THE lEMERICJCrf BEE JOURNJtl,. 



407 



^*^*'^*'*-***-*^>in'- 



keeper. The bees soon modify such 

 a space Ijy fillino; it to suit theuiselves. 

 If it is to remain thus tilled, aiul not 

 broken, it is not needed. If it must be 

 broken apart, it will be found not onl}' 

 useless, but an obstacle. I have been 

 trying them thus for ten years, and I 

 know. 2. Sometimes they will, and 

 sometimes they wont. Rules cannot 

 be applied to bees. — J. M. Shuck. 



I have used shallow cases tiered one 

 on the other for brood-rearing, as an 

 experiment for a number of years, and 

 the plan has too many defects to be 

 pointed out in this limited space. As 

 to the bee-space between the shallow 

 brood-chambers, the bees in course of 

 time will attend to that by tilling it 

 with bits of comb, and they will econo- 

 mize space by hanging queen-cells into 

 it like a row of teats on the nether 

 side of an old suckling sow. Allow 

 me to ask you, if the hive you speak 

 of is " a horizontally-du'tf/erf brood- 

 chamber," how about it when it is not 

 divided ? 2. Yes, and more. — G. W. 

 Demakee. 



1. No. 2. Probably they would. — 

 The Editor. 



II I XIgIH»»»««»««»«»w»»«»««TXm. 



COMB SURFACE. 



Calculaliiijs Hive Capacity, the 

 Number of Cells, etc. 



WritUn for the American Bee Jottmal 

 BY JOHN n. WIEDMAN. 



I am not in the habit ot contribut- 

 ing anything to the bee-literature of 

 our eounti-y, but I cannot refrain from 

 sending you this to correct an error 

 which nine-tenths of the bee-keepers 

 make in the bee-periodicals in speak- 

 ing of the comb surface which a bee- 

 hive may contain. 



On page 3(54 of the current volume 

 of the Bee Journal, Mr. Jas. McNeill 

 has come to the conclusion that a 

 brood-frame of lOJ.xlOj inches, inside 

 measure (the size Mr. Doolittle uses), 

 contains 115 square inches of comb 

 surface, and that it would, therefore, 

 take eleven of these frames to enable 

 the que<!n to lay 3,000 eggs a day dur- 

 ing the breeding season, without leav- 

 ing any room for pollen or honey. 



Now, as Mr. Doolittle only uses nine 

 of these frames in his brood-chamber, 

 and ilnds that these give his queen a 

 capacity for 3,000 a day, besides room 

 for pollen and honey, it seems strange 

 that it should not have occurred to Mr. 

 McNeill that each of these frames pre- 

 sents a comb surface of 230 square 



inches, 115 square inches on each side, 

 and nine combs would contain 2,070 

 siiuare inches, or 103,500 cells, or 40,- 

 500 more cells than would be neces- 

 sary to furnish 3,000 cells for the 

 queen a day. 



On page 327, in his article, Mr. 

 Doolittle I'eckons on the same liasis, 

 giving credit for only one-half the 

 comb surface his hive contains. 



It must be a well-known fact that 

 nearly all our writers in the bee-papers 

 use this same method. It seems to 

 have become a custom among bee-men 

 to employ this method, but I think 

 that they should use the proper basis, 

 as this is not correct, and ,as I see it, 

 cannot be defended on any grounds 

 whatever. 



It seems strange how this method 

 should have come into vogue, of meas- 

 uring only one side of a frame in cal- 

 culating the number of square inches 

 of comb surface it may contain. 



Riverside, N. J. 



INCREASE. 



How to Prevent it, when it is 

 \'ot Desired. 



Written for the Canadian Bee Jimrnal 

 BY D. A. JONES. 



This is the subject that is attracting 

 considerable attention, and all infor- 

 mation is being eagerly sought after. 

 Thei'e are a great many bee-keepers 

 who have all the increase they require, 

 and would prefer a larger crop of 

 honey- with less increase. At seasons 

 of the year when the weather is suit- 

 able, with a moderate flow of honey, 

 more especially if the honey is thin 

 that is being gathered, and about 

 enough to stimulate breeding and 

 swarming, bees sometimes get the 

 swarming fever, and swarm they will, 

 after they get thoroughly started, ap- 

 parentl}' in spite of all efforts to pre- 

 vent them. 



There are various methods jDracticed 

 by different bee-keepers, all with more 

 or less success according to locality, 

 season, etc. Yet, what does in one 

 locality is often the reverse of the 

 practice most desirable in another. 

 This makes all the difference, or fre- 

 quently much of it, with the various 

 managements of different bee-keepers ; 

 for instance, a liee-keeper in the south- 

 ern or middle States, or southern Can- 

 ada, might give special instructions 

 for a certain kind of management 

 which woulil prevent increase in his 

 locality, while fui-ther south or further 

 north this would not be suitable ; 

 another point is the variation in the 

 honey season. Some have one con- 

 tinuous flow, while others have several 

 flows of longer or shorter duration. 



Some have a long dry space in mid- 

 summer, and no honey then to be gath- 

 ered, while others at the same time 

 are reaping a rich harvest in comb and 

 exti'acted honey. 



Therefore, if we told those to extract 

 the honey from their colonies, or re- 

 move the sections at that particular ' 

 time when their bees were starving for 

 the want of stores, such instructions 

 would appear ridiculous to those living 

 in a localit}' where no honey was com- 

 ing in, and vice versa; therefore, judg- 

 ment must be exercised in all matters 

 of this kind, and all things being satis- 

 factory, the season, flora, weather, and 

 everything that tends to aflect the 

 management in any way should be 

 carefully taken into consideration. 



We shall speak of our own locality, 

 and while speaking of one of our 

 methods of preventing incoease, we 

 are not sure that we will not have a 

 better one before the season closes, as 

 this is a subject we have been experi- 

 menting on considerably' for years. 



Last year we gave it a very thorough 

 test, and we are satisfied on one point, 

 and that is, in order to keep down in- 

 crease, it is absolutely necessary to give 

 the bees room from time to time ; that 

 the colony may not be overcrowded, 

 they must have all the space that they 

 can possibly occupy ; that the queen 

 should be kept in the small brood- 

 chamber ; that perforated metal should 

 be used to prevent her from occupying 

 any more room than j-ou desire she 

 should (that is, as soon as the honey 

 harvest commences she should have 

 less room to occupy for egg-laying 

 than she had previou.sly). This cur- 

 tailing of the laying of the queen as- 

 sists in keeping down the swarming 

 fever. 



Where section honey is taken in the 

 earlier part of the season, the supers 

 should be raised as fast as they are 

 occupied, an<l others placed under 

 them until there are as man}- supers' as 

 it is possible for the bees to occupy. 

 About once a week it is well to look 

 over those which you suspect are liable 

 to commence (lueen-cells and prepare 

 for swarming, and remove any such 

 cells, giving them a little more room 

 by putting on a super. This will as- 

 sist in keeping dowu the swarming 

 fever. 



If extracted honey is being taken 

 there may be from two to six supers 

 with combs placed on, according to 

 the strength of the colony, but those 

 should not always be placed on at 

 once. According as a colony increases, 

 a super may be added, in from three 

 to six days, and in each case by raising 

 the one next to the brood-chamber. 

 Putting on the one with combs or 

 frames tilled with foundation next to 

 the brood-chamber causes them to 



