PUBLISHED MONTHLY RY THE W T FALCONER MANPG CO 



VOL. IV. 



Mf\Y, 1894. 



NO. 5. 



Prevention of Increase. 



BY .1. II- ANDRE. 



Although ray experience in bee- 

 keeping has been with considerably 

 less swarms than the average, I often 

 found myself with too maay in t he 

 fall notwithstanding the great care I 

 had practiced to prevent it. Since 

 going out of the business two years 

 ago I have been thinking of a hive 

 for new swarms which would run the 

 strength of the swarm to surplus and 

 admit of uniting with others in the 

 fall and still prevent increase to any 

 extent. The hive should be mad'/ 1 the 

 width of two frame spaces larger one 

 way than the other. Probably three 

 inches longer than square. Fill the 

 center of the hive with an inverted 

 box with the exception of a space wide 

 enough for a brood frame on each side. 

 Put iii two frames the short way of 

 the hive. This will shorten the space 

 on the long side to admit of the same 

 length of frame. Put on a queen ex- 

 cluder and as many sections as desira- 

 ble, probably three tiers. In the fall 

 there will be but few bees left which 

 may be united with another colony 

 and the brood frames used to replace 

 old ones in the colonies intended for 

 wintering. Or if desired, three sum- 



mer colonies could be united for win- 

 tering. A wide Langstroth hive with 

 the frames the short way is nearly the 

 size needed. The entrance to the 

 summer colonies could be left open on 

 all sides. My reason for thinking 

 this plan an improvement on contract- 

 ing at the outside, is, the bees will be 

 more inclined to enter the surplus at 

 the outside and finish the sections 

 better than if the strength of the col- 

 ony was confined to the center of the 

 hive 



Lockwpod, N. Y. 



Mortality of Bees. 



BY ANDREW M. THOMPSON. 



I have noticed for two winters a 

 great difference in the mortality of 

 bees. The swarms in the fall, when 

 put up for winter being of equal 

 strength. One that I noticed in par- 

 ticular last winter commenced to die 

 off more seemingly than any of the 

 tenor twelve others in my bee house. 

 I would go down as often as every 

 other night to poke the dead bees 

 from the entrance of this one. And 

 would rind nearly one-half pint of 

 dead bees, every time I went among 

 them. They commenced dying about 

 Feb. 1st and continued dying in this 



