190'; 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



897 



can make our increase much cheaper and 

 easier than those who produce comb honey. 

 VVith us we can divide our colonies in almost 

 any way without seriously affecting our sur- 

 plus. We always make rather more incx'ease 

 in June than we expect to put into winter 

 quarters in the fall; then when a colony loses 

 its queen, or is not what it should be, on the 

 eve of our harvest we unite it with another. 

 At this time we like to have every colony as 

 strong as possible, and we care but little for 

 weak colonies. 



DANGER OF DISEASE. 



One of the most serious objections to buy- 

 ing bees here and there around the country 

 is the liability of bringing diseased colonies 

 into your apiary. This we should ever bear 

 in mind, and never take any chances that 

 we can pi'event. Then the trouble of finding 

 bees for sale, and the expense of bringing 

 them home, many times is no small matter. 

 I have been all over this part of the business, 

 and I don't care to' ry it again. 



In regard to making our increase, it can 

 now be done very easily since we can rear 

 queens with so little trouble that it is easy to 

 have all we care to use ever ready at almost 

 any time. Then by stimulating breeding by 

 feeding so as io have strong colonies ready 

 to divide as early as our young queens com- 

 mence to lay, we can certainly make our in- 

 crease much cheaper than to buy undesirable 

 bees; therefore I can not advise you to buy 

 bees only in exceptional cases, but I do ad- 

 vise you to study well all the latest improv- 

 ed methods of rearing queens and making 

 increase. 



IMPORTANCE OF STARTING RIGHT. 



You are the architect of your business — 

 yes, of your whole life; so let no opportunity 

 for improvement pass unimproved. Before 

 entering upon bee-keeping or any other line 

 of business, be sure you start right. My 

 friend, did you ever realize the importance 

 of those two words, " start I'ight"? Teach 

 your little children to study them; and when 

 you see those poor drifting wrecks of human- 

 ity wandering up and down your highways 

 in their abject poverty, tell your cnildren 

 that those poor souls which are now fairly 

 steeped in vice and crime are the result of 

 starting wrong in this life, and that only God 

 knows what the result will be in the life to 

 come. 



Please pardon me in so often drifting from 

 my subject; but when I think of that short 

 sentence it seems as if I could write a whole 

 volume on its importance. 



THE RIGHT WAY TO MAKE INCREASE. 



There are various ways of making increase. 

 We prefer to build up the colonies to be di- 

 vided until they are very strong in bees and 

 brood; then when the division is made and 

 the queenless pai*t is given a laying queen, 

 we soon have two gO(jd colonies ready for 

 the harvest. We thmk this is a much better 

 way than to build up nuclei. Let the same 

 rule apply to making increase, as all other 

 work in the apiary, which should be a har- 



monizing with your knowledge and the nat- 

 ural instincts of your bees. This is quite 

 important in order to secure the best results. 

 If we adopt methods according to their nat- 

 ural instincts then sui'ely we shall secure bet- 

 ter results than if we try to force them into 

 unnatural conditions, which to quite an ex- 

 tent soon causes them to become discouraged. 



IMPROVING THE APPEARANCE OF THE API- 

 ARY. 



We are now on the eve of another busy 

 season; and while we are intent on securing 

 all the surplus we can, let us not overlook 

 the importance of improving our apiary, 

 both in appearance and real value. A coat 

 of new paint on many hives will add much 

 to their general appearance, and a few choice 

 queens of some valuable strain of bees not 

 related to those we have will often add many 

 dollars to its real value. In this way, at a 

 small expense we can make our business 

 more attractive and profitable, each of which 

 has much to do with our success; and when 

 we can catch the fleeting thoughts of to-day 

 and weave them into practical methods for 

 to-morrow, then let us not stop but continue 

 our work until, thi'ough the medium of our 

 journals, they are given to the world for the 

 help of man. 



A SEASON'S A\ ORK AVITH SECTIONAL 

 HIVES. 



Swarm Control and Comb-honey Production; 



Why the Sectional Hive is Superior 



to its Older Rivals. 



BY J. E. HAND. 



[The reader should understand at the outset that 

 the weather conditions mentioned in the subjoined 

 article are those for hint year, not this yrar. Mr. 

 Hand speaks of the conditions of the season as they oc- 

 curred in order that he may show how to meet those 

 conditions. While the season this year is materially 

 different, the principles here laid down can be made 

 to apply just the same. The reader must keep clearly 

 in mind that Mr. Hand's colonies are divided into 

 three groups as explained in his article in the last is- 

 sue, and as shown in diagrams on the following pages 

 —Ed.] 



The fruit-trees are now in full bloom, and 

 the happy hum of the honey-bee is sweet 

 music to our eai:s, for the honey supply in 

 some of our hives is getting rather low, "ow- 

 ing to the immense quantities of brood that 

 our mammoth colonic:* have been rearing of 

 late, and visions of the possible sugar-barrel 

 in the not distant future had begun to loom 

 up before us; however, with favorable weath- 

 er for a few days all our anxieties along this 

 line will be dispelled, for ouT strong colonies 

 will soon fill their hives with the rich nectar 

 from the everywhere abundant fruit-blooms. 

 As explained in the last article, our colonies 

 are divided into three diffei-ent classes of fif- 

 ty each. The diagram. Fig. 1, shows one of 

 each class. 



The weather at this time is all that could 

 be desired, and every thing looks favorable 

 for a good flow of nectar from fruit bloom; 

 and as our colonies are all very strong in 

 bees we will place on each colony a super of 



