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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Putting on the Sections. 



Among beginners and amateurs the 

 inquiry is often heard, "When shall 

 we put the sections on our hives V" 

 Mr. Dougherty answers this question 

 as follows in the Indiana Fm-mer : 



There can be no fixed time for put- 

 ting on the surplus box. only as the 

 season develops itself showing a surp- 

 lus of honey coming in, and the 

 necessity of giving room for its stor- 

 age. The bees will seldom commence 

 in the sections so long as there is any 

 available space in the brood chamber 

 in which to put the honey, and where 

 the combs are not well filled with 

 brood, the better plan is to occupy the 

 extra space with a division-board, in- 

 creasing the brood space as the queen 

 becomes cramped for room in which 

 to lay. Usually the first indications 

 that the bees are gathering a surplus 

 of honey, is the filling of the combs 

 next to tlie top-bars of the frames, 

 lengthening out the cells, showing the 

 white, new comb which they are add- 

 ing to fill in all of the unnecessary 

 space. 



Bees seldom get a surplus of honey 

 before the coming of white clover, 

 although where locust is abundant 

 they sometimes get quite a surplus 

 from this source. Too much room 

 should not be given at first, as too 

 much space at first may lower the 

 temperature to such an extent as to 

 retard brood-rearing. The better plan 

 is to give but little room at first. 

 After they have commenced in this 

 nicely, then give more room, as re- 

 quired. They are at times loth to 

 commence work in the boxes, and 

 where a colony shows a hesitancy in 

 occupying the boxes, some induce- 

 ment should be given them ; such as a 

 section well filled with comb. We 

 usually have a great many sections 

 left over from one season to another, 

 with which to encourage them, but 

 have had to resort to the plan of cut- 

 ting out a small piece of board and 

 fastening it into the center section. 

 We seldom bother with anything of 

 that kind now, for where we find a 

 colony that does not enter the sections 

 at once, we lift them off, and hang on 

 a fuU set of empty combs for extract- 

 ing. After they have got well started 

 to going above, they will most gener- 

 ally enter the boxes at once on there 

 being replaced. 



Apis Dorsata Coming. — Mr. A. 



Schroeder, one of our subscribers in 

 Trieste, Austria, under date of May 

 2, 18S3, writes as follows: "Mr. G. 

 Dathe, of Germany, has arrived in 

 Joppa with 4 colonies of Apis-Dorsata. 

 He is very much disappointed in the 

 (act that those bees will not build 

 combs, neither will they stay on them. 

 One colony decamped, and he was 

 obliged to cut the queen's wings. I 

 hope he will reach Europe with his 

 bees alive, to bare them to experiment 

 with for the sake of science. I do not 



believe the bees are worth anything 

 for bee-keepers. Bees are doing well 

 here. Strong colonies wintered well, 

 and are in swarming condition now, 

 if the weather would permit. I will 

 build up nuclei into strong colonies, 

 etc. We havenever very cold winters 

 here." 



Seasonable Hints. 



Mrs. L. Harrison gives the follow- 

 ing directions in the Prairie Farmer 

 for the management of bees at the 

 present season : 



Eggs and young larvaj disappear 

 very mysteriously at times when there 

 is a cessation in the flow of honey, 

 and also when there are too few bees 

 to hover and nourish it. A few days 

 ago we gave a weak colony a frame of 

 comb containing eggs, larvse, and 

 hatching bees. On examining them 

 a few days afterward we found sealed 

 brood, and voung downy bees crawl- 

 ing around," but the cells were empty 

 where the eggs and larvie had been. 

 The bees had been playing cannibal, 

 breakfasted on the eggs and dined on 

 the young larvie. Itiey had plenty 

 of stores, but were lacking in bees 

 necessary to produce warmtli and 

 nurses for the young, and so utilized 

 them by devouring them. If chipping 

 brood is given to weak colonies first, 

 and as soon as it is hatched, eggs and 

 larvoe are put in, there will then be 

 bees of the right age to nurse and 

 care for it. 



Great care should be taken lest we 

 injure our bees more than we do them 

 good by meddling with them. If 

 brood is taken from strong colonies, 

 reducing them to the condition of the 

 weak ones, great harm is done, for 

 the brood given to the weak colonies 

 may be entirely wasted. When the 

 warm weather has come to stay, we 

 may take brood with impunity, and 

 not before. In the interim we must 

 take care that the weak have plenty 

 of honey in their hives, and feed the 

 strong whenever they will accept it. 



Bees are now carrying a great deal 

 of water, and venture out for it when 

 the mornings are quite cool. It will 

 save the life of many a bee if drink- 

 ing vessels are filled with warm water. 

 We have some small kegs in the 

 apiary whicli are filled with water, 

 and some old muslin is put into them 

 with a portion hanging over the sides, 

 serving the purpose of syphons, and 

 ttie bees suck the water from the 

 muslin on tiie sunny sides of the kegs 

 without danger of drowning. 



1^- We notice that quite a number 

 of local papers have copied our article 

 on " Bees and Honey in Ancient 

 Times" from No. 19 of the Bee 

 Journal. It will help to educate 

 the mas.se3 on the uses of honey, and 

 if there are any more persons who 

 think they can prevail upon local 

 editors to get it inserted, we can send 



them extra copies free for that pur- 

 pose. Just send a postal card for No. 

 19, and it will be sent at once. Be 

 sure to give your name and address. 



Chickens Eating Drones. 



Mr. Dadant, says the Prairie Farmer, 

 "once had an apiary located on the 

 side of a hill and fenced. He also 

 had, at the same time, -500 chickens 

 occupying the some enclosure with 

 the bees. He had his hives raised 

 from the ground, and at night the 

 hens brooded their chickens under 

 them. He also taught his chickens to 

 eat drones, by feeding them brood 

 and hatching drones. He says he has 

 seen a rooster pick them off as they 

 were clustered closely together for 

 mutual protection against their female 

 prosecutors, as all bee-keepers have 

 seen them do, until he could swallow 

 no more, then rest a bit, stretch up 

 his neck, and go for them again — and 

 if corn was thrown to him he would 

 not notice it." 



®' The weather for the past few 

 days, in the whole Northern States, 

 has been cold, windy and wet; but 

 with a warm sunshine added to the 

 well-watered ground, the flow of 

 nectar will be abundant. It is true 

 that the colonies of bees have become 

 weaker, and in some cases "spring 

 dwindling" has been severely felt, 

 but, on the whole, an abundant honey 

 harvest is to be expected. 



^" The Annual Exhibition of the 

 Nortfiamptonshire Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation of bees, hives, honey, and 

 bee appliances, will be held in connec- 

 tion with tlie Northamptonshire Hor- 

 ticultural Society, on Monday and 

 Tuesday, Aug. 6 and 7, 18S3, in the 

 grounds of Delapre Park, Northamp- 

 ton, England. Practical illustrations 

 of mauipulating with live bees, show- 

 ing tlie best method of driving bees, 

 making artificial swarms, transferring 

 combs from straw skeps to bar frame 

 hives, finding the queen, extracting 

 the honey without injuring the bees 

 or combs, etc., will be given at inter- 

 vals during the show days, in a tent 

 specially constructed, so that visitors 

 can see the whole manipulations with- 

 out any danger of being stung. Prizes 

 will be awarded amounting to over 

 $.50.00. Entries will be received, and 

 further information given, on appli- 

 cation to Mr. James Davies, 33, Semi- 

 long, Northampton, by sending 

 stamped addressed envelope. Entries 

 close on July 31, 1883. 



(^ Mr. Alley's new book on Que 

 Bearing will hereafter cost $1.2S 



