HIVE ENTRANCES.

Would it Not be Better to Have the Entrance Between the Brood-chamber and Super?

BY ADRIAN GETAZ.

Perhaps I might as well, for this time at least, simply give the facts and let the readers draw their own conclusions.

Some years ago a preacher in Amsterdam, Mr. Richards, took a notion to have a hive, though he lived in the midst of a large city. There was no place for the hive except in the attic of the house, and this was in such shape that, to give the bees an opening outside, it was necessary to have the entrance on the top of the hive, or, rather, the broodnest. The following year he made arrangements to keep his bees in the countrymoved his colony there, and bought another one. The entrance of the first one remained at the top-that is, between the brood-nest and the supers. During the three following years the colony with the entrance at the top gave large yields of honey (one year as much as five supers), and never swarmed, while the other never gave more than one super. All this was extracted honey.

The next item published was from Mr. Bourgeois, in Algeria, who stated that, with the entrance between supers and broodnest, the yield is considerably greater and the swarming suppressed.

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By that time the bee-papers of France, Belgium, and Germany took hold of the matter. A number of bee-keepers tried the plan, and all reported it a success. estimated the amount of surplus obtained as five times greater than by the usual method, and in one case six times. The discussion brought out the fact that, in some portions of Eastern Europe, the straw hives used by the peasants are quite tall, and have the entrance (a big round hole) at the middle instead of at the bottom. The practice followed for perhaps centuries by the peasants of the Gatinais was also recalled. At the beginning of the honey-flow the Gatinais peasants turn the hives upside down. On the upturned hive (or, rather, straw skep, to use the English term) another is placed, leaving thus the entrance in the middle between the two. If the top one is already filled with combs, so much the better. If not, it is baited" by fastening a small piece of comb at the top.

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The surplus flow in the Gatinais is very heavy, but lasts only three or four weeks. The honey is decidedly superior, and is taken entirely by the Paris market at an advanced price.

Could we not do the same, or at least try it on a few colonies? A few conditions must be considered. The European apiarists work exclusively for extracted honey. But that does not always mean a full set of extracting-combs. Usually the apiarist distributes his combs among his colonies as far as they will go, and completes with foundation or even only starters. It is yet among them an

open question whether it is not better to melt every year a portion of the combs and let the bees build new ones. This is in view of the fact that the difference in price between wax and honey is considerably greater there than here.

Another feature may have a bearing_on the question. All the frames used in Europe are deeper than ours, some only two or three inches deeper, others considerably more.

The last articles published on this question state that it is best to close the lower entrances. Some tried to leave both entrances open. That a considerable increase of surplus is obtained by that method is now an establislished fact. The application to section honey might offer some difficulty. It is necessary for satisfactory comb-building that the supers be warm and without airdrafts. I have just rigged up a few hives for the purpose; but the entrance, instead of opening directly outside, opens in a passageway which extends from there to the alighting-board, thus avoiding direct draft. I'll try, any way, and report. Knoxville, Tenn.

[Friend G., placing the entrance higher up than the bottom-board is not new by any means; but the idea that a much larger amount of honey would be secured or has been secured is new. The first hive I ever used was King's American hive, that had two entrance-holes near the top, to be opened in warm weather. As the bees rather preferred this shorter cut it would seem that they might gather a little more honey because of the saving of time in unloading; and for any tall hive or tall frame I should think very likely this would be an advantage. The Langstroth hive, however, is so shallow, especially when there are no supers on, that little is gained in having the entrance higher up. During exceedingly warm weather I have often thought I secured more honey by giving the bees ventilation between the upper and lower stories - of course, leaving the lower entrance open: and as the bees soon begin to use this upper entrance for carrying in honey, it seems as if it might be some advantage. It hardly seems possible, however, that the increased yield is as much greater as you state it, and no one has yet found it out, because upper entrances are quite common in many apiaries, especially during the hot periods.-A. I. R.]

THE ONE-POUND SECTION A MISTAKE.

The Laxity of the Pure-food Laws.

BY G. BOHRER.

On page 596 Mr. Virgil Weaver states that there is no big demand for comb honey so long as it is put on the market in onepound packages. Had he called them "socalled one pound packages he would have covered more ground; for the truth about

the matter is that, while the section is called a pound section, it seldom weighs a pound, often falling short three or four ounces; yet it sells in most cases at pound prices, not by weight but by the piece; and this fact has brought comb honey in this form into disrepute. I often hear people say they would buy more honey, but these sections do not weigh a pound; yet when we buy a section we pay the price of a pound for it. This being the case, I feel compelled to agree with Mr. Weaver, in part at least, when he says he thinks the section itself has done more damage to the comb-honey market than all other agencies combined, and calls up the combhoney falsehood as having its origin in the section. I do know that, as often as I have been confronted with the artificial-comb story, the section has been pointed to as the chief support in favor of the falsehood. But the statutes of the country, both State and national, are also very largely at fault for the dull sale of honey; for in many of the States the law does not impose a penalty upon persons for labeling glucose pure honey;" and thus many thousands of pounds of that unwholesome product are sold annually under the name of honey, there can be no reasonable doubt. In view of this fact, let us yoke the two frauds up together, and then dismiss them from the bee-keeping profession. Glucose can be gotten rid of only by stringent legislation. The section can be called, when filled with honey, by its true name-that is, an expensive luxury, which it is, as it costs more labor and money to produce it than it does to produce comb honey in any other form, and extracted honey costs altogether less than comb honey in any form. Besides, it is much more wholesome as food than comb honey, for honey-comb is not at all digestible, but, on the contrary, is an irritant.

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"But," says one, "comb honey in sections looks so much more beautiful and attractive than in the comb cut out of boxes or frames." This is not a fact except as we induce ourselves to think so. Chunk honey in shallow frames can be put on the market in almost as handsome shape as it is in the section; and if put up in buckets it need not, if properly handled, present an unsightly appearance; and it can be produced much cheaper than section honey, and custom will require it to be sold by weight, so that, when the consumer buys a pound, he pays for a pound only, instead of paying for a full pound when he gets only a part of a pound. If a few persons will persist in wanting section honey, call it "dude" honey, and in a brief period of time it will disappear from the market; and if it is looks they want, sell them a picture of section honey to hang on the wall of the dining-room, where they can look at it to their hearts' content.

The expense and cheat there is in section honey, and the glucose sold under the label of pure honey, are the two great stumblingblocks in the way of a much greater demand and sale for honey.

Lyons, Kan.

[Friend B., you are, in my opinion, taking a very extreme view of this matter. It was my privilege to give the one-pound section to the world. At first there was quite a hue and cry against it from some localities; but I think there are hundreds among our readers who will bear me out when I say that its advent gave the sale of honey a great impetus all over the land, and I might almost say all over the world. Thousands purchased honey because of the novelty and attractiveness of the new package. Besides, it was cleaner and neater than any thing before offered; in fact, it has boomed the sale of honey and the business of beekeeping to such an extent all over the world that my opinion is it would be a pretty hard matter to get the public to go back to honey in boxes or even to larger sections. It is true, of course, that something different may attract the attention of the great honey-consuming public. This is true in almost every thing. When Captain Hetherington and Mr. Danzenbaker started the tall section in place of the square one there was quite a rush for it because it was something different. I suppose there are certain people, and always will be, who want chunk honey; and, of course, every enterprising bee-keeper will be ready to let them have it.

By all means, give the people what they want; and once in a while give them something different by way of variety. But I think it will be a long while before chunk honey can be sold by the carload at the prices it now brings in one-pound sections. If the buyer and seller insist on calling a section a pound without weighing, they should be made to average at least a pound, and any thing else would be a fraud unless the grocer explains to his customers that it is so much a section without regard to weight. See p. 824.-A. I. R.]

MOVING BEES SHORT DISTANCES.

How it is Done.

BY O. R. BOSTOCK.

During the past two or three years GLEANINGS has contained a large number of articles on this subject, especially the last few months. In all these letters I have not seen one which mentions any of the principles I have found to work very well indeed, and I have moved several apiaries various distances, from a few yards to three miles.

It is well known that, if we move a hive of bees less than three miles, many of the bees, when out at work, will recognize old landmarks and return to the old location and be lost. Where the winters are severe, and the bees confined to their hives for several months at a time, they could, of course, be moved at the end of that time without loss, as they take bearings afresh on the return of warm weather; but here, where the bees can fly all the year round, these conditions do not exist.

I prefer to move during late spring or early summer, when the bees are at their busiest time, preparing to swarm. The first thing I do is to draw the hives close together into groups, each group consisting of from two to five hives, according as is most convenient and requires least handling. I prefer to place three in a group. This moving must not be done too rapidly. I start by moving each hive about one foot a day, of course moving stand and all complete. The two outsides are thus brought nearer to the center of the group. Sometimes the hives are very scattered; and it takes a long time to get them together. On each visit I move them a greater distance than I had done before, so that they will soon be going at the rate of four or five feet a day. If the distance is far I turn the hive round a little each time, so that the back is looking the way the hive is to go. I do all gradually and quietly, so as not to disturb the bees more than I can help.

After the bees get used to this moving, the distance can be rapidly increased per day. They get educated to following their hive up, and I have often shifted it as much as 25 feet at a time. When they see the front of the hive looking toward the place it was taken from, they follow it up much more readily. On reaching the center it should be turned round again, and all be looking the same way.

Having accomplished this, and got all the hives into groups, I next come along some day when the weather is bright and warm, and the bees flying-preferably in early afternoon. I select the weakest hive in each group, and give it a good smoking. This is done to prevent fighting and make them treat strangers with civility. I then remove the rest of the hives that have composed that group, setting them down temporarily a few yards away so as to get all away quickly and not let any fighting start. The flying bees, finding only one hive left, all go into that one. On account of the smoking, the guards will not offer resistance, and there will be no fighting; but, all the same, I smoke them again after a few minutes to make sure. The removed hives are then taken right away to their new stands, and what was a weak colony will now become a powerful one; and if it does not pile in the honey, it ought to. If increase is desired, and all the hives are strong. I prepare a new hive, having one frame of brood and a queen-cell, and the rest as for a swarm. then remove all the hives from the group, leaving only the empty one in their stead. This is a most excellent way to make in

crease.

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The second process has now been accomplished, and we have the majority of the hives removed to their new locations; but there still remains one hive in each place where a group has stood. We now proceed again, as in the first case, and draw up the remaining hives into groups, and these groups will again be removed, with the exception of one hive. By this means the en

tire apiary will soon be reduced to one group. and finally to a single hive. This hive should be left there for several days, so as to receive all the bees that may return, when it also will be removed.

By following this process we lose only the bees that return from the one hive instead of from, say. fifty hives, or every hive in the apiary. Instead of a loss, as is usually the case, the manipulation has resulted in a gain, either in honey, for it will have discouraged swarming, or else an increase in the number of stocks. If the last remaining hive is removed in the evening, and taken a distance of three miles or more, we have accomplished our object, and not a bee has been lost.

Fernhill, Napier, New Zealand, June 3.

MORE HONEY-PLANTS.

BY W. K. MORRISON.

Speaking broadly it may be asserted the leading trees of the world are valuable plants to the honey-bee. The great lumber trees of the tropics, teak, ebony, mahogany, logwood, rosewood, lignum-vitæ, greenheart, sandalwood, gutta-percha, and other trees of great value in the commercial world are also honey-furnishers as well as producers of very fine hard wood. What immense possibilities does this fact open up to future generations who will have to plant forests of these trees if a steady supply of lumber is wanted, and it is barely possible we shall ever find adequate substitutes for them!

In mentioning the foregoing trees I am fully aware a large number of great tropical trees are unmentioned, though of value to the bee-keeper. I have already referred to some of the principal tropical fruit-trees as nectar-yielders, in a former communication. But there are many yet unmentioned. What I wish to see is more attention on the part of foresters to the value of some trees as nectar-yielders. It would be quite possible to plant a forest in the tropics which would supply a steady yield of honey the whole year round, which would go a considerable way toward paying for the care of the trees.

There are also trees like the tamarind and Inga dulcis which yield a valuable product in addition to the wood and honey. The cinchona (quinine) tree is another of the same sort. Nor do the tropics monopolize all the good things in this line.

Among northern trees the persimmon occupies a similar place. Its wood is almost as close-grained as boxwood; its fruit is good, and, in addition, it is a nectar-yielder. Its fruit is probably best in a dried state, hence it offers great opportunities for culture on a large scale. The Japanese are the only people who can be said to have studied the persimmon seriously. In Europe it is known as the lotus (Diospyrus lotus), and may be the fruit of the ancient

lotus eaters, at least the botanists have so thought, hence its name.

The St. John's bread, locust, or carob bean, is "the really and truly" locust of all the ages; all others are frauds. It is supposed by many to be the original locust of St. John the Baptist, and I incline to that opinion. I believe it is the "husk" of the prodigal son, for the reason it was very common in the East in those days, and is still, and is a famous food for swine, though it is pretty good for humans as well, provided one gets the insides as well as the "husks." The translators of the Bible evidently thought so or they would not have said "locust," and all down through the ages this has been the popular opinion. That this is the real locust of the Bible is borne out by the fact that it is a good honey-yielder in a hot arid country, and it is said the Baptist was a honey-eater. The modern critics have pronounced against this idea lately, but I imagine these men are better acquainted with linguistics than they are with natural history. For the Southwest of the United States it will prove in time to be a valuable food for stock grown with a minimum of labor, and very nitrogenous. Any way, it may be earmarked as a bee-keeper's friend.

Boxwood is another friend of the bees, besides being the finest and best-grained of all woods. It is a slow grower; but as one tree is worth a small fortune it is worthy of serious attention on the part of tree-growers. It is true the honey is bitter to the taste, but likely this bitterness disappears if the honey is stored awhile.

Among all the hedge plants I have ever seen I think the tropical lilac (Duranta plumiere) takes the first place. The bees go crazy over it, and it blooms quite awhile. After the bloom is gone it holds its berries till it is almost time for it to bloom again, so that it always looks well. Florida and California nurserymen sell it, so we may conclude it grows further north than the tropics. There is another handsome "lilac

(Petræa volubalis), which is a great tree for bees, but I doubt if it grows outside the tropics.

The Vitex agnus castus is another "lilac" which is better suited to the Southern States. It is a very popular garden tree in Europe. It is a bee-plant of considerable merit.

Ivy is not generally set down as a honeyyielder, but it is a real good one, and it blooms at a good time.

Corn is not generally set down as a yielder of the nectar sublime; but in tropical countries it is a very valuable honey-plant, showing the importance of locality, showing also that corn is a native of the tropics.

The century plant, despite its reputation, is one of the world's best honey-plants. It is a grand sight to a bee-keeper to see the eager way the bees work on the flower, perhaps 200 or 300 bees on one flower at a time. Contrary to its name, it blooms about as often as other plants. I should like to live in a locality which had plenty of it. As the

century plant grows on land that has usually no value for agricultural purposes this opens up a vista of possibilities. There is a great deal of land in the United States suitable for this plant, which could be bought for nothing per acre. There are also cacti which may likewise be utilized.

The arid-land bee-keeper has many plants to his liking, for there are quite a number of valuable bee-plants in Mexico, South Africa, and Australia which I do not know enough about to mention. For example, the eucalypti are all honey-yielders, more or less; but as there are over 200 of them I may be excused from saying anything about them. Possibly one of your Australian readers who has a practical experience of them can. Australian acacias are also interesting to a bee-master.

A GLIMPSE INTO THE BEE-YARD OF EUGENE SECOR.

BY EUGENE SECOR.

The photo which I sent you was taken recently to preserve the beauty of a mock orange (Philadelphus grandiflorus) in full bloom. This particular clump has been paying back in annual installments large dividends upon its original cost and slight care. A photograph without color can not do it justice. It is one of the finest sights I ever saw. The blossoms are very large, but not quite so fragrant as the old-fashioned syringa that used to fill the air with fragrance in the yard of the old homestead in York State, where I was born and raised. But we had nothing so fine as this. Such wonderful improvements have been made in floriculture in the last fifty years that one can imagine he lives in fairyland.

On the left of the mock orange stand two or three caraganas (pea-tree). They are beautiful shrubs, blooming about the first of June, and are now full of pods filled with real peas-not edible, however, so far as I know. The foliage resembles that of a locust. They are hardy, and would make a good hedge-plant, growing only about ten feet high, and not sprouting from the roots.

Back of the mock orange stands a clump of dwarf Juneberry now in ripening fruita desirable shrub for ornament, blossoming early and furnishing a good deal of birdfood. The fruit, although resembling the blueberry in size, shape, and flavor, is not very appetizing, being too dry and hard.

This is only one very small corner of my grounds, and incidentally shows a few colonies of bees.

Forest City, Ia., July 3.

[Our older readers will remember Mr. Secor as the poet-laureate of beedom, and the efficient General Manager of the National Bee-keepers' Association for many years. Business and other matters claimed his attention, and he finally refused to run again, although pressed to do so by his friends. ED.]