THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



359 



iiboiit the yard, and see that no crack 

 or peep-hole in any liive will admit a 

 marauder. Keep waU'ti willi " Argus 

 eyes," and nip in the hud the lirst at- 

 tempt at piilasing, and when con- 

 ducted with eare, feeding is easy. 



I have tluis far spoken only of feed- 

 ing to supjily destitute colonies. Much 

 has been said about stimulative feed- 

 ing. This consists in feeding bees in 

 order to form a sustitute for the regu- 

 lar flow of honey from the Held in the 

 houey season, in order to arouse the 

 bees to greater activity and increase 

 the rearing of brood. I very much 

 qiiestion the "economy of this kind of 

 feeding. If a colonyof bees be fed a 

 small "quantity of warm syrup or 

 honey, they immediately take wing in 

 great ninnbers, and present the busy 

 scene of a midsummer day, although 

 it may be so cold that no bees were 

 flying before. Not only is the colony 

 fed aroused to unusual activity, but 

 the other colonies in the yard will 

 sj'mpathize in the excitement, and a 

 disturbance will be caused more or 

 less over the whole yard, which will 

 increase at each successive feeding. 

 If this kind of feeding is continued 

 regularly each day, the effect upon 

 the colony fed is similar to that pro- 

 duced by the natural yield of honey 

 from the field. The brood-nest is ex- 

 tended, drones reared, and a general 

 appearance of prosperity prevails. 

 This condition, no doubt, would seem 

 gratifying to the bee-keeper were it 

 not that it must be continued by 

 abundant feeding until natural sup- 

 plies are furnished from the fields, 

 and the weather will permit the bees 

 to gather it in. 



We may look forward hopefully to 

 the apple bloom in expectation of re- 

 lief, and be disappointed by dismal 

 rains and continued cold ; if so, we 

 are confronted by the startling fact 

 that our rapidly growing colonies are 

 now looking to us for food until rasp- 

 berry or white clover comes ; and lui- 

 less we supply it, the bees will surely 

 economize at the expense of the val- 

 uable brood already in the hive — cer- 

 tainly a very poor economy for the 

 bee-keeper. 



We are almost startled on learning 

 how short is the average life of bees 

 during the activity of the honey gath- 

 ering season— very much shorter than 

 in a season of rest. Thus showing us 

 at what expense of vitality the full 

 activity of life is enjoyed." This re- 

 sult is simulated in stimulative feed- 

 ing. The simulation of the honey 

 season that we are able to practice, is 

 faulty in one- important particular. 

 We are unable to give the warm 

 bright sunshine of June ; but instead 

 the sharp, chilling winds from the 

 north prevail, and the workers which 

 start out with bright prospects, pay 

 dearly for their short-lived ambition. 

 Most of us observed that those colo- 

 nies having abundance of natural 

 stores in the spring were built up 

 quietly into strong colonies, crowded 

 to overflowing with bees, and the first 

 to cast new swarms. This is the nat- 

 ural way, and who can say it is not 

 yet the best. 



Flour feed in early spring, as a sub- 

 stitute for pollen, was a few years 



ago almost universally advocated by 

 the bee-keeping fraternity, and some 

 favor it vet, alt hough niai'iy wlio once 

 practiced it have abandoned it, after 

 giving it a test for years, satisfied 

 that the good resulting from it would 

 not compensate the evil. After con- 

 siderable experience in this kind of 

 feeding, 1 am satisfied that there are 

 times When a judicious feeding of 

 some kind of flour, as a substitute for 

 pollen, would be beneficial. But I am 

 not satisfied tiiat an indiscriminate 

 feeding of flour, whenever the bees 

 will take it, always results beneficially. 

 East Townsend. O. 



For the American Bee Journiil. 



The Iowa Central Convention. 



The Iowa Central Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation met at Winterset, Iowa, on 

 April 18, 18S4. The meeting was 

 called to order by the President, A. 

 J. Adkinson, wild asked for a report 

 of the successes and failures in win- 

 tering, which resulted as follows : 



Out of 42.5 colonies put into cellars 

 and clamps, 18;i were lost ; and from 

 148 colonies left on the summer 

 stands, there was lost 101. ,Some had 

 tried tacking wire screens over the 

 fronts of the hives, which resulted in 

 the death of the bees so treated. 



Adjourned to meet at 1 p. m. 



After calling the meeting to order, 

 the President read a letter written by 

 Mr. Thos. Ch;intry, who has again 

 V)een very successful in " clamp " win- 

 tering. 



The following questions were asked: 



1. Which isthe better plan of in- 

 crease, swarming or dividing '? The 

 majority of those present seemed to 

 favor the dividing plan. 



2. How can the bees be made to 

 build their combs straight V Mr. 

 Bailey and others advised raising the 

 backs of the hives 6 or 8 inches. 



Adjourned to meet at Winterset, 

 Iowa, June 20, 1884. 



J. E. Pryor, Sec. 



For the American Bee Juui^al. 



Reversible Frames. 



31. 31. IIALDRIDGE. 



My attention has once more been 

 called to an article on " reversible 

 frames," on page 167. The writer, 

 this time, is one of those enthusiastic 

 Michigan bee-keepers, and what he 

 says reads about as follows : 



'' Reversible frames are not exactly 

 what they have been cracked up to be. 

 If I understand the matter, there are 

 two desirable features claimed for 

 reversible frames. First, by reversal 

 the bees will fasten the combs to the 

 bottom-bars, and if any honey is 

 stored along the luider side of the top- 

 bars, the bees will remove tliis honey 

 to the section boxes." 



" Xow, by using wired frames, the 

 first desirable feature is rendered null 

 and void ; while, in regard to the sec- 

 ond point, would it not be much more 

 desirable to employ such a method of 

 management that the honey will be 

 stored in the sections in the first 



place '? If reversible frames were a 

 very desirable thing, I think a reversi- 

 ble hive Would be still more desirable. 

 Had liives been made small enough 

 so that ordinary queens could keep 

 them fidl of brood, perhaps reversible 

 frames would never have been 

 thought of." 



I see notliing in the foregoing to 

 prove that " reversible frames " are 

 not exactly what they liave been 

 " cracked lip to be;" but, perhaps, I 

 am blind. I do not see but that the 

 writer admits, substantially, that by 

 reversing the frames the bees will 

 fasten the combs to the bottom bars 

 and make them as solid and perfect as 

 they always do to the top-bars. If 

 this be true, then in that respect, are 

 not " reversible frames "exactly what 

 they have been " cracked up to be ?" 

 The writer certainly does not deny 

 the claim. He says, however, that 

 the same result may be secured by 

 using wired frames, and without re- 

 versing them. Now is that true '? It 

 may be true when the combs are built 

 in the second story, but how is it 

 when confined exclusively to the brood 

 chamber V 



It should be borne in mind that very 

 few of our comb-honey specialists now 

 use the two-story hive deep enough 

 for two sets of frames. However, 

 perhaps the wonderful ' strain " of 

 hybrid bees, so highly " cracked up " 

 in Michigan, will do as he claims ; but 

 I have seldom seen it done in the 

 brood-chamber in Illinois or elsewhere, 

 by the ordinary " strains " of bees. 



Our ;Michigan critic also admits, 

 substantially, that when the combs in 

 the lower story are supplied with both 

 brood and honey, by reversing them 

 the bees will remove the honey now 

 at the bottom of the hive, owing to 

 its unnatural position, to the sections 

 above. If this be true.then in this re- 

 spect, are not reversible frames " ex- 

 actly " what they have been " cracked 

 up to be V" 



I infer from what our Michigan 

 critic says, that he is, perhaps, ac- 

 quainted with a system of manage- 

 ment which forces the bees to deposit 

 their honey in the sections "in the 

 first place," and that the system does 

 away with the necessity of reversing 

 the frames, and possibly of scarifying 

 the honey when sealed. This may all 

 be true, but may not " reversible 

 frames," at times, aid materially in 

 securing such a result V And if they 

 do not .assist, will they do any harm? 



If reversil)le frames are really de- 

 sirable, then would not a reversible 

 hive be more desirable V Possibly, 

 but please tell us why. I can see no 

 good reason for making the hive re- 

 versible. 



For several years I have been con- 

 vinced that the lOframe standard 

 Langstroth hive is too large for se- 

 curing the best results in comb honey; 

 and mainly liecause ordinary queens 

 are unable to keep all the combs full 

 of brood. For that reason some bee- 

 keepers have made the hive smaller 

 i)y using only eight standard frames : 

 but by so doing they have diminished 

 the capacity of the surplus-honey 

 chamber. To avoid this, I prefer 

 to reduce the depth of the 10-frame 



