THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



27 



the brood nest which can be borne 

 without fanning at the entrance. 

 From the same experiments it was 

 inferred that when the temperature 

 of the brood nest exceeds 90°, with 

 an outside temperature below 60°, 

 and bees fanning at the entrance, 

 the brood nest may be expanded 

 with safety. This observer found 

 that blowing smoke into the entrance 

 of a hive, in which he had his ther- 

 mometer placed, had the effect of 

 lowering the temperature of the 

 brood nest, because the bees ex- 

 pelled the smoke by fanning and 

 with it the warm air which was re- 

 placed by colder air. He also states 

 that he usually found the tempera- 

 ture lower the second day after man- 

 ipulation and artificial excitement 

 than previous to being examined, 

 and that he has proved it possible 

 to find a hive 10° lower after manip- 

 ulation and that temperature not to 

 be regained in less than a week. 

 From these observations it will be 

 seen that to secure the best results 

 in building up before the honey har- 

 vest, the less the smoker is used, and 

 the less the hives are opened the 

 better. 



100°. At this temperature in the 

 brood nest, the bees become un- 

 comfortable and prepare for swarm- 

 ing. 



Lindsay, Dec. 14, 1885. 



SECTION BOXES. 



By Dr. G. L. Tinker. 



Never feed bees by putting honey or 

 syrup in dishes and setting them out- 

 side the hives. The beekeeper who 

 does so will have reason to regret it. 

 Use a good feeder inside the hive. 



Now is the time for beekeepers to 

 lay their plans and order supplies for 

 another year. What kind of section, 

 the dovetailed, the one-piece, the two- 

 piece or the section to nail, is pref- 

 erable ? what size and width and what 

 kind of timber are best ? are questions 

 that are now in order. One more 

 may be added : Is it best to order a 

 nice, smooth sawed, accurately dove- 

 tailed and accurately cut section at a 

 slight advance in cost on a thousand, 

 or shall we invest in the rough sawed, 

 inaccurately made, unsighdy section 

 at a lower figure ? We will try to an- 

 swer these questions remembering 

 that opinions based upon our expe- 

 rience and observation may not be 

 shared in by all. 



Our preference is decidedly for the 

 dovetailed section. Even if we used 

 basswood instead of the white poplar, 

 we should want our sections dove- 

 tailed. We prefer them to the one- 

 or two-piece because they present a 

 nicer appearance, are stronger when 

 properly made, and have openings 

 the whole width of the section for the 

 bees to enter. A dovetailed section 

 to be strong should be cut a little 

 heavier than is usual. -^^ of an inch 

 for the thickness of each of the sides 

 is better than ^, or I of an inch scant • 

 The dovetailing is also done better 

 with saws ^\ of an inch thick than 

 with thinner saws unless the section 

 be very narrow. 



The size and width beekeepers 

 have differed upon more than on any- 

 thing else. The market, however. 



