150 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



June 



son intending to commence the keep- 

 ing of bees, I would advise, procure 

 some good book on the subject, read 

 and study until you are familiar with 

 the principles before you purchase 

 the first swarm. After you have pro- 

 gressed far enough so you can readily 

 distinguish a worker, drone and 

 queen, you have taken the first les- 

 son in one of the finest and most in- 

 teresting works one can engage in. 

 In the selection of bees, I should ad- 

 vise the three-banded Italian, because 

 of their gentleness. Within the last 

 few years they have come to the front 

 as honey producers, and today are 

 considered by experts as unsurpassed 

 by any others. The hive, a movable 

 frame one should be made of clear, 

 sound lumber and tightly built, so 

 that moths, worms and other pests 

 cannot gain admittance. Many bee- 

 keepers in this state are still using 

 the "old fashioned box hive" but 

 there a few that will always cling to 

 the old styled thing of their fathers, 

 shunning all modern improvements. 

 A box hive is whei'e the honey and 

 bees are in the same apartment, so 

 that it is necessray to kill the bees in 

 order to procure the article for which 

 they are kept, but thanks to the in- 

 ventive brain of Rev. Langstroth for 

 the frame hive of today, in which the 

 bees can be inspected and a note made 

 of their progress daily. It is com- 

 posed of an oblong box 14:^^x21x9 

 inches which contain twelve frames 

 which will just fit in the long way of 

 the box. In these twelve frames the 

 little workers build their comb and 

 fill the same with brood and honey. 

 The frames being an equal distance 

 apart they can be easily removed and 

 changed to another hive if desired. 



When they have filled these frames 

 then a case containing twenty-eight 

 one pound boxes is placed upon these 

 frames and are filled with the sweet 

 nectar which the willing workers pro- 

 duce. Before I close there is one 

 thing which I would caution the be- 

 ginners, never get excited even if the 

 bees do buzz a little too close to your 

 ears, alv/ays be calm and they will 

 soon find that you are their friend. 

 Bee-keeping is as much of a profes- 

 sion as any other and if well conduct- 

 ed will prove to be as paying. 

 Newport, Vt., April 8, 1895. 



A Question Answered. 



Island Park, Pa., April 29,'95. 

 P. 0, Address: Sta. A. Easton, Pa. 



Mr. Chas. H. Thies, 



Steeleville, 111. 



Dear Sir: — Will you kindly give 

 your opinion of the following through 

 the columns of the American Bee- 

 Keeper ? 



I have four colonies of hybrid 

 (black Italian) bees in 10 frame 

 Langstroth hives (want of room will 

 prevent my keeping more) which I 

 want to run for comb honey. Two 

 colonies are breeding up strongly and 

 are apt to cast good swarms. The re- 

 maining two, while in a fair condi- 

 tion, are not as strong as they might 

 be to assure a large surplus. So I 

 propose to establish the following 

 treatment: 



Between now and the opening of 

 the honey flow I will gradually move 

 the two weak colonies toward each 

 other until they stand side by side. 

 Next, just at the opening of the honey 

 flow I will make both colonies queen- 

 less for 24 hours after which time I 

 will remove one hive, giving all the 



