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THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



chaff-hive is a faihire in tliis lati- 

 tude for out-door wintering. With 

 me bees always failed to winter as 

 well in them as in single- walled 

 hives with division-boards. I know 

 of no good use for a hive with 

 double walls unless it be to expe- 

 dite brood-rearing in spring ; and 

 to be used for that purpose two 

 sets of hives would be required, 

 which would be inadmissible. 



WINTEHING IN-DOORS. 



But I would winter bees in-doors 

 even if chafll-hives were a success 

 outside. I mean by in-doors some 

 sort of a cellar or clamp. It is 

 both safer and cheaper excei)t it 

 may be where frequent opportuni- 

 ties for flight during winter are cer- 

 tain. In other regions, it is safer 

 because in all my experience I have 

 found that if bees winter well out- 

 side they certainly will inside in 

 any reasonably good cellar, and if 

 they suffer outside they always 

 sufier less inside. It is cheai)er 

 because several pounds of stores 

 per colony are saved, because a large 

 amount of expensive and disagree- 

 able work in preparing bees for out- 

 door wintering is dispensed with, 

 and because the lives of the old 

 bees are very much prolonged, 

 making very early brood-rearing 

 unnecessary. 



SPREADING BROOD. 



Success in the production of 

 honey requires one's colonies to be- 

 come populous as early as possible. 

 To accomplish this, having colo- 

 nies of fair strength in hives rea- 

 sonably adapted in size to the 

 strength of the colonies, the one 

 great prerequisite is an abundance 

 — a superabundance of stores. To 

 hasten the rearing of brood in 

 spring I have experimented largely 

 with the spreading of brood and 

 with feeding with a constantly 

 strengthening conviction that they 

 are never of much advantage and 

 always of doubtful utility. Of 



course, stores must be given if 

 there is not an already generous 

 supply. Then, in the al)sence of 

 any untoward casualty, with the 

 non-meddling policy tliere will re- 

 sult a healthy and rapid increase. 



EARLY PUEFARATI0N3. 



Nothing is more important than 

 early preparation for the honey 

 season and for the care of swarms. 

 The first day of June in this lati- 

 tude should find a sufficient num- 

 ber of hives to accommodate the 

 swarms and at least one set of 

 cases with sections in complete 

 readiness. Swarms and nectar will 

 not wait for hives and sections. 



In preparations for swarming, I 

 would examine every colony in the 

 spring before it becomes populous 

 and see that every queen has a 

 wing clipped ; then when swarming 

 begins be prepared with a few small 

 wire-cloth cages, and on the issuing 

 of a swarm step to the side of the 

 hive and run the queen into a cage 

 by holding the open end of it 

 closely over and in front of her.^ 

 Fasten her in and put her in a safe 

 place out of the sun. Often, if the 

 queen is put in a basket and the 

 basket hung in a tree the swarm in 

 the air will cluster in the basket. 

 Now move the old hive back and 

 turn it around so that the entrance 

 will be in the direction opposite to 

 that in which it previously stood, 

 then put the new hive on the old 

 stand and place upon it all cases of 

 sections which are on the old hive. 

 If the swarm has clustered with 

 the queen, pour it upon the ground 

 in front of the hive and when the 

 bees get well started on their jour- 

 ney for their new home, release 

 the queen and let her run in with 

 the bees. If the swarm is still in 



»Ho\v will such an .irranpenicnt work in a 

 large apiary when some half dozen swarms 

 issue at the same time and in dilVerent parts 

 of the apiary? Would not the drone-and- 

 queen trap lie the most convenient cage to 

 use ? The trap was devised to meet the very 

 want described by Mr. Taylor.— Ed. 



