal, and it was considerable help. 

 There is no danger of the bees smother- 

 ing. One of ray neighbors smothered 

 about one-half the bees in one of his 

 colonies by the use of one of the 

 "puzzles." Probably he did not under- 

 stand the combination. 



From 70 colonies. Spring count, my 

 bees increased to 125, and I obtained 

 4,000 pounds of white comb-honey ; the 

 sections being all nicely filled. The 

 season was very poor for honey up to 

 July 13 ; then up to Aug. 17 it was a 

 continual shower. 



Osakis, Minn., Oct. 23, 1891. 



Half-Story Supers for Extractefl-Honey. 



F. A. GEMMILL. 



As promised, I will attempt a short 

 article on the advantages of using a 

 super or half-story (in other words, a 

 case containing drawn combs half the 

 depth of those used in the brood-cham- 

 ber) for the production of the best ex- 

 tracted honey, and as an assistant in 

 securing a first-class crop of comb-honey, 

 such as no one need be ashamed to 

 place on any market. 



I know there are objections to a prac- 

 tical apiarist having different sizes and 

 styles of hives and combs in his apiary ; 

 still experience teaches me at least that 

 the advantages outnumber the disadvan- 

 tages, especially if the outside dimen- 

 sions of the hives and supers are alike. 



1. I would ask, why object to a half- 

 story containing combs, such as de- 

 scribed, any more than the use of supers 

 containing sections for comb-honey, so 

 long as the complete tiering up of all 

 is not interfered with. 



2. Why should bees be allowed to 

 cling to the brood-chamber in the fore- 

 part of the season, depositing honey 



therein, only to crowd out the space 

 which should be occupied by the queen ? 



Simply because there is not sufificient 

 inducement to entice them and deposit 

 it above. 



Now, we all know that the giving of a 

 full story in most localities, at the time 

 when more room is needed, is rather 

 more space than is necessary, and con- 

 sumes too much of the heat required in 

 the brood-chamber, unless the hives are 

 chaff packed ; and again, the giving of 

 a super containing sections, especially 

 if they are not nearly all drawn out the 

 previous season, does not always suc- 

 ceed in gaining the desired end. There 

 is, however, no trouble if a half-story of 

 drawn combs is first given, as such can 

 compose a part of the brood-chamber 

 proper, sufficiently long to secure the 

 point sought for. 



The market requiring choice grades of 

 honey is yearly becoming more marked ; 

 particularly is this the case in regard to 

 variety and quality ; therefore, I venture 

 the opinion that, while honey may 

 always be honey in the proper sense of 

 that word, still all kinds of this article 

 are not alike to a consumer, any more 

 than are all kinds of butter, or, in fact, 

 any delicacy usually found for sale, and 

 no one knows this better than bee-keep- 

 ers generally. 



Now, in order to secure the different 

 varieties by themselves as nearly as 

 possible, no other system offers better 

 facilities than the half-story system. 

 There are localities and hives where it is 

 not only advisable, but necessary to 

 extract from brood-combs in order to 

 secure the honey of poor quality and 

 flavor from being deposited in the sec- 

 tions (a place, by the way, in which the 

 very finest honey only should be stored), 

 or placed in combs of full depth, when 

 added above the brood-chamber ; thus 

 completely destroying the appearance 

 and flavor of a large quantity of what 

 ought to have been a first-class article 

 of clover honey. While my own locality 

 does not differ materially from the one 

 quoted, still my method of procedure is 

 somewhat different ; not, however, that 

 it is by any means new, but because I 

 am not an advocate of extracting from 

 combs containing brood, especially un- 

 sealed larvas, as I believe brood in brood- 

 combs and honey in store combs to be 

 the proper place for both — in other 

 words, the queen in one apartment, and 

 the honey in another, at all times, ex- 

 cept, of course, during Winter. 



I trust you will pardon the digression, 

 when I state that incalculable damage 

 is done yearly from such work, inde- 



