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result was a good stand of clover which 

 was pastured the second season, and 

 furnished a fine lot of grazing, too, 

 considering that the land was thin and 

 "tired." 



The next spring (last year) this field 

 was cultivated in corn, and although a 

 comparatively dry season, it produced 

 more corn and fodder than it had in 

 one'season for 15 years. 



Another thing that I have noticed is, 

 that horses inclined to rogue will al- 

 waj-s go to the field that has Alsike 

 clover, thereby demonstrating their 

 appreciation for this clover to other 

 grasses. I have none sown at present, 

 nor anj' land to sow on, but if some 

 seedman will send to me a lot of 

 Alsike clover Leaflets, free of cost, I 

 will distribute them to farmers. 



Cornish ville, Kv. 



HIVES. 



Experience ivitli Small Hives vs. 

 Liarse Hives. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY W. J. DAVIS. 



I was much interested in the con- 

 troversy between Messrs. Heddon, Da- 

 dant, and others, in Volume XXIII of 

 the American Bee Journal, and then 

 I proposed, at some fui'ther time, to 

 give the results of my experience in 

 the use of different sized hives. 



I have no doubt that the season of 

 tlie year at which the main honey har- 

 vest may be expected in different 

 localities, has something to do in de- 

 termining the proper size of hive for 

 that place ; and where the princiiJal 

 harvest occurs late (as in some por- 

 ticnis of the West), a large brood- 

 chamber may be preferable, hence Mr. 

 Dadant may be correct in preferring 

 such. But in northwest Pennsylvania 

 our main harvest is from white clover, 

 and commences about June 10, and 

 lasts about four or five weeks. When 

 the weather is favorable the yield of 

 surplus honey is satisfactory. But 

 good seasons are the exception. A 

 majority of our Junes are either too 

 dry or too wet for the best results. 



After adopting the Langstroth hive 

 in 1860, I made most of my hives to 

 hold 8 Langstroth frames. The top- 

 bar of the frame is 19 inches long. Bj' 

 way of experiment, I made about 60 

 hives to hold 12 frames in the brood- 

 chamber, with an upper story for 80 

 pounds of surplus honey. These were 

 mostly used for " out apiaries," of not 

 more than 20 colonies each. A few of 

 these large hives were used for sev- 

 eral years in my home apiary, but 

 never with satisfactory results ; the 

 larger the hive, the less surplus honey, 

 and the most bees in the autumn. 



About ten years ago 1 concluded to 

 shorten my frames 5 inches, making 

 them with a top-bar 14 inches instead 

 of 19 inches. I made the change 

 slowly, as facts demonstrated safety, 

 until at present over 200 of my colonies 

 occupy the shoi'ter frames. 



I am a specialist. I do not keep 

 bees for fun, nor as a remedy for rheu- 

 matism. My bread and butter de- 

 pends upon the success of the apiary. 

 The hive that will give the most sur- 

 plus honej' without regard to increase 

 of colonies, is the one for me. There 

 are comparatively few bee-keepers 

 who are located where the 100 or 200 

 pounds of surplus per colony is the 

 aver.age yield. Where one is so located 

 where fields of white clover and foi-ests 

 of basswood abound, a hundred others 

 will scarcely average 20 pounds per 

 colony, and it is the sheerest nonsense 

 to say that it is all in the management. 



Presuming, then, that ninety-nine 

 out of every one hundred bee-keepers 

 of North America are not in a land 

 flowing with milk and honey, it be- 

 comes a practical question how to 

 secure the best returns for the capital 

 and labor invested. 



What 1 term a " small hive," .as I 

 use them, is one 12x13 inches, inside 

 measure, and 10 inches from the bot- 

 tom-board to the honey-board, and 

 containing 752 square inches of comb, 

 or 1,504 square inches of comb-sur- 

 face. Allowing 28 bees to hatch from 

 each square inch of comb surface, we 

 have 42,112 bees hatching in every 21 

 days, or about 2,000 per day. This 

 applies to the height of the breeding 

 season, when there should be little or 

 no honey in the brood-nest. During 

 March and April I find that colonies 

 build up more rapidlj' in the smaller 

 hive, owing to the fact of greater 

 wai'mth, or the better economizing of 

 the heat of the cluster. 



To get the brood-chamber crowded 

 with bees, at the beginning of the 

 honey harvest, and then apply the 

 section-cases as fa.st as needed, raising 

 the cases when about two-thirds full, 

 and placing an empty case between 

 the first case and the brood-nest, gives 

 room sufficient. I find in every case 

 that the bees in the smaller hives com- 

 mence work in the sections several 

 days sooner than in the larger hives. 

 In poor seasons, like the summer of 

 1887, we are able to secure some sur- 

 plus from colonies in small hives, while 

 the large ones j-ield none. 



Another reason why I prefer the 

 smaller hives is, that on the approach 

 of winter we have (to my mind) a 

 pi'opcr sized colony of. bees, and not a 

 " boomer," with say one-half Inishel of 

 bees (and an exhausted queen) to con- 

 sume the labors of the previous season, 

 and be not one whit better on May 1, 



than the medium sized colonj- of the 

 previous autumn. 



It must be remembered that 1,000 or 

 10,000 bees cannot be reared without 

 that per cent, of exhaustion to the 

 queen, and also of the stores of the 

 hive, and it should also be remembered 

 that at present prices, the bees them- 

 selves have no value in the fall of the 

 yejjr, as they will not sell for more in 

 the spring than the cost of the hive, 

 value of the combs, and stores con- 

 sumed, allowing such stores to have 

 been placed in a marketable shape the 

 previous .summer. I speak only of the 

 production of comb honey (extracted 

 has no market in this locality). 



Another reason for my preference 

 is, the ease with which the hives are 

 placed in winter quarters, and removed 

 again to the summer stands. 



Youngsville, Pa. 



WATER FOR BEES. 



Is it IVecessary in 'Winter i 'When 

 to Put tlieni in the Cellar. 



Written for Die American Bee Journal 

 BY J. M. LYMAN. 



At the recent convention in J In- 

 dianapolis, regarding wintering bees, 

 Mr. Bull is reported as saying that it is 

 essential that bees be supplied ^ with 

 water. I do not know why. In New 

 York State I have wintered bees on 

 the summer stands, in Ohio only in the 

 cellar, and I have lost bees in both 

 ways ; here, however, only from star- 

 vation, possibly by having never pro- 

 vided water. 



I have taken bees out of their win- 

 ter quarters in the spring, and upon 

 examination I have found them with- 

 out one drop of honey in all their 

 realm. By a little feeding the}- made 

 prosperous colonies. There are essen- 

 tials in order to obtain the best ' re- 

 sults in everything, but conditions 

 sometimes make it so impracticable 

 that those sweeping assertions gen- 

 erally fail. 



'Wlien to Put Bees Into the Cellar- 

 In another convention was asked the ' 

 question, " When is the best time to j 

 put bees into the cellar ?" Would not ] 

 good, common-sense be the best source ' 

 of information ? I recommend putr 

 ting bees early into their long night of 

 winter. The chill of early November 

 warns them that it is time to prepare 

 for the inclement season that is about ^ 

 to precipitate " upon the face of all the 

 earth." 



Generallj-, from 10 to 15 days there- 

 after, comes a warm, bi'ight, sunnj'day i' 

 to gladden and refresh the gloomy, f 

 old days, and out-rush the bees for a 

 flight, a change, a rest and sight-see- 



