64 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



iiies, then go a long distance and 

 get a new lot of bees after thor- 

 oughly examining the stock and 

 assuring yourself that the colonies 

 you can purchase are perfectly 

 healthy in all respects. 



ABOUT HIVES. 



If you have a hive in use that 

 seems to be well adapted to your 

 location, I would not change even 

 if satisfied that some one else has 

 a better one. 'Tis best to let well 

 enough alone. Nevertheless, it 

 would be hard to find a beekeeper 

 who is thoroughly satisfied with 

 the hive he uses, since no hive is 

 perfect, and we never saw a bee- 

 keeper who was not always ready 

 to test a hive when it was plain to 

 him that some other hive had many 

 good features that his own did not 

 possess. Under such circumstances 

 only would we advise any one to 

 purchase new hives and other bee- 

 fixtures. I despise a beehive that 

 is large enough, or has lumber 

 enough in it to construct a tene- 

 ment house. We have two hives 

 in our apiary sent us for trial, very 

 good hives, but they are large 

 enough for a hen-coop. Why make 

 a hive that has space enough be- 

 tween the outer case and brood- 

 chamber for ten bushels of shavings 

 to pack it for winter. Such large 

 hives are a nuisance in the apiar}-. 



FEEDING ARTIFICIAL POLLEN. 



For thirty years we have made it 

 a practice to feed wheat flour to 

 bees lor early pollen. I know 

 that nearly all who speak of this 

 matter will say " feed rye meal." 

 We know from long experience 

 that wheat-flour is the proper mate- 

 rial to give the bees. We take 

 the cap of an L. hive, invert it, 

 place the flour in it and then set 

 it under the south side of a build- 

 ing, or in any sheltered place, and 

 very near the apiary, too. The 

 bees are easily started to work in 

 the flour by placing a small piece 



of comb containing honey in the 

 flour. We also place a piece of 

 dry comb in the box for the bees to 

 light upon and work the flour in- 

 to little pellets upon their legs. 

 If bees need pollen before it can 

 be obtained from early flowers, 

 why not give them such material 

 that they can quickly take into the 

 hive? They can do it with flour. 



SOCIALITY AMONG BEEKEEPERS. 



Beekeepers as a class are not apt 

 to '' hide their light under a 

 bushel." As a rule, they often 

 meet and talk about bees and bee 

 matters, and talk over the little ex- 

 periments they have been working 

 upon. In this way much valuable 

 information has been gained to all 

 concerned. 



When there were beekeepers in 

 this vicinity with whom I could 

 meet and talk bees for a while I 

 could enjoy myself. Now the 

 nearest beekeeper is four miles 

 away and then we do not have the 

 time to spend in such a wa}'. Our 

 advice is to meet and converse 

 upon bees as often as possible, 

 talk over the best methods for 

 Avintering bees, best way to market 

 honey, best hives, etc. 



Wenham, Mass. 



For the American Apicultnrist, 



Q UEEN-EXCL UDING 

 HONEY-BOARDS. 



DK. G. L. TINKER. 



Many inquiries have been re- 

 ceived of late pertaining to this 

 subject and I will endeavor to an- 

 swer through the Apicultuuist. 



Two kinils of these boards have 

 been in use : — one made of a plain 

 sheet of perforated zinc bound at 

 the edges, and of a size to cover 

 the brood-chamber, and the other 

 made of wood slats and narrow 



