no 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



Stimulative feeding is recommended. In 

 some localities, where the main harvest 

 comes very early, it is possible that stimula- 

 tive feeding, combined ivith ■protection, may 

 he made profitable ; but, in this location, 

 protection, with an abundance of sealed 

 stores, is all that is needed to till the liives 

 to overflowing by the opening of the clover. 

 In the April Review, R. L. Taylor said : " I 

 do not doubt that packing the hives, as rec- 

 ommended by the editor of the Review, 

 like feeding, would be an advantage ; but I 

 question whether either would pay a divi- 

 dend in an ordinary season." We intended 

 to point out, in that issue, the difference be- 

 tween stimulative feeding, and protection, 

 but there was lack of space, so we will make 

 the explanation here. Feeding is a stimu- 

 lant. It incites the bees to breeding as does 

 a honey flow. The great danger lies in the 

 cold snaps that are liable to come, in this 

 latitude, even as late as the last of May. 

 The cold drives the bees into a compact clus- 

 ter in the center of the hive. ( )ne-half the 

 brood perishes. The bees that worked to 

 nurse and rear the brood are mostly old and 

 just ready to drop off. Rearing this mass of 

 brood has, in one and an important sense, 

 added to their age. The cold is the " last 

 straw " needed to send them to the earth. 

 The result is that the colony loses its very 

 life. As a honey producer its value has de- 

 parted. With protection, such results need 

 not be feared, even when the bees have been 

 stimulated by feeding, unless the weather 

 should be unusKully severe. Even then, the 

 effects would be greatly lesened. Now, pro- 

 tection is not stimulation, in the sense in 

 which we use the word. It simply retains 

 the heat generated by the bees, enabling a 

 given number of them to protect and nurse 

 a larger quantity of brood. But, of more 

 importance than the increased production of 

 brood, is the protection from loss of any 

 gain made by the l)ees in breeding. Neither 

 nmst we forget that, the fuller we get our 

 combs, of brood, in the spring, the more 

 workers, and, consequently, the more honey, 

 do we get for the ca[)ital invested in hives 

 and combs. When discussing such ques- 

 tions as these, there always comes to us the 

 query ; Is it advisable to thus protect and 

 stimulate our bees, or would it be more 

 profitable to keep more colonies, spread out 

 and establish out-apiaries, working the bees 

 in what niiglif be termed a slip-shod man- 

 ner, instead of upon the high pressure plan ? 



When we come to discuss out-apiaries, this 

 point shall receive attention. But we must 

 hasten on or we shall never get through the 

 Doctor's little book. 



Under the heading of "The Brood Cham- 

 ber," the Doctor figures out how many cells 

 will be filled with brood in the spring, with 

 /iis hive, when it is protected (nearly 80,000 

 cells), then shows how few cells will be filled 

 in an unprotected single-wall Langstroth 

 hive. According to the Doctor's estimate, 

 a ten- frame L. hive would have only about 

 49,000 : while an eight-frame one would con- 

 tain less than 37,000 ; because, says our Au- 

 thor, the queen will not lay in the two out- 

 side combs, nor within two inches of the 

 ends. He then goes on to show how many 

 more bees would be produced in his hive — 

 more than 43,000 cells than in an unprotect- 

 ed, eight-frame Langstroth ! If the capa- 

 bilities of different hives are to be compared 

 as regards their influence ui)on brood rear- 

 ing, it strikes us that the comparison would 

 be more perfect if all the hives were packed, 

 or else none were packed. 



What might be termed the " chit" of this 

 book , is given under the heading of : " The 

 new System of- Management." We believe 

 there has been some dispute as to its being 

 new ; or, to be more exact, as to whether the 

 honor of first publishing it belongs to Dr. 

 Tinker. Be this as it may, he has certainly 

 been instrumental in bringing it prominent- 

 ly before the public. In brief, the plan, as 

 given HOW by our Author, is essentially the 

 Heddon system of preventing after-swarms, 

 only it is brought to a different terntination. 

 The swarm is hived upon the old stand, in a 

 contracted brood - chamber, with brood- 

 frames furnished with starters only, the 

 queen-excluder and supers transferred to 

 the new hive, and the old colony placed be- 

 side the newly hived swarm, where it is left 

 seven days. So far it is the Heddon method 

 of preventing after-swarming, but now 

 comes the divergence. Instead of carrying 

 the old colony to a new stand, the bees are 

 shaken from the combs, in front of the new 

 hive, and the combs of brood given to some 

 other colony having enough bees to care for 

 the brood. A queen-excluder is placed be- 

 tween the brood and the colony to which it 

 is given. With tliis management, provision 

 must be made for the escape of drones that 

 hatch above the queen-excluder. For this 

 purpose, a % hole is bored in one end of the 

 upper hive. When not needed the hole is 



