THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



219 



where, I am conviiicid that very decided 

 prof:cress will be put forward iu that liue 

 which has heou pointed out l)y you, friend 

 Koot, and by Mr. Hrowu — IkiiiiIUiiij hires 

 tiiorc, itislcdil i>f frtditfs. How is this to be 

 done iu the most suitable way, in your 

 country, will, no doubt, l)e shown by Ameri- 

 can bee-kei'pers witlK)ut any assistaiu^e from 

 other countries. -lames I leddou has already 

 taken a yreat stei) forward; and other steps 

 of importance, to further your idea are, 1 

 think, the accession of the fixed Hoflinan 

 frames and the movable bottom -board. 



After these preliminary words, let me ex- 

 l)lain what you, friend Root, and Mr. Brown 

 have advanced a most valuable idea iu the 

 bue-keepiuy; world by advocatinj,' the hand- 

 ling: of hives instead of frames. You will 

 allow me to describe this by rcferriny to the 

 hive, as I lay great stress tiiereon. Ameri- 

 can bee-keepers do not think ill of my hive; 

 but 1 wish to convince them that it is not the 

 production of the writing table, luit the fruit 

 of careful experience, and such a one as has 

 heli)ed me to raise a crop of honey not sur- 

 passed by any other bee-keeper iu Germany, 

 unless l>y one of my disci i)le8. 



The handling of the hive, and not touch- 

 iug of auy of the frames, can be accom- 

 polished if the colonies are in a normal condi- 

 tion, as the colony will l)e if the bee-keeper 

 did his duty at the close of the [)revious 

 season, and the wintering was good. Of 

 course, there will he exceptions to the rule; 

 but of such I shall speak by and by. As for 

 these colonies, the movable comb aud hand- 

 ling of frames is of the greatest benefit. I 

 handle hives: 1. After the first cleansing 

 flight in the spring. I do not have to re- 

 move any warming materials, quilts, nor to 

 open a door, as is necessery with side open- 

 ing hives. I simply turn my hive over, in 

 the way before mentioued. This gives a 

 most complete view of the interior of the 

 hive, not limited by wide top-bars aud thick 

 houey-combs, or one single comb, as is the 

 case with Germau hives. I see how many 

 spaces between the combs are filled with 

 bees, aud how large»the colony is. No one 

 will deny that an exact knowledge of this is 

 of great importance every time. If the bees 

 come up briskly from a compact cluster be- 

 low, then I take it for granted the colony is 

 not iiueeuless. Should the bees not sit in a 

 compact cluster, but more scattered l)ctween 

 and on the comlis, then the colony is most 

 probably queeuless. A few puffs from the 

 smoker will drive the bees dowu. I now let 

 the bright daylight in, aud see whether there 

 is brood in the coml> or not; aud then should 

 I not see what I wish to, I push aside two 

 combs from those in the middle of the clus- 

 ter, aud take them out of the hive to look 

 after the ijueeu or eggs. Iu the same way I 

 find out how it is with tlie provisions, pro- 

 viding lifting the hive and weighing it in my 

 hands has not told me what I wish to know. 

 Finding all is riglit, as a good normal colony 

 always will be, the whole task is done with- 

 out handling any frames. In less than a 

 minute the hive stands again in its old posi- 

 tion — no replacing of ii quilt or warming 

 materials, nor a window: no loss of heat from 

 the brood-ne&t, no tearing up of the nicely 



glued cover to cause a draft of air from the 

 entrance througli tile cluster of the l»eesto 

 the top of the hive. If not prevented by loss 

 of time, there is no disturbing the bees by 

 handling frames. To let the bees aloue 

 until a time of mild weatlier would be 

 judicious. The sooner I know the wants of 

 a colony, the sooner 1 can help. I do not 

 need more than three hours on the day fol- 

 lowing a cleansing flight, to know tlie 

 minute conditions of hundreds aud more of 

 my colonies; besides having swept with a 

 brush the dead bodies and the cappings of 

 the honey-cells from the floor-board, saving 

 more than four pounds of wax from a hun- 

 dred colonies in this way. All colonies that 

 need my further attention (and these are 

 always a considerable part) get oue, two, 

 or three sticks on the front side, according 

 as the brood-chamber is to be contracted, 

 (lueeulessuess is suspected, or stores are sup- 

 plied. In these colonies, as exceptions to 

 the rule, I do not avoid handling the frames; 

 on the contrary, in such cases it is a benefit 

 to help them by means of the movalile 

 combs. 



I handle only the hives, to know whether a 

 colony is on the swarming point, or fit to 

 swarm artificially. No oue will deny that it 

 is of great importance to kuow this. I sim- 

 ply turn the hive over, give a few whiffs of 

 smoke; and now, as the true workiugplace 

 of the colony lies open before me, I see 

 whether (pieen-cells are started, whether 

 there are eggs iu them or larv;e, or on the 

 poiut of being cai)ped over, or have reached 

 maturity. 



All my hives have a space of from two to 

 three inches beneath the small bottom-bars 

 of the frames, as such a space secures a 

 good wintering, and shows me whether a 

 colony is ripe for artificial swarming, or 

 whether I have to extract honey. As soon 

 as I see, by simply turning over, that the 

 bees begin to start combs beneath the bot- 

 tom bars, I know for certainty that tlie col- 

 ony is ripe for artificial swarming, or that I 

 have to take out some capped houey-frames, 

 and insert other full combs to be again 

 filled with honey. You see, friend K., the 

 chief point iu most cases is to learn the true 

 condition of the colonies, without handling 

 frames, covers, quilts, doors, etc. 



TO CONTROL COMB- BUILDING SWAKMS. 



AVhether I have given only starters or full 

 foundation, I must always strive to secure 

 perfect combs. Without such combs, the 

 movable-comb hive is nonsense, and more 

 objectionable than an old skep or box hive. 

 All my thousands of combs iu frames are 

 perfect — not crooked iu any way, nor do they 

 show any drone-cells where I did not allow 

 them to be built. Therefore I have no more 

 drones in my hives than I wish. A drone- 

 trap is for me a useless thing, and not to be 

 seen in my apiary. 



To avoid faulty combs, one must have the 

 easiest control of the comb- building swarms; 

 and that is to be accompolished in the most 

 complete way by turning tlie hive over. And 

 then oue has a view of the actual workhouse 

 of the bees. Here is performed comb-build- 

 ing; and there is to be seen the busy life of 



