APRIL 15, 1015 



used. The attempt will result in a raiser- 

 able failure. 



Listen to what Mr. House said about the 

 use of his hive before the convention in 

 Canandaigua: 



" When our bees are wintered we do not 

 disturb them till fruit-bloom, when every 

 good colony is given a sectional hive-body 

 full of combs. (The sn imposition is, every 

 colony has been wintered on two sections, 

 equaling: all together eight or nine L. 

 frames.) This hive-body of combs is given 

 in between the two already occupied. The 

 bees will innnediately take possession of the 

 combs, and they will be quickly filled with 

 brood. We keep an eye out for the clover- 



chamber to remain on the stand which ap- 

 pears to have the most sealed brood. The 

 other two (from each hive) are placed on a 

 new stand with entrance almost entirely 

 closed for the time, or even closed entirely 

 for a few days. The few matured bees left 

 in the combs, and the newly hatching bees, 

 will soon be able to take care of the young 

 brood, although some of the youngest may 

 perish, which is of little account. When 

 increase is not desired the brood-chambers 

 so removed full of brood can be utilized for 

 strengthening weak colonies; of if none are 

 on hand they may be allowed to stand until 

 they have a young laying queen from a 

 (pieen-cell furnished them. The colonies may 



Qiiiiiby's original metal-can honey-extractor. See 

 letter from L. C. Root, p. 260, last issue. 



Interior of Quinby's extractor. Tlie gearing was made 

 up from parts of an old fanning-mill. 



bloom; and when the bees bring in honey at 

 the rate of one pound per day from tliis 

 .source we take two sections of brood and 

 lioney away from each colony and give them 

 two comb-honey supers instead. I don't 

 want any sort of bait comb in my supers, 

 as this would only result in pollen-loaded 

 sections. With full sheets of comb founda- 

 tion pollen will not get into the sections, 

 and an excluder will not be needed. To free 

 the little brood-chambers, which we wisii 

 to take away, from bees, we do not brush a 

 bee from a comb but drive them either u)> 

 or down with a few putTs of smoke. It is 

 done quickly, and we .'^elect that brood- 



then be united again, removing the old 

 queen. 



" With a good lioney-flow the colony with 

 its reduced brood-nest will need looking 

 after, for the supers will be filled as by 

 magic. The empty super should always be 

 added next to the brood. The sealing of 

 the honey must take place as remote from 

 the brood as is practical. The cleanest hon- 

 ey, none travel-stained, will result in this 

 way. To provide ample ventilation the 

 hives run for comb honey should be placed 

 on four blocks. This will usually prevent 

 the swarming fever from breaking out. If 

 it should come to the worst, a hive-chamber 



