286 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



placed the bottle in the honey house at 

 the time, and have kept it ever since. 



In the course of a few months the 

 honey candied and remained so for per- 

 haps a year, more or less. Later, the 

 room had a stove in it, and at times was 

 quite warm, but at no time was heat 

 applied directly to the honey. The honey 

 finally again became liquid, except a 

 very small portioji, and for three years 

 or more has changed but little. At 

 present about one-third at the bottom is 

 candied, while the remainder is liquid, 

 and is transparent, but has a slight 

 reddish-amber color. The flavor is quite 

 pleasant. Part of the time the bottle 

 has been corked, and part of the time 

 open. 



Fort Collins, Colo. 



Feed tie Bees, if Necessary. 



C. S. MILLER. 



Do not let the bees starve to death 

 when a few pounds of candy will take 

 them through the cold winter all right. 

 More than half of the losses, in ordinary 

 years, are the result of starvation. 



Besides the ones that lick the combs 

 dry, a great many colonies die with 

 enough honey to feed them for a month 

 still in the hive, from having too many 

 combs that are cold, because of not being 

 covered, and the sleepy bees will not 

 move to them. 



Even in the cellar, they may be fed if 

 it is done in the right way. We feed 

 them at any time during winter, being 

 careful not to "stir them up." 



For candy, take granulated sugar, and 

 add just water enough to wet it, then 

 melt it over a slow fire, being careful to 

 keep the blaze from the pan, or it may 

 scorch, then it will poison the bees. 



When it boils enough so it will harden 

 into candy, when stirred in a saucer, 

 take it from the fire, and stir until quite 

 thick. 



Have a white cloth spread on the 

 table, and pour the candy on it to cool. 

 When cold, the cloth will strip loose from 

 it, then it can be broken into small pieces 

 for use. 



On lifting the mat from the hive, if the 

 bees "rise up," just leave them un- 

 covered for awhile, when they will all 

 settle down. Lay the candy on the bars 

 directly over them, and cover again with 

 a cushion. 



Bees in the open air should not be dis- 

 turbed, except on days when they can 

 fly out, unless they are starving. 



If a cellar is too damp, a bushel of un- 

 slaked lime is the best remedy, unless 

 the water stands on the bottom of cellar ; 

 then, a drain and more warmth are 

 needed. 



Do not use smoke in cold weather, for 

 if bees are frightened, they will eat too 

 much. 



Bradford, Pa. 



Ronsins Colonies for tlie Honey Haryest. 



C. W. DAYTON. 



In Oleanings for Feb. 1, at the top of 

 page 88, it says: "The tendency of the 

 times is against contraction to less than 

 8 Langstroth frames. It is far better to 

 have a big, rousing colony on 8 frames, 

 than a medium one on 4 to 6 frames." 



May I suggest that if it is not satisfac- 

 tory to have a medium colony on 4 to 6 

 frames, how would it do to have as much 

 of a big, rousing colony as can be gotten 

 upon the 4 or 6 frames, and the remain- 

 der in the sections? 



Some may be led into the belief that 

 the object of contraction is to maintain a 

 medium colony, and avoid a big, rousing 

 one, which is not the case. 



Those bee-keepers who apply system- 

 atic methods of contraction, are, I will 

 venture to say, champions when it comes 

 to the question of big, rousing colonies, 

 and by the aid of contraction they come 

 out still farther ahead in the amount of 

 honey obtained. 



In the first place, one should know that 

 contraction is a fallacy with any but a 

 big, rousing colony. 



I presume that I am the most radical 

 advocate of bee-hive contraction, because 

 I often contract the brood-nest, during 

 the honey flow, down to a single brood- 

 frame; yet, notwithstanding this, I use 

 a 12-frame hive and try to get all of the 

 frames full of brood by the time the 

 honey harvest begins. 



If a single queen cannot get a big, 

 rousing colony on the 12 combs by the 

 time I want them, they are doubled up 

 until they do become rousers. 



Rousing colonies and contraction are 

 very closely related. It may be compared 

 to a bellows — it cannot be contracted 

 until it has first been expanded. 



Last season, our honey harvest began 

 on June 25, and lasted until July 5. I 

 contracted most of the strongest colonies 

 between June 18 and 23. These colonies 

 had from 7 to 10 combs of brood each, 

 averaging about 8. Of the 12 combs 

 my hives would hold, I took out 4 and 

 put in their places 3 wide frames of sec- 



