698 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



below, to shield from bee-bread. The 

 bottom side-pieces of these cases aud 

 the bottom-pieces are nailed on, but 

 the upper side-pieces are slipped be- 

 hind pieces of tin, turned '4 of an 

 inch from the edge and nailed on each 

 corner at the ends, so tliat when 

 turned bottom upward the top row of 

 sections drop out with a little jar, as 

 will also the bottom row if jarred 

 harder. The bees build the comb 

 from tte side, and as straight or 

 straighter than from above ; and of 

 perhaps 100 cases I have had but one 

 to contain a cell of bee-bread, and 

 that was caused by allowing the queen 

 to become crowded for room in the 

 frames. 



INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



Introducing queens by Mr. Alley's 

 method, of allowing the bees to be 

 queenless for three days, is a danger- 

 ous business unless every sign of a 

 queen-cell is carefully destroyed be- 

 fore the new queen is put in ; but 

 when this precaution is taken, it is 

 safe. One of the best ways to intro- 

 duce queens is to remove the old one 

 and shake the bees into a new empty 

 hive at dusk, and leave them there 

 shut up until morning, then feed a 

 little and daub the new queen with 

 honey and drop her in among the 

 bees. Then give them frames of 

 foundation the same as a swarm. 

 Having nothing to defend they are in 

 a good condition to double uj), to re- 

 ceive a queen, or anything else for 

 that matter. I never fail to unite 

 colonies where I can serve them thus 

 and unite them before giving back 

 their combs, which should be well 

 mixed through the hive, and all 

 queens but one taken away. 



Custer, (^ Ills. 



For tbe American Bee JoumaL 



Economical Brood-Chambers. 



C. W. DAYTON, (G3— 116). 



I prefer a small hive rather than a 

 large one, because it is honey that I 

 am after, and because it is next to 

 an impossibility to get more than 8 

 or 9 combs well filled with brood, 

 taking the apiary clear through, by 

 the time of the first yield of honey 

 from white clover. When a colony 

 goes on to fill 12 combs with brood it 

 usually takes until the honey harvest 

 is half, and sometimes all over before 

 the colony is in good condition for 

 honey-gathering. If there were 15 

 days "more of .lune weather previous 

 to the honey-llow, I should not now 

 be reducing the size of my larger 

 colonies. A cold spring does not 

 seem to retard the growth of clover, 

 as it does the rearing of brood 

 and the building up of a colony 

 of bees. I believe that queens that 

 would not be capable of laying 3,000 

 eggs per day are scarce in my apiary ; 

 but where I fail is in getting them to 

 do it previous to the first yield of 

 honey from white clnver. which is the 

 main dependence in. this locality. 

 Perhaps the sandy soil here, which 

 hastens the blossoming of the clover 

 but does not effect brood-rearing, may 

 have something to do with the matter. 



When the clover begins to yield 

 honey, which is about June 10 in this 

 locality, I would be pleased if there 

 were no more eggs laid until July 25 

 (at about which time the honey-How 

 from white cloverandbasswoodends), 

 as all eggs whith are laid during that 

 time produce only idle "boarders," 

 and there is seldom any more honey 

 to gather before Sept. 10, and then 

 only enough to cause the hives to be 

 filled with young bees for wintering. 

 If the bees do not enter the surplus 

 receptacles for the want of the room, 

 then it would be better that such re- 

 ceptacles be left off the hives. 



The number of combs of brood that 

 a colony has in its hive at the begin- 

 ning of the honey harvest, when it 

 lasts not more than 37 days, is the 

 greatest number that can economically 

 be afforded at any time during the 

 harvest, when honey alone is the con- 

 sideration. In this locality that num- 

 ber, unless in exceptional cases, is 

 from 7 to 10 combs which, under ordi- 

 narily good management, should be 

 filled solidly. In Mr. Dadant's locality 



I should judge the number to be from 



II to 14 combs. 



A test on 48 colonies during the 

 past season resulted as follows : 

 From 8-frame hives I extracted on 

 June 19 and 27, July 9, 14 and 22, and 

 obtained an average of 76 pounds per 

 hive ; from 12-frame hives I extracted 

 on July 13 and 21, and obtained an 

 average of 71 pounds ; and from 16- 

 frame hives I extracted but once, on 

 July 23, and obtained about 69 pounds 

 of honey from each. The colonies 

 were furnished upper stories the same 

 size as the brood-chambers. Two colo- 

 nies out of the 48 cast swarms, having 

 been allowed to cap queen cells before 

 adjusting the surplus receptacles. 



On page 666, Mr. Dadant says that 

 " a hive is too small if it does not 

 allow the queen to lay to the utmost 

 of her breeding capacity previous to 

 the honey crop. Disprove it who can." 

 As the word " previous," as used by 

 him in the foregoing sentence, may 

 occupy a very broad Held, it cannot be 

 disproved ; but provided the honey 

 harvest lasted not more than 15 or 20 

 days as that from white clover has 

 been known to do, it would be wisdom 

 to shut down on brood-rearing 15 or 20 

 days before the arrival of the honey 

 harvest. (Through a lack of success in 

 prophesying as to the weather so far 

 ahead, I have not tested this plan 

 very thoroughly). In case of excep- 

 tionally strong colonies, as bees labor 

 as well when they are in one colony 

 as they do when they are in another, 

 there would be nothing detracted by 

 sensibly exchanging the combs of a 

 strong colony for those of ■ a weaker 

 colony, getting another queen at 

 lively business, and eventually having 

 two strong colonies where there would 

 have been only one. 



In imitation of the more experi- 

 enced, I will make my assertion, 

 which is, that the size of the brood- 

 chamber must be ascertained with re- 

 gard to the locality or the length of 

 the flow of honey. In quoting au- 

 thority on this subject, Mr. Dadant 

 should not confine himself to liis own 

 latitude, nor that of Cincinnati or 



Oxford. Ohio, as he has done on page 

 535 ; but he should come up North 

 where we have longer and colder win- 

 ters which tend to bring the colonies 

 out weaker in the spring, and requir- 

 ing a longer time in which to nurse 

 them up to the proper strength. 

 Without much doubt a 12-frame hive 

 is best for Mr. Dadant's locality, and 

 an 8-frame hive the best for the 

 locality occupied by Mr. Heddon. 

 Bradford, (5 Iowa. 



Country Gentleman, 



Shipping Bees and Honey. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



While attending the Fairs this sea- 

 son, I met a bee-keeper who was be- 

 rating one of the express companies. 

 He had sent a colony of bees to be 

 exhibited at the Fair, and the express 

 company had " smashed it all up." 

 This he finally modified to " broke the 

 combs all down, and the honey ran 

 out and drowned the bees." lie had 

 sold the hive and contents, and the 

 purchaser had " strained " the honey 

 and secured 40 pounds ! This, of it- 

 self, was almost an explanation. No 

 colony of bees should ever be shipped 

 with 40 pounds of honey in the hive. 

 Enough to last them on their journey 

 is all that is necessary. A strong col- 

 ony, confined to its hive, and dis- 

 turbed, in warm weather, generates a 

 large amount of heat, and combs that 

 are heavy with honey are almost cer- 

 tain to "become so soft as to break 

 down — unless they are very old and 

 tough. 



The bee-keeper whose combs melted 

 down, said: "I have had little ex- 

 perience, and I thought [ would bring 

 a colony of bees to the Fair, and per- 

 haps I might meet some other bee- 

 keeper and learn something." I 

 thought he had learned at least one 

 lesson. As he was inexperienced, he 

 perhaps selected a colony of the pres- 

 ent year, the combs of which were 

 new, tender and full of honey, and 

 the bees probably liad no ventilation,, 

 except at the top of the hive. The 

 weather was really summer weather^ 

 and the probabilities are that the 

 combs would have broken down, even 

 if the hive had been handled in the 

 most careful manner. 



In hot weather, or if the bees are 

 to be confined any great length of 

 time, there must be openings in the 

 bottom as well as the top of the hive, 

 in order that there may be a current 

 of air to carry away the super-abund- 

 ant heat. Not only is an abundance 

 of ventilation necessary, but there ia 

 also needed plenty of room. There 

 should be a space of 3 or 4 inches both 

 above and below the combs. In the 

 heat of the day the bees cluster in 

 these spaces, returning to the combs 

 at night, or if the weather turns cool. 

 It has been many times recommend- 

 ed that sticks be thrust down between 

 the combs, at the ends of the frames, 

 to prevent the combs from sliding 

 about and swinging against each 

 other, but I have had better success 

 when no sticks were used, tlie frames 

 being fastened simplv by nailing their 

 ends with l^^-inch finishing nails to 



