738 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



KovembeT 2i, 



deal with this food, If ooe wishes to save the bees, is to ex- 

 tract it out of the combs, and furnish the bees with more 

 wholesome supplies. 



Of all the grades of honey for winterinR, honey-dew is the 

 worst ; next comes dark fall honey, especially if thin and 

 watery, or if uncapt, as the moisture escaping from the bees 

 will render it still worse. The hygrometric properties of 

 hooey are so markt that, during a damp season, unsealed 

 honey will often accumulate moisture enough to overflow out 

 of the cells, and will perhaps besmear the bees as they first 

 bestir themselves after a period of constrained repose. Hence 

 it is advisable to remove, in the fall, all unsealed honey; most 

 especially if the bees have enough without this. If the 

 quantity is limited, it is not so urgent to remove it, as they 

 usually consume the unsealed honey first, and may get rid of 

 it. before the coldest weather, which confines them to the hive 

 for weeks at a stretch. 



There is another source of injury to the bees in fall 

 honey which is heavily loaded with floating grains of pollen, 

 and is the more dangerous that it is least easily detected by 

 the apiarist. These floating grains of pollen are not discerni- 

 ble to the naked eye. The best bee-food for wintering is that 

 which contains the purest saccharine matter, as it is most 

 thoroughly digested by them, with the least production of dis- 

 charges. Since the bees are often compelled to remain, for 

 from three to six weeks, confined to the hive, and during that 

 time are closely clustered together, it is out of the question 

 for them to void their excrements, and when the food which 

 they eat contains a great deal of pollen, or is too watery, they 

 are often unable to retain their discharges, and must either 

 go out and perish, or release their bowels in the hive, thus 

 besmearing the combs and their sister bees, with the most 

 foul and offensive excrements. In either case, it is death. 



When the bees are in a cellar, the evenness of the temper- 

 ature, under proper conditions, enables them to consume a 

 minimum quantity of food, and they stand a much longer con- 

 finement with ease, if the food is right, than when out-of- 

 doors. Prom the above statements, which are based upon 

 over 40 years of wintering experience with large apiaries, the 

 reader will readily see that the best winter food is to be found 

 In the very best grades of honey. In a mild winter, as I will 

 show farther, anything will do, for if the bees are not con-' 

 fined they have nothing to fear. When the crop is short, if 

 good honey cannot be had In sufficient quantity, the artificial 

 supply may be provided, by adding sugar syrup to a certain 

 quantity of honey, and very good feed may be made by using 

 a mixture composed in the following proportions : Sugar, 50 ; 

 water, 25 ; honey, 25. The water is first heated to the boil- 

 ing point, then the sugar is thown in, and after it has slightly 

 cooled the honey is added. 



Feeders of all kinds are made, and it is not the purpose of 

 this article to recommend that such a feeder be used as will 

 enable the bees to take their food above the combs and as close 

 to their brood-nest as possible, to avoid the depredation of heat. 



I said that from 25 to 40 pounds were needed, but have 

 given no way of ascertaining the quantity, short of weighing 

 the hive, which is Impractical in most instances. Those who 

 are accustomed to handling bees usually judge of the amount 

 by the space occupied with honey, and this is probably the best 

 criterion. We would call a hive sufficiently supplied if the 

 honey occupied about one-half of eight combs, the upper half 

 of course, since bees always place their stores above and be- 

 hind their brood. But we use hives with 10 combs, and like 

 to see these 10 combs half filled, at least. Too much honey is 

 better than too little, and if we would have success with bees, 

 we should not begrudge them a little more than they are likely 

 to need. But it is necessary for them to have a sufficient 

 space of dry comb at the bottom to cluster on ; for they fare 

 much better, and keep warmer, if they can keep the bulk of 

 their cluster below the honey, on empty cells. 



We will next consider the advantage of winter flights, 

 and of shelter. Hancock Co., 111. 



Frame Spacing at Top and Bottom. 



BY A. P. RAYMOND. 



I am aware that frame spacing is an old, well-worn topic, 

 having been thoroughly discust many times, but I am also 

 aware that many bee-keepers are not as yet giving this mat- 

 ter as much attention as its importance demands, conse- 

 quently I trust I may be pardoned for again referring to the 

 subject. 



No feature connected with the use of loose-hanging frames 

 should receive more careful consideration than that of spac- 

 ing. Every practical bee-keeper is cognizant of the fact that 

 frames of comb are of the greatest value when they are per- 



fectly straight, the cells being of equal length upon either 

 side, for they are then Interchangeable and can then be placed 

 in any part of any hive in the apiary without inconvenience 

 to ourselves or the bees. They can also be readily turned end 

 for end in a hive, which is often necessary. 



Experience with loose-hanging frames has convinced me 

 of two facts, viz.: If we are to obtain the best possible results 

 from their use the combs must be built in them evenly and 

 perfectly, as described above ; also, if we secure such straight, 

 even combs, the frames must be accurately spaced. 



Now, what I mean by frame spacing Includes not the tops 

 only, but the bottom of the frames as well. If we take the 

 trouble to space but one side of the frames let that be the bot- 

 tom — the tops are where we can readily see them, and by using 

 our eyes as guide we can space them quite accurately, the only 

 difficulty being that they will not stay spaced while handling 

 or moving the hive. We may construct our frames ever so 

 carefully, having them perfectly true and entirely out of the 

 wind, and still we are not relieved of the duty of bottom spac- 

 ing, because however truly an empty frame may hang in a 

 hive, when it is filled with comb, brood and honey, it may be 

 found hanging out of plumb, caused by more brood or honey 

 being placed upon one side of the comb than upon the other. 

 Now, when a frame hangs out of plumb, the bees make the 

 matter still worse by lengthening the cells upon the heavier 

 side and putting in still more honey ; if the opposite side con- 

 tains brood the cells of course must remain only the proper 

 length. 



If we wish to remove a frame and place it in another hive, 

 and we find it in the condition described above, it causes 

 trouble to ourselves and extra work for the bees. The fact 

 establisht, that the duty of frame spacing is imperative if we 

 are to receive the best results, the question now arises, what 

 method of spacing shall we adopt ? For the benefit of those 

 who wish to use it, I will give a method of top-spacing which 

 I have recently devised, and which I think, without being 

 egotistical. Is superior to any other with which I am acquainted. 



After removing the head from a six-penny wire finishing- 

 nail drive it longitudinally into the end of the top-bar of the 

 frame directly underneath and close to the projecting end. It 

 should be placed directly in the center of the bar transversely, 

 and driven in until the out end of the nail is flush with that 

 of the bar. Now, with a three-cornered file I make small V- 

 shaped depressions or notches upon the upper edges of the 

 metal rabbets, which are used in the hives, \% or 1)^ inches 

 apart, as may be desired, and just deep enough to correspond 

 with the diameter of the nail, which, being driven in, has 

 now become apart of the projection of the top-bar. (Do not 

 make the depressions too deep, about }i inch is sufficient.) 



When the frame is placed, as now arranged, in the hive, 

 the nails which have been driven underneath the projecting 

 end of the bar rest at right angles upon the metal rabbets, 

 and will quickly drop into the depressions as they strike 

 them, and the entire width of the projection will rest upon 

 the rabbet. The weight of the frame will hold itself in place. 

 These depressions should in every case be V-shaped, as the 

 frame may then be crowded upward and also to one side with 

 only one motion. They may be more rapidly made by ma- 

 chinery, or possibly with a steel punch and a hammer ; 

 this applies of course to the construction of new rabbets. I 

 think that by using a small file the depressions can be made in 

 the rabbets of the hives already constructed without remov- 

 ing them from the hive ; it may be rather slow work, but you 

 will never regret the time spent, as it will save much valuable 

 time In spacing frames during swarming, when one minute is 

 sometimes worth more than are 10 minutes at some other 

 seasons of the year. 



This method may also be adopted by those who do not use 

 metal rabbets ; by using a chisel the V-shaped depressions 

 may be made upon the wood rabbets of the hive ; in such case 

 the depression should extend across the entire wfdth of the 

 rabbet, and it would probably be better to use an 8-penny 

 nail instead of a 6penny underneath the projection of the 

 top-bar, and consequently a little deeper depression in rabbet. 



I believe this method has several advantages over the 

 staple or nail methods of spacing. The nails underneath the 

 projections of the top-bar are not in our way in the least 

 while manipulating the frame ; the frames can be readily and 

 very easily moved to one side, allowing us to remove a central 

 frame from the hive without first removing the dummy or 

 division-board at the side. 



Again if we wish to store a quantity of frames, either 

 empty or otherwise, they occupy less room than if their sides 

 contained nails or staples ; the nails resting upon the metal 

 rabbets prove an advantage in moving the frame from side to 

 side in the hive, as they glide very easily along the edge of 

 the rabbet. 



