250 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



that if it is good to turn one frame 

 upside down at a time, it may be 

 profitable to fix them firmly in the 

 hive and invert all at once. If it 

 takes three minutes to open a hive, 

 reverse one frame and close it, the 

 proposition is plain that time is 

 saved by inverting the hive and all 

 the frames in less than three min- 

 utes. Besides the saving of time, 

 the combs and brood are not ex- 

 posed to robbers and danger of chill- 

 ing the brood which are always 

 present in cool weather. 



The ready control of the combs 

 secured in Mr. Langstroth's inven- 

 tion, and the great ease with which 

 they could be handled, have led 

 perhaps a majority of beekeepers to 

 excesses in manipulation. No hive 

 from which profit is expected should 

 be opened "just to see what they are 

 doing" or to show a visitor a beauti- 

 ful queen. Still practical honey pro- 

 ducers know thBt manipulation of 

 the right sort stimulates the colony 

 and causes the brood to spread, 

 other conditions- being favorable. 

 This class of "handling" may all be 

 done by changing the position of 

 the hive, set it on end to-day, and in 

 a few days place it on its bottom or 

 top and then again on the other end. 

 Any of these positions may be given 

 the invertible hive in a minute and 

 the bees scarcely disturbed, and it 

 can be done at night or at other 

 times when hives cannot be conven- 

 iently opened. 



Inversion of the combs ensures 

 their strength, they become fastened 

 solid to the frame all around, brood 

 is reared all over alike and the co- 

 coons strengthen and toughen every 



cell. Combs, if they break down, 

 always part where no brood has been 

 raised. Combs for storage of honey 

 to be extracted are more serviceable 

 after having given forth a few gener- 

 ations of bees. One disadvantage 

 may be named, they are more liable 

 to the ravages of the moth worm. 



One curious incident connected 

 with the inversion of brood combs 

 this season may be mentioned here. 



A colony was rendered queenless 

 and the hive inverted five days after- 

 wards. An examination the next 

 day showed all queen cells destroyed. 

 Nine similar trials were made with 

 the same results. It is supposed 

 that the change in position of the 

 queen cells at that stage caused the 

 disgusted bees to tear them down. 



Marked advantages accrue to the 

 producer of comb honey by using 

 invertible cases and inverting them 

 when the sections are two-thirds 

 filled, or strong enough to stand 

 alone. The sections will then be 

 filled full and plump all around, if the 

 honey flow is sufficient for their 

 completion. 



Des Moines, la. 



BINTS FOR BEGINNERS. 



By J. E. PoxD. 



In accepting the charge of the 

 department for beginners in bee 

 culture, I am actuated solely by a 

 desire to make plain some of the 

 points that to myself were matters of 

 serious import when I first began 

 keeping bees some twenty years ago. 

 At that time there were but two or 



