724 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Another way is to set a torch among 

 your bees after dark, in such a position 

 that it will shine on the back of the 

 hives. This will also attract the millers. 



Still another way is to set two boards 

 up edgewise, half an inch apart at the 

 bottom, and tight together at the top. 

 Set it in some shady place near the api- 

 ary, and if old boards are scarce about 

 the apiary, you will find the pests se- 

 creted in the trap. 



But those apiarists having Italian 

 bees I think will not have to try these 

 methods of exterminating moths, as the 

 bees will take care of them. I hardly 

 think it worth while, in my case, to at- 

 tempt to ensnare the millers, as for 

 every one I would trap my neighbors 

 would rear five, which looks discourag- 

 ing in the beginning, and would likely 

 turn out so in the end. There are quite 

 a number of old bee-keepers in this 

 vicinity, and they really are old bee- 

 keepers indeed, they being old-fashioned 

 as well as behind the times. Most of 

 them are thoroughly versed in bee-keep- 

 ing (in their estimation), and they can 

 tell their theories and experiences, but 

 don't care to hear yours. They use the 

 same kind of hives their grandfathers 

 used, which everybody knows is a com- 

 mon box with sticks through the center ; 

 for, as my neighboring apiarist said, 

 "They have been thoroughly tried and 

 proved a success." 



My neighbor had three times as many 

 bees as I last spring, and I got more 

 honey from one colony than he did from 

 his entire apiary. His management of 

 bees is about this : 



He makes not less than three raids on 

 them during the season, his first adven- 

 ture being to sneak upon them some 

 warm day in the spring, when they are 

 having a flight, in order to count them, 

 which he generally succeeds in doing. 

 He then lets them alone until they have 

 nearly swarmed to death, and the honey 

 season is about over. He then concludes 

 it is about time to put on surplus boxes, 

 which he generally succeeds in doing 

 with more or less stings. I can generally 

 tell when he has been putting on the 

 surplus boxes, by his disfigured counte- 

 nance. Much depends upon how his 

 smudge of sulphur and rags works. 



His last, but not least, grand final 

 raid is to harvest the crop, which is 

 quite a peaceful affair. He makes it 

 an object to wait until it has frozen up, 

 and then his bees are quite gentle and 

 harmless. I never heard of his selling 

 any honey, there being two pretty good 

 reasons why — first, his honey was not 

 put up in salable packages ; and, second, 



he seldom found enough to pay to try to 

 sell. But nevertheless I will take mine 

 in scientific bee-keeping, with the rest 

 of my apiarian friends. 

 Central City, Iowa. 



]Vuc!eH!<( Method of Replacing 

 ^'V«"t<i»* liOsses of Bees. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY C. E. MEAD. 



The eggs hatch by heat of the bees, 

 therefore the warmer you can pack 

 them the more eggs they can care for. 

 Colonies of only two or three frames of 

 bees may be made to increase rapidly by 

 placing a division-board in confining 

 them on the number of frames they 

 cover, leaving the other frames in the 

 hive, and allowing space under the 

 division-board for the bees to pass un- 

 der and get the honey. If there is no 

 honey, put in some sugar syrup, and 

 keep the entrance small. Place an oil- 

 cloth on top of the frames and division- 

 board, so the heat cannot go over the 

 top of the division-board. You will 

 have to move the division-board as often 

 as once a week. 



My Langstroth frames average about 

 8x12 inches of brood, which will aver- 

 age about 50 bees to the square inch, or 

 4,800 bees to the comb. That number 

 will more than care for two combs, so 

 they double as often as every ten days, 

 in geometrical progression, until the 

 capacity of the queen is reached. 



In an average season, with the above 

 treatment, a two-frame nucleus put into 

 a hive of combs will have it full of bees 

 by linden bloom, if put in on June 1st, 

 in this locality. 



I had, one year, two one-frame nuclei, 

 each one of which filled a two-story hive, 

 and one swarmed three times, and the 

 other twice. 



Do not be discouraged ; work for a big 

 yield this year, as it should be a linden 

 year in Illinois. 



I like wide frames best to get bait 

 sections early. In a 10-frame hive 

 seven brood-frames and two wide-frames, 

 the two wide-framos give 16 sections; 

 when well started, place in the super 

 above, and put in their place empty 

 frames, foundation, combs, or dummies, 

 according to the strength of the colony. 



Wide-frames should be put on the out- 

 side, with a frame of capped brood next 

 to them, the combs of young larvie and 

 some empty ones to be put in the center. 



Chicago, Ills. 



