THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



73 



distance, the bee-house of the out- 

 apiary, were phiinly visible. 



At the appointed hour, all re- 

 paired to the Hall near by and 

 were greeted by a goodly number 

 of assembling beekeepers. During 

 the day, the following questions 

 ■were discussed : 



Do bees need water in winter, 

 and how may it be supplied? 



General opinion that condensa- 

 tion aftbrds sufficient moisture, un- 

 less temperature is above 60° and 

 brood-rearing in progress. Also 

 that bees are most quiet at 45° or 

 a little below. Water may be given 

 in sponges, or in flat bottles, by 

 means of lamp-wick. See "Api," 

 vol. 4, p. 151. 



Will bees usu ally ^tove sufficient 

 honey in brood-chambers for win- 

 ter stores? 



Italians will, Germans will not. 

 Winter ventilation. On summer 

 stands, entrances should corre- 

 spond to size of colonies and to 

 method of packing ; heavy colonies 

 having full-sized entrances. Up- 

 ward ventilation hardl}' need be 

 provided, as hives will not be air- 

 tight. Claimed that air will pass 

 in at one side of entrance and out 

 at the other. 



Bridges should be placed over 

 combs in winter, affording free 

 passage from comb to comb and 

 also room for bees to cluster. 



AV inter passages through the 

 combs are advantageous, though 

 they will afterwards be filled with 

 drone comb. Large openings cut 

 in combs will also be thus filled. 



To prevent increase, the Simmins 

 non-swarming method was given. 

 Have frames run parallel with en- 

 trance, and continually keep several 

 empty frames in the front end of 

 hive, by taking away combs as fast 

 as built and replacing with empty 

 frames. Claimed that bees will not 

 swarm, as long as any part of the 

 brood-chamber is empty. 



Plan foi- artificial swarming. Re- 

 move the old colony to new stand, 



after taking from it, the comb con- 

 taining queen and adhering bees. 

 Place "tills comb in empty hive, on 

 old stand and fill up with empty 

 combs, or full sheets of foundation. 

 Allow old colony to rear queen or 

 supply one. 



To prevent swarming during 

 hone3'-flow, be fully sure that from 

 the very first, bees have abundance 

 of room, air and shade. Might, 

 in case they grow lazy, take away 

 their combs for a day. Might, al- 

 so, take them away permanently, 

 giving them to weak swarms, or to 

 nuclei, previously started, and re- 

 place with empty combs or founda- 

 tion. Mr. Baldwin gave explana- 

 tions here which I did not fully 

 understand and may allude to later. 

 Decided that in the production 

 of comb honey, the German bee is 

 best ; for extracting, the Italian is 

 preferred. 



In connection with prevention of 

 after-swarms, it was asked if vio- 

 lent jarring of combs will destroy 

 queen-cells. Decided that it will 

 not, provided the operator under- 

 stands his "biz" well. Method of 

 hiving half a dozen after swarms 

 together, advocated. 



In the use of foundation, mere 

 starters, in sections, was advised ; 

 and "all you can afford," in brood- 

 chamber. 



The fact was alluded to, that 

 cappings and bits of wax left near 

 the hives will be utilized by bees, 

 in comb-building. 



Should sections have side-pas- 

 sages? In connection with this, a 

 specimen section from Dr. Tinker 

 was shown. Decided to be advan- 

 tageous as affording freer access, 

 containing less wood and present- 

 ing a better appearance. 



In regard to wire cloth for sep- 

 arators it was thought that it would 

 not afford the necessary rigidity. 



Extracting from brood-chamber 

 advocated only when the queen is 

 crowded. 



There was a difference of opinion 



