THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST, 



45 



was used in the Bay State apiary and was 

 y)laced on the frames with paper between 

 to prevent the food from working down 

 through the combs. This did not have 

 the desired effect, however. The sugar 

 gathered so much moisture from tlie bees 

 tliat it softened and ran to the bottom- 

 board. This is an easy thing to obviate. 

 In case any colony must be fed this 

 spring, the food will be placed on a 

 brood comb and a passageway to the 

 food made in the centre of the comb. 

 The whole will then be covered with 

 quilt and cushion and care used that the 

 bees cannot get out under the edges of 

 the cushion and perish. 



If plenty of capped honey in brood 

 combs is at hand,, one or more such 

 combs may be placed in the brood nest 

 of th,e starving colony. This of course 

 must be done on a warm day. 



If I did not think house- apiaries 

 were practical and of immense advan- 

 tage to even the small beekeeper, I 

 would not take the space here to say 

 one word about them. As has been 

 stated in these columns, I have a bee- 

 house constructed on a practical and 

 convenient plan. Thirty-two of my 

 colonies representing golden Carniolans, 

 Italians, Black and Punic bees were 

 placed in the house in November last. 

 Up to date all are wintering well. 



The same can be said of the colonies 

 in double-wall hives on the summer 

 stand. The winter has been an un- 

 usually favorable one for bees. Perhaps 

 a month from now I may be obliged 

 to make an unfavorable report. 



Let that be as it may, I can say thus 

 far, the house-apiary has met my expec- 

 tations. I usually find the temperature 

 each cold morning 15° warmer in the 

 bee-house than it is outside. This of 

 course must be considered a strong 

 point in favor of the house for winter- 

 ing bees. 



Our bee-house was not designed for 

 the special purpose of wintering bees. 

 That is, I did not intend to keep the 



temperature above the freezing point, 

 as 1 am among those beekeepers who 

 do not believe in wintering bees in the 

 cellar where the temperature does not 

 go down to at least 2o°above zero when 

 it is equally as cold in the open air. 



The temperature in my bee-house 

 has been down to 15° several times the 

 past two months. 



I will state some of the advantages 

 I expect to derive from my bee- house 

 experiments. I feel sure the colonies 

 will all winter in better condition than 

 most of those on the summer stands. 



I'he main disadvantage of wintering 

 on tlie summer stand is the cold spells 

 that are sure to follow all warm waves 

 in the spring. Well, now all expe- 

 rienced beekeepers know the result and 

 effects on the brood in any colony of bees 

 after a cold snap in the spring. As 

 inexperienced beekeepers do not know 

 about this matter, I will state it for their 

 special benefit. During the warm spells 

 in the early spring the queen lays eggs 

 outside of the space the colony can pro- 

 tect from the cold. By and by a norther 

 sets in and all the brood that has been 

 started outside the cluster the bees occu- 

 pied before the warm wave appeared is 

 destroyed, as the bees had to cluster in 

 a smaller space than even before the 

 warm spell, in order to protect the brood 

 they had previously. Well, now, there 

 was so much loss of time in brood and la- 

 bor. I propose to obviate this loss of time 

 by heating the bee-house on cool days 

 and nights. Some one will say that that 

 will be a good deal of trouble and more or 

 less expense. I have found that it re- 

 quires but a small amount of fuel to keep 

 the temperature of my house-apiary at 

 fifty or more degrees. A small kerosene 

 stove will do it nicely. In this connec- 

 tion there is another point to be consid- 

 ered. Suppose by heating the bee-house 

 the colonies can be bred up to such 

 strength that they will be strong enough 

 to work in the sections during the first 

 flow of honey? In many locations this is 

 the best forage the bees get the entire 

 season. I have seen the aj^ple trees while 



