THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



155 



m.v, lis ft wooden oiio? Does not every 

 body know who keeps ])ees that there are 

 several days durinij a fjood honey sea- 

 son when tlieie is not lialf empty cells 

 enouiili in a hive for the l)ees to store the 

 honey in as last as they can gather it? 

 Wliois so blind that he cannot see the ad- 

 vantaiie in havin-r a few spare combs in 

 the brood-chamber at such a time? 



Brother Hutchinson says tiie bees do 

 not "loaf" in the two spaces that are 

 made when a honey-hoard is placed on a 

 Jdve. What do they do tlien. Brother H ? 

 They are there all the time and if you will 

 nse a glass hive to observe the bees you 

 will tind they do not move around much. I 

 would much rather have an 8-frame hive 

 with no houey-board than a 6-frame hive 

 with a honey-board. With the former 

 there is no loatlng room and the sections 

 are brought nearly an inch nearer the brofld 

 than it is possible to do with the latter. 



Many beekeepers have felt the need of 

 n hive that can be used without a honey- 

 board and at the same time one that the 

 queen will not be induced to enter the 

 sections. I believe the Bay State hive 

 is the one. At any rate, I desire a report 

 from all who are using them on this one 

 point : Has the queen entered the sec- 

 tions? Some very flattering reports have 

 come in which will appear in later issues 

 of the Apicultuuist. 



"What shall we do wlien a person is badly 

 stung? 



When a person is badly stung, some- 

 thing must be quickly done to relieve tlie 

 pain, prevent the ssvelling and any bad 

 etlects of the poison taken into the system. 

 What will prove a remedy in one case will 

 have no effect in another. Kerosene oil, 

 spirits of turpentine and spirits of ammo- 

 nia are all good. 



A few miles from my apiary, there are 

 several hives of bees over which a shed- 

 roof is built. Diiectly over this shed is 

 an early apple tree. One day two small 

 boys got upon the bee-shed to get some 

 of the nice fruit. This disturbed the bees 

 and they soon found the hoys. One of 

 them had the good sense to jump and run, 

 but the otlier stood and was badly stung, 

 and no doubt would have been stung to 

 death had not a person who happened to 

 be passing at the time rescued him. There 

 was near by a large trough of water used 

 for horses, into which the boy was quickly 

 plunged, thus preventing further stinging 

 and which prompt action probably saved 

 his life. 



Such a simple and ready remedy as a 

 quantity of water is not always at hand 



tiiongh cold water is one of the best things 

 to apply in a case of severe stinging. For 

 one, or for two or three stings, the first 

 mentioned remedies are all that is re- 

 quired. 



Persons wlio have a bad humor in tlieir 

 systeujs are the ones who are niost badly 

 affected when stung by an insect. Sucli 

 people should not attempt to liandle bees 

 without a good pair of rubber gloves and 

 a good bee veil. 



How to keep a queen several days after she 

 is received by mail. 

 Many of those wiio purcliase queens do 

 not seem to know how to keep them un- 

 til they can be introduced. If the queen 

 is received in good condition the cage may 

 be placed over a colony (one having no 

 queen is best) in this way : Make an inch 

 hole in the honey-board or arrange it in 

 anyway so that the part of the cage hav- 

 ing the queen in can be so placed that the 

 bees in the colony can get at it and feed 

 her through the meshes of the wire cloth. 

 Not only will the bees feed the queen, 

 but she will remain perfectly quiet all the 

 time while thus confined. 



Prepare for winter. 



Bear in mind that the month of August 

 is the time to prepare l)ees for winter. 

 Early in the month see that each colony 

 has a good queen and plenty of brood. 

 The first of September do all the necessary 

 feeding, and by October do all the pack- 

 ing tliat is to be done. 



No packing is done between the hives 

 in tile Bay State Apiai'v. I do not want 

 any mouldy combs and do not get them 

 when no packing is done. I find that the 

 bees winter much the best where the hives 

 are only packed over the frames. The 

 dead-air space between the outer case and 

 brood-chamber is not air-tight, nor do I 

 want it so. Theory, like some other 

 tilings, is good in its place, but experi- 

 ence is the best criterion to be governed 

 by. When I put saw-dust, chafl'and other 

 such material between the hives for pack- 

 ing, the combs moulded and the bees win- 

 tered badly. There are many disadvan- 

 tages in using chafl-packed hives. Who 

 can say tliat packing is of the least advan- 

 tage? What is the advantage of winter 

 packing, anyway? I believe in spring 

 packing, as in that case bees can be kept 

 very warm as brood- rearing is going on 

 which acts almost like a small stove in 

 the hive. When bees are not brooding, 



