140 



THE BEE KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



scribed by B. Taylor, that of using one hive 

 above another and reversing or alternating 

 them and using a peculiar device at the en- 

 trance that will conduct the returning bees 

 into the upper hive, as brought out by Mr. 

 Aikin, and the use of bee-escapes and pas- 

 sageways to keep the bees out of one hive 

 and turn them into another, as invented by 

 Mr. Langdon. The latter has stood the actual 

 test of one season's work with 100 colonies. 

 There may yet be some details that will need 

 remodeling with any of these plans, but the 

 fundamental principle of shifting the bees 

 from one hive to another is one that I be- 

 lieve will eventually settle the swarming 

 problem. The freest criticism and fullest 

 discussion is invited in the Review. 



A MODEBN BEE FABM — NEW EDITION. 



Ths first number of the Review contained 

 a review of this work by S. Simmius of Eng- 

 land. A copy of a new and revised edition 

 lies on my desk. I will notice briefly some 

 of the points not found in the first edition. 



All may gain health and pleasure in 

 bee-keeping, but only the few who have 

 special qualifications may expect to find for- 

 tunes. 



Honey in the comb will ever remain a 

 luxury, but extracted honey is destined ere 

 long to be found in general use in almost 

 every family in the land. (Comb honey is 

 nearer a staple than is extracted, and I 

 think it will remain so. Extracted has to 

 compete with cheap syrups and the like. 

 —Ed.) 



Extracted honey is more profitable to pro- 

 duce than is comb honey. (Don't agree. 

 No one industry, or branch of an industry, 

 is more profitable than another. If it were, 

 it would soon bo overdone and brought 

 down to its proper level. It is the man and 

 the environments that make one business 

 more profitable than another. — Ed.) 



Bees can always be united without fight- 

 ing if they are first made queenless. 



The use of supers with no space or pass- 

 ageway between the tiers of sections is rec- 

 ommended. How a practical bee-keeper can 

 recommend such an arrangement is beyond 

 my comprehension. The increased amount 

 of propolis used and the killing of bees in re- 

 placing supers are enough to condemn the 

 arrangement. 



If porous covering is used above the clus- 

 ter in winter, a small entrance is allowable; 



if "sealed covers" are used, then the en- 

 trance should be generous. "Sealed covers" 

 should always be covered with some warm 

 material. 



With the Simmins non-swarming system 

 as now used, tlie comb built in the lower 

 frames is not cut out and fitted into the sec- 

 tions, but foundation is fitted into the sec- 

 tions, or, rather, half -sections (sections one- 

 half the width of regular sections) and when 

 sufliciently drawn the sections are placed in 

 the supers. 



Bee escapes ("bee-traps" they are called) 

 are condemned. They were much in vogue 

 some fifteen years ago, says Mr. Simmins, 

 but fell into disuse, and he is greatly surpris- 

 ed that advanced apiarists should be entrap- 

 ped into thinking there is anything to be 

 gained by re-adopting this old and discard- 

 ed fad. (The bee escapes of America have 

 come to stay. — Ed. ) The instructions for re- 

 moving sections are to give a few puffs of 

 smoke which will generally send all (?) the 

 bees below. If this fails, take out the combs 

 one at a time and brush off the bees with a 

 feather. I fail to see any health or pleasure 

 in removing sections one at a time and 

 brushing off the bees, and there is certainly 

 no profit. A whole case at a time, and no bees 

 in it, is the way to remove honey. It is urg- 

 ed, and truly, too, that the work of taking 

 them off one at a time, must be done quick- 

 ly, or the bees will bite holes in the cappings 

 to get a sip of honey, particularly if it is 

 after the honey season. The bee escape is 

 objected to on these very grounds, vhat the 

 disturbance will cause the bees to bite the 

 holes in the cappings. I fear that Mr. Sim- 

 mins cannot have had experience along this 

 line. This is one very strong argument in 

 favor of escapes, as everyone knows who 

 has removed honey late in the season. The 

 putting in of the escape board is a very 

 slight disturbance compared to taking the 

 sections out one at a time and brushing off 

 the bees with a feather. An escape board 

 can be put in place so quickly that the bees 

 will scarcely look upon it as a disturbance. 



Sections of honey that are a little "off" in 

 color can be whitened by exposing them to 

 the light and air. I knew that wax could be 

 bleached in this manner, but it never occur- 

 red to me that combs of honey might be 

 whitened in this way. — Ed.) 



The Simmins method of direct introduc- 

 tion of queens by the fasting plan is to keep 

 the (jueeu confined without food at least half 



