546 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



close of the season I extract the honey 

 from the combs in the super, and feed it 

 back to properly prepared colonies to 

 have the partly-filled sections completed. 

 The nicest honey in sections that I ever 

 produced was obtained in this way. 



To feed back successfully, requires as 

 much experience as any other work con- 

 nected with the art of producing honey, 

 but the theme is too broad for a place in 

 this connection. 



The system above described works 

 perfectly if applied immediately after a 

 swarm issues. The only difference in 

 the manipulation in this case is, that no 

 brood or eggs is left in the brood-nest, 

 where the swarm is hived back. — Read 

 at the Ohio State Convention. 



Christiansburg, Ky. 



Mating DonMe-HlyeBottom-Boarfe 



I. E. MYEKS. 



On page 293, in detailing my double- 

 hive bottom-board, I stated the size as 

 being 32x62 inches. This is not right ; 

 the size, not including the alighting- 

 board, is 20x36 inches. The passage 

 from one hive to the other is cut out of 

 the top rim of the bottom-board. These 

 rims are % of an inch thick by one inch 

 wide, nailed on each end of the boards, 

 the size of the hive being 16):ixl8 

 inches, inside measure. This completes 

 the department of the brood-chamber, 

 and receives the body of the same, which 

 is H of an inch deeper than the brood- 

 frames, making % of an inch for a bee- 

 space under them. 



On page 479, Mr. M. Miller says : 

 " Thick top-bars are all that is claimed 

 of them. But how about that exact 

 spacing ? Must we adopt close end-bars 

 to get the exact space? Is not the cure 

 worse than the disease ?" 



I will try to give the answer to the 

 above query. Thick top-bars and rigid 

 frames are my favorites, but not the 

 close-end frames. 



I make my frames half-closed and 

 half-open end, in the following manner: 

 Hold up a frame in your hand, with one 

 end next to you. Take H of an inch 

 wide off the right side of the end nearest 

 you, and H of an inch off the left side, 

 from the end away from you, so that on 

 changing the frame end for end, it will 

 show the diminished side always to the 

 right. 



Now drive four No. 9 double-pointed 

 tacks crosswise on the side diminished, 

 near the top and bottom, two on each 



end ; this will fill the place of the wood 

 planed off in the rigidity of the frame, 

 and allow 14 inch bee-space to save their 

 bend in the manipulation of the brood- 

 chamber, and save also lots of propoliz- 

 ing joints between the ends of the 

 frames. For the same reason I hang 

 the frames on a nail driven in the end 

 of the top-bar, in place of letting the 

 top-bar extend in on the grooved edge of 

 the brood-chamber of the hive. 

 Grant, Minn. 



Sprini anJ Suminer Bee-Manapment. 



HENBY STEWART. 



In treating this subject, I would make 

 special emphasis of the great importance 

 of always keeping ahead of your work, 

 and the management for next Summer 

 should begin in the Winter, in the way 

 of doing all such work as the making of 

 hives, filling sections, etc. Always be 

 sure you are fully prepared for a good 

 honey season long before it reaches you. 



During the months of August and 

 September I had the pleasure of travel- 

 ing over several counties in Illinois, 

 Iowa and Wisconsin in search of cheap 

 honey. On this trip I visited more than 

 a hundred prominent bee-keepers, be- 

 sides many smaller ones, and in response 

 to the question, " What did your bees do 

 for you this season ?" it would be aston- 

 ishing to see how many answers would 

 be like this : 



"Well, we had a good flow from bass- 

 wood, and we got lots of swarms, but we 

 were so busy with other work that we 

 could not give the bees the attention 

 they needed, and we didn't get much 

 honey." 



Too many bee-keepers are like the 

 Arkansas traveler's house — when it does 

 not rain their house does not need shing- 

 ling, but when the "honey-showers" 

 come, they are in no condition for 

 shingling. 



Spring management should begin with 

 the first warm days of early Spring. If 

 bees are wintered in the cellar, a close 

 watch should be kept over them, to 

 know that they are resting quietly until 

 the weather is sufficiently warm to put 

 them out on the summer stands, when 

 the hives should be cleaned out and the 

 light ones, if any, marked for feeding. 



If wintered out-of-doors, the first work 

 should begin by ascertaining the condi- 

 tion of each colony in the apiary as to 

 stores. This can easily be done by tak- 

 ing hold of the front of each hive and 



