214 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



ing^, and we did not see these bees 

 again for five or six weeks, when I 

 went to move them to their permanent 

 location, when I found that some five 

 or six colonies had starved, and twice 

 as many more were very short of 

 stores, and had little brood as the re- 

 sult. Perhaps half of the colonies 

 were in pretty fair condition. My own 

 bees, at home, were short of stores, 

 and I knew they were, but by going- 

 over them twice and equalizing the 

 stores, then by feeding after apple 

 bloom until the opening of white 

 clover, they were brought up to the 

 harvest with hives full of bees and 

 brood — the best, I think, that I ever 

 saw bees at that time of the year. 



There are a great many things that a 

 man can do for his bees, or with them, 

 if they are constantly under his care, 

 that are impossible with out-apiaries, 

 or "long-range" bee-keeping. If a 

 man is going to have an out-apiary 

 that is visited only at intervals, he 

 must do one of three things: leave 

 sufficient stores in the hives, at the end 

 of the season, to carry the bees through 

 to another season; or feed them in the 

 fall until they have sufficient; or else 

 he must save out combs of honey in the 

 fall to give them in the spring, which 

 is the most satisfactory way of feeding 

 bees in the spring, especially in an 

 out-apiary. 



I might say, in self-defense, that 

 these bees ought to have been fed the 

 previous autumn. They zvere fed some, 

 but not enough — the feeding was de- 

 layed until it was too late. It will be 

 seen, however, that this point could 

 have been remedied had the bees been 

 under constant supervision. If bees 

 are managed on the "long-range" 

 plan, such breaks as this must be 

 guarded against. 



( )f course, I need not have told of 

 this, but, apiculturalljs I expect to 

 live in a glass house the coming sea- 

 son, and if I make mistakes, or meet 

 with reverses, they will be seen. 



An Electrical Alarm When a Vessel is Full 

 of Honey. 



One of the most exasperating of 

 things that can happen to a bee-keeper 

 is to have the vessel that he is filling 

 become full to overflowing, and the 

 honey stand around on the floor in 

 great puddles. Unless some precau- 

 tion is taken, this is almost certain to 

 happen when filling 60-lb cans. One 

 plan is to have a float in the can, with 

 a light standard attached that will 

 reach up through the opening, when a 

 glance at the float will show how full 

 the can has been filled. If this glance 

 is neglected or forgotten a little too 

 long there is disaster. It will not 

 answer to attempt to do some other 

 work, and depend upon "remember- 

 ing" to watch the cans. 



The only way that I know of where- 

 by a man can fill cans and still work 

 at something else near by, is to have 

 an electric alarm, an arrangement that 

 will ring an alarm bell when the can 

 is full. I am using such an arrange- 

 ment this season with great satisfac- 

 tion. Perhiips others have had a 

 similar arrangement, but I do not re- 

 member seeing a description, and the 

 plan was certainly original with 

 myself. 



Almost every one is familiar with 

 the electric bell, that rings when a 

 current of electricity is sent through 

 its mechanism. The electric door bell 

 is a familiar example. When the but- 

 ton in the door is pressed, an 

 electric circuit is completed, and, 

 as a result the door bell rings out in 

 the kitchen or where ever it is placed. 

 If the complete filling of a can or bar- 

 rel with honey could be made to com- 

 plete an electric circuit within which 

 was an electric bell, then an alarm 

 would be given. I solved the problem 

 by so arranging matters that the rais- 

 ing of the brass beam on a pair of 

 platform scales closed the circuit. 



