1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



213 



losing quite heavily, it seemed very remark- 

 ble. At thie present time the wintering 

 troubles do not seem to be so perplnxing. 

 Whether our friends of the indoor prefer- 

 ence have followed in the wake of Mr. B., 

 or through their own investigations have 

 adopted the same plan, and hence are suc- 

 cessful, I can not say ; but certain it is, our 

 friend was among the very first to be able 

 to assert that he always wintered his bees. 

 For a detail of his method see Gleanings, 

 page 31 si, last year. 



As I have already hinted, Mr. Boardman 

 is not much inclined to run after new things. 

 If he is successful with what he has, he is 

 content to let well enough alone. He uses a 

 frame which is essentially square. I believe 

 when he hrst adopted this he considered 

 this as one of the reasons why he wintered 

 successfully ; but latterly, he has not at- 

 tached very much importance to the size or 

 shape of the frame for successful wintering. 



H. R. BOARDMAN. 



Mr. Boardman runs a number of out-apia- 

 ries, and I believe he keeps on an average 

 some SOU or 400 colonies. lie produces comb 

 honey almost exclusively, and that in wide 

 frames three tiers deep. Instead of putting 

 on a single tier of sections, and afterward 

 raising it up and putting an empty one un- 

 der it, on the tiering-up plan, he puts the 

 three tiers on all at once, aggregating some 

 .50 sections. Most bee-keepers think that 

 that is too large a capacity for the bees to 

 begin on, and keep to the proper tempera- 

 ture for comb-building. Our friend admits, 

 I believe, that there is something in this, 

 but he argues that he saves a good deal of 

 time and labor in putting on a full hive of 

 sections at once and afterward removing 

 the whole at one operation. 



Mr. Boardman's manner of contraction is 



peculiar, and, I believe, original with him- 

 self, although others have advocated a sim- 

 ilar practice. His hive is side opening, and, 

 to force the bees to carry the honey above, 

 he cuts out the combs in the brood-frames, 

 leaving, perhaps, a third of the comb at the 

 top. Honey coming in, the bees are obliged 

 to carry it above. In the mean time, the 

 queen's capacity for laying is restricted, and 

 the swarming mania is kept down. 



Mr. B. does not write very extensively for 

 the bee-journals, although he is a good talk- 

 er, and full of ideas. He is prominent at 

 conventions, and while he has the tloor he is 

 careful and reserved in his statements. 



When I visited our friend 1 was surprised 

 to note that he was considerable of a natu- 

 ralist. He has a large collection of stuffed 

 animals from all parts of the United States. 

 I was once somewhat interested in taxider- 

 my, enough to appreciate good work when 

 I saw it. Mr. Boardman's specimens are 

 lifelike, and seem to possess all the ease and 

 grace that nature has so kindly endowed 

 them with while breathing God's pure air. 



I am well aware that I have said some 

 things in rather high praise of our friend ; 

 but he is a man who will not be spoiled by 

 praise. Mr. Boardman is one of Ohio's 

 most prominent bee-keepers. Ernest. 



PREVENTION OF INCREASE. 



DOOLITTI.E SUGGESTS THREE METHODS OF SECUR- 

 ING IT. 



Notwithstanding the articles which I "have g-iv- 

 en lately, on keeping- bees from swarming by the 

 manipulation of hives, etc., I am still requested to 

 tell, in Gleanings, how increase can be prevented 

 by some of the older plans which I have successful- 

 ly used in the past. As the swarming season will 

 soon be here, if it has not already begun in the 

 South, owing to our very warm weather during the 

 whole winter, perhaps 1 can do no better at this 

 time than to comply with the request. The plan of 

 preventing increase, which has given me the best 

 satisfaction of any thing which I have ever employ- 

 ed, is as follows: 



Early in the spring, before the bees get brood in 

 more than three or four combs, shut each colony 

 on to five combs by means of a division-board ; and 

 if these combs can contain brood and honey in the 

 proportion of three of the former to two of the lat- 

 ter, they will be in just the condition I would have 

 them, the two latter being nearly solid with honey. 

 By thus being tilled with honey we are assured of 

 two things: That thej' will not need our immediate 

 attention for fear that they will get short of stores, 

 and that brood-rearing will go on without interrup- 

 tion, no matter what the weather may be, with so 

 much honey in so small a brood-chamber; for, early 

 in the spring, before honey comes in from the 

 field, a large amount of honey is a great iacentive 

 to brood-rearing. As the combs become filled with 

 brood, combs of honey are set in the vacant space 

 beyond the division-board, so that there will be no 

 danger of the bees starving when the combs they 

 occupy become so full of brood that there will be 

 noplace for honey in them. If some of the colo- 

 nies get their five frames full of brood before the 

 others do, take a frame of hatching brood to the 

 weaker, and give the stronger an empty comb, or 



