

THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



to have them all out on the stands ready 

 for flight at once. If one can, it is a good 

 plan to take them out at night and have 

 them placed upon the stands ready for 

 flight in the morning; and in this way the 

 bees can mark their location when they 

 come out of their hives; and it remains 

 the same when they return. When ear- 

 ring out in the day time, the bees out 

 first commence to fly, and as they come 

 out, they mark their location, while the 

 surroundings are being constantly chang- 

 ed by the addition of more hives; and I 

 believe there is greater danger of their 

 mixing up. One objection to taking the 

 bees out at night is that we cannot tell 

 what the weather will be the next day at 

 that time of the year. 



After all of the colonies have had a 

 good cleansing flight, we proceed to over- 

 haul the entire apiary. No colony, un- 

 less there is some special reason, such as 

 immediate starvation, is opened until 

 after the bees have had one day for a good 

 cleansing flight. This flight is usually 

 taken on the day of setting out. Some- 

 times, however, a few of the last hives set 

 out may have been placed out so late in 

 the daj that very few of their inmates fly 

 until the next day. However, after the 

 bees have taken this flight they are ready 

 for the overhauling on the first fine day; 

 for there may happen to be one or more 

 days when the bees cannot fly, and if 

 frames of brood were taken out there 

 woukf be danger of chilling the brood. 

 Besides, I do not believe it is good for the 

 bees themselves to be stirred up on cold 

 days; and it certainly is not pleasant for 

 the operator. 



Now let us proceed to the overhauling. 

 I provide myself with a small "peach- 

 basket," as a tool -basket. The basket I 

 find very convenient, as it is light and 

 handy to carry, and will hold all the 

 necessary tools. My tools consist of a 

 scraper, an old file for loosening the 

 frames, a brush, and a Bingham smoker. 

 Now that I have my tools ready, I go 

 to hive No. i, having beside it a hive, 

 bottom-board, and cover which has been 



previously cleaned. I gently give one or 

 two puffs of smoke at the entrance, then 

 carefully loosen and remove the cover. 

 Then I pufl' a little smoke over the top- 

 bars, and with the file in one hand and 

 the smoker in the other, I carefully loosen 

 the frames without jarring the bees any 

 more than possible. I think the more 

 gently one can handle bees the less stings 

 one will receive. 



Transferring the bees into the clean 

 hive is the next operation. The hive 

 containing the bees is set to one side, 

 and the bottom-board and hive placed 

 upon the stand. I first place a comb con- 

 taining honey and pollen in one end of 

 the clean hive, then the combs contain- 

 ing the bees and brood, and then one or 

 two empty combs, according to the 

 strength of the colony, and, last, a good 

 comb of honey to serve as a division 

 board. This method contracts the colony 

 down to the number of combs that it can 

 use to a good advantage . When all the 

 combs needed are placed in the clean 

 hive, the rest of the combs are taken to 

 the honey house and carefully stored by 

 themselves; then if a worker comb is 

 wanted, we will know just where to find 

 one, as we use drone combs for the ex- 

 tracting combs, and it is quite as neces- 

 sary to have order and system in the hon- 

 ey house as in the home. Each colony 

 is treated in a like manner, and then the 

 bees remain untouched for ten days or 

 two weeks. By that time more room is 

 required, and we again look through each 

 colony, and put in sufficient combs to 

 last until another visit can be made. In 

 overhauling we each time make sure that 

 there is an abundance of honey in the 

 hive so that breeding will not cease; as 

 an ample supply of honey insures plenty 

 of good healthy bees. 



The second time we overhaul, if we 

 find any colonies especially weak we give 

 each of such a frame of hatching brood 

 from a strong colony; thus making both 

 colonies in better condition. The frame 

 of brood strengthens the weak col- 

 ony and weakens the strong one enough 



