576 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



This subject of the protection of 

 single-walled hives is important, and 

 every suggestion for its improvement 

 counts in the struggle for the survival 

 of the fittest. 



In the contest of Cellar vs. Out-door 

 wintering, bee-periodicals during the 

 last few years, indicate that the latter is 

 slowly gaining. The failure of the 

 honey supply incident to cultivation, is 

 gradually destroying the large bee- 

 ranches. I believe that apiaries of 50 

 colonies and under now furnish more 

 than half the honey, and that they are 

 on the increase. Their business will not 

 justify an extensive outlay for plant and 

 fixtures, neither is it necessary, for by 

 the proper protection of single-walled 

 hives, using the best fixtures and the 

 best methods will result in the most 

 surplus of the best quality, and at the 

 least cost. 



Berlin, Mo. 



When and How to Use SeBarators. 



K. C. AIKIN. 



The beginner seems almost confounded 

 at the diversity of opinion, and there is 

 some excuse for him, too. 



One says we must use separators, and 

 another says they are useless ; no need 

 of them at all. Suppose A has 100 col- 

 onies, and does not want any increase. 

 He uses all means to prevent swarming, 

 and when the honey-flow comes on he 

 has big colonies, and keeps them so. He 

 uses full sheets of foundation in sections, 

 and has an immense lot of bees in each 

 hive, so that they occupy not less than 

 two supers, and some three and four. 



The weather is warm, and the flow 

 may not be extra heavy, but with such a 

 force of bees, even in a light flow, they 

 are bound to bring in lots of honey. The 

 whole super, or supers, are worked at 

 once, and filled, too, and a fine lot of 

 straight combs is the result. Under such 

 conditions, and with a good to extra 

 honey-flow, there will be very few combs 

 that cannot be crated ; and no separators 

 used, either. 



Now comes Mr. B. He lets his bees 

 swarm, or divides them, and the colonies 

 are so weakened that they cannot pos- 

 sibly occupy more than two supers at 

 one time, even with warm weather and a 

 good flow. If they do manage to stretch 

 out that far they cannot send out 

 enough field workers to rapidly fill the 

 sections, so they try to remedy matters 

 by working one side at a time, and so 



make a lot of one-sided sections, if sep- 

 arators have not been used. 



A very strong colony will, in a light 

 flow, build as straight combs as a light 

 colony will in a good flow. 



We have no standard by which we can 

 measure or judge, and say this colony or 

 that one is strong. I mean no general 

 standard, for each man is "a law unto 

 himself," and decides according to his 

 own judgment, and what one man calls 

 a vei^ strong colony, another calls, per- 

 haps, fair to average ; and so it goes. 

 Each one writes his views, and they 

 differ. Why? Because the circum- 

 stances are different. Now, I will give 

 you a plan that I think will work in most 

 cases. There will be some exceptions ; 

 but only a few : 



If you will so manage your bees that 

 when the flow comes on you will have so 

 many bees in each hive that a 10-frame 

 Simplicity hive will not begin to hold 

 them, and so that you have to add 

 another story to give them room to 

 cluster, or, perhaps, put on supers for 

 the same purpose ; then you can get 

 reasonably straight honey without sep- 

 arators, if not over 1% sections and full 

 sheets are used. 



If you have no home market to take 

 the few bulged sections, you may have 

 to use about two separators to each 

 super, and then you can crate it all 

 nicely. But if you allow swarming, or 

 divide so that colonies can work but one 

 super at a time, it will not be safe to 

 leave out the separators. 



Have every colony so strong that when 

 the honey-flow comes on they can send 

 as many bees to the supers as are needed 

 in the brood-camber, and as many to the 

 fields as are found at work in the whole 

 hive ; or, what is better, have bees 

 enough to occupy and work three or four 

 supers at one time. A colony cannot do 

 good work if given too much room. Let 

 each colony be kept on just what combs 

 and sections they can work and keep 

 warm when at least one-half the bees 

 are in the fields. 



The past season I had the care of over 

 125 colonies that were not allowed to 

 swarm, and all were bred up just as full 

 as possible. The more prolific colonies 

 were made to help the weaker ones, 

 until each colony was so full of bees that 

 we gavethem from two to three brood- 

 chambers (10-frame), room to cluster 

 and keep themselves cool. This great 

 strength was, of course, not attained 

 until the flow was just . about to com- 

 mence. 



When the flow began, those colonies 

 would occupy, on an average, about 



