1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



\T,:\ 



some hives need not be lifted more 

 than once or twice during the winter. 

 It disturbs the bees but little if it is 

 done with care, letting the hive down 

 gently so as not to jar the bees. As 

 bees winter better when kept quiet, I 

 disturb them as little as possible. I 

 examine my bees, mostly in March, as 

 above stated, choosing some warm day 

 when they are flying. This year it was 

 March 5, and up till that time not a cap 

 had been removed from hives after 

 they had been placed in winter quar- 

 ters. Yet my colonies, forty-two in 

 number, were found all right, with no 

 loss. One colony was about out of 

 honey; I gave it frames of honey kept 

 over winter for that purpose. I set 

 them next to the brood, after taking 

 out the empty frames. Two other colo- 

 nies were fed a little in case they might 

 be short of stores if the spring should 

 be late or weather so the bees could not 

 work on early bloom. I had rather my 

 bees would have ten pounds more 

 honey than needed for winter than 

 have an ounce too little. If they have 

 plenty of honey to last till it comes in 

 the spring, the bees are stronger in 

 numbers, as they breed up faster, and 

 are more ready to take advantage of 

 the first flow that comes. 



Should bees have to be fed sugar in 

 the spring it is best fed in syrup form, 

 as it is a more natural food and stimu- 

 lates the queen to egg-laying. When 

 bees are fed they should be tucked up 

 warm again before the cap or cover is 

 put on. 



Colonies will hardly ever be found to 

 be without a queen in the spring. If 

 they are bringing in natural pollen, 

 and are active about the entrance, it 

 will be found they have a thrifty queen. 



Strong colonies raise brood very 

 rapidly in the spring and consume a 

 larger amount of honey, and should be 

 closely watched that they have enough 

 to last until they can gather it from 

 fruit blossoms. 



Chillicothe, Mo. 



Where It Pays to Take Time. 



U'n'tlciijhr llic American Bec-Keeper. 



BY HAUKY S. HUWE. 



Vip HAVE been crying out for faster 

 ^\V'> ways of working ror so long that 

 ^•^^ perhaps it will be a good plan to 

 try it the other way for once. 



lake time to see that the smoker is 

 in good working order before opening 

 a hive. It pays in wear and tear on 

 the temper. 



Take time to look over the yard 

 when through working for the day, and 

 see that no fire has been dropped upon 

 the cushions. I have known of several 

 cases of hives being burned, one thirty- 

 six hours after it was worked. 



Take time to let your dinner settle. 

 I can do more work in a day with a 

 nooning than without it. 



Take time to read the bee journals, 

 advertising and all; and don't think 

 one paper has it all in. I read four and 

 then miss lots of good things. 



Take time to go to your bee conven- 

 tion, even if you have to hire a man to 

 work in your place while you are gone. 

 I got an idea at the last Cortland Coun 

 ty convention that has been worth all 

 I ever paid for conventions, so far this 

 season. Even if there are no new ideas, 

 it is worth the price to get the "bee 

 fever" up to a higher temperature. 



Take the time to visit your neighbor 

 bee-keeper. He may have just what 

 you want. At least, you will learn how 

 not to do it, and that is worth some- 

 thing. I once visited a yard where two 

 men had been a day or two taking ex- 

 tracted honey at the rate of 400 pounds 

 a day. It was worth a day's work to see 

 those men lay a comb flat down on a 

 board, and then take a hot knife and 

 cut of pieces of capping almost as big 

 as a silver dollar! 



Take time to keep a record of what 

 you do and when you do it. I thought 

 this year that the first extracting was 

 way ahead of time, until I looked it up 

 and found that it was only the average. 



Go slow and take a few years to cou- 



