56 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



February 



It is somewhat of a strange hap- 

 pening that I lost two colonies under 

 exactly the same conditions. They 

 had started quite a large brood-nest 

 on one side of the hive, occupying 

 five combs with patches of brood 

 about the size of two hands in the 

 center combs. The spaces between 

 the combs were filled with dead bees, 

 but not a drop of honey in the five 

 combs. The three combs on the 

 other side were practically free from 

 dead bees and contained about ten 

 pounds of honey scattered over the 

 combs. When the March weather 

 changed to zero temperature the 

 poor bees tried to protect their off- 

 spring; they remained with their 

 brood until all supplies within reach 

 were exhausted and not being able 

 to reach the stores on the other side 

 of the hive they became a victim 

 to that grim messenger, starvation. 

 Thus bees starved with plenty of 

 honey in the hive. 



It mav be too late to call the atten- 

 tion of beekeepers to the danger of 

 starvation in spring, when these lines 

 reach their eyes. Nevertheless, to 

 caution those who have not yet as- 

 certained the status of their bees 

 may be the means of preventing sad 

 disappointments. 



La Salle, N. Y. 



Crane's Honey-Board 



By J. E. Crane 



SOMETIME about a year ago the 

 editor of American Bee Journal 

 gave a description of a honey- 

 board I have been using for a num- 

 ber of years with a good deal of sat- 

 isfaction. Since then I have received 

 a number of questions as to how it 

 works, with request that I answer 

 in some one of our standard journals. 

 Before doing so, however, it may be 

 well to state the object of making it 

 and using it, which was to get rid, so 

 far as I could, of the travel-stain, so- 

 called, on the sections. Now the 

 word "travel-stain" is a misnomer. 

 We get the impression at once from 

 the word that the stain is caused by 

 the bees traveling over the combs 

 with dirty feet, which is not the case 

 at all. There are two entirely dis- 

 tinct causes of stained combs. One 

 is by bees entering their hives with 

 their bodies covered more or less 

 with pollen and passing up and down 

 between the combs, rubbing it off. 

 As it is somewhat glutinous, it sticks 

 to the surface of the combs and dis- 

 coid them. I have known the whole 

 i a hive to change its color 

 in a few days. It is apt to occur 

 when bees are at work on dandelions 

 '.r goldenrod or other flowei or 

 which pollen is very abundant. This 

 stain is usually easily removed by 

 exposup to the sun light for a fevi 

 Another and worse stain is 

 caused by the bees carrying up from 

 the bro ax, pro- 



pi ili or cappings from tin ci 

 hatching brood and mixing them 

 with the new snow-white wa> Foi 



ig the section honey, 

 times they will gnaw cloths that have 

 been laid over the sections over sur- 



plus combs, and thus produce a dis- 

 coloration of cappings that cannot 

 readily be gotten rid of, for the dirty 

 wax cappings of brood, etc., form a 

 part of the cappings and extend clear 

 through them. In studying the sub- 

 ject many years ago I came to the 

 conclusion that the moving of dark 

 bits of wax, cappings, propolis etc., 

 from the brood-chamber was the 

 cause, for I observed that the combs 

 in the center of the brood-chamber 

 were much the darkest, while the 

 outside combs were often quite 

 white. The same was true of the 

 sections in the super. Those on the 

 outside were nearly or quite white, 

 while those in the center of the su- 

 per were, many of them, badly dis- 

 colored. I also found by a glass of 

 moderate power that bits of colored 

 wax extended completely through 

 the cappings. How could this be pre- 

 vented? I tried Heddon's break- 

 joint slatted honey-board, without 

 much improvement. Then it occurred 

 to me that if all communication be- 

 tween the center of the brood-cham- 

 ber and the super was cut off the ap- 

 pearance of the sections would be 

 greatly improved. I then construct- 

 ed a honey-board of the same size 

 as my brood-chamber, with a rim 

 one-half-inch thick and one inch 

 wide, with the center filled in of one- 

 quarter-inch stuff so that when a 

 clamp set on it there would be a 

 quarter inch space between the bot- 

 tom of my super and the upper side 

 of the honey-board. I left a slot 

 one-half inch wide on each side of 

 the honey-board just inside the rim, 

 so that when on the hive these would 

 be at the sides of the top of the 

 brood-chamber and over or outside 

 of the outside brood-combs which 

 were the whitest and had the least 

 brood or soiled wax. I feared hav- 

 ing so small a passageway from the 

 brood-chamber to the super and so 

 far from the brood would keep the 

 bees from storing as freely with- 



out it. But I was happily disap- 

 pointed in finding that it made little 

 difference. Of course, I do not put 

 these boards on until the bees have 

 made a good beginning in the sec- 

 tions, nor is it necessary, for there is 

 no danger of soiled cappings till they 

 begin to cap them. Used in this way 

 this honey-board does not appear to 

 delay or interfere with the storing 

 of honey in supers as a rule, but I 

 have now and then found a hive that 

 I thought would have finished its 

 combs or sections more completely 

 without the board under the super. 

 Are the sections entirely free of 

 stain? I am sorry to say that they 

 are not, but are very much whiter 

 than when the board is not used. 

 The sections over the center of the 

 brood-chamber instead of being the 

 most stained are the least so. And 

 the sections on the outside of the su- 

 per do not appear to be much if any 

 more stained than without the board. 

 As a rule I think the}' finish the sec- 

 tions more evenly than without it, 

 that is, they finish the combs on the 

 outside of the super at the same 

 time as the center sections, more 

 nearly than without the board. We 

 do not put the board on till some of 

 the sections are about ready to seal, 

 or the bees have already begun to 

 seal them. When we tier up, by 

 raising the first super and placing 

 another under it, we delay putting on 

 the board, as the first super is so far 

 removed from the brood that there 

 is little danger of the sections be- 

 coming stained. There is a great dif- 

 ference in different seasons and dif- 

 ferent localities in getting stained 

 combs. As a rule the sections will 

 be whitest where and when honey 

 comes in fastest. We find little ob- 

 jection to the use of these honey- 

 boards aside from the work of put- 

 ting them on and taking them off. I 

 have used them with eight-frame 

 hives, and they might not work as 

 well with a ten or twelve-frame hive. 



CRANE'S HONEY BOARD FOR FINISHING OUTSIDE SECTIONS, 



lliril . 



