66 



THE AMERICAN APICULTUBIST. 



4X4X12 inches in the clear. If 

 made of f% stuff the box will be 

 4|X12^ inches outside measure. 

 Theone-half inch is added in which 

 to cut the chime to receive the glass 

 "which goes in the ends of the box. 

 I make the packages in this form so 

 as to make them hand}- for tiering 

 up. The package has a slot cut in 

 the bottom and the top -^% X 6 inches. 

 The whole is made by machinery 

 and so perfect that they match each 

 other perfectly in thetiering-up pro- 

 cess. It will be seen that this is 

 simply an improvement on the old 

 box system, but no one need be 

 alarmed at that ; if you have a de- 

 mand for such size packages just try 

 the method I give below, and the 

 cash returns will make the "•boxes" 

 respectable enough. Before the 

 top of the box is nailed on, two 

 sheets of thin foundation are fas- 

 tened to it extending the full length 

 of the box, and at a proper dis- 

 tance apart. Nice pieces of white 

 comb will answer. The foundation 

 insures two straight plump combs 

 in each package. 



Four boxes are adjusted over the 

 brood nest of each hive, and as 

 soon as they are two-thirds filled 

 they are raised, and four empty 

 ones are adjusted in their place, 

 and they go on top of the empty 

 set. The tiering-up process is con- 

 tinued through the season, remov- 

 ing the top set as fast as they are 

 finished. 



HOW TO REMOVE THE BOXES. 



It will be observed that the boxes 

 have a passway in the bottom and 

 top ; to close these, I spread a quilt 

 over the top tier. When the boxes 

 are read}^ to remove, I take off the 

 quilt and blow smoke into the open- 

 ings of the boxes till most of the 

 bees have retreated to the lower 

 tiers, and remove the boxes quickly 

 before the bees have time to return. 

 The boxes arc then carried to the 

 honey store-rooms and placed in 



front of the wire-cloth window so 

 that the few bees left in the box 

 may pass out at the bee '■'lead" at 

 the top of the window and return 

 home. 



After the boxes are cleared of 

 bees the}' are set on end in rows, so 

 that in the process of evaporation 

 the moisture can escape through 

 the openings in the boxes. Two 

 years ago I tried the experiment of 

 pasting a strong piece of paper 

 over the holes thus making the 

 packages nearly air-tight, but I very 

 soon found out that this would not 

 do, as the moisture accumulated on 

 the inside of the boxes and injured 

 the quality of the honey. If it is 

 desirable to close the holes, a piece 

 of wire cloth or thin canvas is bet- 

 ter, but at any rate, the moisture 

 must not be allowed to accumulate 

 on the hone}^ 



I used to adjust these packages 

 right over the frames without a 

 honey board, but I have found that 

 in a large apiary where even a lit- 

 tle time is valuable, the skeleton 

 honey board such as I use will pay, 

 as it saves the time necessary to 

 scrape off the bits of comb attached 

 to the first, or lower tier of boxes 

 when no honey board intervenes be- 

 tween the boxes and the frames. 



Where there is no demand for 

 such large packages it would be 

 unwise to adopt them, notwith- 

 standing more honey can be obtained 

 by their use. At my apiary store 

 1 can get just as much per pound 

 for comb in a six pound box as I 

 can get for it in one half pound and 

 one pound sections. 



I am aware that there is a foolish 

 prejudice against large packages — 

 they don't look "progressive" you 

 know. Progressive? Well, I used 

 to keep bees in the interest of "sci- 

 ence" and to gratify my thirst for 

 knowledge, and I do not regret the 

 time and money so pleasantly spent 

 in that way. I learned allthe"kinks" 

 then. I now run my apiary for the 



