THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



143 



but will take feed from an inside feeder. 

 Unless some of the colonies were very 

 short of stores this would not be a serious 

 objection, unless we were feeding for the 

 purpose of stimulation. 



The use of the Alexander feeder does 

 not necessitate the raising of the hives 

 from the ground. 1 think that nearly all 

 bottom boards have a cleat at the back end 

 to prevent warping, and this cleat is usu- 

 ally about two inches wide. The Alexan- 

 der feeder is only two inches deep, and is 

 tacked to the back end of the bottoni 

 board, the top of the feeder level with the 

 bottom board (see frontispiece), hence it 

 will be seen that the use of the feeder 

 does not call for any elevation of the hive 

 above its ordinary height. 



1 have tried open-air feeding, the Hed- 



don feeder, the Miller, and the Alexander, 

 and decidedly prefer the latter. It is only 

 the work of a moment to put it in place 

 or to remove it. I agree with Bro. Facey 

 that 1 should not wish any such thing at- 

 tached to the bottom board all through 

 the season, but I take them off when the 

 spring feeding is over. To remove it all 

 that is necessary is to slide the hive ahead, 

 back to its original position, then draw 

 out the two slim wire nails that were used 

 to attach it to the hive. I use a pair of 

 pliers to pull out the nails. It certainly 

 does not take more than half a minute to 

 remove the feeder from a hive. 



I willingly admit that outside feeding is 

 the least trouble of any method, and if 

 every colony would get its just dues, I 

 should favor that kind of feeding. — Editor.] 



Helpful Hints in Extensive 

 Bee-Keeping-. 



E. D. TOWNSEND. 



FOR several years we have been having 

 good results by putting our upper 

 stories on early. Two or three weeks 

 previous to the clover flow, our strong, 

 and moderately strong, colonies are given 

 their upper stories. Success lies in giving 

 the bees abundance of room, comb room. 

 Give them their second sto^'y, without 

 queen excluders, before they ever think 

 of swarming. Here lies much of the 

 secret of preventing swarming. If bees 

 are strong any time during the last half 

 of May, give them a second story. Re- 

 member, if a colony once acquires the 

 swarming fever, it always swarms, with 

 this let-alone system that I am about to 

 describe. So you see how important it is 

 to take every precaution to prevent the 

 bees from acquiring the swarming fever. 



previous to the opening of the honey sea- 

 son. 



If we can get our bees well into the 

 honey season without any thought of 

 swarming, with plenty of empty combs 

 at our disposal, we have no particular 

 fear of swarming. Although, we have an 

 occasional season when the bees seem 

 disposed to swarm more than usual, we 

 soon '"get on to" these swarming seasons, 

 then the only thing to do, is to see that all 

 colonies have a little more room than 

 usual. It is not my intention to give the 

 impression that the bees swarm so ex- 

 cessively some seasons as to make them 

 unprofitable. Far from it; neither could I 

 make any one believe there would be as 

 much honey where many swarms issued, 

 and went to the woods. 



