THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



159 



Space around brood-frames. 



I bi'lit've that lu-arly all who make bee- 

 hives allow lhreo-oi;ihths to one-half an 

 inch ispacu around the (Vanies. This space 

 is too large. Only a bee space, and that is 

 less than two-eiiiiiths of an ineli, should 

 he allowed at the rear end of and over the 

 iVames. If more than one-fourth of an 

 inch is allowed it is certain to be tilled in 

 with comb and honey. Mure space can 

 be jjiven at the front end of the frames, 

 say three-eighths of an inch, and the bees 

 will not run the comb through the ends of 

 the frames to the front of the hive. 



The Bay State Hive has but three-six- 

 teenths of an inch space between the top- 

 bar and honey-board, or section-rack 

 above, and not one of the colonies fastened 

 the top of frames and section-rack togeth- 

 er, notwithstanding the fact that the top- 

 bars are but one inch wide. 



The end bar or vertical piece of the L. 

 frame should not be less, and I do not 

 think it should be much more than seven- 

 eighths of an inch wide. If not as wide 

 as seven-eighths of an inch, the bees will 

 run the combs through and fasten to the 

 back end of the hive ; if wider than seven- 

 eighth of an inch, the frames do not seem 

 to iiandle well. 



The top-bar for a Langstroth hive 

 should be one inch wide, and if one- 

 eighth of an inch wider it is still better. 

 Any top-bar less than an inch wide is a 

 nuisance of the most intolerable kind In 

 any apiary. Those who use a seven- 

 eighths top-bar know how they work, and 

 I need not state it here. Those who use 

 a wide top-bar frame know that the bees 

 do not fasten everything so tlrnily that a 

 chisel or a lever of some kind must be 

 used in order to get a frame out. 



Disposing of honey. 



One who has anything to sell must 

 watch his chance and take every advan- 

 tage of the market. I have a brother 

 who carries the mail between the Wenhara 

 station and a summer resort. The idea 

 struck me that that would be a good place 

 to dispose of some of my honey. One 

 day I gave him a package to show the 

 people, and the result was I found quite a 

 sale for honej'. He gets twenty-five cents 

 per pound for it and I allow five cents' 

 commission for selling it. You see we 

 both make a good thing out of it, as it re- 

 quires no extra time or labor to do the 

 selling. 



You who have honey for sale should take 

 a sample package wlien going "to town" or 

 wherever you go, provided the honey can 

 be taken as well as not. In this way you 



can do your own advertising, and at the 

 same time take orders to fill when going 

 that way again. If there is much passing 

 of teams by your residence, just slick up 

 a "shingle," stating that you have pure 

 honey for sale, and you will be surprised 

 to know how many and how well people 

 love honey. 



Qetting bees out of sections. 



Several cases of sections were removed 

 from the hive just before sunset and 

 placed in the bee-house. A cage con- 

 taining a queen was nailed in a box and the 

 box was then inverted on the cases which 

 were standing on one end. In the morn- 

 ing every bee had left the sections and 

 most of them were quietly clustered ou 

 the queen cage; the box was then placed 

 out of doors, the queen cage removed and 

 the bees returned to their respective hives. 

 Had it been convenient or desirable to 

 form a new colony just then, the bees could 

 have been utilized for that purpose. 



I find the bee-house, having but one 

 room and so built that no bees can enter 

 or get out through cracks in the door or 

 window, one of the best places to put the 

 sections when removed from the hive. I 

 have a window in the door of my bee- 

 house; the bees leave the sections, and 

 cluster thereon to get rid of them and at 

 the same time let no robbers in, the door 

 is opened and the bees take wing with a 

 rusli. Any room arranged as above will 

 do as well as a house for that special pur- 

 pose. Tlie best methods for keeping comb 

 honey, as practised by the largest bee- 

 keepers has been described in the back 

 numbers of tlie Apicultukist. I think 

 it would be best to get all honey in the 

 hands of the consumer as soon as possible 

 after it is removed from the hives. 



Introducing queens to artificial swarms. 

 I am interested in an out-apiary and 

 lately have been dividing some of the col- 

 onics. Not having the time to go to them 

 every day, I introduced the queens direct 

 in cages by this method : The queens 

 were put in cages like those illustrated 

 and described on page 235, Beekeepers' 

 Handy Book. The cage was then inserted 

 in one corner of one of the brood-frames 

 for the bees to remove the food and re- 

 lease the queen. This method has been 

 tested in the Bay State apiary and worked 

 satisfactorily. It will take the bees, at 

 least, two days to remove the food and 

 liberate the queen; by that time they will 

 be pretty well acquainted with her. 



