18 PEARCE METHOD OF BEE-KEEPING 



feel sure our duty is plain from now on. It is this, to give 

 our bees a taller hive than we have been giving them, and 

 then see that it is well filled with winter stores, and then 

 place these hives in shelters such as we recommend where 

 you can give them the protection they should have from all 

 storms that blow and where you can see that their entrances 

 are open at all times so they will have proper ventilation and 

 have a flight at any time in the winter when the weather is 

 suitable. l'"or it has been starvation and want of ventilation 

 that has been two of the great causes of mortality in our 

 bees. Many of our hives weighed in the Fall around a hun- 

 dred pounds. A hive that weighs a hundred pounds in the 

 Fall, is good for 100 to 200 next summer. 



A Long Chapter for the City Dwellers, Who Are Usually 

 Amateurs, So Please Excuse Close Explanations. 



The house attic, loft in the barn or out-buildings are 

 the best places to keep bees, becaues they are entirely out 

 of the way there. They are dry and warm and do not dis- 

 turb anything on the ground, and nothing disturbs them, 

 since when placed anywhere near as high as the second floor, 

 they seldom disturb anything below them, thus giving no 

 annoyance either in city or country to anything about them 

 when so placed. 



If the hives are installed in the attic of a house, the 

 space from the floor up should be as much as four feet; if 

 higher, all the better, as the tall hives v/ith their honey cases 

 extend upward some distance. If there are some windows 

 in the attic, cut a piece out of the lower sash-bar a little 

 longer than the width of the hive. Then put a two-inch 

 piece around it on the inside on the top and on the ends, 

 as the hive bottom fills up the bottom space so that when 

 the hive is pushed up in place, it is two inches from the 

 window. This will admit a window curtain to shade the 

 bees from the hot sun, and will also facilitate the putting on 

 and taking off of the honey cases and winter coverings. 

 Build a shelf as high as the window or nail legs on to the 

 back of the hive, which must be level, or the back end one- 

 half inch higher. Put the hive up in place, and all is 

 done, if, however, the bees are to be set by the wall, which 

 is often done in attics or lofts, cut a three or four-inch slot 

 level with the floor as long as the width of the hive ; put a 

 piece of binding or scantling at the ends and on top of this 

 opening, and then it is ready for the bees. 



If you have never handled bees, it is best to get a regu- 

 lar bee-keeper to furnish the bees and put them in for you. 

 In case, however, this is impossible, the following method 

 will be found of value : 



