90 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



be prepared, a lamp should be ar- 

 ranged to keep the mixture at a 

 proper temperature. When all is 

 ready, dip the edge of the founda- 

 tion lightly in the wax and quickly 

 place it inthe section. If properly 

 done, the comb will adhere firmly 

 to the section, and the heat gene- 

 rated by the bees will not loosen 

 it, and not one piece in one hun- 

 dred will break down. The most 

 important part of this operation is 

 in keeping the wax at the proper 

 temperature. If too warm, it will 

 melt the foundation, and if too cold 

 it will not adhere properly. The 

 right temperature will soon be 

 learned by a little practice. This 

 arrangement will not do to fasten 

 heavy foundation in frames. For 

 such a purpose, I prefer a thin 

 piece of wood which should be 

 placed on the foundation, and nails 

 driven through it, and the founda- 

 tion into the top bar, then the 

 comb can be bent into the frame. 

 — The new side passage sec- 

 tions obviate nearly all the objec- 

 tions that can be urged against 

 the use of separators. As the 

 bees can go each side of the sep- 

 arators from one row of sections to 

 another, all but about ^ of an 

 inch at the top and bottom edges 

 of the separators, it will be seen 

 at once that there is no place for 

 the lodgment of propolis and 

 hence no sticking in handling sec- 

 tions in cases or wide frames. 



— The hibernation of bees is a 

 settled fact when wintering in the 

 best conditions. It is the key that 

 will solve to a great extent the 

 wintering problem. 



— Bees usually begin to breed 

 after the first free flight in late win- 

 ter. If it happens about the 1st 

 of February they begin then a 

 small circle of brood in one comb. 

 If the flight does not take place till 

 about the first of March they will 

 then begin to breed more exten- 

 sively and soon have a circle six 



inches in diameter in one or more 

 combs. 



— Bees in warm cellars begin 

 breeding earlier than is usually 

 thought, — from the 1st and the 

 10th of February but commence 

 only a small circle. From this 

 time on they cease to hibernate 

 perfectly. 



APICULTURIST BEE F4RM 



NOTES. 



IMPLEMENTS FOR THE APIARY. 



A few tools and appliances are 

 needed in every apiary. Below 

 will be found descriptions and illus- 

 trations of some of the most useful. 



The little corn or whisk broom 

 (Fig. 1) is a most convenient ar- 

 ticle and one used at the bee-farm, 

 more than any other, except perhaps 

 the smoker. When a frame of 

 brood or honey is taken from a 

 hive from which the bees are to be 

 removed, we find the little article 

 better than anything else for brush- 

 ing off the bees. A brush made of 

 bristles or feathers will irritate the 

 bees, while this little whisk will 

 not. 



THE HONEY KNIFE. 



The honey knife will be found 

 a most useful tool during the en- 

 tire season. Not only is it used 

 for uncapping the cells when ex- 

 tracting is to be done, but it is 

 just the thing for shaving the 

 combs in the brood-chamber when 

 they are bulgy, as they are apt to 

 be, dovvn to the proper thickness. 

 Another use to which such a knife 

 can be applied is for shaving off 

 the cappings from drone-brood ; 

 and, by the way, this operation 

 should be done when the brood 

 has been capped about ten days. 

 Have the knife sharp and after the 

 cappings have been removed, sus- 

 pend the frame with the hand, b}'- 

 one corner, and with the handle of 

 the knife strike the lower corner 



