78 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



on warm da^^s and they will help 

 themselves. 



As to the disputed utility of 

 spring stimulative feeding I do not 

 hesitate to again declare myself in 

 its favor. If, however, the queen 

 is young and prolific and the colo- 

 ny well supplied with stores stim- 

 ulation is quite unnecessary. All 

 spring feeding for whatever pur- 

 pose ought always to be done in- 

 side the'hive intead of in the open 

 air. In the case of tight bottoms 

 the hive can be tipped hack a little 

 and the food poured in from the 

 top on the bottom board. "Where 

 the bottom is not. tight the food 

 must be given on top of the frames 

 through "Feeders" or otherwise. 

 As tlie colony is nearly always 

 contracted in the spring the food 

 may often be put in behind or out- 

 side of the division-board w^hence 

 the bees will carry it up. 



The essentials of spring man- 

 agement may be summed up thus : 

 set out the bees at times as above 

 directed. Clean them out thor- 

 oughly the same day they are put 

 out if possible, for if left they not 

 infrequently get disgusted with 

 their unclean domicile and "swarm 

 out" for nicer quarters. Be sure 

 and make them comfortable — keep 

 the heat in the hive by some means 



this is important, and contract 



the entrance. If they have not 

 plenty of stores supply them, for 

 they will not brood freely on a 

 scant larder. Give them pollen in 

 the open air before the natural pol- 

 len appears. Give them more 

 room and more frames from time 

 to time as they may require. Do 

 not, however, go too fast in this 

 matter of "spreadino- out," for if 

 you do yon will be \^ry apt to pay 

 for the whistle. In adding room 

 and frames always keep in view 

 the rapid diminution of the old 

 stock ofkbees in the spring. In 

 adding a frame of comb containing 

 copped honey, uncap only one side 



to be safe and and do not put it 

 right in the middle of the brood 

 nest as generally recommended 

 (unless indeed the colou}^ is very 

 strong and the weather settled), but 

 put it at one side of the nest with 

 the uncapped side next the brood. 

 Finally time your manipulation and 

 management so that you will have 

 a splendid force of young workers 

 when the honey-flow begins, and 

 when that time arrives if there is 

 any old honey or inferior spring 

 feed in the hives extract it without 

 delay, and your spring manage- 

 ment is over. 



Selby, Lennox Co., Ontario, 

 Feb. 12, 1886. 



QUE BEE LIBRARY. 



By Will m. Kellogg. 



It was with considerable sur- 

 prise, mixed with delight, that I re- 

 moved the wrapper from the bound 

 copy of the "Apiculturist." I have 

 Vol. 1 of the American Bee Journal, 

 bound in paper, in a strong, durable 

 manner, and it was a similar book 

 I expected to see, so no wonder I 

 was pleased when I saw this ele- 

 gant book, fit for any centre table, 

 or the shelves of any bookcase. 

 I have eleven bound volumes on 

 beekeeping by individual authors, 

 besides nearly complete files of 

 almost all the bee journals that 

 have been published in America, 

 quite a library by themselves. I 

 have thought many times that 

 I would like to get all my journals 

 bound so that I could have them 

 out in a bookcase by themselves, 

 instead of being packed away out 

 of sight ; but the expense has al- 

 ways deterred nie from doing it, 

 for our local binders charge more 

 than the subscription price for a 

 medium, fair binding. Then, too, 

 books of any kind on our book- 

 shelves are much more apt to be 



