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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



One objection to using hives full of 

 combs is, that it gives too much room to 

 be filled with honey, that should go into 

 the sections ; another is, that the bees, 

 after traveling over the old combs, are 

 apt to soil the honey in the sections. Of 

 course if bees swarm late in the season, 

 or when no honey is coming in, it is all 

 right to use the old comb. Some judg- 

 ment must be used in this matter, if we 

 expect to achieve the best results.— C. H. 

 Dibbern, in Western Plowman. 



When to Prepare the Sections. 



The best time to put foundation start- 

 ers into sections is in the morning, be- 

 fore you need them. The best time to 

 give sections to your colonies is the min- 

 ute they are ready for them and honey 

 is coming in ; but the best time to make 

 up your "sections is in the winter, when 

 there is plenty of spare time. I use 

 section-holders or broad frames, and 

 handle the sections, after they are made 

 up, in fours.— F. Gkeiner, in Gleanings. 



Feeding- for Winter— Late Drones. 



We believe nearly every one feeds at a 

 loss, by feeding each colony separate. 

 We have done what little feeding we 

 had to do by having a few strong colo- 

 nies fill the combs and cap them over, 

 removing them as soon as done, giving 

 them to the colonies needing it. 



-By this method the bees were not 

 stimulated at a time not desirable, and 

 their stores lasted much longer, and for 

 spring feeding this is much the best 

 plan. You commence to feed a colony 

 in the spring, and they will use the food 

 up as fast as you give it to them, and if 

 neglected for a few days, will starve ; 

 while you can hang in a comb of honey 

 with very little disturbance to the colony. 

 The syrup used should be about as 

 thick as honey, and poured in the feeder 

 while warm— not too hot for the bees to 

 handle. As to the kind of feeder to use, 

 there are several good ones ; it should 

 be large, so as to hold a quantity. We 

 used four to six Hill feeders on a colony. 

 The Soper, Hastings and Miller feeders 

 are good. 



Some bee-keepers are troubled to keep 

 their drones late in the season, so as to 

 get some purely-mated queens, after 

 other drones are gone. A drone's life is 

 short, and those reared at swarming- 

 time will die before fall. So, to have 

 them after others are gone, you must get 

 them hatched, say by the first of Sep- 

 tember. 



Now, here is something you do not find 

 in books about getting late drones, and 

 that is, do not try to get a queen to lay 

 drone-eggs in the fall that has furnished 

 the colony with them early in the season. 

 Take a young queen that has never laid 

 any drone-eggs that season, and if you 

 have a late honey-flow you will find 

 plenty of drone-brood if there is any 

 place to put them. In localities where 

 there is no fall flow of honey, you will 

 have to feed the colony regularly until 

 the brood is capped over, then it should 

 be placed in a strong queenless colony so 

 they will preserve them. 



By careful watching, most bee-keep- 

 ers could [save choice drones and rear 

 queens enough for their own apiary, 

 either between the summer and fall 

 harvest, or after the fall crop is gath- 

 ered. We feed our nuclei and drone 

 colonies when our queens are old enough 

 to mate, so as to have all flying at once, 

 and lessen the chance of any mismating. 

 — Progressive Bee-Keeper. 



Humming-Bird and Bee Fig-ht. 



An observer writes that he is satisfied 

 that there is just as much rivalry be- 

 tween humming birds and bees in their 

 quest for honey as there is between 

 members of the human race in their 

 struggle for the good things of life, and 

 describes a recent quarrel that he saw 

 in a Portland garden, where a humming- 

 bird with an angry dash expressed its 

 disapproval of the presence of a big 

 bumblebee in the same tree. The 

 usually pugnacious bee incontinently 

 fled, but did not leave the tree. It 

 dashed back and forth among the 

 branches and white blossoms, the hum- 

 ming-bird in close pursuit. 



Where will you find another pair that 

 could dodge and dart equal to these? 

 They were like flashes of light, yet the 

 pursuer followed the track of the pur- 

 sued, turning when the bee turned. In 

 short, the bird and the bee controlled 

 the movements of their bodies more 

 quickly- and more accurately than it 

 could control the movement of its eyes. 



The chase was all over in half the 

 time than it has taken to tell it, but the 

 excitement of a pack of hounds after a 

 fox was no greater. The bee escaped, 

 the bird giving up the whole chase and 

 alighting on a twig. It couldn't have 

 been chasing the bee for food, and there 

 is no possible explanation of its unpro- 

 voked attack, except that it wished to 

 have all the honey itself. — Selected. 



