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THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



AMERICAN APICULTURIST 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY 

 Henry Alley, Wentiarn, NIass. 



Established in 1883. 



Subscription Price, 7 sets. Per Year. 



Entered at the P. O. Wenham, Mass., as second class 

 mail matter. 



EDITOHIAL NOTES. 



During the month of April the weath- 

 er was unusually warm for the season. 

 May came in cold and blustering. Dur- 

 ing the first ten nights ice formed more 

 or less thick, and the prospect for eirly 

 queens was for from encouraging. How- 

 ever, we managed to overcome the ele- 

 ments, and to-day. May 10, we have as 

 fine a lot of those golden Italian queens 

 hatching in nursery cages as any one 

 ever saw. Early in April preparations 

 were made to rear queens and get 

 them fertilized and ready to mail by 

 May 20. Nothing will upset this ar- 

 rangement except unfavorable weather. 

 We have the queens and drones, and 

 on May 20 a batch of queens will be 

 mailed our customers. After June 10, 

 we expect to have queens to ship by re- 

 turn mail. 



THE GOLDKN CARNIOI.ANS. 



These bees are now at work, and 

 come up fully to our expectations. We 

 find them very industrious, swift on the 

 wing, very active and most wonderful 

 workers. 



If beautiful bees that combine all the 

 desirable qualities are what is wanted 

 by the beekeeping public, the golden 

 Carniolans will fill the bill. 



We guarantee these bees to be equal 

 to the above description. If they are 

 not, the money sent for them or other 

 queens will be returned. See revised 

 prices on another page. 



SMALL HIVES. 



We are still of the opinion that the 

 small brood -chamber is far better than 

 a large one. They have given such 

 satisfaction in our apiary that in future 

 only a 7-frame (L. size) will be used in 

 the Bay State Apiary. There are hives 



in our yard that have 7 frames full of 

 brood. Now what is to become of the 

 young bees when they leave the cell? 

 'Tis a simple problem to solve. Why, 

 section boxes will be placed on the 

 hives and with this method of contrac- 

 tion the bees are actually forced to go 

 up into them. When there, they will 

 commence work on the foundation, and 

 the first thing we shall know, the sec- 

 tions will be filled with honey. Now, sup- 

 pose four more frames are added to the 

 brood chamber, what would be the re- 

 sult ? The bees that might be working in 

 sections are loafing on those surplus 

 combs of the large brood-chamber. A 

 writer in the JVestern Rural says : — 



For a while before swarming-time, a 

 large brood-nest is needed — larger, at 

 least, than is needed after the main har- 

 vest has come. As top-storing and tier- 

 ing- up are now ahiiost universally prac- 

 tised, and as bees work much more 

 readily in sections that are over the 

 brood, it is evident that a hive allowing 

 vertical contraction is the one for "con- 

 tractionists" to use. 



If contraction is not to be practised, 

 then there arises the question of what 

 size shall be the brood-nest. Some 

 plead for generous space that the queen 

 may not be "cramped for room," as 

 though this condition of affnrs were 

 very undesirable and unprofitable. Were 

 queens expensive this plea would be 

 worth consideration ; but as the capital 

 is in the combs, honey and hives rath- 

 er than in the queens, the question as 

 to which shall be kept employed at the 

 expense of the other's idleness needs no 

 argument. If the size of the brood-nest 

 is to remain unchanged, then let it be 

 of such capacity that an ordinarily pro- 

 lific queen will fill it at the height of the 

 breeding sea-on. Let the size be less 

 than this, rather than more. Eight 

 Langstroth combs, or their equal, will 

 furnish sufficient room. Many, in argu- 

 ing for large hives, mention how much 

 larger yields per colony are secured. 

 True, but do they secure any more per 

 comb? Beekeeping ought to be viewed 

 in a broad light. The question is some- 



