822 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



colonies of bees. It will be observed that 

 Los Ang-eles Co. is no small corner of the 

 State, and the inspector must necessarily 

 be a hustler to get over the ground. 



Mr. Ferree has the disease well in hand, 

 and it is hoped that it will soon be a past 

 trouble so far as this portion of the State is 

 oncerned. 



J. W. FERREE. 



In order that you may get acquainted 

 witli our foul-brood inspector I herewith in- 

 troduce him to you. Bro. Ferree, allow me 

 to present 3^ou to the fraternity in this and 

 in foreign lands. 



Don't lo''k on life through a smoky glass ; 



The world is much as you take it ; 

 'Twill yif-ld you back a gleam of light 



Or a glow of warmth if you make it. 

 However fortune may seem to frown, 



However may fcorii the scorners, 

 Still face your fate with a fearless eye 



And a mouth curved up at the corners. 



DOUBLE-DECKER COLONIES. 



The Use of Foundation or Empty Combs ; how the 



Double=deckers Cut Down Swarming by Half, 



and Double the Amount of Honey. 



BY G. B. HOWE. 



Mr. Editor: — I will try to tell you my ex- 

 perience with large v. small hives. I have 

 been experimenting for the last ten years, 

 and think I have foimd what I want. I 



think a ten-frame L. hive too large, and an 

 eight-frame too small; but 16 frames are 

 just right. By this I mean a double-deck- 

 er. I have tried them the poorest season I 

 ever saw, and they were ahead of any small 

 hive I ever used; and when you get a swarm 

 from one of them, hive it in an eight-frame 

 hive with full combs for the queen to lay in 

 and to store pollen in, and you have a colo- 

 ny for comb honey. One fault with starters 

 in the brood-nest is that they will put pollen 

 in the sections; and another thing is, they 

 build so much drone comb. My advice is to 

 use drawn combs or full sheets of founda- 

 tion. I use full sheets of foundation in the 

 boxes, and I find that it pays to use it. I 

 have tried both ways, and know that I have 

 lost money by using starters, also by using 

 starters in the brood-frames. Why not save 

 the honey that your bees make drone combs 

 of, and buy your foundation? I used to 

 have the siime old trouble with bees that 

 would not work in the boxes; but I find 

 that, if you have the right kind of bees, you 

 will have less trouble in that respect. I 

 would change the queen quickly if the bees 

 had to be coaxed into the supers. I put the 

 extra body inider the colony early so they 

 do not get the swarming fever. I do not 

 have half the swarms I did formerl}', but 

 produce twice as much honey per colony. 

 Some of these dotible colonies are so full of 

 bees I put them in the cellar that way. I 

 had one of these dotible hives that made 96 

 boxes of honey, then swarmed and made 72 

 boxes more, and have honey enough to win- 

 ter in good shape. I do not have any trou- 

 ble with bees not storing honey over sealed 

 honey. If you do, get a red-clover queen. 

 The queens I have from The A. I. Rout Co. 

 and L. H. Robey will and do pile in the 

 honey over sealed honey, and they do not 

 swarm when they get in good shape to 

 make honey either. Of course, the locality 

 has something to do with it, but not so much 

 as some think. We have had a good year 

 here, and my bees are in fine condition for 

 winter. 



Black River, N. Y., Sept. 3. 



[As our readers will remember, I have 

 long advocated the use of two-story eight- 

 frame colonies under some conditions; and 

 at our basswood 3'ard I have had an expe- 

 rience a good deal like that related by Mr. 

 Howe; but at the time of telling that expe- 

 rience I received some protests; but since 

 that time I have heard from quite a number 

 who say that the double-story eight-frame 

 colonies are all right. I have a private let- 

 ter from G. W. Brodbeck, who, it seems, has 

 been using the same plan, only his brood- 

 frames are 7 inches instead of 9. He says 

 he gets excellent results, and those results 

 are so marked that some of his bee-keeping 

 friends expect to put the plan in operation 

 next year. I have written to Mr. Brod- 

 beck, asking him to give us fuller particu- 

 lars, so we will let him tell the rest of the 

 story for himself. But lest I may be mis- 

 understood I wish to say I do not advocate 



