THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



hold stores necessary to last till the follow- 

 ing May or June. 



Just now the bees seem to be doiny a good 

 business on buckwheat— by the way this is 

 the tirst time they have done a good busi- 

 ness on anything this year — and it is just 

 possible that the present year may be an 

 exception. It is so many years si ace they 

 have done anything on buckwheat that I 

 don't know how eight-frame hives may work 

 with a fall flow. It is just possible that the 

 brood may be somewhat crowded out and 

 enough honey stored in the brood combs to 

 last through. Even if enough is not stored, 

 it may be a question whether it is better to 

 feed sugar or fall honey. 



At any rate, if the buckwheat and cucum- 

 ber flow continues, I'll tell you what I am 

 going to try. As fast as the hive is filled up, 

 I'll take out one or more frames containing 

 little or no brood, mass these frames in 

 second stories over a few hives having ex- 

 cluders between the first and second stories, 

 where the ripening and sealing can be fin- 

 ished. Then when the season closes, if 

 there is not enough honey in the hives I can 

 take out light frames and put in heavy ones. 

 That may and it may not be cheaper than to 

 feed sugar. And in any case, I think I'll 

 try to have some of these combs saved over 

 for spring use. 



That reminds me of something that you 

 haven't mentioned. You favor having 

 enough in the combs so that no feeding 

 shall be necessary in the winter or spring, 

 and I infer that you would give combs 

 ready filled in if needed, in the spring. I 

 think you are right. Bees don't take kindly 

 to a feeder in the spring, and will be days 

 in emptying a feeder that in the fall they 

 would take in a single night. Now suppose 

 you haven't anything but clover. In that 

 case you'll feed sugar syrup for fall, but 

 you cannot get all the colonies to store 

 enough to last till after the next fruit bloom. 

 They don't seem to have room for it. In 

 the s[)ring it is so much better to have 

 combs already filled to put in that I agree 

 with you that I don't want to use a feeder in 

 the spring. Yet generally I have had to put 

 on feeders in spring. Now the point I'm 

 coming at. In years when there is no fall 

 crop and we must feed sugar syrup for win- 

 ter, will it not be a good plan to do some 

 extra feeding and have some combs filled 

 with syrup ready for next spring ? Just 

 take combs away from some of the strongest 



colonies, replacing with empty ones for 

 them to fill again, storing the combs till the 

 next spring. 



One of the things that has been the hardest 

 for me to learn, has been the large amount 

 of stores that bees consume after they com- 

 mence brood rearing in the spring. I don't 

 know whether I have yet learned it, but I 

 have learned that I want enough food in 

 the hive so that the bees need never think of 

 figuring about how long it will last. So it 

 seems well always to have plenty of filled 

 combs to put in wherever there is a vacancy 

 in the spring. 



As to the best feeder, you don't know the 

 Miller feeder, do you ? You say if some other 

 feeder is better than the Heddon, the object 

 of this discussion is to make that discovery. 

 I cannot think you would have said that if 

 you had ever tried a Miller feeder. I do not 

 know of any advantage possessed by the 

 Heddon not possessed by the Miller. The 

 Miller holds a half more than the Heddon, 

 enabling you to feed enough in a single 

 night to last through. It costs a half less. 

 It needs no special cover, but takes the regu- 

 lar flat cover that belongs to the hive. These 

 are three important differences in favor of 

 the Millei". If you know of three in favor 

 of the Heddon, please tell us in the next 

 Review. 



Perhaps if I should try it I should like 

 your arrangement for heating feed better 

 than my own. Without trying it, I don't 

 see anything I like better except the gate at 

 the bottom of the tank for drawing off the 

 feed. I think that must be nicer than to 

 dip out the feed as I do. For heating I have 

 nothing but a common wash boiler on a 

 kitchen stove, and I hardly see how anything 

 else would be better. 



To fill the feeders, I like a tin can with a 

 spout, the can holding about ten pounds. 

 Then I carry a pail full of feed along and 

 measure it in the can. 



MA.KENGO, 111., Aug. 2,5, 1892. 



[I believe, friend M., that the capacity of 

 the Miller feeder is no greater than that of 

 the Heddon. The latter is larger, but I 

 think that the insertion of the thin boards 

 for the bees to walk down on and take up 

 the feed reduces its capacity to about the 

 same as that of the Miller. The Miller costs 

 less but it is necessary to use an upper story 

 to make the arrangement complete. If one 

 has plenty of empty upper stories not in 

 use, which is often the case, this is not an 



