488 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



from. In case of the queen, I leave 

 her where she is until nearly sunset, 

 so there are but few flying bees in the 

 air, then she is taken from the bees, 

 when they will go back to their hive, 

 setting up a joyful hum, after which 

 I let the queen go with theri^ 



In case of a clustered swarm, I hive 

 all but a half pint or so of bees, which 

 are kept in a cage till nearly sunset, 

 when they are let out, and tell me, as 

 did the otliers, just the hive the 

 swarm came from. 



In the above I have given a few of 

 my reasons for preferring queens 

 with clipped wings, and I am willing 

 to leave the matter with the readers, 

 to choose which they prefer after hav- 

 ing a fair hearing of both sides of the 

 question. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Reversible Frames Again. 



A. II. DUTTON. 



upon them, the top of the frame will 

 occupy the same level in the brood- 

 chamber as it does when the usual 

 style of frame is employed. The 

 metal strips should stand out from 

 the walls }i of an inch. 



It is now an admitted fact by many 

 apiarists, among their number being 

 some of the largest and most success- 

 ful honey-producers on the American 

 Continent, that under certain circum- 

 stances brood-frames, capable of re- 

 version, possess advantages which do 

 not belong to the ordinary style of 

 suspended frames. Such being the 

 case, the question would naturally 

 arise, with those who are unaccus- 

 tomed to their use, " What are the 

 most feasible methods of making the 

 various patterns of suspended frame 

 reversible V and what are the condi- 

 tions under which they can be em- 

 ployed to advantage i"' 



Without attempting to answer the 

 last inquiry, which lias already been 

 done very fully by various writers in 

 the different "bee-periodicals. I shall 

 meet the first question in detailing a 

 system for reversing frames whicli for 

 simplicity, thorough practicability, 

 ease of application to any style of 

 frame, and inexperience, is ahead of 

 anvthing I know of in this line. 



Presuming that the frame which you 

 wish to make reversible, is the Lang- 

 stroth, cut off the corner projections 

 and straighten the end-bars by in- 

 serting inside the frame in close con- 

 tact thereto, strijis of wood, tack 

 them securely in position (the bars at 

 the ends of the frame are now about 

 }4 inch in tliickness) ; next drive two 

 stout wire nails, each about % of an 

 inch in length, parallel with each 

 other, into the outside of the end- 

 bars of the frame ; do not drive them 

 clear in, but allow them to project % 

 of an inch, and insert the nails across 

 each end of the frame exactly in the 

 centre (see diagram). This completes 

 the arrangement of the frame. 



We shall now observe a slight 

 change in the hive itself. The metal- 

 lic edges on which the projecting 

 coiners of the ordinary suspended 

 frames rest, is removed from their 

 position on the rabbeted edges of the 

 inside end-walls of the brood-cham- 

 ber, and transferred to the middle of 

 the walls, so tliat when the nail pro- 

 jections of the prepared frame rests 



To secure this result effectively and 

 easily, cut two strips of card-board 

 about 3-32 of an inch in thickness and 

 % of an inch wide, and the whole 

 length of the inside end-wall of the 

 hive, and tack these lightly in posi- 

 tion % of an incli below the centre of 

 each end of the brood -chamber. Now 

 tack the metal strips, which should be 

 }^ of an inch in width, and the same 

 length as the card-board strips, 

 securely over the latter, leaving }4 of 

 an inch projection above. (See dia- 

 gram.) This finishes the reversing 

 fixtures. 



riiiiiiiiinuiiiMiUMijiiiiiiiiii iHiHiiiirni 



It will now be found, on trial, that 

 the frame will securely rest by the 

 nail projections on the metal rabbets, 

 whether top or bottom be uppermost ; 

 and that the reversing of the same 

 consumes no more time than it takes 

 to turn the frame over in the hands 

 after it is removed from the hive. It 

 is free from sharp points and edges at 

 the corners f which, in my opinion, are 

 objectionable in any style of frame), 

 and when in the hive its lateral mo- 

 tion if anything is more perfect than 

 the usual style of suspended frame ; 

 and now I think I have said as much 

 as can be mentioned in favor of any 

 pattern of reversible frame. 



Brussels, Out. 



From the Los Angeles News. 



Production of Surplus Honey. 



DR. E. GALLUP. 



I wish to describe my method of 

 managing bees for surplus honey ; 

 and in this climate we must com- 

 mence to put them in condition by 

 the middle or the last of February. 

 The first thing is to select the colonies 

 which are desired to breed from, and 

 then build them up strong by fitting 

 the brood-chamber with frames well 

 filled with hatching or sealed brood, 

 from other colonies ; and when the 

 weather is not favorable for gather- 

 ing food, I feed them a little every 

 evening, so as to keep the queen at 

 her work. Then I examine every 

 colony, and any that does not equal 

 my expectations, I ascertain the 

 cause, and if the fault is in the queen, 

 she is killed just as soon as I can suc- 

 ceed in getting natural queen-cells ; 

 for I prefer the natural to the arti- 

 ficial queen-cells whenever' they can 



be had, and especially early in the 

 season. 



Now, just as fast as I get young 

 laying queens, I build the bees up, 

 until the time the honey harvest 

 commences ; either by placing empty 

 combs as fast as needed, in the centre 

 of the brood-nest for the queen to fill, 

 or by giving brood from other colonies 

 to strengthen up ; and as soon as the 

 brood-chamber is well filled with 

 brood, providing the honey harvest is 

 on hand, I put on the supers ; other- 

 wise I sometimes take a frame of 

 brood to strengthen a weaker colony. 

 I never think of putting on the supers 

 until the brood- chamber is completely 

 filled with brood. 



Every young queen that begins to- 

 lay in March, produces, by the above 

 plan, an excellent colony for storing 

 surplus, as there is scarcely any dis- 

 position to swarm. If the colony is 

 as it should be, many of those young 

 queens will require two supers, as one 

 will not give sufficient room for the 

 amount of bees she will rear. All the 

 old queens that are saved in the 

 apiary, must be built up strong, by 

 spreading the combs judiciously, and 

 inserting an empty comb in the cen- 

 tre of the brood-nest for the queen to 

 fill with eggs ; for, remember, that 

 almost double the amount of eggs can 

 be secured by so doing, than it they 

 are left to manage their own affairs. 



In a good season every colony can b& 

 brought up to the standard, and the 

 swarming all done by the middle of 

 April. I prefer the natural swarms 

 if they come early, and when artificial 

 swarms are made, I give the division 

 natural and nearly mature queen- 

 cell. If I want any increase, I allow 

 all colonies that swarm early ,to swarm 

 two or three times ; because every 

 young queen tliat I can get to breed- 

 ing early in March, can be brought up 

 to the standard in time for honey 

 gathering. 



If I do not want increase, I get as 

 many young queens in the place of 

 old ones as I possibly can. In a poor 

 season every colony cannot be built 

 up in time for surplus ; because I take 

 brood from some colonies to build up 

 others for surplus. Tliose which I 

 take brood from, I only calculate to 

 make into profitable colonies for win- 

 tering. 



Now, understand that if honey is 

 wanted, we must have bees, and any 

 colony that is strong in bees will 

 store honey, even if there are not over 

 a five-days' honey-flow in the season. 

 How is it that Mr. Doolittle manages 

 to get a crop of surplus honey every 

 season in a comparatively poor local- 

 ity V Simply by managing his bees- 

 on a plan similar to the above. 



I want all the supers taken off by 

 Feb. ],so as to confine the animal 

 heat in the brood-nest ; and supers 

 should be put on only as fast as the 

 bees are in condition to occupy them. 

 Now, providing the weather is favor- 

 able, we can put in one or two frames- 

 of foundation at a time in each hive, 

 and have the queens fill them with 

 eggs. A frame of foundation filled 

 with eggs by a good Italian queen, is 

 a sight worth looking at ; and I have 

 alwavs had the best satisfaction in 



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