SUPPLEMENT TO GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



ArE. 



worked at extracting, know what an easy task 

 it seems, to take the honey from the hives close 

 to the door of the honey house. Well, with 

 the Hexagonal apiary shown by diagram on 

 the last page of this circular, you can have 56 

 colonies, so arranged that the farthest shall 

 be no more than 20 feet from the door.,=^ Now 

 if you should not have more than 7 hives, it 

 will pay you to have them thus arranged, and 

 we have given you a diagram of that number 

 to let you see the appearance they will present. 



IIEXAGO.NAI. Al'lAUY OF SKVEN IllVKS. 



Oa the tenth pase, the same idea !-< carried 

 out to 50, with a honey-house in the center. 

 Just imagine the contrast in the appearance'of 

 tliat number of hives set dov?n carelessly, audi 

 arranged as we have indicated ; if a friend } 

 should ask to see your apiary, think of how i 

 you would feel in showing it to him. If you 

 had a fine horse of your own raising, nicely 

 groomed, you would feel a thrill of pleasure, 

 in having him patted and complimented, and 

 we wish you to feel the same way of your bees, 

 whether yon have one hive, or 100. If you fix 

 the first one in neat nice trim, you will be very 

 apt to do the same with the rest. 



HOW TO DO EVER\"rHIBiC; THA'JI' 



NEEDS TO BE DOWE WITH A 

 COLONY OF KEES. 



WITH THE HOPE TH.'i.T IT MAY ANSWEK A GREAT 

 NUMBER OF QUESTIONS. 



'JE WILL suppose it is the lirst of April, anri 

 that you have purchased a (colony of common ] 

 'Uj'^j bees, either in a box hive or in any patent 

 hive — it amounts to the^ same thing. Alter i 

 transferring, you are ready for work. 



DIVISION BOAED-S. ! 



During this month, a very fair colony will not need 

 more than (i combs ; and they are ninch better off I 

 when conlined to these 0, than when spread over a \ 

 greater number. The purpose of the division board. 

 is to contract the liive imtil the bees fill it, even should | 

 It be only 2 combs, and to make them fully cover tlie.?e i 

 before tliev have more. When they have all the cells I 

 occupied with brood, honey or pollen, they should I 

 liave another comb, and be made to Jill that. When j 

 the division board is used for this purpose, the bees | 

 ave allowed to get back of it during pleasant weather, I 

 and in i'act. it makes an excellent place for feed when 

 it is not too cold. If combs containing some honey be 

 left back of this division board, they will soon carry it 

 ovei', and it seems to have much the etlect in s^timu- 

 lating that natural stores do. The small channel along 

 the rabbet usually affords them a pussage wav, or the 

 division board may be raised about H inch. 



BUILDING THEM UP. 



Whenever you fuid they hav<5 everv cell occupied 

 with brood, pollen or honey, and all the combs cover- 

 ed with bees, move back the division board and put an 

 empty worker comb in the center of the brood ; should 

 they be short of honey, it will be better to give thetn 

 a comb containing some sealed ho!iey, nncapping it at 

 the time. \iv very sure you do not spread them 

 too fast, during the cool spring months; and also be 

 sure they do not suffer for want of room later in the 



season. When the hive is full ot bees, or when honey 

 begins to come in plentifnlly, yon are ready to con- 

 sider 



SURFLU'S irONET. 



Quinby says, with much truth, that it is of great im- 

 portance that the boxes be put on jiTst at the right; 

 time; and the only way to know when, is to keep a 

 caretul watch of their proceedings. When they be- 

 gin to build little bits of eomb at the tops and ends of 

 the frames, it is pretty certain they will make a stare 

 in boxes, provided they have easy access to them, 

 from near the center of the brood tteet. The sections 

 we offer are made so that a frame containing 8 may be 

 put in the lower story at one side, during fruit blos- 

 soms, A very little piece of eomb wili many timcK 

 make a great difference ; and if you can ciit ont a- 

 piece ot new white drone ccmb from some of youv 

 frames, and put good large pieces of these in a few of 

 the central sections, you can make a very s«re thing oV 

 box honey, when they are getting any honey at all. 



TO MAKE THE BEES OF ANY HIVE WORK IN Tllh: 

 SECTIONS. 



Get them started in one hive in yoitr apiary, as di- 

 rected above, then take from tliis a frame of sections, 

 bees and all, well at work, and set it in the hive where 

 they are either "stubborn" or "lazy," and it will' 

 get any colony to work we have ever seen. If honey 

 is coming in there wi! 11)0 no danger of quarreling. 

 The frame of sections should contain some honey. 



This is some trouble, but it is only by faithful, hard 

 work, that we can attain success in bee-keeping, it 

 your colony is not large, it is a very good plan to makt^ 

 them get well started lirst in the sections in the lower- 

 story— a frame of 8 at each outside — and then to raise 

 them up when the upper story is put on ; for if the 

 weather should be cool, you may give them a serious 

 check by opening the whole top of the hive into tlie 

 sections too soon. When they have commenced work 

 in all the boxes, give them room as fast as they wilS 

 use it; and if you have bees enough to work in 3 sto- 

 ries at once, give them a chance by all means, as you 

 may thus prevent swarming; and it that is not 

 enough, give them slill more. Be sure you do yvur 

 part. 



TAKING OFF SURPLUS BOXES, AND GETTINO THE 

 BEES OUT. 



You can take out the frames and shake and brush 

 the bees off, or you can push the sections, one by one, 

 out of the large frames which are filled, and 'shake 

 the bees ofl'; but if yon have little time to spare. 

 we think by far the better way is to set the filled boxep 

 in front of tlie hive, close to the entrance, and let then^ 

 remain over night. In the morning every bee will 

 have found its way back into the hive. A whole up- 

 per story may be taken off in the same way, and as; 

 soon as the bees are out, it is all ready to take to mar- 

 ket. If any of the frames contain untinished sections, 

 and more honey is coming in, these unfinished onef 

 should be put into the new upper story, to keep tht^ 

 bees steadily at work. As there is always a liability 

 of rain storms during the night, the sections should 

 be covered, if they are not in an uy>pcr story, and if 

 tak^n off at a time wlien the bees are disposed to rob, 

 you will have to be up at daylight to take care of them, 

 or you may have " lively times.'' A single story Sim- 

 plicity hive will set nicely in the upper part of a lawn 

 or chaff hive, and this make.>i a very convenient way 

 of liandling the 8uri)his comb honey, as it can be ail 

 removed at one "lift." These single stories make a 

 very strong and neat shipping case, and tliey can be 

 piled up as high as you jdeaee, lilting on each other 

 ao securely, that even dust and insects are excluded: 

 and there being no projections, they pack together 

 closely, and at the same time can be easily lilted by 

 the slots for the fingers. 



If yon are going to use the extractor, yon need ni> 

 further directions than those given with bur i>rice list, 

 of extractors, unless it be to avoid robbing your beesr.. 

 After you have had a few starve in conseijiience, you 

 will know all about it, better than from anything we 

 could tell you. Wiien honey is coming in rapidly, bt 

 s^ire you keep it out of their way. You can do your 

 e.vtracting with omly a one-story hive tf you ehoose, 

 but we think you will get less than if a two-story hive 

 be used, and your honey will lie ol an inferior quality. 

 With the latter we would endoavor tobave them keep 

 all, or nearly all the brood Inflow, an<t store their 

 surplus above, uiaking them build thick combs above, 

 by using !» or Id in the space that holds 11 ordinarily. 

 If they start a lot of brood above, swap it lor stome 

 combs below that contains none. If the upper story 

 is left on until late, they are very apt to move "up 

 stairs,'' queen and all. A beginner cm get a good 

 yield of extracted honey, where he would not st*t '■* 



