214 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



them to work at. I fancy I see A. I. R. shake 

 his head wheu he reads this, sayiug, ' That's 

 dangerous. We can't be too careful about 

 the matter of robbing, and hardly ought to 

 publish any thing of the kind.' Yet the 

 whole truth ought to be known. I'm just as 

 much afraid of rolibers as you are ; but I l>e- 

 lieve it is well to be posted on all points; and 

 witli that never-failing safeguard, the foot- 

 note, I feel sure all will be well. 



C. C. MiLLEB. 



Marengo 111. 



[We indorse every thing you say ; and, like 

 yourself, we are afraid of I'obbing, and only 

 wish that our helpers regarded it with the 

 same fear. We can not ourselves endure to 

 have even a single robber hovering over the 

 frames, while our helpers think nothing of 

 it to have as many as half a dozen. To use 

 a colloquial phrase, we have been ' through 

 the mill,' and know the bad results of allow- 

 ing the bees to pilfer from hive to hive. 

 While we hold robbing in great fear, we are 

 inclined, on the other hand, to let tlie bees, 

 under certain circumstances, help them- 

 selves. A year ago last summer, at the Shane 

 yard, as a result of transferring the bees on 

 to Hoffman frames, we had a quantity of 

 old crooked combs in home-made loose 

 frames — too crooked to be used in new 

 frames. Instead of transferring these we 

 carried them a few rods from the apiary and 

 laid them in the shade of a tree ; but, mind 

 you, we did not expose them until we had 

 finished work in the yard. On one or two 

 occasions we waited long enough to witness 

 the result. The bees pounced on to the 

 combs in a perfect storm, and speedily 

 emptied them of every thing sweet. The 

 next day we returned and found the apiary 

 comparatively <iuiet, nor were there any dead 

 bees at any of the entrances, as a result of 

 previous conflict. One time, we remem- 

 ber very distinctly of setting a couple 

 of combs under a tree a few rods 

 away, while we were in the midst of our 

 work. All at once the bees began to be cross, 

 and to pilfer over the top of the hive. The 

 first incoming laden bees notified those al- 

 ready in the hives that honey was to be had 

 somewhere. As we have noticed many times 

 before, they began to hunt around, and, very 

 naturally, turned to the hives where we were 

 working, because they had noi yet discov- 

 ered the source of honey from which the 

 first supply was obtained. It is needless to 

 say we stopped right then and there. 



MODE ABOUT THAT STACKED - UP - HIVE 

 FEEDING. 



Now, we would by no means advise the 

 scattering of partially filled combs a few 

 rods from the apiary where it is located near 

 dwelling-houses ; but in out-yards situated 

 as the one mentioned, nearly a quarter of a 

 mile away from buildings, it may be done 

 at times to advantage. The plan that can 

 always be pursued safely where it is desired 

 to empty out combs containing a little hon- 

 ey, is, to place them in hives stacked uj) 

 two or three high, with a small entrance, as 

 explained in our editorial on page 782. 

 While these stacks of hives, we know by ex- 



perience, can be placed right near the drive- 

 way, and yet horses and persons can go hy 

 without the least interference, we would not 

 recommend it. 



This plan of feeding creates an artificial 

 condition of things during a dearth of honey 

 — that is, a dearth from natural sources — 

 much like that wheu honey is coming in 

 freely from the flowers in nature's own way. 

 Instead of robbers flying around and steal- 

 ing, they are given something to do ; and the 

 result is, that we have been able, during the 

 past few days, to go on with our work of 

 uniting, etc., in the apiary, with very little 

 interference from robbers. And, again, we 

 observe the honey itself is being distril>uted 

 throughout the apiary, not, as we should 

 naturally supjiose, in the strongest colonies, 

 but witli a very fair and even distribution 

 througliout all the hives. Our Mr. Spaft'ord 

 said that he could see the result of this open 

 air feeding in the hives. Queens were be- 

 ginning to breed, and every thing was going 

 on just as if nature had taken a sudden 

 boom. Nearly every apiarist every spring 

 has a few combs containing a little honey ; 

 and what a good effect this kind of out-door 

 feeding may have in stimulating brood-rear- 

 ing at the time of year we most desire it, 

 with so little labor, the reader can figure out 

 for himself. Besides the increased amount 

 of brood-rearing, he will have a lot of nice, 

 clean, dry combs, no more tempting to rob- 

 bers later on in the season. 



We are sure that bee-keepers have not yet 

 experienced the many advantages that may 

 accrue from this kind of feeding. They have 

 known of it, it is true, but have not as yet 

 utilized it. Now, doctor, while we may be 

 at fault for not giving more details of the 

 work in our own apiary, we hope we have re- 

 deemed ourselves, at least temporarily. 



P. S. — A. I. R, has witnessed the results of 

 this stacked-hive feeding a la Miller, and 

 acknowledges that it is a success in more 

 ways than one. At first he felt a little 

 skeptical about it, and was slightly alarmed 

 lest we ' boys ' might be getting ourselves 

 into trouble.] " 



The caution that the Doctor gives about 

 taking away whatever bees are working 

 upon and leaving nothing for them to 

 work upon, is excellent. I have noticed a 

 great many times that if robbers were al- 

 lowed to go on and " clean out " what they 

 are at work' upon no trouble follows, hut if 

 they are suddenly " robbed of their prey," 

 something else will have to suffer. One sea- 

 son, after the main harvest was over, I al- 

 lowed the bees to clean up the cappings that 

 had accumulated. They were taken out a 

 pailful at a time and spread out in large tin 

 cans a few rods from the apiary. In ten 

 minutes from the time a pail of cappings 

 was placed in the cans, the bees would be in 

 full flight from almost every hive. The 

 bees went straight to the " feeding place " 

 every time. Within an hour all would be 



