132 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



devote his time exclusively to it 

 and make it prove remunerative, 

 but as a rule he will reap far bet- 

 ter results by combining beekeep- 

 ing with agriculture, horticulture, 

 or poultry raising. 



Prominent apiarists and those 

 whose income is derived from 

 practical beekeeping (and not from 

 the sale of goods) agree in saying 

 that there is need of some kind of 

 a reform among beekeepers. How 

 shall it be brought about? We 

 leave this with our readers to de- 

 cide. Eemember, however, that 

 the beekeepers and those who keep 

 bees for profit are they who must 

 prove the principal movers and 

 strongest advocates of any meas- 

 ures that shall improve our condi- 

 tion. 



THE APIARY. 



The weather (here in New Eng- 

 land, at least) has taken a sudden 

 change and it is warm and muggy. 

 The fruit trees are in bloom and 

 the bees are at vs^ork gathering in 

 the precious nectar. 



Should this condition of affairs 

 continue, the colonies will build up 

 rapidly, but do not be too anxious 

 to remove cushions and packing. 

 '^Make iiaste slowly," and add brood 

 combs only as they are needed. If 

 any of the colonies are very weak, 

 you had better unite them than to 

 try to build them up with brood 

 from other colonies ; but if there 

 are what we may call medium col- 

 onies it will pay to take a comb 

 with the adhering bees from each 

 of several strong colonies and give 

 to them. Of course, when doing 

 this, you must be careful not to re- 



move the old queens with the bees, 

 and if honey is not coming in fast 

 it would be well to cage the queen 

 in the weak colony, upon the side 

 of the comb, while you are uniting 

 them. 



Never let bees hang in clusters 

 upon the front of the hive idling 

 away their time when there is plenty 

 of honey in the fields. Make room 

 for them in the brood nest or sur- 

 plus box, and if the hives are ex- 

 posed to the direct ra^'s of the sun 

 it is better to shade them. 



This is a good time to get full 

 sheets of comb foundation built out 

 for future use ; and here let us 

 state that in fastening comb foun- 

 dation into the frames, where wire 

 is not used, we have given the pref- 

 erence to slender strips of wood 

 tacked upon the top of the sheet, 

 pressing the wax into the top bar 

 of the frame ; let the foundation 

 touch the end bars down about four 

 inches, and then cut it away begin- 

 ning with nothing and leaving bot- 

 tom of the sheet of foundation at 

 least one-fourth of an inch from 

 each end bar. This will induce the 

 bees to attach the upper ends of 

 the sheet of foundation to the end 

 bars, and cutting awaj'' the bottom 

 allows for sagging. 



One can let the strong stocks 

 build out the foundation until the 

 cells are, say, one-fourth of an inch 

 deep before eggs are laid in them 

 and then use them in weaker colo- 

 nies. Whenever one removes a 

 card of brood from a strong col- 

 ony, its place should be supplied 

 witli a sheet of foundation. 



Always remember that beekeep- 

 ers must watch and care for their 

 pets. Many long months are re- 

 quired to prepare them to gather 

 what honey may be secured in a 

 few short weeks, and that unless 

 our colonies are strong and i)opu- 

 lous when the flow comes and fur- 

 nished with the proper number of 

 sections or combs, the harvest will 



