228 



THE AMERICAN APTCULTURIST. 



varying fulness, till the eye gets so 

 trained that every comb can be 

 counted off as to weight of honey 

 with an accuracy approaching per- 

 fection. As I write this out it looks 

 like a tedious job, and the reader will 

 doubtless say that rather than go 

 through all this operation he will 

 simply " heft" his hives as hereto- 

 fore and "guess" that all have enough 

 to carry them through. But to han- 

 dle three or four hives is to become 

 an expert, and if the reader will 

 only try it he will soon find that af- 

 ter a little while he can count off 

 bees, brood and honey as fast as he 

 can handle the frames, which to- 

 gether with the satisfaction of know- 

 ing just what each hive contains 

 will never allow him to go back to 

 the " hefting, guessing" plan again. 

 When I go over the hives in this way 

 I have a stool I carry along with me 

 to sit upon (tell Dr. Miller I never 

 will chide him again for sitting down 

 while he works at bees) in which is a 

 little box for holding a few tools, 

 etc., that I may need for immediate 

 use. In this box I have some pieces 

 of sections, so that as soon as a hive 

 is closed I can write down all about 

 the condition of the inside. This 

 piece of section may read something 

 like this : g-smo., 1886. Bees plen- 

 ty ; choice Italian queen reared in 

 '?>6 ; 400 sq. in. brood ; 30 lbs. 

 honey. The piece is now laid on 

 top the honey-board or qiiilt to the 

 hive and the cover put on, when two 

 little flat stones are put on the cap 

 to tell me that inside said hive are 

 both brood and honey to spare. For 

 instance, if the stone is placed at 

 the right said back corner, it says 

 honey to spare ; if at the left back cor- 

 ner, it says brood to spare ; if at the 

 front right hand corner it says short 

 of honey and if at the left front cor- 

 ner it says short of bees and brood 

 while if all is as I wish it for winter 

 a stone is placed in the centre of 

 the cover. 



In this way I make these little 

 stones tell me at a glance over the ap- 

 iary just what each hive contains, so 

 that it is now but a few minutes' 

 work to go over the yard and equal- 

 ize all so that each is in a similar 

 condition for winter, when the little 

 stones are taken off and slipped un- 

 der the bottom-board to the hive, 

 where they belong when not in use. 

 If any are still short of stores 

 (twenty-five pounds to the hive is 

 what I desire to allow for each col- 

 ony) after the equalizing, I feed 

 honey to make up the deficiency ; for 

 from past experience I find (al- 

 though some tell us differently) that 

 bees winter much better on honey 

 than on sugar syrup. If sugar is to 

 be fed, I prefer to do it in the spring 

 if any colonies are short of honey 

 at that time, as was the case last 

 spring. A year ago my colonies 

 only averaged seventeen pounds per 

 colony, of stores, so I had to feed in 

 the spring. However, I would feed 

 sugar for winter rather than buy 

 honey promiscuously, as such pur- 

 chasing is'quite liable to result in foul 

 brood in the apiary, which disease is 

 far worse than a loss in winter. 

 After having all fixed as to stores, 

 bees, etc., the next thing to do is to 

 put on the cushion and snugly tuck 

 them up for winter. Those to be 

 left on summer stands are in chaff 

 hives which chaff is left in the hives 

 both winter and summer. Over 

 these I prefer a cushion three to 

 four inches thick, made of common 

 factory cloth, filled with dry, fine, 

 basswood sawdust which I saved 

 when sawing sections in the winter. 

 Such cushions seem to keep the 

 bees in better condition than any- 

 thing previously tried. When win- 

 ter sets in, a board about eight to ten 

 inches wide is set up slanting from 

 the aligliting-board to the hive, in 

 front of the entrance, to keep out 

 snow and cold winds as well as to 

 shade the front of the hive, so the 



