08 



Vol. vm. 



Published Monthly by the W. T. Falconer Manfg Co. 

 FEBRUARY, J 898. 



No. 2. 



ome of the Duties of an Apiarist. 



Written for The American Bee-Kceprr, 



BY G. M. DOOLITTI.E. 



Mr. Editor — Allow me to give the 

 eaders of the American Bee Keep"^'' 

 ome of the duties of an apiarist, as I 

 onsider them. During the winter and 

 ly spring, if a chance occurs that 

 he colonies which are wintered on 

 heir summer stands can fly, the apia"- 

 5t should see that the entrance to the 

 ive is not clogged with dead bees or 

 ny obstruction to confine them to the 

 ive, as these winter flights are very 

 eneticial. If those wintered in the 

 ellar are quiet, and can be kept so. 

 hey should remain where they are till 

 hose colonies which are out on their 

 ummer stands commence to bring in 

 ollen from the first opening flowers. 

 »therwise it may be well to set them 

 ut for a fly during March, if a warm 

 ay occurs. When pollen becomes 

 lenty, examine the bees by lifting the 

 rame of each hive, and if the colonies 

 re weak the bees should be shut to 

 ne side of the hive by means of a di- 

 ision board, so as to keep up the nec- 

 ssary heat for brood rearing, using 

 nly the combs containing brood and 

 ne of honey in the part where the 

 ees are. A queen will lay about 700,- 

 00 eggs during her lifetime and usual- 

 f lives from three to four years, but 

 nder the present system of manage- 

 rent we coax the queen to lay all of 

 iiese eggs in two or three years. Of 



course, the readers of the American 

 Bee Keeper all know that bees gather 

 honey, not m.ake it, and that the eggs 

 laid by the queen produce bees; conse- 

 '^uently the more eggs the 

 queen lays the more bees we 

 get, and the more bees we 

 have the mrre honey they gather. 

 Therefore it win be seen that under 

 our coaxing prropss we get as much 

 honey from a colony now in one year 

 as was gotten forty or fifty years ago in 

 two. i^s scon as the queen, with her 

 eggs, i^as filled the combs that was giv- 

 en hei- when contracting the hive, these 

 are spread apart and an empty comb, 

 or one filled with honey, if the bees 

 are short of honev, is inserted between 

 those occupied with brood, when in a 

 few days' time the queen will fill this 

 also, and so we keep on till every avail- 

 able cell is occupied with brood or 

 young bees. Vv''hen this is accom- 

 pMshed the sections are put on, and it 

 will be seen if any honey is gathered, 

 it must be put in the boxes, as there is 

 no room elsewhere to place it. Each 

 section should have a small piece of 

 clean, white comb or comb foundation 

 attached to the top as a starter, so the 

 bees will work more readily in the 

 sections, and cause them to build their 

 combs true in the same, while the cen- 

 ter tier of sections should be full of 

 comb left over from the previous year, 

 if possible. As soon as the first ten to 

 fifteen sections are filled they should 



