THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



25 



more than will thoiouf^hly melt the su- 

 gar — when it is boiled a few minutes 

 and poured out into cakes or slates of 

 three or four ])Ounds each. Wiien cool 

 this becomes very hard, almost like rock 

 candy. 



In feeding this, it is i)laced on frames 

 just over the cluster of bees, where they 

 can have access to it at all times. When 

 in this position it receives the heat aris- 

 ing from the bees and they remain on it 

 all the time. It is so hard,' that it will 

 last them a long while. This candy 

 may be given to the bees at intervals 

 during the winter, and colonies may be 

 brought through in good condition vvliieh 

 would have otherwise perished. 



This or any other work that is neces- 

 sary to do with bees in winter should 

 be done on warm days. It will not do 

 to molest them on a cold day, but it 

 should always be done on days when 

 the bees are flying. — Amo-ican Agricul- 

 turist. 



Where is that fellow "who laiiijhod be- 

 cause avc said bees would winter upon dry 

 sugar? If the preparation above is not 

 dry suirar. what is it? HoAvever. Ave do 

 not believe bees Avill Avinter on sucli food; 

 it is too dry and hard. — Ed.] 



MURDERING THE BEES. 



Only a few days ago one of my neigh- 

 bors spoke to me about some colonies 

 he had bought at a sale. He paid ^20 

 for ten colonies. He intended to kill 

 the bees and sell the honey, to make a 

 profit on the money paid out for them. 

 I persuaded him to "let them live." I 

 told him if they had enough honey to 

 bring S20 or more, tliey had enough to 

 winter on, and that $4 each next spring 

 would be very low for them. 



Whoever heard of such a thing as a 

 man killing a hen to get the eggs, or a 

 cow to get her milk. Killing bees to get 

 honey is just as foolish. If your bees 

 have failed to store enough to winter 

 on, and you cannot afford to buy sugar 

 to feed them, then, through sympathy, 

 kill them, rather than see them starve 

 to death. But if the bright, intelligent, 

 "busy bees " have worked and toiled 



all through the hot summer, through 

 thick and thin, saving enougli to live on 

 through the long dreary winter, for 

 l)ity's sake let them live and enjoy the 

 results. Encourage industry, for it is 

 "by industry we tiirive." 



Study the habits of your bees ; you 

 cannot help hut love them ; especially 

 the gentle, intelligent, yellow Italians. — 

 Prairie Fanner. 



Does the person wiio Avrote the above 

 know of an easier way for bees to die than 

 by starvation? Bees in a st.arvinji slate 

 simply y:o to sleep and nature; lias so 

 planned it that tliey do not suffer in the 

 least. — Ei>.] 



[From A. B. .r.] 

 THE CLOSED-END FRAMES. 



AV. P. ?AA'LOR. 



Much is noAv being said about 

 " closed-end frames." I have experi- 

 mented some with frames so made that 

 the end-bars were each an inch and-a- 

 half wide and half an-inch thick, with 

 top and bottom bars just alike, so as to 

 admit of either side of the brood-cham- 

 ber being turned up, the end-bars ex- 

 tending so as to allow a bee-space above 

 and below the top and bottom bars. 

 These frames rest directly upon the bot- 

 tom-board ; and two boards, as long and 

 as wide as the frames, form the side- 

 enclosure of six, eight, or any number 

 of frames. 



I find no trouble about separating the 

 frames, or in the crushing of bees ; but 

 the main difficulty lies in getting some- 

 thing suitable for drawing the frames 

 tightly together. 



Driving a nail in the end of each 

 board, midway, and stretching a Avire 

 doubly across, from board to board, after 

 the Bingham fashion, will work, but not 

 to my satisfaction. It seems tome that 

 some kind of a coil spring might be in- 

 vented to hold such frames in position 



Could we get something to hold any 

 number of such frames together, then 

 Ave could have just what Ave want. We 

 could then take an eight-frame hive and 

 use four frames above and four below, 

 forming a double decker, and a large 



