The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1899-05-19
Rec Culture.

nee Culbufo'
CONDENSED from Farmers Review Steno-
graphic Report of Wisconsin Roundup
Institute.)
Mr.uN. E. France, Wisconsin state
apiarist, spoke on bee culture. In part
he said: Wisconsin averages as many
pounds Of honey per. colony as any
state in the union. Beekeep1ng III
this state is carried on not only by
the men but by the ladies. One lady
last year secured $4,000 pounds OF
honey from her apiaries. Some OF the
ladies are raising queen bees, and one
lady last year raised 1000 of these.
Replying to the question OF wnat
kind of material should be used in
smoking bees, Mr.. France said that
shavings. corncobs or oat straw would
do, but he prefers oat straw. TOBACCO
should never be used for this purpose.
So far, the ladies have not got INTO
the habit of smoking bees with topac-
co. and consequently the honey they
nroduce is never favored with tobacco.
AS to bee walls, the old-fashioned
kind have had their day. The best we
can now get is to have one made from
the yelling worn by the ladies. There
Is one objection to having them MADE
OF MOSQUITO netting, and that is tnat
the netting easily tears and the bees
get in through the apertures, where
they become very annoying.
Every man should look carefully
after his honey trade. Never buy
honey from some one else to supply
your honey market, for if you DO IL
will soon kill your market. The un-
finished sections should not be SOLD,
but the honey from them should be
extracted. The honey that Is taken
from these unfinished sections is not
ripened honey, and before being SOLD
must be ripened by artificial heat
This heat can be applied by putting a
dish of honey into dish OF boiling
water, That will evaporate the mois-
ture in the honey so it will keep tor
any length of time. Even then II
should not be sold on the market for
irst-class honey, as it has lost much
of its flavor by being heated. Honey
is sometimes mature and ripe when 1t
comes from the flowers. but such Is
not usually the case.
Bees can be improved by breeding
I'D, for the laws that govern selection
and breeding among our ordinary live
stock hold equally as well among bees.
In wintering bees the temperature
In the room in which the hives are
kent should not be allowed to get
higher than so degrees. The tempera-
ture must be kept down and the air
must be kept dry. If the moisture is
so great that 1t will show on the walls,
then it must be removed. This can
be done by proper ventilation; but If
good ventilation is not possible, then
stove must be put in and the air
dried.
Bees should not be put on their sum-
mer stands till the naples are In
| bloom.
We have a disease of bees called foul
brood. A portion of the brood will
always die when attacked by this dis
ease. but have never seen comb so
badly affected that all of the brood
would die. On the other hand, have
never seen a colony that had the foul
brood once. get clear of 1t, and 1 have
seen as high as 800 hives in one apiary
destroyed by it. But we can save the
hives by fumigating and boiling, and
the comb where the disease has ap-
peared should be destroyed by fire. We
can of course melt up the comb and
use it that way, but even then great
care must be exercised to prevent any
of the germs escaping or surviving the
melting process.
In the spring Of the year when I go
through the yards l always clip the
wings of the queen bees, using care
not to cut into the bony structure. We
do not permit natural swarming as we
used to do. We divide altogether. and
believe we get better results by so
doing.
Some people have great fear Of the
sting of the bee. But if the wound is
handled rightly II will be of little con-
sequence. The sting Of the bee is 20
constructed that the muscles that ex-
pei the poison do not work till the
sting is fixed in the object into which
1t is driven. When first sent In the