rtLJL tfKlL-KI^KPERS RhJVlEW 



105 



aud nearest the line aaan, that the colony 

 continually stores its houey. Now, from 

 these simple observations of tho way in 

 which bees instinctively work, and thorough- 

 ly understood in all in all its hearings we do 

 learn the fundamental principles of bee- 

 keeping as they relate to summer manage- 

 ment, aud the adaption of our hives to the 

 requirements of our colonies, in order that 

 they may work their best for us. 

 Other things being equal we observe : 



(1) That surplus cases should be added 

 above the brood nest, and hence our hives 

 built for top storage. 



(2) That we should not have our bees 

 travelling over honey at the top or sides of 

 the brood nest to store surplus, thus com- 

 pelling them to do so at a distance from 

 their brood; hence the dividing line between 

 the brood chamber and surplus apartments 

 of our hives, should come right where the 

 brood and honey meet. In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 

 this should be at aaaa. In other words, 

 our management should be such, that there 

 will be no honey, or as little as possible, at 

 the top of our brood chamber, whenever we 

 wish our bees to store in the surplus cases 

 above it. 



(3) That brood should extend underneath 

 the whole surface of the surplus cases; 

 hence, these cases should not extend end- 

 wise nor sidewise beyond the brood chamber: 

 neither should there be combs of honey be- 

 neath them at the sides of the brood cham- 

 ber. It is a fact, that the greater the num- 

 ber of combs a brood chamber is in width, 

 the greater the liability of having its out- 

 side combs filled with houey. hence, a brood 

 chamber should tend toward the narrow as 

 mnch as practical, rather than toward the 

 wide. 



(4) From principles 2 aud 3 we see that 

 any system of management which attempts 

 to fill the brood chamber with honey for 

 winter stores, either before or while the 

 honey harvest is on, does so at the expense 

 of important conditions necessary in de- 

 veloping from our colonies the most work, 

 and accordingly lessens the amount of hon- 

 ey gathered and stored. 



(5.) That when one or more supers have 

 been filled sufficiently to require the addi- 

 tion of another, it should be placed right 

 between the brood and the honey already 

 stored; and, as might be inferred, and which 

 experiment proves true, the shallower the 

 opening which we make for storage be- 

 tween the brood and honey, the stronger 

 the instinct of the bees to connect the brood 

 by filling this space thu^ created between 

 them. To illustrate this, let Fig. 4 represent 

 a hive of which EFGH is the brood chamber, 

 filled with brood to its very top EF. ABCD 

 represents a surplus case that has been fill- 

 ed sufficiently by the colony as to require 

 the addition of an empty one CDFE, which, 

 if everything is rightly arranged, can be ex- 

 actly between the brood and the EFGH, and 

 the honey ABDC. and the shallower the 

 openin<? made by the addition of this empty 

 case CDFE between the brood and the hon- 

 ey the stronger the instinct of the bees to fill 

 it. Fig. 5 illaatratea a serious mistake 



that is made in various ways by 

 many bee-keepers. ABGH again represents 

 a hive, EFGH being its brood-chamber 

 which is filled with brood and houey, aaaa 

 beins the dividing line between them. 

 ABDC again as in Fig. 4, represents a sur- 

 plus case which has been sufficiently filled 

 by the colony as to require the addition of 

 an empty one CDFE, which has been added 

 as illustrated, namely, in the midst of the 

 honey, aud not between the brood and the 

 honey, as in Fig. 4. It will be observed now, 

 that, in order to store honey in the empty 

 case CDFE, the bees will have to cross the 

 honey in the brood-chamber between aaaa 

 aud EF, which is compelling them to store 

 their honey at a distance from their brood, 

 instead of immediately next to it, as in Fig. 

 4. Now, from our observation as to the dis- 

 tinct definite manner in which bees in- 

 stinctively work under varying circumstan- 

 ces, and as already illustrated by Fig. 1, 2 

 and 3, we at once see that this is a mistake. 

 The farther we place our surplus cases from 

 the brood when we wish the bees to fill them, 

 the less inclined, it will be found, are they 

 to fill them. No bee-keeper of experience, 

 when adding surplus cases, ever places them 

 above filled ones; experience has taught him, 

 or soon will, that the bees will neglect them. 

 He may not know that it is because they are 

 removed from the brood, and that when he 

 places them above a brood-chamber which is 

 filled with honey about the top, he is cross- 

 ing the honey stori'g instinct of his bees in 

 exactly the same way he does, when in add- 

 ing an empty surplus case, he places it 

 above a filled one. In either case, he is 

 compelling his bees to store their honey at 

 a distance from their brood, only in the one 

 case the distance is less than in the other, 

 and just in proportion as this distance is 

 increased, do we lessen the honey-storing 

 instinct of our bees, and consequently the 

 amount of honey stored. 



(6) A little reflection shows, and experi- 

 ence proves it true, that the deeper the 

 brood chamber the greater the liability to 

 have honey stored at the top of it by the 

 bees (observe Figs. 1, 2 and 3 in this con- 

 nection), which, in adding surplus cases, 

 prevents them being placed near or immedi- 

 ately next the brood as in Fig. 4, but re- 

 moves them from it, as in Fig. .5, thereby 

 lessening the honey-storing instinct of our 

 bees. 



(7) A little mathematical calculation 

 shows too, that the deeper the brood cham- 

 ber the less surface there can be above it for 

 top storage, and hence the deeper will the 

 surnlus cases have to be in order to have 

 sufficient capacity, in adding which the 

 deeper will be the opening that is made be- 

 tween the brood and the honey, thereby 

 again lessening the instinct of ou bees 

 promptly to fill this space. 



(8) It is a fact, that when a brood-cham- 

 ber is larger than a queen can keep filled 

 with brood, the remaining space will be 

 filled with honey. We see, therefore, that 

 such is a mistake, where we wish a brood 

 chamber filled with brood and devoid of 

 honey. 



