THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



161 



successfully, we should begin prep- 

 arations just as soon as the sur- 

 plus honey has been removed in 

 the fall, and the less that the bees 

 are disturbed after that, the better. 

 How ofteh, in examining colonies 

 that have been packed for winter, 

 we find a small shivering cluster 

 in the centre of the brood nest, 

 with a cold and chilling air space 

 all about them, just like one try- 

 ing to warm himself by the heat of 

 a kerosene lamp in a large room. 

 The brood chamber must be com- 

 pact, no matter what the size or 

 style of frame, and if the brood- 

 chamber is adapted to the size of 

 the colony, the combs filled with 

 good sealed honey, or j^ure sugar 

 syrup, and the brood chamber well 

 packed with chaff, the hive kept 

 up from the ground a few inches, 

 there will be but little trouble. 

 There should be a space above the 

 frames of say one-half to three- 

 fourths of an inch to provide a 

 passage way for the bees over the 

 frames. Bees seldom die until 

 near tlie breaking up of winter, or 

 the opening of spring, and at this 

 time it is quite easy to place a 

 stimulative feedei- over the cluster 

 in such a way that the bees can 

 reach the food without breaking 

 tlie cluster. We think oftentimes 

 that far too much honey is left in 

 the hives over winter. We prefer 

 to give the bees just what combs 

 they can cover, and supply them 

 .with what honey they need toward 

 spring. This seems to have been 

 the trouble with friend Wands' 

 bees, too much space in brood 

 chamber, and not warm enough. 

 The hive to which he refers con- 

 tains many valuable and important 

 features. We have just received 

 one of them from Mr. Tefft of Col- 

 lamer, New York, and his reversi- 

 ble brood and section frames are 

 first-class ; we merely refer to them 

 here, but will report after we have 

 given the hive a thorough trial. 

 18 



We can say, however, that the 

 principle is a simple and practical 

 one, and if the reversing of the 

 frames proves advantageous and 

 practical, then friend Tefft's frames 

 will prove worthy of adoption. — 

 Ed.] 



Ed. of thk Am. Apiculturist : 

 Dear Sir, 

 We are now having the second 

 honey flow, viz., from the sweet 

 bay and saw palmetto. The hives 

 are full and the " extractor " (?) 

 busy with some, while with others, 

 including '' yours, etc.," the bees 

 are building combs and extracting 

 foundation sheets to be in readi- 

 ness for the full blast of the man- 

 grove two weeks hence. Honey 

 taken out now is dark and more 

 rank than later, when it is white 

 and clear like sea water. The 

 past winter was very serious among 

 our large apiaries, some parties 

 losing from thirty to fifty colo- 

 nies in wintering and heavy feeding 

 was resorted to, to save the balance ; 

 one neighbor told me this week 

 he only had three natural swarms 

 out of one hundred colonies 

 this past spring ; but colonies are 

 building up fast now, which I 

 fear may bring swarming in the 

 midst of the main honey flow, 

 Avhen we usually have it out of the 

 way and all energies bent on stor- 

 ing, instead of " house moving." 

 I therefore, "brush swarm" my 

 strongest ones twenty-one days 

 before I expect the main honey 

 flow, but I did not know until the 

 Journal came last week that any one 

 else had ever used the same method. 

 I give one comb of honey in addi- 

 tion to Brother Stachelhausen in 

 case of a few days bad weather, 

 etc. Now just one word " scien- 

 tifically" in regard to the bee, 

 honey, or wax moth whose larvae 



