m2 



THE BEE-KEEPERS^ HE VIEW. 



f' "Where one if* almofit stire of a fall crop, as 

 -iiere at the eolleKe, the f uuotioii of the Hed- 

 • 'dOn hive which allows i^ to be readily con- 

 ."tmcted when hiA'ing swarms, elo,, is valii- 

 'j"ahle, as the fall houey is then put iu the 

 o place where it is wc)rth the most, and all the 

 "iwhite honey goes to the sections. 

 ,' I practice out door wintering and use a 

 'practical chaff hive, yet I believe bees can 

 "be wintered well in a cellar, though I think 

 more care is necessary. By using a chaff 

 ' hive I probably lose some time by occasion- 

 'ally handling frames where hives could be 

 handled more rapidly, yet there are compen- 

 sations. I gain spring and fall protection, 

 supers not exposed to weather, and there are 

 so many other nice things about this chaff 

 hive that for the present I prefer to work 

 my bees upon this old plan, handling frames 

 little and hives less. I guess, friend H., 

 that from year to year, I can manage as 

 many colonies with a certain amount of 

 labor as you can. The half days labor lost 

 in one place is gained in another, and the 

 man who manage 200 colonies of bees 

 Bi)ends three-fourths of the working days of 

 the year outside of the yard preparing for or 

 disposing of the crop, or doing the thousand 

 and one duties that make up the sum of life. 

 Practice, with common sense, and a knowl- 

 edge of one's hive, bees, and location, make 

 it possible, 1 believe, for one man to manage 

 with about as little labor as another the care 

 of an apiary in different locations and on 

 different plans. 



I believe that the one great impediment to 

 rapid and smooth manipulation, whether it 

 be of hive or frame, is the non-maintenance 

 of the f)ee space, and I think this fault is 

 present in nearly every hive in use. We can 

 never urge too strongly the necessity for 

 accuracy in the making of hives and the ad- 

 justment of the parts so that everywhere 

 tliere may be at all times a proper bee space. 

 This is foreign to the subject, yet even the 

 bars of the Heddon hive sag and warp,, and 

 the separation of tire parts is mjid^.Jess 

 rapid. ha .uu-.l viit 



The GKEAT unsolved j)riQble,iiiji' ()f,,)[)e/9 ,^jul- 

 ture to-day is the pr^veption of swarjqitig, 

 or some plan.tp. attfuu the i*ame i)ract4cal re- 

 sults, and' when /this.isi solved I will [1)^1 as 

 willing; as the.irwt otyfm tp.mHlertek^ijthe 

 ij)irOpor ;iud pAofitablia ixwmagem,ent,pt'/H,h|alf 

 11 itliouiSand cplauiesiofibeesiexitjrely/^on^,! 

 >lii'i/Xni;ttH)iiiinea»timfiy w,ht}t<>er.,H',*,. uf^, ,pne 

 method or another, luuJL(pjl#i UiMeHiOffito*>l*>s, 



we can nolie of us get honey crops unless 

 nectar is secreted by the blossoms, and un- 

 less' we have the blossoms to secrete the 

 nectar. This question of location and the 

 honey flow is assuming more importance 

 with each successive season's failure here 

 and there, or ever,vwhere. 

 Agk'l College, Mich., Aug. 28, 18!)1. 



Handling Hives Instead of Frames. 



J. A. GKEEN. 



HE novice, especially if he is enthu- 

 siastic and has a genuine attack of the 

 "bee fever," handles the frames of 

 his hives a great deal. Almost every day, 

 and sometimes oftener, his colonies are 

 overhauled and minutely inspected. When 

 he cannot imagine any necessity for it, he 

 does it just for the fun of it. This is all very 

 well for him. In no other way can he gain 

 that accurate knowledge of the interior of a 

 bee hive so necessary to the successful bee- 

 keeper, and in no other way will he so 

 quickly tire of tiie business if there is not in 

 him an abiding love for it. If his opera- 

 tions are carefully iierformed and not car- 

 ried on at improper times the bees are but 

 little injured by them. As he grows older 

 in the business he ceases to handle bees for 

 the fun of it and he does not find it neces- 

 sary as often as he used to. Some, having 

 but few bees, or plenty of time, or from 

 having started out witli a wrong system, 

 continue in the l)elief that a periodical over- 

 hauling of the brood nest is necessary. 

 Many of the most successful bee keepers can 

 point to hives the frames of which have not 

 been handled for years, ^s long as a colony 

 remains in a normal condition there is no 

 necessity whatever for handling the frames 

 of the brood chamber. I Jtnow that many 

 will feel like combatting this stjiteinent, but 

 dispi^pve^ jt if you ca,u. , ( , , , ; 

 ,^ , Inhere is up, doiibt that b^f cai^qf j^l managc- 

 , , m,«ijt sprea,ding the, brood in the si)^ing may 

 b(^ m^ide to yield very good results. The 

 most experienced, though, will ofteti make 

 mistakes in this, and, in the |i{jjuds, of the 

 inexperienced it is often i)roductive of very 

 decided harm. Because of this uncertainty 



''^of^feMl'f^' '^ N)velr'h,fi' iht^t-fe^<^ ■.'ii^uSWit of 



labor required, many of tlie l)est beo-kee[iers 



hiivc decided that it does not pay. VV-i^ a 



i .Be,C|tiQnj?,l ,Vrpod qljiiinlHir liandljng <?^,fif^iies 



,_. jfli.mujepessary, thus , f>avjpg lHU9r,,j^ntrS;he 



