262 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1. 



ed, at a saving of at least 10 lbs. of stores to 

 every colony in spi'ing by the management ad- 

 vised. 



The protection given is by packing the 

 brood-chamber in the winter case with excelsior 

 sawdust, chaff, or forest-leaves. But it should 

 be steadily borne in mind, and not foigotten for 

 a moment, tliat any packing that may be used 

 must be kept dry. Active brood-rearing in 

 spring causes the packiirg to become damp, 

 which then, instead of conserving the heat, car- 

 ries it rapidly away, so that the colony would 

 be far better off with no jjacking at all than a 

 lot of wet mateiial about the bi'ood-nest. Here 

 let me say. I consider fine sawdust one of the 

 worst things that can be used, either in winter or 

 spring, for protecting bees, and all because it 

 will get damp, and can not be readily dried out. 

 The packing must be of some coarse material 

 that the air can readily permeate, and two or 

 three inches of such packing is enough. 



UTILIZING THE SUNSHINE. 



To get the full benefit of the sunshine, the 

 hive-covers should be removed every pleasant 

 day about 10 a. m., when the bees can lly. or at 

 least every few days, and the packing on top of 

 the brood-chamber taken out, as well as any 

 that may be found damp at the sides. The sun 

 should be allowed to strike full upon the cover- 

 ing of the bi'ood-nest, which I prefer to be a 

 thin (V-i'ich) board, cleated at the sides, placed 

 a bee-space above the frames. About 4 p. m. 

 the packing and hive-covers must be replaced. 



Now. all this seems like a great deal of labor: 

 but with light covers, and the use of excelsior, I 

 find that it requires only about half an hour 

 each day for the care of .50 colonies, and I do 

 not think that in any spring my hive-covers 

 and packing have been removed to admit the 

 sunshine on more than ten days. 



The extent of brood-rearing by this manage- 

 ment by the average colony is considerably be- 

 yond the capacity of the hives in common use. 

 in fact, the average queen is capable of occupy- 

 ing 1400 square inches of brood comb with 

 brood, while tlie ten-frame Langstroth hive 

 will contain but l.SoO. But there is required 

 also two or three hundred square inches of comb 



The spring managenumt of bees requires care 

 and attention, aside fioni the foregoing, that 

 they have plenty of honey or its equivalent — 

 sugar syrup. Every colony should have at 

 least 10 lbs. on hand all the time up to near the 

 time for the honey-flow to begin. Unless this 

 is attended to the bi'Oud -rearing will be limited, 

 and all the care givt^n will prove unavailing in 

 getting lai'ge colonies by the fii'St of June, when 

 the harvest usually opens in this locality. For 

 spring feeding. Cutting's atmospheric bee-feeder 

 is probably the b(!St in existence. It niay be 

 used at the entrance, oi' over the brood -cham- 

 ber. It is best used at the entrance to stimu- 

 late brood-reai'ing. No robbing or daubing or 

 di-owning of bees can take place, and I am sur- 

 prised that an invention so useful and handy as 

 this one should not be moi'e extensively used. 



Owing to the fact that, in a two-storey hive, 

 the bees always begin brood-rearing in the 

 upper stoi'ey in the spring, the progress of the 

 egg-laying of the queen is the same as in the 

 old box hive. No spi'eading of the brood or 

 fussing with the brood-nest is ever necessary, 

 except where building up a colony in adding 

 a second storey. By the above management 

 our colonies will have from 70 to 80 thousand 

 cells of brood at the opening of the harvest, in- 

 stead of only 40 or .50 thousand possible in the 

 common hive: and every expert bee-keejx'r 

 knows what this will mean. My next will t(>ll 

 how to get comb honey. Dr. G. L. Tinker. 



N(nv Philadelphia, O. 



To he continued. 



THE BRICK EECORD. 



C.\RNIOI,ANs. 



The article by C. A. Hatch. Feb. 1. reminds 

 me of one of many neglected duties; viz., call- 

 ing attention to this method of keeping a record 

 of the apiary. I have practiced it for about six 

 years, and will testify to its great valu(>. The 

 great advantage it has ovei' others is. that the 

 ai)iarist can .stand in one spot, and. by simply 

 casting his eyes along the line of hives, see 

 at once its condition: and if ho sees a swarm 

 emerging from a certain hive, he knows at once 



jioHRisoN s mp;thoi) of keeping record. 



for the stores of honey and bee-bread, so that 

 the capacity of the brood -nest for the best re- 

 sults in spring breeding should not be less than 

 1()00 square inches of brood comb. As the com- 

 mon eight-frame hive will contain but a little 

 over 10(J0 square inches of comb, it will be seen 

 that one such brood-chambei' is quite too small, 

 and two of them quite too lai'ge. When we use 

 two of the Nonpareil brood-chambers in spring 

 breeding we have the requisite capacity. As 

 one storey* is just right for a swarm forthe best 

 results in working for comb honey with a queen- 

 excluder, it is plain that the proper remedy for 

 the eight-frame hives in use is to cut them 

 down so they will lake a 7-inch brood-fiame: 

 then make winter cases for them, and bee- 

 keepei-s will speedily get on the road to pi'olit- 

 able apiculture. 



*Di-. Tinker requests tliis sj elliiig-.— Eu. 



whether it is a first swaim oian after-swarm. 

 If it wer<> not useful at all as a sign. I have 

 always considered a brick on the lid of a hive a 

 necessity to keep the lids from blowing oiT in 

 high winds: and in queen-rearing, of imjjor- 

 tance in i)reventing nucleus hives from blowing 

 over. jNIv method has requiri'd but one brick, 

 and I will give you here the different ])ositions 

 of the bi'ick which I have found to answer 

 every requii'ejnent. (Uther for a honey apiary or 

 a queen-reaiing ai)iai'y. 



fp.ont of hives. 



No. 1. brick parallel with and on the rear end 

 of hive. "Has fertile (lueen. and in working 

 order." 



No. 2. bi-ick on reai-. and at 45° angle. "Queen- 

 less." 



No. .'i. brick in center, parallel, "(Jave queen 

 or cell." 



