IDE^OTEID EXCLUSIVELY TO BEES -AJTSTID KC03STE"5T. 



Vol. II. 



JUNE 1, 1874. 



No. VI 



HOW TO CONDUCT AN APIARY. 



No. 6. 



M'ANY of the remarks made last month 

 , will apply to this, more especially as the 



present season is nearly one month later than 

 usual in all pertaining to Bees. During this 

 month especially, should we see that the Queen 

 has at all times a frame of empty worker comb 

 in which to deposit eggs as we have before 

 mentioned, for it should be borne in mind that 

 the f ggs laid now will produce the workers 

 that are to labor during the basswood harvest. 

 Be careful not to go too fast, and also be sure 

 yon do not let her get ahead so much that the 

 bees imagine they will have to resort to natu- 

 ral swarming, for we think this never happens 

 unless at a loss to the Apiarist, that can 

 easily be avoided. Nothing but almost daily 

 inspection of the interior of the hives, can en- 

 able you to know just what needs doing, that 

 you may do just the proper thing at the prop- 

 er time. 



If you have a convenient hive — the Standard 

 we have described for instance — but a very 

 few r minutes are necessary to take a peep at 

 the interior of the byood nest, and wdien the 

 bees get accustomed" to your daily visits, we 

 think you will decide that smoke is seldom 

 really needed in June. 



Colonies that are frequently handled, are cer- 

 tainly more gentle, and'so-far as our experience 

 extends, have invariably given the. most honey, 

 hut they should of course be handled gently. 



The hives in front of owr Bee House door are 

 invariably peaceable, Whether they contain hy- 

 brids, blacks or Italians ; and those in a remote 

 part of the Apiary are often quite different in 

 disposition. While the former are usually 

 passed and repassed a dozen times a day, and 

 frequently by those who are in a hurry, the 

 latter are only visited when something is to be 

 done with them. 



Barrels for honey should be kept in readi- 

 "liess, and when waxed and painted as per di- 

 rections given a year ago, they can be kept 

 over without injury if not needed. We find it 

 .^very convenient to have a few extra, to supply 

 neighbors when a heavy yield comes on sud- 

 denly. 



With the modern style of Extractors, and 

 the double width, instead of two story hive, 

 scarcely any instruction will be needed for ta- 

 king out the honey further than that already 

 .gone over. Friend Wilson of Lexington, Tex- 

 as, writes : 



When bees are bringing in honey rapidly, they ap- 

 pear to have little or no time to cap over. Many tell 



us not to wait until it is capped, but to throw out the 

 honey as soon as they commence capping ; this to me 

 is rather indefinite arid unsatisfactory instruction. I 

 should be pleased to learn how much of a sheet of 

 comb should be capped over before the sheet is emp- 

 tied? If done too soon, the honey is so thin and 

 light that it will not keep well. If delayed too long, 

 considerable loss will result for want of room to store; 

 your bees will grow impatient and go to swarming. 

 Shed a few luminous rays on the subject in June 

 No. of Gleanings, and thus oblige, One Bee Boy. 



It seems to us he has almost answered it 

 himself. Before the cells of honey are capped, 

 the openings are narrowed down to a small 

 orifice, the size of a pin's head perhaps ; now 

 when half of a sheet of comb is thus partially 

 capped, and may be a dozen cells or so, near 

 the top bar are capped over, would be just 

 about the time to extract, we should say. 'Tis 

 impossible to find the contents of the hive all 

 in this condition, for some of the combs will 

 perhaps be pretty well capped over, while oth- 

 ers are hardly ready ; this makes but little dif- 

 ference however, as the average will be suffic- 

 iently thick, and it will thicken still more by 

 being kept, even if bunged or corked up. 



Kruschke Bros, send us a description of a 

 very light case for carrying combs made prin- 

 cipally of % basswood. A round handle is fas- 

 tened by a strip of iron at each end, in such a 

 way that it will turn over and lay on the edge 

 of the box. They offer to furnish a pair to 

 hold 5 combs each, with close fitting cover, for 

 75c. When the combs are quite heavy, and 

 are to be carried some distance, they advise a 

 "neck yoke,' such as farmers use in sugar 

 camps etc. 



With the Hexagonal Apiary, 56 hives can 

 have ample room, and the farthest be no 

 more remote than 24 feet from the Bee House 

 door. For such a distance we sometimes think 

 a case is hardly need'ed at all ; besides the 

 Italians cling so tightly that we can many 

 times walk to the house with a comb, while 

 we are brushing them off. We need hardly 

 add that 'tis poor policy to waste young bees 

 at any season, and they are pretty sure to be, 

 if the combs are put juto the Extractor before 

 they are all brushed off. ' The distance of your 

 hives from the Extractor, and the amount of 

 time you have to spare, has much to do with 

 the question of us«ing „c,Qjaob baskets. 



Do not give the cappings or anything else to 

 the bees to rick off during a yield of honey. It 

 will hinder them from going out to work, and 

 they will not get as much stored, as if they 

 gathered it from the field ; consequently the 

 honey on our cappings is worse than wasted. 

 With the wax Extraptor it can all be saved, 

 and with very little trouble. For more partic- 

 ulars about extracting, see June No. of 1873. 



