896 



THE AMERICAN FARMER 



heard from the house, and where thieves will be shy in approaching. It is important to have 

 it protected from the winds by a building or tight board fence. If no such place can be 

 obtained, then posts set in the ground, with boards nailed on, will answer the purpose. The 

 stands for the hives should be six inches or more from the ground, and have a short piece of 

 board, making an inclined plane from the alighting board of the hive to the ground ; the 

 reason for doing this is, that during the early spring and late fall harvests of honey, the bees 

 coming in heavily loaded on chilly days, and more especially quite late in the afternoon, in 

 some degree relax their efforts as they near their hive. The result is, instead of alighting on 

 the bottom board of their hive, they just fail in this, and but for the board, would pass 

 directly under to the ground, become chilled, and unable to take wing again.&quot; 



Coml) Foundation. Great advantage is derived from the use of the comb foundation, 

 as well as that of old comb from which the honey has been extracted, since it has been 

 estimated by repeated experiments that bees make from fifteen to twenty pounds of honey in 

 , i , _ the same time required to make one 



pound of comb. The comb founda 

 tion is made from beeswax rolled 

 out in sheets about three-sixteenths 

 of an inch thick, and passed through 

 a double set of rollers in order to 

 receive the exact number of inden 

 tations of cells to the square inch, 

 and in the same form that the 



COMB FOUNDATION. wiKED COMB FOUNDATION. natural comb has. By fastening it 



into the honey or brood frames as 



a base for the bees to build up their cells upon, much labor and time is saved them in 

 preparing, while the comb may be ready for use in a few days, that would otherwise require 

 months to complete, time which ought to be devoted to the making of honey. The bees build 

 these cells out to the full size required in from one to five days, and fill them with honey, or 

 the queen deposits her eggs when necessary. When it is desired to raise drones, a larger cell 

 is required than for the workers, and the indentations are accordingly made larger on some 

 foundations than others for this purpose. Another advantage gained is in always having 

 straight combs, which is not always the case when the bees make their own comb. The 

 wired comb foundation has flat-bottomed cells, made thin and even, the wire being incor 

 porated into it for the purpose of making it strong and to preventi ts sagging. It is used only 

 in the brood chambers. The comb foundation may be temporarily held in place, after a little 

 cutting and fitting, with wire, wooden pegs, or other temporary fastenings, as the bees will 

 attach it securely to the box in a few days. 



Slimmer Management of .Bees. The following methods of bee management have 

 been prepared expressly for this work by an experienced apiarist, W. S. Blaisdell, of Ver 

 mont, to whom previous reference has been made: Early in the summer, two courses present 

 themselves to the bee keeper. One of them is to run his colonies for increase in numbers ; 

 the other is to work them mainly for the production of honey. In the increase of colonies 

 we again meet with two methods, which is either by natural or artificial swarming. As 

 early as the limits of the hive are reached, and its whole capacity is filled with honey or 

 brood, the bees will start queen cells preparatory to a division of the hive. The queen 

 deposits eggs in these, as well as in other cells. 



Swarming. In ten or twelve days after the egg is laid in the royal cell, the young 

 queen is so far matured that she utters a cry. When the young queen is killed by the old 

 queen, her rival, swarming is delayed for awhile; but in case the bees interfere to prevent it, 

 placing themselves as a wall around the threatened cell, the old queen collects her party, and, 

 at the earliest favorable moment of the weather, follows them in leaving the hive. The 

 swarm circles high in the air, and after a short time forms in a cluster in some place probably 

 selected by the queen, the bees forming around her in solid mass. From this cluster several 

 leaders at once issue to select a suitable place for their final destination, usually seeking a 

 hollow tree in the forest. The cluster remains until these leaders return, be the time longer 

 or shorter, when the entire swarm instantly rises and sweeps in a straight line to the selected 

 spot. During this delay in the cluster, the swarm can be secured and hived; and when 

 removed a rod or more from the place of lighting, the leaders in their return will never find 

 them to lead them away. The best way to hive a swarm is the handiest, which may be one 



