1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



BOl 



in on the importance of seeing that 

 bees have enough in the fall to take 

 them through the winter, 1 went home 

 to act accordingly. 



1 carried the above instructions out 

 to the letter, and never had bees come 

 out in the spring in better contition. 

 I know they can be fed more cheaply 

 at other times of the year, but I doubt 

 if the beginner, who has had no ex- 

 perience in making sugar syrup or 

 candy, will find anything cheaper or 

 as safe as honey for feeding in cold 

 weather. Feeding syrup on the sum- 

 mer stands is out of the question, and 

 the danger of scorching the candy 

 or getting it too hard or too soft, and 

 debilitating the bees by improper 

 food makes it hazardous to attempt it. 



If I had honey in brood frames, and 

 had to feed in cold weather, I would 

 feed in a similar way, for by so doing 

 the bees are not disturbed. Nothing 

 so exhausts the vitality of bees as dis- 

 turbing the cluster in cold weather, 

 and if you take empty combs out of 

 the hive and replace them with full 

 ones, you must either disturb the clus- 

 ter or necessitate a lateral movement 

 of the cluster, and they will sometimes 

 starve before doing so in eold weather, 

 especially where the hive has been 

 opened and the accumulated heat al- 

 lowed to escape. 



These instructions are intended 

 only for the beginner, for the more 

 experienced bee keeper will have his 

 feeding done in the fall ; but there 

 are often beginners, who, like myself, 

 will think that bees have enough, only 

 to find out their mistake later. 



Franklin, Pa. 



5 per cent, discount will be allow- 

 ed on all orders at catalogue prices 

 received before December 1st. 



Race of Bees. 



BY CHAS. H. THIJ:S. 



Gleanings of Oct. 15, '95 contains 

 a plea for 5 banded bees by A. Nor- 

 ton, In the Sept. number of the 

 American Bee-Keeper I gave my ex- 

 perience, since which time I have ex- 

 perimented a little further. I have 

 three apiaries, in the home yard I 

 keep 5 banded bees, where I breed 

 my 5 banded bees and queens, at one 

 out apiary I breed 3 banded bees and 

 queens, at the other out yard I keep 

 any kind of bees for honey only, and 

 as my business is of such a nature 

 that I must remain at home, I very 

 rarely get to my out yards, but have 

 just been to them and from the ex- 

 perience I have had I must certainly 

 and honestly say that the 5 banded 

 bees are far the nicest to handle, in 

 fact I run across one or two colonies 

 of 3 banded bees in the out apiary 

 that are a little the crossest bees I have 

 ever uudertakn to handle. The 3 

 banded bees have probably stored the 

 most honey but have had bj far the 

 best chance, as the 5 banded bees or 

 home apiary is really overstocked and 

 have been nearly all run for queen rear- 

 ing. I expect this winter to thorough- 

 ly test their wintering qualities as 

 well as to test their building up in the 

 spring and will give the readers of the 

 Bee-Keeper the benefit of my experi- 

 ence. As before stated I am not par- 

 ial to any kind of a bee. I keep bees 

 for the honey they gather, or in other 

 Avords for the money they make and 

 I as well as other bee-keepers want a 

 bee that will give us a good surplus, 

 but if I can get a good looking and 

 well behaved bee I want them. 



The time has again arrived when 

 our bees should be prepared for win- 



