THB BEE-KEEPERS' aEVIBW. 



practices the false economy of doing 

 without a bee journal (all of them 

 taken together would hardly exceed 

 in cost a first-class magazine) will al- 

 ways keep about twenty-flve years 

 behind the times." 



A GOOD BEE BRUSH. 



How to Make one out of a ten-cent Wisk 

 Broom. 



In the handling of bees, especially 

 in the production of extracted honey, 

 a good brush for brushing bees off the 

 combs stands next to the smoker in 

 importance. I have never found any- 

 thing more convenient than a large 

 quill from the left wing of a turkey, 

 but these are not always easily ob- 

 tainable, at all seasons in all parts of 

 the country, while a ten-cent whisk 

 broom is, and Mr. Elias Fox, in a 

 short article in Gleanings, tells how 

 this broom may very quickly and ea- 

 sily be made into a first-class bee- 

 brush. He says: 



"There has been so much said in 

 the journals relative to bee-bi-ushes 

 that I want to add just a few words. 

 It seems to me that there has never 

 been a first-class brush described; 

 and it seems to me that, when we 

 revert to a bunch of weeds, we are 

 not making much advancement, aside 

 from the untidiness of the apiary in 

 having weeds growing so plentifully 

 that we can grab up a handful at 

 every hive. We can all buy the best 

 bee-brush at any store for 10 cts.; 

 and that is, just an ordinary whisk- 

 broom. Tack a sheet of sandpaper 

 on your workbench or on a board, and 

 take hold of the handle of the whisk- 

 broom with one hand, and with the 

 other one press the end of the brush 

 down flat on the sandpaper, and then 

 pull it across a few times, and you 

 will have all the stiff points cut down 

 so it will be pliable and soft, and no 



danger of mutilating the cappings. 

 When brushing, hold the brush flat 

 to the comb, or practically so; and if 

 it gets daubed with honey, dip it in 

 a dish of water, and it will be clean 

 again, and the moistening makes it 

 more pliable. I have one I have used 

 for fifteen years, and it is good for 

 as many more. I always wet it before 

 beginning my day's work." 



WINTER PREPARATIONS. 



In their Perfection often lies the Crop of 

 the Succeeding Year. 



Too many of us wait too late in 

 making any needed preparations for 

 winter. Wintering is the one great 

 problem, or one of the great problems, 

 in the East and North, but there are 

 some things that require attention 

 even in the warmer South and West. 

 Editor Morehouse, in his Rocky Moun- 

 tain Bee Journal, gives some excellent 

 advice on this subject. He says: — 



"It has been truly said by some 

 apicultural savant that the time to 

 begin preparations for the honey 

 flow is the season before. With a lit- 

 tle modification, this, also, applies to 

 the preparation of colonies for winter- 

 ing. Luckily, such preparations place 

 the bees in the best possible condition 

 to be in readiness for the next honey 

 flow. 



The stereotyped advices in regard to 

 preparing colonies for wintering deals 

 almost wholly with packing, ventila- 

 tion, sufficiency of stores, etc., and 

 but little stress is laid upon condition, 

 which may be defined as age of 

 queen, strength in bees and proportion 

 of young bees to the colony. Suffi- 

 ciency of stores, also, should be in- 

 cluded as one of the necessary prepa- 

 rations to be made early in the sea- 

 son. Usually, wintering preparations 

 are deferred until late in the fall, when 

 it is too late to cure any defects that 



