644 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



January of this year (1892) it was 

 below zero only four times, and we had 

 sleighing twice, and both times it 

 thawed away. The instincts of the bees 

 to cluster closer may keep them warm, 

 but they are just as liable to be destroyed 

 by conditions produced by unsuited 

 packing. 



Clinton, Wis. 



m sized ys. Replar Sections, Etc. 



H. ANDRE. 



The difference in the cost of an odd- 

 sized section over the regular size is not 

 so much as people generally suppose. 

 Orders for regular sizes are sometimes 

 filled with old sections that have been 

 on hand from one to two years. There 

 is more or less loss in breakage in put- 

 ting together old sections, even with 

 great care. A special order for an odd 

 size always insures freshly-made sections 

 with little loss from breakage, which 

 more than over-balances the increase of 

 cost. 



WATER IN THE APIARY. 



It makes a great diflference whether 

 bees have to go half a mile for water, or 

 it is furnished them in the apiary. A 

 large, deep, earthen dish with a cloth 

 spread over it is the most convenient of 

 anything I ever used. The cloth should 

 be weighted to the bottom of the dish in 

 the center. There will be a steady drip 

 from the edges of the cloth hanging out- 

 side the dish, which gives the bees a 

 chance to get water without danger of 

 drowning. 



BEST LOCATION FOR BEES. 



The best locality for bee-keeping is a 

 played-out lumber country where a part 

 of the land is unimproved farms, and 

 the rest slashings from which the timber 

 has been removed. The latter burns 

 over more or less, and more honey is 

 obtained from one acre on an average 

 than from five acres of improved land. 



A large area of well-improved lands is 

 a poor locality for bee-keeping. Quite 

 frequently the dependence in such places 

 is on clover, basswood, or one kind of 

 flowers. If these are a failure, and one 

 has to feed for Winter stores, it takes 

 the profits of several seasons. 



HIVE WITH SIDE FRAMES. 



Among the many ideas that have come 

 to mind, I have thought of making a hive 

 which will have just space enough on 



each side for one brood-frame, the body 

 of the hive being square, with a box in 

 the center. Colonies for wintering will 

 use the same size frame. These hives 

 will be used on the tiering-up plan, with 

 queen-excluders. The frames being at 

 the outside, will have a tendency to keep 

 the bees more evenly at work in the 

 surplus, especially the last case on the 

 hive, than they generally do with a small 

 brood-chamber in the center of the hive. 



In the Fall the bees can be united with 

 another colony, and the frames used in 

 the place of old ones in the regular colo- 

 nies, or used in the hive the next season. 



When making bee-hives cut the lum- 

 ber for the hive, and cap the same 

 length you wish the size inside. Use a 

 strip of one-fourth round moulding in 

 the corners to put them together. This 

 makes a neat-looking hive, and the 

 moulding also prevents the sides from 

 splitting. If put together with a mitre 

 joint, there is nothing to prevent the 

 lumber from checking. Where two 

 pieces check at the corners exactly 

 opposite, the hive is spoiled. 



CHESTNUT SURPLUS-CASES. 



Chestnut makes the best surplus-cases 

 (if they are not exposed to the weather) 

 of any timber I ever used. They are 

 cleaned of wax and propolis much easier 

 than other kinds of wood, and get 

 smoother by use. 



Lockwood, N. Y. 



Tlie Slnpi of Blrls anJ Bees. 



DR. J. W. VANCE. 



Into the quiet solitariness of the sanc- 

 tum of the bee-editor comes the sounds 

 of the birds as they warble their happy 

 songs of rejoicing over the bright pros- 

 pects of another Summer. But the air 

 is still too cold for the bees to venture 

 out far from their hives. They scurry 

 about the entrances, and hum a merry 

 note, cheering one another, yet not 

 daring to fly far from home. However, 

 it will not be long before the maple and 

 willow will be luring the bees from their 

 combs to sip the fresh nectar that shall 

 flow from their tiny cups. Already the 

 queens are laying, and in many hives 

 great patches of brood are incubating, 

 and ere long the frowzy young bees will 

 be coming forth to reinforce the deci- 

 mated ranks of their ancestors, and to 

 gladden the heart of the anxious bee- 

 master who has watched hopefully over 

 his pets. — Wisconsin Farmer. 



