150 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



before sunset, the bees will miss their 

 queen before morning and become recon- 

 ciled to the new slate of things. Now, 

 if forage is plenty, or lil)eral feeding is 

 done the new swarms will soon be in fine 

 condition. 



One word about cutting the foundation 

 for the frames. Lately I have used con- 

 siderable foundation and have watched 

 closely for results. Some of the founda- 

 tion was given full colonies gathering 

 honey freely, and some to colonies rearing 

 queens, but the result in working out was 

 the same in all cases. 



I found where the foundation was cut 

 so as to come down within one-half an 

 inch of the bottom-bar, that it would sag 

 so as to touch the wood, double up the 

 comb, and nearly spoil about two inches 

 of it. 



Such combs were removed, the bad 

 piece cut out and the frame then placed in 

 the hive again. Then again, if the foun- 

 dation was so long tliat it touched the end- 

 bars of the frames the efl'ect was equally as 

 bad as when it touched the bottom- bar and 

 the combs were wavy and badly out of 

 shape. In order to prevent bad work from 

 sagging and stretching, the foundation 

 should be cut three-fourths of an inch 

 smaller than the inside of the frame. 

 When the foundation is placed in the frame 

 the distance should be equal from each 

 end. That would leave a space three- 

 eighths of an inch at each end, and three- 

 fourths of an inch at the bottom. Wlien 

 thus used nice, straight combs will be the 

 result. 



Feeding new swarms. 



If feeding must be resorted to (and of 

 course it will be necessary unless there 

 is plenty of forage in the fields) let it be 

 done as follows : The first day or two feed 

 a thin syrup, say one pound of water to two 

 pounds of sugar, and place it, if possible, 

 at the top of the hive (over the combs) 

 and not at the entrance. If your hive has 

 a cap, a small tin pan, or any dish that 

 will hold one quart or three pints, will do 

 as well as a patent feeder. Make a small 

 hole in the honey board, or whatever 

 covers the frames, and place the vessel 

 containing the syrup in such a way that 

 the bees will have easy access to it. I 

 usually make a bridge of a block of wood 

 for the bees to climb over to the dish. To 

 prevent the bees from drowning thin 

 pieces of wood whicii serve as fioats are 

 placed in the syrup. A strong colony will 

 remove two quarts of the syrup in one day 

 — yes, in a few hours. If thin, it is more 

 likely to induce comb building. 



After the first few days not over one 

 pint of syrup should be given each day. 



Now we will consider that the colonies 

 have been queenless three days, and tit this 

 stage aqueen should be introduced to each. 

 It can now be safely done by merely smok- 

 ing the bees with rotten-wood and letting 

 the queen run in at the entrance. Tiiis, 

 also, should be done just before dark. 



Making colonies, as above described, is 

 intended to apply to operation after July 

 20, and from that to August 10. While 

 colonies can be formed alter the last date 

 given, it is not safe to make them as there 

 is not time for a sufficient quantity of bees 

 to be bred up for winter. I have known 

 swarms to issue as late as September 10, 

 and to get nearly stores enough for winter, 

 and in some cases such colonies have win- 

 tered well. Yet the wise beekeeper will 

 not divide his colonies much later than 

 August 10. 



Beginning earlier in tiie season, as many 

 as eight colonies can be made from one, 

 and Mr. P. K. Kussell, of Lynn, Mass., hag 

 been successful in doing so. 



Drones — How to get them late in the 



season. ' 



In my queen-rearing experience I have 

 seen times when I would willingly pay one 

 dollar per hundred for some pure Italian 

 drones ; in fact, I am quite sure I have been 

 obliged to pay out more than that sum to 

 obtain them, counting the express bills 

 and car fare I have put out the money for. 

 A good many years ago, when about every- 

 body lost their bees in winter and when 

 there were but fewltaliati bees in the coun- 

 try, I had but one pjtJT Italian qiieen and a 

 handful of bees to commence the season's 

 work with. Well, it was up-hill work, 

 but I managed to do a heavy queen busi- 

 ness that year notwithstanding the dis- 

 couraging outlook in the early spring. 

 That was the season I liad neeil for drones. 

 It was necessary to ket^p the only breeding 

 queen in a full colony in order to obtain 

 drones as well as eggs for queen cells; but 

 later in tiie season, when the old lady had 

 made up her mind that she Inid mothered 

 all the males she thought necessary for 

 that year, she refused to deposit more 

 eggs for that purpose. Well, I was in a 

 bad fix, yet it was necessary to do some- 

 thing and that quickly, as the supply of 

 drones on hand would not last long and 

 others must be had, or queen-rearing nnist 

 go to the walls foi the season. This 

 prompted me to experiment. Though all 

 the bee-books and authors tell us that 

 young queens would not lay drone eggs the 

 first year, I thought they could be made to 

 do so. In this opinion I was right. I had 

 a colony that had just made a set of queen 



