1918 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



267 



The final process is rather simple. 

 The roll of wax is threaded, so that it 

 runs between two metal rolls as it 

 unwinds. The rolls are cut to repro- 

 duce the impression of the base of 

 the cells the size and shape of 

 worker comb. As it leaves the rolls 

 it is automatically cut into the proper 

 lengths which the trade demands. As 

 fasl as the sheets are cut they are 

 sorted and packed by young ladies, 

 who become very expert. Paper is 

 placed between the sheets of founda- 

 tion to prevent them from sticking 

 together or being otherwise damaged. 



Beeswax is sensitive to changes in 

 temperature. When the wax becomes 

 warm it gets soft and the impression 

 might easily be lost. In extreme cold 

 it becomes so brittle that the sheets 

 are easily broken. When packed in 

 paper boxes with paper between the 

 sheets of foundation, it is safe from 

 all extremes of weather, is free from 

 dust, and may be kept for years 

 without damage. 



Glimpses of Southern Beekeep- 

 ing— Boneset 



By Jos. S. Scott 



EVERYBODY knows about a sur- 

 plus flow from alfalfa, clover, 

 orange, basswood, etc., but does 

 anyone know of a surplus flow from 

 something unusual? Let's have some- 

 thing out of the ordinary ruts. I'll 

 start the ball rolling with a flow 

 from boneset. 



I have been a beekeeper for seven 

 or eight years and during that time 

 there was boneset here, but I never 

 noticed that the bees worked on it ; 

 why? Well, I think that the main 

 reason was that my crop of saleable 

 honey is over with by the 15th of 

 May, when there is no more for that 

 year except a light flow in July from 

 summer titi and honeydew. This is 

 left for them to winter on. . As the 

 bees can fly most any day and every 

 day in the year, it is seldom that they 

 have to stay in the hive over four 

 days in the winter. So they winter 

 well on the honeydew mixture. 



This year there was a lot of vel- 

 vet beans planted near my bees and 

 I knew that they would get some- 



thing in August from them, so I pre- 

 pared to make some increase and re- 

 queen all of them during this flow. 

 The flow was heavier and longer 

 than I expected and these young 

 queens went to laying like it was 

 spring, and I never saw a larger lot 

 of bees just right for gathering 

 honey when the boneset began to 

 bloom. I thought at the time that it 

 was goldenrod, but was doubtful, as I 

 have never seen any honey from 

 goldenrod here; so after they had 

 been on it for several days I followed 

 them to the woods, and they were on 

 boneset. They worked furiously for 

 about ten days and gave me a surplus 

 of at least 20 pounds from this, when 

 we had a terrible wind and rain 

 storm that kept up for at least ten 

 days, at the end of which the boneset 

 had been washed and beaten to 

 pieces. I think that with a week's 

 more flow they would have given me 

 at least a super full of pure boneset 

 honey. 



I think the velvet bean flow, to- 

 gether with the young queens, put 

 them in a position to gather this sur- 

 plus. Heretofore they had dwindled 

 down after July so that they were in 

 no condition to gather a surplus, if 

 there had been any. Was it that, or 

 was it that this was a year that the 



boneset yielded? I am waiting anx- 

 iously for this fall to come to try it 

 again. 



The honey is of good body, a light 

 amber color, with a very strong fla- 

 vor. The honey when first sealed is 

 so strong that one cannot eat it. 

 After a time most of this strong 

 taste disappears. 



The picture in the September, 1917, 

 issue of the American Bee Journal is 

 a beautiful picture of the species of 

 boneset that yielded me this honey. 



Mt. Pleasant, Ala. 



The Maintenance of Colonies 

 From the Close of the Honey 

 Flow One Year Until Its 

 Beginning the Next 



By Geo. S. Demuth, Apicultural As- 

 sistant, Bureau of Entomology 

 THE business of honey production 

 seemingly consists of caring for 

 innumerable details, each of 

 which, to be effective, must receive 

 attention at exactly the right time. 

 The beginner is always overwhelmed 

 by this great mass of details, and 

 even some who are more advanced in 



and pounds of Sheeted Wa 



Girls sorting and packing the foundation as it conns from the 



ack-room ready for the mill 



the work may occasionally lose their 

 way temporarily in the struggle with 

 many little things that make up bee- 

 keeping. 



It is well, when struggling through 

 a maze of details, to look up occa- 

 sionally to get a more definite idea 

 of the purpose of each of the details 

 of our season's work, in order that 

 we may weigh them and thus find 

 their respective value as bearing 

 upon the ultimate purpose of all our 

 manipulations. When we can see 

 each of these details in its relation to 

 all the others and can trace out just 

 what part each one plays toward the 

 ultimate purpose of the beekeeper, 

 we shall probably revise our concep- 

 tion of the relative importance of the 

 main tilings we attempt to do in the 

 apiary. 



Two phases of the work— When ex- 

 amined with this in view, we find 



