§ X.] GENERAL HINTS ON FRAME HIVES. 257 



Ae queen at once begins to lay. The running honey is 

 very soon collected and stored ; and in a few days I do 

 tlie same with a couple more frames, and so on until all 

 the frames have been unsealed. I find this a great 

 advantage, as much of the honey that has granulated, 

 and which the bees will not touch, is removed by them 

 out of the hive, and gives them increased space. ' 



" I now commence very gentle feeding, for which pur- 

 pose I use the very fine strainers found in Loysell's coffee- 

 percolators, and allow each hive from a quarter to half a 

 pint of food a day, of the strength of about three pounds 

 of sugar to- a quart of water. When there is sealed brood 

 in three or four of the frames I add two more — making 

 eight; — and serve them in the same manner as the rest ; 

 then when there are six with sealed brood, the colony 

 will be suflficiently strong to have the remaining frames 

 added. The same plan is adopted with the thirteen- 

 frame hive. They must be constantly watched so as not 

 to allow them to store too much food, which would 

 diminish the space for egg-laying ; and if such is found 

 to be the case, food should be withheld for a day or two, 

 or until they are getting short of it. In this way I keap 

 them going from day to day ; watch them carefully, or it 

 might happen that a hive full of bees — and at swarming 

 point — might, if not watched and suppUed with requisite 

 food for existence, swarm or decamp. So by the time 

 there is an abundance of honey abroad the hives are 

 completely filled with bees and contain brood in every 



17 



