736 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



length, inside measure, gives less trouble 

 to work the frames, of any hive I ever 

 used, but the frames are too shallow, 

 and somewhat too short for out-door 

 wintering. 



Both styles were made to get a large 

 brood-chamber and avoid a large frame. 

 Probably there is but little difference 

 whether the frames are shallow or deep 

 for in-door wintering at safe tempera- 

 ture, but I should not care to risk a 

 shallow frame out-doors in winter in 

 this latitude. 



I am one of those " cranks " who be- 

 lieves in early brood-rearing to get 

 young bees to take the place of those 

 that die oflf during March and April 

 (which is called "spring dwindling"), 

 and I am well pleased to find breeding 

 commenced in February. In .this matter 

 I have succeeded best with a good depth 

 of brood-chamber. 



I think so well of a passage-way over 

 the frames of ordinary hives in winter, 

 that I shall always practice it hereafter. 



Lockwood, N. Y. 



Traflsferriiig Bees-Size of Hi?es, Etc. 



DR. C. C. MILLER. 



Several questions have been received 

 for replies, as follows : 



Question : " My bees are in box-hives, 

 and I want to change them. Can I 

 transfer in May '?" 



Answer : Yes, you can transfer them 

 at any time, but probably the most 

 transferring has been done when fruit- 

 trees are in bloom. At that time there 

 is a great deal of honey in the hive, and 

 the less honey in the combs the more 

 easily handled and the less daubing. If 

 you transfer at a time when bees arc 

 gathering no honey, there is danger of 

 starting robbing, and a colony just 

 transferred is in a poor shape to defend 

 itself. When working on fruit-bloom 

 the bees are in good condition to mend 

 up their combs rapidly. In many cases 

 it is better to transfer about swarming 

 time, following the plan devised by 

 .lames Heddon. 



Drive out the old queen and a ma- 

 jority of the bees into a hiving-box 

 (almost any empty box will do) and 

 mov(i th(! old hive back a few feet, re- 

 versing the entrance. Then put on the 

 old stand a hive filled with frames of 

 foundation, and shake the bees down in 

 front of it. In 21 days the workfu-- 

 brood will be all hatched out in the old 

 hiv(!, and you may then drive out every 



last bee from it, and add these bees to 

 the others on the old stand. This gives 

 you a rousing colony that ought to store 

 honey if there is any to store. The old 

 combs can be melted up, and, if you 

 wish, you can save out straight worker- 

 comb to be fastened in frames and 

 given to swarms. 



If you want to increase the number of 

 your colonies, a modification of the 

 above plan might suit you still better. 

 Wait until your colony swarms, and, 

 after hiving it, put the swarm on the 

 old stand, removing the old hive to a 

 new location. This will make all the 

 field bees from the old hive join the new 

 swarm, and there will be little danger of 

 a second swarm. 



In 21 days from the time the swarm 

 issues, transfer the colouy from the old 

 hive, letting it remain, of course, on the 

 same stand which it has occupied for 

 the last 21 days. One objection to this 

 plan is, that if honey was coming in 

 rapidly, there might be a good deal of it 

 in the way. 



SIZE OF BEE-mVES. 



Question: " I have ten-frame Lang- 

 stroth hives. Are they too large for 

 comb honey ?" 



Answer : That is one of the hard 

 questions to answer. Opinions differ. It 

 is pretty generally agreed that before 

 clover harvest, it is desirable to have 

 plenty of room for the queen to lay all 

 she can, so there may be a strong force 

 for the main harvest, and there are 

 queens that need all of the ten frames. 

 But when the time of main storing be- 

 gins, there are many of our best bee- 

 keepers who want the brood-nest con- 

 tracted to a good deal smaller space. 

 They say that ten frames is more than 

 is needed for a brood-nest, and so a 

 large space merely gives room for the 

 bees to store there the nice, white honey 

 tiiat ought to go into the surplus apart- 

 ment. The theory looks reasonable, 

 and believing in it I practiced contrac- 

 tion to a radical extent, reducing the 

 brood chamber from ten Langstrotli 

 frames down to eight, six, five and less. 



I am obliged to say that I could not 

 tell for certain whether I gained any- 

 thing by such contraction. I think I 

 got just as large crops with ten frames 

 in the brood-chamber, but then there 

 are so many things to bo considered, the 

 dilleriMit seasons among others, that it 

 is hard to be certain. Try it for your- 

 self. By means of a division-board you 

 can contract down to any number of 

 frames you choose, and use the same 

 sui)ers above. At present I use eight 



