174 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



will be just so in the future in the 

 production of honey, and when farm- 

 ers keep bees, and it becomes genera] 

 for the consumption to he from 100 to 

 1,000 pounds of honey per family, 

 there will lie as great, if not a greater, 

 .demand for honey, than there is now. 

 So, it' in looking around for a diver- 

 sity in their farm work, they con- 

 clude to take up the smoker and 

 put on the veil, we think there is no 

 reason for alarm. The farmer owns 

 the pasture, and he certainly has the 

 first right to till it with occupants. If 

 the agriculturist is tired of the sor- 

 gum field, and an inferior sweet, 

 and concludes he will quit lugging 

 heavy cane aud skimming the mo- 

 lasses pan and takes up the veil and 

 smoker, he is going to sow forage crops 

 for the new kind of stock he places 

 •on his premises, and this will result 

 in better bee-pasturage, which will be 

 a big advantage to the specialist. So 

 the specialist, with superior knowledge 

 and defter skill, will have the advan- 

 tage, and we think that if viewed in 

 the proper light, it will an advantage 

 to everybody in any way connected 

 with apiculture to have bees occupy 

 the same place on the farms as poultry 

 .does now. — W. M. Bamberger. 



HOUSE APIARIES AND BEE ESCAPES. 



This is the subject I have wished 

 to see discussed. My idea for the 

 past three years has been that a warm 

 "house apiary would be the most 

 practical place for wintering bees 

 here in the North. A fire could be 

 kept in cold and damp weather, thus 

 preventing moisture in the hives. 

 No paint would needed on the hives, 

 evince according to the experience of 

 some, would prevent dampness. It 

 would lessen the cost of the hives also. 

 Cheaper and lighter lumber would be 

 used; no stones would be needed on 

 the covers, and no shade boards to 

 make and use. Hives would not blow 

 over, but would always be level. 



Bottom boards should not be fasten- 

 ed on, for when swarms issue I would 

 wish to hive them on the staud they 



came from, setting the old hive with 

 the <[ueen cells on top, with a queen 

 excluding honey board between it and 

 the swarm, and in about twelve days 

 after, or when I knew the queen cells 

 had hatched and had beendestroyed, I 

 would remove the top hive with virgin 

 queen to a new stand. 



If sections are given the swarm, a 

 bottom board with a three-quarter 

 inch hole through it and a piece of 

 excluding zinc over this must be plac- 

 ed between the sections and the top 

 of hive. 



I think, though, that I would not 

 allow much swarming, but give or 

 raise young queens before swarming 

 commenced, or divide as seems best. 



I think hives should be set in pairs, 

 placing two close together and leav- 

 ing a space of eight or ten inches 

 between these and the next two hives, 

 thus giving room to adjust, remove 

 and replace cases. A cone escape 

 placed in front of each pair of hives 

 (through the wall) would probably be 

 all the escapes needed. 



Here is my way of using bee es- 

 capes; I use flat covers the same size 

 of hives in length and width. I make 

 a rim of this size, one or two inches 

 high, placing a cone escape in or 

 near one corner; remove the surplus 

 cases, smoking the bees down partly, 

 putting on other surplus case at once, 

 and replace the cover; now place the 

 rim on the cover with the cone coming 

 to the front end of the hive. Set on 

 the cases removed, putting on cover 

 and shade board, and in two hours 

 time the will be praciically all out of 

 them. I have only used a single 

 cone. But robbers bother some in a 

 dearth, so that perhaps a double cone 

 would be better. When honey is 

 plenty, no robbers bother and bees 

 come out promptly, except the few 

 very young bees. It is on the same 

 principle as Manum's escapes. By 

 this means the colony is disturbed 

 but once, as the cover is put in place 

 and left there when removing ca.^e.s. 

 — C. E. Boyer, in Bee-Keeper's Review. 



