feeding- sugai* stores, was the first step to- 

 ward putting- the bees in a prosperous con- 

 dition. 1 fed by turning ten-pound pails 

 full of syrup and with cheap pie-tins over 

 them bottom end up, placing them on top 

 of the frames and setting empty hive-bodies 

 over them. 



All the bees had (o do was to crawl over 

 the edge of the shallow pie-tins to get the 

 syrup, which they would generally do 

 through the night if there were enough 



A large force was necessary. 



empty combs to liold it. I put small twigs 

 under the pails so the syrup could run out. 

 When there was not enough drawn comb to 

 hold the syrup the bees went right to work 

 drawing out foundation. Of course feeding 

 had to be done at night. 



To keep bees from robbing, while trans- 

 ferring, I built a screen tent to work under. 

 Believe me, bees are always on the lookout 

 to rob in the South — at least where I am 

 located. The bee-moth will also ruin combs 

 witkin eight or ten days if they are not left 

 in the hives. So I winter all combs over 

 bees. 



Although many swarms were taking their 

 midwinter rest from brood-rearing, and 

 there were no drones when T commenced 

 transferring, I lost only one colony trans- 

 ferred, and that by robbing in an out-api- 

 ary. 1 lost several from starvation in out- 

 apiaries befoi'e I could get to them, as the 

 heavy old hives made it hard to judge their 

 supply of stores. 



I transfen-ed nearly 200 colonies in Jan- 

 uary and February, and also bought and 

 transferied enough bees to make me 364 

 colonies, spring count. 



A cool spell stopped the pollen supply, 

 and also stopped brood-rearing right in 

 the midst of my work; but when i)ollen 

 again began to be carried in, brood-rearing 

 started in earnest. By adding new hive- 

 bodies filled with full frames of foundation 

 T later had an average of fourteen frames 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



of brood per swarm, one even having twen- 

 ty-five frames of brood. 



The spring was backward, and little nec- 

 tar came in until the latter i^art of March. 

 From then on a slow flow was on most of 

 the time until the first of July. 



July (the best honey month of the year) 

 was a complete failure on account of a bad 

 dry spell. Thus my crop was only 57 

 pounds i3er colony, spring count, with an 

 increase from 364 to 560 colonies (inci'eased 

 mostly by division ) , 

 and about 1100 pounds 

 of wax. I had 8000 

 new wired Hoffman 

 frames made into full- 

 drawn combs. From 

 thirty-five to sixty 

 pounds of honey stores 

 the latter part of Au- 

 gust, and a slow but 

 steady flow of nectar 

 when" I left for Michi- 

 gan, gave me hopes of 

 a successful wintering. 

 My section honey 

 was mostly built over 

 double ten-frame hives 

 and that will be my plan for producing 

 honey next year. Bees in the South need 

 plenty of room in which to rear brood, 

 and also to keep down swarming. 



1 build my hives with bottom-boards the 

 same size as hive-bodies, so they Avill pack 

 better in loading. The bottom-boards have 

 a hole eight by ten inches through them, 

 covered with galvanized screen and a slid- 

 ing tin to gauge air-space or to close for 

 spring brood-rearing. There is also a slid- 

 ing metal piece at the entrance to gauge 

 according to the season, or for protection 

 from robbing. To move a swarm of bees 

 several miles I have only to push in the 

 front slide, see that the under slide is drawn 

 awa}' from the screen, load, and away they 

 go. 



For an alighting-board I make a small 

 board and nail two pieces of bent sheet iron. 

 This fits in the gi-oove that the front slide 

 fits in, and drone-traps are also fixed with 

 tin grooves to fit in the same grooves in 

 front of the hives, making them vei-y se- 

 cure, so the same combination works for all. 

 T have a frame made to hold two 8 x 10 

 glasses for a cover. This always fits the 

 hive, making it bee-tight, and also allows 

 one to see at a glance how bees are, without 

 letting in cold air. Over this I have a tin 

 cover to keep all dry, and, lastly, a wooden 

 cover over all as a weight and a protection 

 from the sun. This combination makes three 

 aii'-spaces between the sun and the bees. 



