148 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



waste to give it a second super at 

 an}'^ time. As fast as tliey need 

 more supers, tliey are added by 

 putting under those already nearly 

 filled till toward the close of the 

 honey flow, when an empty super 

 is put on top if there is any likeli- 

 hood that additional room may be 

 needed. In case it is not needed 

 the bees will not occupy it, whereas 

 if put under the other supers they 

 would make a start in it even if no 

 more room were needed. The Hed- 

 don slat honey-board is put on the 

 hive before putting on supers and 

 is a necessity, unless bridges of 

 comb are desired between the lower 

 combs and the brood-frames. 



When a super is tilled, or so 

 nearly filled that only the outer 

 sections lack a little of being fin- 

 ished, it is taken off, and the unfin- 

 ished sections of several such 

 supers are put into a super to be put 

 back on a hive for the bees to finish. 



As the honey harvest ends vviih 

 white clover in my neighborhood, 

 all supers are taken off whenever 

 the bees cease to store from white 

 clover. All the bees gather after 

 that time they are welcome to 

 keep for their own use ; and, if an 

 occasional year comes when they 

 get buckwheat or something else 

 to such an extent as to crowd the 

 brood-nest too much, the extractor 

 is brought into play. If, on the 

 other hand, they are scarce of stores 

 they are fed quite early in the fall. 



Marengo, III. 



For the American Apiculturist. 



METHOD NUMBER FIVE. 



G. W. Demaree. 



STOKING COMB HONEY : BEST METH- 

 ODS. 



The first point to be discussed is 

 "preparation." 



J would commence the year be- 



fore, always keeping a year in ad- 

 vance. If my bees are well 

 managed the season before, so as 

 to be strong in young bees, and 

 bountifully supplied with good nat- 

 ural stores for winter, I may rea- 

 sonably expect my bees to be 

 strong in the early spring and fully 

 up with the times, and readj^ for 

 efficient service. 



These needful preparations in 

 my locality are well nigh essential 

 to good strong colonies ready to 

 take the advantage of the entire 

 harvest. After I have insured these 

 conditions I have onl^^ to close 

 np all upward ventilation in the 

 early spring, by putting sheets of 

 paper between the quilts at the 

 top of tlie brood-frames and con- 

 tract the entrances to the hives so 

 as to economize the heat, without 

 which the Jbees cannot breed rap- 

 idly. There is no danger of moist- 

 ure accumulating in the hives at 

 this season of the year. I think 

 that this is all I can do to help the 

 bees through the trying season. It 

 is all that I can do to promote 

 rapid brooding, provided the bees 

 have an abundance of stores so as 

 to feel free to use them for their 

 most rapid growth into strong 

 efficient colonies. 



Some good beekeepers have re- 

 ported excellent results from 

 "spreading brood," and inserting 

 empty combs between, and others 

 think that inverting the brood- 

 chambers has hastened the results, 

 but such ti'eatment is positively a 

 disadvantage in my locality, and 

 therefore I advise that each apia- 

 rist seek to be his own judge as to 

 what is best in his particular case, 

 in the light of his locality and sur- 

 roundings. 



The next point is the hive, and 

 the sui'plus arrangements. All 

 good movable-frame hives not less 

 than seven, nor more than ten 

 inches in depth, if they have ample 

 room for top storing will give much 



