164 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



er good way to do, if too cold to feed 

 them syrup by either of the methods 

 described, and they are still short of 

 stores, is to make candy as follows : 

 Take coffee A sugar, pour sufficient 

 water upon it to dissolve, then boil 

 until it becomes a thick syrup. Now 

 cool and stir and it will become white 

 and solid. Mould into cakes about 

 the size of a brick and lay it on the 

 frames over the cluster. 'Ibis is given 

 as the last remedy, but it will keep 

 them through until better stores can 

 be safely fed. But above all do not 

 unnecessarily disturb your bees, as it 

 causes dysentery, which if commenced 

 at this period means certain death to 

 them before spring. 



Now, dear bee-keeping friends, my 

 instructions as above given are neces- 

 sarily brief and should you desire any 

 further information in regard to the 

 pursuit it will be gladly given at any 

 time. I am very much interested in 

 seeing our friends successful in this 

 branch of industry, and am delighted 

 if in any way I am able to assist them 

 to attain this end. 



There will be no fall flow of honey 

 in this vicinity, as the wet weather 

 has made it a complete failure. The 

 white honey harvest was good. Most 

 of our friends averaged BO to 70 lbs. 

 per colony, and sold it at a good price. 



Sunn if Side, Md. 



What I have Observed, Etc. 



BY T. K. MASSIH. 



The box hive brethren "rob" their 

 bees in June or early part ot July, 

 The head is then nailed on tight 

 and daubed around with mortar. 

 The bees also go "chinking" up the 

 cracks and crevices on the inside 

 with propolis, so that by the time 



cold weather comes on the hives art- 

 just about air-tight and upward ven- 

 tilation is an impossibility. The seal- 

 ing of propolis is not broken in the 

 fall to remove pollen or for any 

 other purpose. The bees as pre- 

 viously stated, come out strong and 

 healthy in the spring. From these 

 facts I have drawn the conclusion 

 that the pollen theory and upward 

 ventilation cut no figure in the win- 

 ter problem in my locality It 

 may be said that the box hives 

 have the larger entrance, and there- 

 fore more ventilation at the bottom. 

 True; but this is easy to remedy, 

 and, it seems to me Dr. Tinker is 

 a long step in advance in this respect 

 by this arrangement for ventilation 

 his hives through the bottom of his 

 winter case. 



Now if we place a thin board 

 down solid on the top bars of our 

 brood frames early enough in the 

 fall for the bees to glue up the 

 crevices and thus prevent all air 

 currents from passing up through 

 our hives we again get even with 

 our box hive brethren, and where 

 we prevent all radiation of heat by 

 placing a cushion on top this board 

 the same as we do the side,: and 

 further, in spring and early, summer 

 when we give our bees just the ven- 

 tilation required by raising this board 

 we are another long step ahead of 

 them. This board should be thin 

 so that it will warm through quickly 

 when we remove the cushion and let 

 the sun's rays strike it. It is just as 

 good, or better, absorbent of moisture 

 as the Hill's device or sticks and 

 chaff cushion. 



It may be claimed that we must 

 us the device or sticks to give our 



