JANUARY 1, 1916 



15 



empty combs. Above we put an empty oiie 

 in each side of the brood, and last of all a 

 division-board. As soon as young bees be- 

 gan to hatch out and tlie bees needed more 

 room empty combs or frames of foundation 

 were added till the space in the super was 

 filled. Sometimes the brood w^as spread by 

 inserting an empty comb between two 

 frames of brood. 



Colonies so treated built up to good 

 strength, and did much better work in stor- 

 ing either comb or extracted honey than 

 colonies that had been conHiicd to the eight- 

 frame brood-nest through the breeding sea- 

 son. To keep a queen down in a hive that 

 is too small for her is certainly a loss of 

 bees. It is the strong colonies that get the 

 hone}', especially when the flow is light. 



When we worked on the double-story 

 plan, and ran for comb honey, we removed 

 the ujoper story and crowded the sealed 

 brood into the lower, and put on one or 

 more section-supers, according' to the 

 strength of the colony. Tliis is the plan 

 that has been worked so successfully by Dr. 

 Miller. The unsealed brood was given nu- 

 clei, and colonies that were not strong 

 enough to fill even one eight-frame body. 



]n running for extracted honey we added 

 upper stories, as we called them, until Ave 

 had them four and even five high. A full 



account of our experiments in that one 

 yard will be found in this journal for 

 August 1 and 15, 1897, and Feb. 15, May 

 1, June 1, July 1, and Aug. 1, 1898. 



There is nothing to ]irevent working ten- 

 frame hives on the same principle. If a 

 good queen needs more than ten frames put 

 on an upper story. The fact is, some of 

 our most successful extracted-honey produ- 

 cers are operating their colonies in two- 

 story hives. One man in particular, who 

 secures a crop of honey every year whether 

 his neighbors do or not, always runs his 

 colonies in two stories. If a queen cannot 

 furnish at least twelve frames of brood in 

 the breeding season lie substitutes one that 

 Avill ; and he gets a crop of honey providing 

 there is any nectar in the blossoms. 



You can carry out the same general plan 

 in your climate and get the bees strong 

 early in the season, because you do not have 

 severely cold weather. We consider Okla- 

 homa one of the best places in the United 

 States to carry out this scheme. If your 

 bees are all in eight-frame hives we would 

 say it is the only way to secure strong 

 colonies; and it is the only way to get a 

 crop of honey. If you were running for 

 comb honey w'e would' simply remove the 

 upper story at the proper time as already 

 explained. — Ed.] 



AN AGITATOR IN THE HIVE 



BY ^SOP 



A beekeejDer who claims to have found a 

 way to get the honey and not the stings sent 

 for me to look at his device. He told me 

 how he intended to work it for all the hon- 

 ey he wanted, and leave some to sell; and 

 as I found he had gotten hold of a new 

 idea in beekeeping I took a photograph of 

 his contrivance. I will say, however, that 

 I do not advise its use except for those who 

 are afraid of getting stung. 



The device, as will be seen by the photo- 

 graph, consists of a barrel set upon a stand 

 high enough to allow a pail to be put under 

 it to catch the honey as it runs out of the 

 barrel. Tln-u the cover of the barrel runs a 

 bent iron rod. To the bottom and along the 

 sides of it, at intervals, are cross-pieces of 

 iron with sharp edges to allow them to cut 

 thru the comb inside the barrel and release 

 the honey wliich flows to the bottom of the 

 barrel thiu a wire screen or strainer, and 

 which is drawn off thru the faucet. 



Tlie iron rod, or jiipe, as will be seen, is 

 bcilt so as to allow it to be turned like a 

 crank, as it lakes considerable force to turn 



the knives in the comb after the bees have 

 built around it and sealed it in with propo- 

 lis. The inside fixtures may be easily un- 

 derstood from the following diagTam, from 

 which the device can be made if it is wanted. 



Combined hive and extractor- 

 the middleman cut out. 



