Feb. 9, 1905, 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



101 



ceipt of 6 cents in stamps. It is put up and sold in tin cans 

 through the grocers. Mr. Pouder's ofifice and store are 

 models of neatness and order. 



Mr. Pouderand Mr. Scott are young men, and both are 

 by honorable dealing and energetic efforts building up a 

 business that will endure, and from which they deserve, 

 and doubtless will receive, a good financial return. We 

 heartily wish each of them the fullest realization of their 

 highest anticipations. 



On the front page are shown these two Indianapolis 

 hustlers, with pictures of their store fronts as well. 



The Annual Meeting of the Worcester County Bee- 

 Keepers' Association was held in Worcester, Mass., Jan. 

 21. The following officers were elected : President, F. H. 

 Drake ; vice-president. Burton N. Yates ; secretary-treas- 

 urer, C. R. Russell, of Worcester. 



Arrangements were made for a banquet to be held Feb. 

 24, to be followed by an address by Mr. Arthur C. Miller, of 

 Rhode Island. A broad invitation was extended to all bee- 

 keepers, and especially to the Massachusetts State Associa- 

 tion. Mr. Miller has been heard before, and the mention of 

 his name should be enough to draw a large attendance. We 

 understand that Massachusetts bee-keepers are looking 

 forward to a prosperous year. 



-V (£ontrtbiitcb -f 

 Special drticles 



J 



Proper Care of Hives and Combs After a 

 Winter's Loss of Bees. 



BY G. C. GREINHR. 



TO select the above heading for the subject of an article 

 at this late hour may seem a little out of date, and I 

 admit it is, but we have never passed a winter yet with- 

 out some losses, light as they may have been, neither can 

 we tell what this winter may have in store for us, so that 

 the following suggestions may be just in time for next 

 spring. 



The unusual heavy loss of bees last winter brought the 

 old saying of " A blessing in disguise " fresh to our minds 

 again. It does not require a great deal of imagination to 

 see the benefit of these occasional clean-outs, especially if 

 it is the " other fellow " who lost all his bees and we es- 

 caped unharmed. We all know if bees never died, it would 

 not be many years before the country would be so over- 

 stocked with bees and their products that bee-keeping as 

 an occupation to provide a comfortable living would be a 

 thing of the past. But Providence and the expert's experi- 

 ence comes to our rescue. The former to cause an unfavor- 

 able season for unprotected or improperly prepared colonies 

 to survive the winter, and the latter to enable the profes- 

 sional bee-keeper, by a better knowledge of the necessarj' 

 requirements for wintering, to escape these heavy losses. 

 And this is not all, for even if the experienced bee-keeper 

 has met with heavy losses, he sees some points which he 

 can turn to his advantage. 



Whatever the number of dead colonies may be when 

 spring opens, we have that many hives and sets of combs 

 left, and if rightly managed they can soon be stocked up 

 again, and the winter's loss thus replaced. It is the care of 

 these depopulated hives and combs concerning which I wish 

 to make a few remarks. 



As soon as we find any colony missing, its hive and 

 combs should have a thorough cleaning out, and the sooner 

 this is done the better. The dampness, decaying bees, and 

 other foul stuff, which we generally find in hives of dead 

 colocies, soon spoil a set of combs, or greatly impair their 

 value ; they mold, become befouled, and smell badly in a 

 very short time, and when used later on are so offensive to 

 a swarm that their use may be the cause of absconding, for 

 which we imagine we can assign no reason. 



The best way, and one which requires least handling, is 

 to have an empty hive to start with. Set this near the hive 

 to be cleaned, either in front or behind, but near enough so 

 that a frame can be taken from one and put into the other 

 without being obliged to take many steps. Then open the 

 hive to be cleaned, take out the first comb, sweep off all 

 adhering bees, scrape all brace and burr combs from the 

 top-bar and hang in the empty hive. A wing will do the 

 former, and a strong-bladed jack-knife ground very blunt 

 but sharp is excellent to do the latter. 



After all combs are treated likewise, then the empty 

 hive should be thoroughly scraped all over the inside, and 

 especially both sides (side and bottom) of the rabbet. A 

 hive that has been in use for many years is generally more 

 or less covered with chunks of propolis, and a good scraping 

 makes it as habitable as a new one. I use square pieces 

 of thick glass for this purpose, which I cut myself from 

 broken double-glass window-lights. 



The combs should not all be placed in one hive ; it is 

 better to leave one out and give the rest that much more 

 space between them. Close-hanging combs are a great in- 

 ducement for the wax-miller family to set up house-keeping, 

 but they keep very shy of widely-spaced combs. Besides, a 

 little more space gives better circulation of air, and keeps 

 them purer. Then, to insure free circulation, the full en- 

 trance of the hive should be left open, provided with a wire- 

 screen to keep out all intruders, and the top of the hive left 

 open as much as possible without allowing the bees to have 

 access to the combs. 



When the hives and combs have thus been taken care 

 of they may then be kept until swarming-time, to be used 

 for the increase. But in this case a few points must be 

 taken into consideration : 



It requires constant vigilance to keep the combs from 

 the ravages of the worms, for as soon as warmer weather 

 approaches they are sure to make their attacks. The seclu- 

 sion of the dark hives offers them an excellent opportunity 

 to engage in their destructive work, unless the hives are 

 frequently examined by the apiarist. If the shop or honey- 

 house is provided with sufficient open frame-racks to store 

 all surplus combs, they are more easily kept from destruc- 

 tion when stored in this way. 



Another point, which should not be overlooked, is the 

 fact thai combs exposed to the atmosphere any great length 

 of time become stale ; the wax seems to lose its flexibility, 

 and the bees are more or less inclined to object to their use. 

 It is therefore advisable to manage in some way to have 

 them occupied again by the bees as soon as possible. 



A good opportunity to use any surplus combs offers 

 itself when the colonies are in proper shape and the season 

 far enough advanced to begin the spreading of brood. A 

 side comb may then be taken out, the brood spread, and one 

 of these extra combs inserted, which, if circumstances are 

 favorable, will be stocked up with eggs in a very few days. 



I have always found it a good plan to give the combs of 

 dead colonies a thorough looking over before using them 

 again, and the chance to do this may be considered one of 

 the little gains brought about by the winter's loss. Every 

 comb, before it is used as above stated, is first shaved down, 

 uncapping fashion, to the thickness of the frame (or less). 

 No matter about the honey — if it contains any all the bet- 

 ter ; if not, the edges of the cells are shaved off just the 

 same. But we must remember that it requires a very thin, 

 sharp uncapping-knife to trim empty combs. Then the 

 comb is exposed to the bees for cleaning out. For this pur- 

 pose I always keep a hive or two with two or three extract- 

 ing supers each, a little distance from the apiary, filled with 

 that many sets of so prepared combs (I use the same frame 

 above and below). 



After the combs are all cleaned out I move them to the 

 honey-house and replace them with a new supply. In this 

 way I always have a lot handy to busy myself with on 

 stormy days, or whenever I have any leisure time. 



The next operation is to look them over. If they con- 

 tain any drone-comb it is cut out and patched up with 

 worker-comb, or, if they are not attached to the bottom- 

 bars, a strip is fitted in there to fill the opening. We know 

 from experience that the space between comb and bottom- 

 bar is many times a very annoying feature, and if we can. 

 by a little fixing up, dispose of these loopholes and catch- 

 alls, I think the time of looking them over is well spent. 

 But I will say right here, that, try as we may, some colonies 

 will not accept our engineering. Instead of finishing the 

 work we have laid out for them, they finish it the wrong 

 way by gnawing the little strip all out again. Nature's in- 

 stinct — to leave a necessary passage below the combs — 

 seems to keep the upper hand of them ; and this is not 



