1884 



GLEAKINGS IK BEE CtlLTUEE. 



265 



pulled out on the lioney-board, and the warm 

 sun revived him, and bis comrades gave liim 

 a lick of the warm sugar they had just been 

 feasting on, and that "brouglit him to."' 

 Bees get well very suddenly under the iullu- 

 ence of sunshine and feed. You saw the 

 same maneuvers at different hives, because 

 the warm weather had called them out. 



TS IT AN ADVANTAGE TO FEED, WHERE 

 STOCK HAVE I'LEN'l Y OF FEED? 



In regard to your question, I should say 

 there was something to begaired by feeding 

 bees, even when they have a good supply. 

 It must be done judiciously, however. Inir- 

 ing a dearth of pasture in the fall, regular 

 feeding will induce raising bees largely, and 

 even swarming may be induced in this way. 

 What is called stimulative feeding in the 

 spring will often cause the bees to raise 

 brood to such an extent that the amount of 

 honey gathered may be doubled or trebled. 



In regard to your second question, it is 

 very bad policy to leave such an amount of 

 stores in the hives, that full combs of honey 

 will remain in April. It should have been 

 extracted the fall before, or it can be used 

 for stimulating stocks by shaving olf the 

 caps of the cells. This will have about the 

 same effect as feeding. Taking it away 

 would not lessen the chances of swarming ; 

 but if given to them one comb at a time, un- 

 capped, as I have mentioned, it would in- 

 duce swarming. 



SHOULD THERE BE AN ENTRANCE TO THE 

 Ui'PER STORY V 



One entrance is sufficient for any two-sto- 

 ry hive, and I believe it is thought better to 

 use the entrance at the lower part of the 

 lower story. If you make an entrance in 

 the upper story it allows the warm air to es- 

 cape, and the bees will soon abandon the 

 entrance and in time the combs of the lower 

 story. 



■^—* m 



FRIEND CHURCHIL.L.^S IDEAS IN KE- 

 OAKD TO GETTING COMB HONEY. 



ALSO SOME SUGGESTIONS ABOUT GETTING BEES 

 STARTED IN SECTION BOXES. 



^nilKIEND ROOT:— Asthere has been somuchsaid 

 J8n "' about the trouble of g-etting bees into the 

 boxes, 1 will give you my mode, which I dis- 

 covered last season, which pleases me more than a 

 little. . I begin early stimulative feeding; and as 

 they grow in numbers I add frames of comb or fdn. 

 .till just 9 till an L. hive, which will spece them, say, 

 'a or more, which is more than natural. Now being 

 thus, there is room for lots of beca— more than is 

 actually needed; but they are just what wc want, 

 you will see. As the brood gains, and the top of 

 frames are bulged and crowded with honey, which 

 is coming in freely, I shake bees from the combs and 

 trim the honey off even with the frames. The tlrst 

 frame is set ?« in. from side of hive, and others are 

 set just M inch apait; the hist one has a division- 

 board (athin one) set ■;» from it. I put on a ease one 

 section narrower than the regular size, and only half 

 of the boxes in this, which I set at the back end. 

 The open space is filled with cloths. The trimmings 

 are mashed, and the same amount of warm water 

 added, which is all strained through a cloth, and 

 placed on top of the sections, in a feeder. I cover 



warmly, and on this I put a leaf or chaff cushion, so 

 as to keep warm during cold nights, and cool during 

 warm days. Now, the combs being closed up to 

 about the natural space, and the honey being above 

 the sections, the bees have a very friendly invita- 

 tion to accept them; and there being but a small 

 number of boxes, they will take to them far better 

 than in a large open crate. "When the honey is all 

 taken down, take off feeder, and keep on the pack- 

 ing; and when the two sets of boxes are well start- 

 ed, I put one set forward, and place between a set of 

 boxes filled with foundation, and so on; and when 

 they get strong enough, I lift this and set aerate 

 under. 



"But," says one, " why do you use so few boxes?" 



My friend, have you ever measured a regular 28-lb. 

 case? If so, you have found it will hold 16 quarts, 

 or one-half bushel. Now, where are there bees 

 enough in one swarm (in early honey-flow) to fill 

 this and care for the brood, and do smart work in 

 the field? I find, also, that bees do far better in 

 boxes in a chaff hive than a single-walled, unless a 

 woolen cloth is tacked on the edge of one story, so 

 that no air can creep in about the case. Then they 

 are much better, to be heaped together; for if left 

 open, and a full case is given at once, the bees are 

 driven into tho center, and many combs are drawn 

 on one side, and arc apt to be crooked thereby, and 

 many outside boxes are rejected entirely. 



1 find, also, that unless the edge of the lower' glass 

 edge is chamfered down to nearly an edge, that the 

 bees can not get into the case from the side of hive, 

 which is just so much loss. Just set on a ease, Bro. 

 R., and see where we have had our eyes shut. 1 now 

 chamfer every one, and I also set the boxes away 

 from the side of crate 's inch, so the bees can pass 

 up and down freely, on outside sections; and I saw 

 enough last season to satisfy me that i?s sections 

 are too wide, and shall use none but l^x4J4x4J4, re- 

 gardless of weight. 



The above ideas are from careful study and ex- 

 periments; and if they are of any use to any of the 

 happy readers of Gleanings, they are free. 



As to section fdn., I find that it should come with- 

 in }i inch of bottom, and 'g inch of side of boxes, 

 and that a high side-wall makes a very great differ- 

 ence in regard to acceptance by the bees, and I know 

 that we can not be too careful in fastening it in the 

 center of sections, and leaving it straight and even. 

 Some say I am too particular; but I don't see it. 

 The little things are what tell, as the bee said when 

 he took the lion in the nose. I often think of your 

 careful way and watchfulness, and feel that you are 

 entitled to great rewards for your constant labor 

 and care. I also believe that unventilated sleeping- 

 rooms, and tea and tobacco, are ruining thousands 

 of our friends. Give me good air, and lots of hot 

 water, inside and out, and the medicine may go to 

 grass, in company with tea, rum, and tobacco. 



E. P. Churchill. 



North Auburn, Me., March, 1884. 



Friend C, I am hardly prepared to indorse 

 your plan of having your brood-combs fur- 

 ther apart than the bees would naturally 

 build them ; still, it may be an advantage. 

 When bees are rearing brood largely in 

 spring, you will notice they almost always 

 have a solid frame of pollen right opposite a 

 frame containing young larf a' ; and as this 

 pollen is used very rapidly to feed the young 

 larva', it seems to me it ought to be within 



