02 
THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
STRAIGHT COMBS. 
Securing straght combs without comb 
FOUNDATION. 
This is one of the first difficulties that the 
beginner in bee-culture will meet with, if he has 
not some good book to refer to. and even some of 
these only tell how to do it. by using comb 
foundation. I believe I have never seen an article 
ill any book or paper which told how straight 
combs could be secured without the use of 
foundation. Although it is the best and cheapest 
in the long run, it is not every beginner who has 
the money to invest, or wishes to purchase the 
article, therefore, the question arises how to get 
along without it. 
The following plan was given to me by a 
brother beekeeper, and I have since verified it to 
my satisfaction : 
When hiving a swarm, if you have already a 
movable-frame hive containg straight combs, take 
out one, or better, two combs, replacing them 
with empty frames or division-boards. Insert 
these frames in the new hive which the swarm is 
to occupy, putting them near the centre, with an 
empty frame between them. The bees wall cluster 
on these two frames of brood, and will be sure to 
commence work on the frame between them first, 
and having a straight wall on each side, will be 
almost certain to build it straight. If honey is 
plentiful, this frame will soon have a straight 
comb started all along its top-bar, but should they 
build any side-combs, remove them. Now part 
these frames and put two more empty frames 
between, leaving the frame with the newly-made 
comb in the centre, an empty one on each side of 
it, and the two finished frames containing full 
combs on the outside of these. 
Continue in this way until all the frames have 
a small straight comb started along under thetr 
top-bars, after which very little attention will be 
necessary to insure straight combs. Until then, 
be ever attentive, not allowing them to work more 
than two or three days without examining them, 
and cutting off all combs that may be started 
where you do not want them. You can get along 
wtth one full frame of comb to start with, or even 
without any, but in that case you must be vigilant, 
and never allow the bees to start building the 
combs crosswise of the frames. 
Some beginners seem to think that all they have 
to do is to put the bees into the hive, in the 
belief that the bees will know how to manage 
things. The result is, the bee keeper has a 
movable-frame hive in which the frames are not 
“movable” after being filled with combs. I 
know of a case of this kind just across the river 
from here. Bees, if allowed to have their own 
way in frames not having foundation starters, are, 
I think, just as likely to build crosswise as length- 
wise of the frames. 
With a little experience in this way, the 
beginner will soon have no trouble in securing 
combs as straight as can be secured with comb 
foundation. 
I might add that I have had the best results in 
frames with a triangular strip of wood fastened to 
the underside of the top-bar, instead of the comb- 
guide in common use at the present day. 
HOW TO KNOW WHEN BEES ARE 
GATHERING HONEY. 
Constantia, N. Y. 
Gan any person know when bees are gathering 
plenty o£ honey, or when they are not ? 
Mrs. W. 0. C. 
ANSWER BY G. W. DEMARKE. 
To say the least, this is a pleasing question. 
Nothing pie lses the apiarist bettor than to be 
| assured that his bees are gathering in the precious 
nectar with the greatest rapidity. How may we 
know this ? If our hives were not so constructed 
; that we could satisfy our curiosity by examining 
the combs and seeing with our own eyes the 
rapidly-filled cells and the gilt edged combs 
fringed with virgin-white wax, a sure sign of the 
inflowing honey, we should be left entirely to our 
best judgment and untiring observation when we 
are called on to answer the question “are bees 
! gathering honey rapidty to-day?” 
Let me illustrate here. Last fall after the 
long weary drought, we had some light showers 
and the nights became more pleasant. This 
started the fall bloom and the bees began to 
gather some honey. One day a friend in the bee 
business, visited me while I was looking through 
my apiary, and after some compliments said: 
Are the bees gathering any honey of conse- 
quence to-day ?” I answered, yes. “ Well,” 
said he, “ I hardly see how it can be, there are 
very few flowers yet ” “ Flowers or not, ,! I 
went on to say, “ don’t you see how those bees 
strike the alighting board short of the entrance 
and drag their bodies as they glide into the hive? 
They fairly glisten with their well-filled sacs. 
Some of them fall short of the mark and drop on 
the ground. This proves that they are heavily 
loaded. Now stand at the ends of the rows of 
the hives and look stead iljr down between the 
rows and you will see the bees as they leave the 
hives shoot out through the circling throng of 
returning bees, like beans shot from an old 
musket.'’ ‘-Yes.” “ Well, bees never leave 
i their hives in that way unless they are gathering 
Roney rapidly or carrying on a system of robbery 
S somewhere.” “ Well,” said my friend, “that 
is very feasible, but let us open some hives and 
see what they are doing.” So we opened hive 
after hive and found the freshly gathered nectar 
in abundance. 
By close observation and long •xperience, we 
may learn to know at a glance when bees are 
short of stores, or when they are queenless, or 
when they are gathering honey. This sort of 
knowledge saves the apiarist a great deal of 
manual labor and many times saves his property. 
Let me suggest here that nearly all of us look at 
things in a too general way. We must fix our 
attention on the things vve wish to learn and 
probe them to the bottom. In no other way can 
we reasonably hope to become expert* in any 
calling or any practice. Right along this line 
we find pleasure in bee culture. It is a deep and 
fascinating study, and lifts the bee student high 
above the general thinkers iu particular.— 
American Bee Journal . 
I Christiansburg, Ky. 
