60 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



one, to place drone comb in the hive 

 so early, unless drones are desired very 

 early for Italianizing. Should this be 

 desired, select an old comb containing 

 plenty of drone cells and place in the 

 centre, about the tenth of this month, 

 I think, plenty early for the Middle 

 States, and you will then have drones 

 before swarming is generally desirable, 

 I should continue feeding this month, 

 as advised in last number, and do not 

 stop until honey commences to flow. 

 Bees from the cellar should be set on 

 the summer stands, except far North, 

 where, if they remain quiet, I think 

 it would be better to wait until the 

 first of May. This, of course, must 

 be regulated by the season. They 

 should be set out as soon as warm 

 weather seems to have come to stay, 

 and blossoms begin to appear. In set- 

 ting them out, open only a few stocks 

 at a time until the excitement of the 

 first flight is over. As to the interval 

 •of time between opening them, I 

 might say a few hours. Inasmuch as 

 we often speak of early spring, we 

 would call six weeks prior to the time 

 peach trees bloom, early spring. So 

 the reader can tell about the time 

 peach trees bloom in his section, and 

 thus by deducting six weeks he will be 

 very near the time to which the writer 

 refers when he mentions early spring. 

 As bees are increasing in numbers 

 very quickly this month, common sense 

 alone teaches us to remove all absorb- 

 ing material, and prevent as much as 

 possible all upward ventilation. The 

 very best that can be used for this 

 purpose is enamelled cloth, enamelled 

 side down. You may then, if you 

 like, put warmer cloths on top, and 

 in this way we can retain most of the 

 animal heat in the brood-nest, which 



is a big factor for brood-rearing. 



Look out for robbing and keep 

 brood nest open as little as possible, 

 lest you chill the brood. 



Look out for worms or millers and 

 kill all you see, as this saves trouble, 

 as each one of them that lives rears 

 four generations during the summer. 

 — W.B. T. (N. Y.) 



TRANSFERRING. 



Transferring is a very simple opera- 

 tion, and one that the beginner need 

 have no fear of. After once getting 

 the "hang" of the thing, it can be 

 done with a considerable degree of 

 rapidity. A couple of years back it 

 fell to my duty to transfer a large 

 number of colonies from box hives or 

 gums, to movable frame hives. I de- 

 viated a little from the usual method, 

 and I will here give my way of doing 

 it, which method I believe accomplish- 

 es two objects: 1st. Equalizing the 

 strength of the colonies. 2d. The 

 rapidity of the method. We will 

 assume you have any number oP col- 

 onies in box hives and your movable 

 frames and hives are all ready for 

 business. Make a board three to six 

 inches longer than the frame and 

 about the same wider, and into it and 

 across this board cut three groves, 

 equal distance apart, and about one- 

 eighth of and inch deep and one-half 

 an inch w r ide, with cotton and a piece 

 of cloth or calico, pad the spaces be- 

 tween these grooves. Do not make 

 the pad too thick — one-half inch will 

 be enough . This is your transferring 

 board. Obtain a box very nearly, if 

 not quite the size, square, of your box 

 hives, and about half as high. It is 

 to have four sides and a bottom, but 

 no top. Cross-wise inside, and within 



