even in spite of the precautions which 

 we have taken, a very good way to 

 weaken them and thus remove the 

 danger, and at the same time obtain 

 material of which to make other colo- 

 nies or nuclei, is to take from them as 

 many frames as necessary, of hatching 

 brood, with the adhering bees and put 

 in their place either empty combs or 

 frames of foundation. The combs 

 of brood which we have removed are 

 probably the most valuable part of our 

 apiary, and are the best material with 

 which to make nuclei. These nuclei 

 should be immediately supplied with 

 queens; if the queens are laying and 

 tested, so much the better. 



These nuclei or small colonies, are 

 now in a fair way to become good sized 

 colonies before winter, if circumstances 

 are favorable to them even if given no 

 material aid, though they will appre- 

 ciate any help which may be given them 

 in the way of additional frames of 

 hatching brood. This way of making 

 nuclei out of the surplus strength of 

 strong colonies, is, we believe, a much 

 better way than breaking a large colony 

 into numerous and weak nuclei, and 

 then waiting for them to attain full 

 size by a long process of feeble growth. 

 By some it is preferred to take a few 

 brood combs with the adhering bees 

 from each of several strong colonies 

 and unite them, so as to make a strong 

 colony at once . This way is perhaps the 

 best, but the former has the advantage 

 of providing a large number of nuclei 

 wherein to raise and test young queens, 

 and this is a thing much to be desired by 

 those who, like ourselves, rear queen's 

 for sale. 



This taking away of brood frames is 

 a heavy drain on the strength of the 



garent colonies, and if forage should 

 ecome scarce, it may become neces- 

 sary to feed them so that the depleted 

 number of workers can act as nurses, 

 rather than spend their time in roam- 

 ing the fields. It is frequently a good 

 plan to feed any weak colony and thus 

 in a measure render them independent 

 of untoward circumstances by supplying 

 conditions which are favorable. 



As to the time for performing the 

 various operations of the apiary, no 

 rigid rule can be laid down, because 

 seasons vary from each other as well as 

 localities. Therefore a paper of this 

 kind must necessarily be suggestive 

 rather than didactic, and we would hint 

 that unless the yield of nectar in the 

 early part of the season is very large, 

 that nuclei and new colonies be made 

 after the clover yield rather than before 

 or during it, so that we may have 

 strong colonies at the right time to take 



advantage of this large harvest. And 

 also that the work of dividing be done 

 before the fall harvest so that the new 

 colony may be in a condition to take 

 advantage of it. The question how far 

 may the increasing of colonies be ex- 

 tended is to be decided by the needs of 

 the bee-keeper and his ability to build 

 his nuclei and weak colonies up before 

 winter so that they will be able to stand 

 that trying ordeal. It should be the 

 aim of apiarists to have opportunity of 

 doing a particular thing coincident 

 with the need thereof, and he should be 

 ever ready to take advantage of the 

 occasion. 

 Detroit, Mich. 



North Eastern Convention. 



The Question Box. 



1. What is the best way to ship ex- 

 tracted honey ? Ans. Barrels or kegs. 



2. How far will bees go in search of 

 honey ? Ans. by two, four to six miles ; 

 by one. two miles. 



3. In any ordinary locality how many 

 colonies can be kept in one place to ad- 

 vantage ? Ans. by one, not over sixty ; 

 by two, one hundred to three hundred. 



4. Which is the best time to ship 

 bees on the cars where they are to go 

 two hundred miles southeast, spring or 

 fall V Ans. Spring. 



5. Does the advantage, in better ven- 

 tilation of a hive with two entrances, 

 more than compensate tor the probable 

 loss of bees when one of the entrances 

 is closed in the fall? Ans. Yes; 

 the bees generally are acquainted with 

 both entrances. 



6. How do you extract the wires 

 from the comb after the foundation is 

 drawn out? Ans. With little tweezers. 

 Pull them upward. 



7. Which is the best foundation for 

 surplus honey boxes — drone or worker ? 

 Ans. Worker makes the best appear- 

 ance when capped over. 



8. Is candy, made of good sugar, a 

 good thing to feed bees with during 

 winter, provided they have enough 

 honey in the hive to supply necessary 

 liquid? Ans. Yes, provided there is 

 no way of getting along without it. 



9. Or, if we COUld feed litem water 

 and candy would it do just as well as 

 honey V Ans. No. 



10. How thick should a section box 

 for honey be when separators are used? 

 Ans. \\{ to 2 inches. 



11. Will bees store and cap as much 

 honey when the sections are two inches 

 thick as when they are of less thick- 

 ness, if a separator is used between 

 each section V Ans. Yes. 



