Nov. 15, 1911 



691 



and the other 

 south, the shed 

 running east and 

 west. The ground 

 between is as 

 hard and level 

 as a floor. The 

 honey - house is 

 at the center of 

 the shed. In 

 this picture i t 

 looks as though 

 it were at the 

 end; but the oth- 

 er half of the 

 shed extends be- 

 yond, out of 

 sight. 



By observing 

 closely, two col- 

 onies may be 

 seen in front of 

 the front row of 

 hives that stand 

 down on the 

 ground. These 

 are supersedure 

 colonies with 

 queens ready for 

 mating. When 

 the queens re. 

 turn they usual- 

 ly go into the 



nearest hive; and if the hives prepared for 

 them are left in position with the rest so 

 that all things look alike, even though 

 guards are placed to mark the location, they 

 will, eight times out of ten, get into the 

 wrong hive and be killed, or else kill a good 

 layer and create no end of trouble. 



;■*''■ 



Fig. 2.— Carrying-cases may be used for forming nuclei, introducing queens, 

 etc. They are cheaply made, and yet very handy in a queen-rearing yard. 



While with the different bee-keepers I 

 have had abundant opportunity to exper- 

 iment with various styles of hives, from the 

 shallow to the .lumbo, with the plural-queen 

 system, etc.; but I have been most inter- 

 ested in improvements inside the honey- 

 house. I had a tinner make a capping- 

 m e 1 1 e r , which in 

 some respects resem- 

 bles the melters used 

 by E. F. At water 

 and F. A. Powers, of 

 Parma, Idaho; but I 

 introduced s eve r a 1 

 improvements over 

 these machines. I 

 also made what I 

 call "the Severin 

 improved honey and 

 wax separator," on 

 M'hich I worked three 

 weeks before it was 

 ready for use. My 

 first experiment was 

 made with a five- 

 gallon honey - can, 

 and then, after not- 

 ing all of my failures 

 and improvements, 

 I had a tinner go 

 ahead with such 

 parts of the outfit 

 as I could not make 

 myself. Mr. George 

 expects to adopt my 

 new separator, and 

 will have nine of 

 them made'this win- 



Fig. 3.— The Phelps boys, who are a great help in the bee-yard. 



