THE BEE-KEEPERS' HE VIEW. 



171 



Use a hive of such a size that all of the 

 houey will uot be stored in the brood cham- 

 ber instead of the sections, and that can be 

 filled with bees and brood before the season 

 is over- one that an ordinary queen can 

 keep full of brood when it is necessary that 

 it should be full. Have the brood nest as 

 large over on top as possible, as this gives 

 more room for sections and brings them 

 near the brood. My choice is the Heddon 

 hive, next comes the eight-frame Langstroth 

 with loose bottom board. Use pound sec- 

 tions in some kind of case that can be tiered 

 up. I use the old style Heddon case. If 

 separators are needed, then use the T super 

 or else wide frames one tier of sections 

 high. 



There are some strains of light colored 

 Italians that are good comb honey makers, 

 but, taking everything into consideration I 

 should prefer to take my chances with a 

 strain of dark Italians, or a cross between 

 them and the blacks. These points have 

 been so thoroughly discussed that it is 

 scarcely worth while to dwell upon them. 



Of course, the bees must be well wintered. 

 Taking oney^r with another, cellar winter- 

 ing gives the best results in this part of the 

 country. The bee-keeper must know his lo- 

 cality, the sources from which his honey is 

 to come, the time when it is to come, etc., 

 and he must so manage that the opening of 

 the harvest will find the hives full of bees 

 and the combs filled with brood. Sometimes 

 packing and feeding may be an aid in 

 bringing about this condition, but in the 

 great majority of cases it is probable that 

 simply seeing that the bees have plenty of 

 stores and then letting them alone will bring 

 about this result with greater certainty than 

 by any other method. Even if some other 

 method did result in more populous colonies 

 it might not be the most profitable. What 

 can be done with bees and what can be 

 profitahlij done are often widely different. 



I would like to have the first case of sec- 

 tions tilled with drawn combs left over from 

 the previous season's work. If these are 

 uot obtainable, then two or three partly 

 drawn combs in the center of each case are 

 a great help in getting the bees at work in 

 the sections. I would fill all sections with 

 foundation and shade every hive. As soon 

 as the sections in tlie first case were half com- 

 pleted, if the colony were a populous one, I 

 would raise the first case and put another 

 under it. When the second case is half fin- 



ished I would raise both and put another 

 next the hive. By tlie time the last added 

 case is half finished the top case ought to be 

 ready to come off. If it isn't, and more room 

 is needed, I would carry it, lees and all, to 

 some other hive having only one case. I 

 would not crowd the bees. Give them plenty 

 of room even if the number of unfinished 

 sections is increased thereby. Less swarm- 

 ing and more honey are the results of not 

 crowding. The unfinished sections I would 

 have finished by feeding back extracted 

 honey. What few may be left at the end of 

 feeding back can be used as bait sections 

 the next spring. 



1 would hive each swarm in a contracted 

 brood nest upon the old stand (and this is 

 the only time that I would practice contrac- 

 tion), transferring the supers to the new 

 hive, and preventing after-swarming by the 

 Heddon method. I would use starters only 

 in the brood nest when hiving swarms, as I 

 am thoroughly convinced, in fact I knoiv, 

 that I can secure more surplus comb honey 

 by this plan. I must admit that this plan 

 does not usually give first-class swarms for 

 wintering, and it is usually best to unite 

 them in the early fall. The old colonies, 

 unless they swarm early or there is a fall 

 flow, do uot store much surplus, but they are 

 always in splendid trim for winter. 



Of course, there are a great many details 

 that it is impossible to give in a short arti- 

 cle like this, but those who are interested 

 can find them in the book " Advanced Bee 

 Culture." 



BETTER OBGANIZA.TION NEEDED AMONG BEE- 

 KEEPERS. 



Two articles in this issue of the Review, 

 those of Messrs. Case and Marks, touch upon 

 the matter of organization, and what it may 

 accomplish. The topic is not a new one. 

 Bee-keepers have long recognized the neces- 

 sity for better and more thorough organiza- 

 tion. It has long been deplored that the 

 North American is not a representative body, 

 and many are the schemes that have been 

 devised for bringing about this most de- 

 voutly to be wished for consummation, but 

 so far they have come to naught. The send- 

 ing of delegates from the county societies to 

 the State societies, and from the States to 

 the North American is not possible on ac- 

 count of the expense. Perhaps the expense 



