IS'.t'J 



(JLKANlNCiS IN BEK CULTURE. 



H()7 



tfiiiiri' sii niiu-li, llic result wimld have brcii the 

 same. pnn'idtHi you did not lake the i'Oiiil)s 

 away till after the bees had emptied them, and 

 iiad irt)t disiMJiirajred wurkiiiK (tvef them. Tiie 

 \\ iiKJe matter lies jiisi in this: If hrcs jjet In 

 fohhiiiR you must uoi taUi' away eviTv thiiifr 

 they ai'e working at. hut leave them to woik on 

 that very same spot until they aic satisjicd 

 that tliey have tinished up th(> work them- 

 selves. I'erhaps it may ilo to emjjty out a hive 

 tliey are wofkinjj at. providing the hive itself 

 is left, and nothing ahuut its appeafance ehanji- 

 ed: i)ut ! thiniv I would fat hei- leave some t'oinl) 

 in til'- hive for them to work at. 1 fancy I see 

 A. 1. K. shake his head when he ivads this, sav- 

 ins;. "That's dangefous. \V<> can't be too car-e- 

 ful al)out the mattei- of i-ol)l)ing. and haidiy 

 ouirht to puliiish any thins of tiie kind." \'et 

 the whole ti'uth ousrlii to be known. I'm. just 

 as much afraid of rol)bei's as you are: but I 

 believe it's well to be posted on all points; and 

 witli that never-failing safeffuard. the footnote. 

 I feel sure all will be well. C. C. Mii.T.Ki!. 



.Marengo. III. 



[We indor.so evcu'y thing you say: and. like 

 yourself, we are afraid of rol)bing. and only 

 wish that our helpers regarded it with ilie 

 same fear. We can not ourselves endure to 

 have even a single rohb(>r liovering over the 

 frames, while our helpers think nothing of it to 

 have as many as lialf a dozen. To use a col- 

 loipiial phrase, we liave been ■■through the 

 mill."' and know th(^ bad results of allowing 

 the bees to pilfer from liive to hive. While we 

 hold robbing in great fear, wo are inclined, on 

 the other tiand. to let the bees, under C('rt(tiii 

 circumstances, help tli(MnS(»lvf\s. A year ago 

 last summer, at the Shane yard, as a result of 

 transferring the bees on to Hoffman frames, we 

 liad a Quantity of old crooked combs in home- 

 made loose frames— too crooked to be used in 

 ni'W frames. Instead of transferring these we 

 carried them a few rods from the apiary and 

 laid them in the shade of a tree: but. mind you. 

 we did not expose them until we had tinished 

 work in the yard. On one or two occasions we 

 Wi.ited long eriougli to witness the restilt. The 

 bees pounced on to the combs in a p(>rfect 

 storm, and speedily emptied them of every 

 thing sweet. The next day we returned and 

 found the apiary coinparatively quiet, nor were 

 there any dead bees at any of the entrances, as 

 a result of previous conflict. One time, we 

 remember very distinctly of .setting a couple of 

 combs under a tree a few rods aw ay. while we 

 were in the midst of our work. All at once the 

 bees began to be cross, and to pilfer over tlio 

 top of the hive. The lirst incominsr lad(Ui bees 

 notiiied those already in the hives that honey 

 was to be had aoincirlicrc. As we have noticed 

 many times before, they began to huni aiound. 

 and, veiy naturally, turned to tin' hives where 

 we were working, because they had not yet dis- 

 covered the .source of honey from whicii the 

 first supply was obtained. It is needless to say 

 we stopped right then and there. 



MOHK .\1!<»1"T THAT S r.\C-KKI >-!' I'- 1 1 1 V I : 

 FKKDING. 



Now. \\<" would by no means ad\ise the >cat- 

 tering of paitially tilled comlis a few I'ods from 

 tlie apiary where it is located near dwelling- 

 houses: but in out yuids situated as was the 

 one nientione<i. nearly :i (luarterof a mile away 

 fnjni buildings, it may tie done at times to ad- 

 vantage. Tiie |jlan that can always be pursued 

 safely where it is de-ired to empty out combs 

 containing a little hoiiey. is. to place them in 

 hive^ stacked up two or three iiigh. with a 

 small entrance, as ex|iiaiiied in our editorial on 

 page l^'l. While these stacks of hives, we know 

 by experi(>nce. ran lie placed right near the 



driveway, and yei horses and persons can go by 

 without the least interference. w(> would not 

 recommend it. 



This plan of feeding creates an artificial con- 

 dition of things during a ileartli of honey — that 

 is. a deailh from natural sources much like 

 that when honey is coming in freely from th» 

 tlowfM^s in nature's own way. Instead of rob- 

 bers Hying arounil and stealing, they are giv(Mi 

 something to do: and the result is, that we 

 liav<' been able, during the past hnv days, to 

 go on with oiir work of uniting, etc., in the 

 apiary, with very little interference from rob- 

 bers. And, again, we oliserve the honey itself 

 is being distributed throughout the apiary, not, 

 as we should naturally suppos(>, in the strong- 

 est cfilonies. but with a very fair and even dis- 

 tribution ihroiighout all the hives. Our Mr. 

 .Spalford said that lu^ could see the result of 

 this open air feeding in the hives. Queens 

 were beginning to breed, and every thing was 

 ffoing on just as if nature had taken a sudden 

 l)oom. Nearly every apiarist every spring has 

 a few comlis containing a little honey: and 

 what a good effect this kind of outdoor fe(! ling 

 may have in stimulating brood-rearing at tiie 

 tinn^ of year we most desire it, with so little 

 labor, the n-ader can figure out for himself, 

 Besides the increased amount of brood -rearing, 

 he will have a lot of nice clean dry combs, no 

 more tempting to robbers later on in the season. 



We are sure that bee-keepers have not yet 

 experienced the many advantages that may 

 accrue from this kind of feeding. They have 

 known of it. it is true, but have not as yet util- 

 ized it. Now. doctor, while we may be at fault 

 for not giving more details of the work in our 

 own apiary, we hope we have redeemed our- 

 selves, at least temporarily, 



P. S. — A. I, R. has witnessed the results of 

 this stacked-hive feedfng (i hi Miller, and ac- 

 knowledges that it is a success in more ways 

 than one. .4t first he felt a little skeptical 

 about it. and was slightly alarmed lest we 

 " boys " might be getting ourselves into trouble,] 



Heads of Grain 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



15KITI.SII ]U-.I';-KKKI*KKS AND THE WORLD S FAIR 

 .\T CHICAGO I.\ IS'.)?;. 



As w'ill be gathered from a perusal of the 

 proceedings reported in this issue, the interest- 

 ing discussion which took filace at the monthly 

 meeting of the British Be(»- keepers" Association 

 on Wednesday last, on the subject of sending 

 an exhibit of British honey to Cliicago. resulted 

 in a unanimous resolve on the part of the A.sso- 

 ciation to take immediate steps for putting the 

 project into practical shape. To do this, it is 

 obviously necessary to secure the cordial co- 

 operation, and. we trust, willing assistance, of 

 bee kee|)ers themselves. 



Had The season of is<r> been a thoroughly 

 good one. with abundance of honey in the 

 homes of all who k(^<'i) bei-s in the I'nited King- 

 dom, little difficulty would havi' lieen experi- 

 enced in getting together an exhibit of a couple 

 of tons of nectar as a""sample"of what our 

 islands yield: but. unfortunutely, the results 

 have at best been only moderate, and in con.se- 

 quence the fiefd on which we have to work is 

 considerably reduced, and the enthusiasm, 

 which otherwise would have Vieen aroused, pro- 

 portionately lessened. However, the committee, 

 in order to meet this difficulty, have hit upon a 

 plan by which a good show" of honey maybe 

 secured without taxing either the pockets or 



