88 



"extractor," a wonderful invention 

 that has revolutionized beekeeping. 

 Yes, we have the extractor, but there 

 is yet much honey to strain or sep- 

 arate from the wax. There are the 

 cappings, removed to make the 

 combs ready for the extractor. Then 

 we have more or less sections that 

 get broken in handling or injured so 

 as to be unfit to market, for acci- 

 dents will happen in the best of 

 families, as well as with beekeepers 

 who have to depend on inexperi- 

 enced help. And then there are 

 more or less combs that are ill- 

 shaped, or where the starters have 

 fallen down. Afore or less may 

 granulate before *.t is shipped to a 

 distant market, or gets broken in 

 transit. We recently had nearly a 

 hundred cases sent us from the city 

 that had been shipped in by differ- 

 ent beekeepers; the most of it had 

 to be strained, or the wax separated 

 from the honey and got into shape 

 to market. When we think of the 

 large amount of cappings that will 

 accumulate where the honey is ex- 

 tracted from several hundred hives. 

 or even one hundred, the old way 

 seems quite too slow, and we may 

 find it to our advantage to have a 

 box or a number of boxes three or 

 four feet long by eighteen inches 

 wide and ten or twelve inches deep 

 with a galvanized wire cloth screen 

 with one-fourth inch mesh nailed 

 to the bottom, beneath which a 

 metal bottom will conduct the drip- 

 ping into a vessel below. Into such a 

 box the cappings and broken or in- 

 jured combs may be thrown, and, if 

 it sets in a warm room and is 

 stirred a few times, most of the 

 honey will drain out and be in no 

 way inferior to that which comes 

 direct from the extractor. After a 

 few days it will cease dripping, or 

 nearly so; then they may be thrown 

 'iU .. a . b , arreI and the box again 

 filled with cappings to drain, or they 

 may be treated at once with a 

 melter. As the little mother long 

 ago treated the combs to a strong 

 heat, strong enough to melt the wax 

 to get all the honey, so we must now 

 treat the cappings and combs to heal 

 sufficient to melt the wax if we 

 would get it all. It is rather sur- 

 prising how much honey remains in 

 ""■ cappings after the honey has 

 ceased to drain out, probably twice 

 the weigb.1 of the cappings. There 

 are various ways of separating the 

 last of the honey from the cappings 



but . ' b ? hl '■' none so E I ,, , 



1II3 for tli is 

 recently had one 

 " r •"' own use thai suits me 

 well \ pan of galvanized iron three 

 '"' long by eighteen inches wide 

 '''.".'' '"'"' "" ' mad. [nto 



this an extra bottom is soldered ex- 



F en <" n g fj one end to within four 



! thi oth i end where it 

 turns nn as high as the edges 

 nan. This makes a water jack 

 inch deep over the bottom o 

 pan with opi i end for fill- 



ing with water and escape of steam 

 Small holes are drilled through the 

 end opposite the opening for the es- 

 cape of the melted wax and honey. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



The pan is set in a wooden frame so 

 th< ends may be raised or lowered to 

 suit our convenience. A small oil 

 stove underneath gives necessarv 



heat. 



Middlebury, Vt. 



March 



Although I had losses, nevertheless, 

 taking the mean between the two, 

 the profits realized are far more sat- 

 isfactory than by any other method 

 known to me. 



Milwaukee, Wisconsin 



My Experience With Bees 



Shipped in Combless 



Packages 



By John Kneser 



Read at Wisconsin State Convention, 



December, 1917. 



BRIEFLY I wish to give my ex- 

 perience in purchasing bees in 

 combless packages. 

 When bees are purchased in this 

 manner the orders should, of course, 

 be placed early in the season, and 

 in packages no smaller than at least 

 two pounds; and it is further essen- 

 tial that they be received before 

 fruit bloom. The purchasing of bees 

 in combless packages, while not so 

 advisable where purchasers have not 

 hives and drawn combs, is recom- 

 mended as being highly desirable and 

 profitable, especially so in view of 

 the present price of honey. In the 

 event that purchasers have no hives 

 or empty combs, it is advisable to 

 buy the colonies outright. 



When following the above sug- 

 gestions, purchasers should secure 

 bees from the South during the 

 months of April and May, and under 

 ordinary favorable conditions they 

 can build up strong colonies, for the 

 June and July flow. 



There may be a prevailing opinion 

 among some beekeepers that when 

 purchasing bees from the South in 

 combless packages there is a like- 

 lihood of their having foulbrood, and 

 possibly, therefore, transmitting the 

 disease to healthy bees. The opin- 

 ions of overwhelming authorities 

 are to the contrary; that foulbrood 

 is not usually transmitted by pur- 

 chasing bees as outlined. 



About five or six years ago I tried 

 il" experiment by sending for dif- 

 ferent sizes of combless packages of 

 bees with queens. I was well pit a ed 

 with the results. Further, during the 

 month of May, 1916, I received 

 twelve two-pound packages with an 

 untested queen in each package. 

 Hiese packages arrived in good con- 

 dition and just in time for the clover 

 flow, which commenced late in lime. 

 I hese bees produced more honey 

 than the average of my oth, , colo 

 nies. During the spring of I'M;, be- 

 cause of conditions wholly beyond 

 mj control, the purchasing of comb- 

 less bees was tn.t vet \ satisfai 

 for the reason, first of all. thai the 



bees arrive. 1 in poor condition, the 

 fit 60 per cent. In ad- 

 dition to that several other factors 

 info this unsuccessful vi n 



" lr ;' : '! I Igesti d .-,,11,1)11011 under 



ed ; exceed- 

 ingly hot weather during shipment 

 and during preparation on- ship- 

 m. ill ; to,, great a proportion .,| ,,1,1 

 bees and inferior queens and virgins 

 sent. 



Early Spring Suggestions 



By Frank F. France. 



MR. BEEKEEPER, what plans 

 are you making for the com- 

 ing season? It is now time 

 to think over every detail necessary 

 for the work of 1918. If you have a 

 business system, your work will be a 

 pleasure. It is a very good plan to 

 take an inventory of everything, the 

 number of colonies, the number of 

 supers of good worker comb, ex- 

 tracting combs, extra frames with 

 foundation, worker combs full of 

 honey for spring feeding, number of 

 extra bottoms and covers, and stor- 

 age cans. How is the condition of 

 your auto or truck? Does it need re- 

 pairs or overhauling? If so, now is 

 the time to have it done by your 

 service station. It can be done 

 cheaper and better at this time of 

 the year than when the rush of the 

 season is at hand. 



Time is the most important factor 

 today. Let every minute of your 

 time count, just as every factor 

 counts in this great war. Your new 

 supplies should be all ready for the 

 coming season. Clean up all surplus 

 combs of excess wax and have them 

 graded as to kind and quality, 

 namely, drone and worker comb. The 

 importance of extra combs in the 

 spring, summer and fall means the 

 same as money on interest and when 

 filled with brood or honey they are 

 forms of security bonds in readiness 

 for your crop. All old, broken comb, 

 cappings and scrapings send to the 

 wax-rendering specialist. It will save 

 you time, fuel and money. 



What about your equipment; is it 

 standard? Do you know that this 

 war's greatest lesson is standardiza- 

 tion? Not only does it applv to war 

 supplies but to everything else. If 

 you have all kinds of hives and 

 frames of different sizes, you spend 

 half the time fitting parts together. , 

 llns is lack of standardization. Keep 

 all parts of one si/e and make, so 

 thi \ he interchangeable. Make 

 standardization one oi your policies 

 and you will he insured a good re 

 turn for your investment. Standard- 

 ization is also economy. It is simple, 

 it is reliable, it is f re e of complica- 

 tions. If you have n 1 standard 



hives of file same '■wr and make it is 

 al ,i easier to control disease. 



What will become of the but i 

 ot t he j oung beekeepers who are in 

 tli< u ar or may go to it ? Many have 

 gone f" the training camps, some to 

 Europe and a great many more are 

 .'it the draft list, not knowing 

 whether they will or will not bi - 

 einpted. The United States is going, 



s it or later, to adopt a universal 



military training system whereby all 

 young men physically able will be 

 ■ lined. If we beekeepers were a 

 unit to help one another, it would 

 be easy to find someone to care for 



