ADVANCED BfiE-CULTURE. 



rearing too early in the season. If the 

 bees are protected as I have recommend- 

 ed, the danger is greatly lessened, but I 

 can think of only one condition when it 

 would be advisable, and that is if the 

 honey flow should receive a check before 

 the main harvest begins. Brood rearing 

 should not begin until it can be carried 

 on uninterruotedly, and once begun, it 

 should receive no check. After brood 

 rearing is well under way, a stoppage in 

 the honey flow will put upon it a decided 

 check. Drones will be killed, and the 

 cells from which brood hatches will be 

 left empty. When the main honey flow 

 comes, there will be an insuSicient num- 

 ber of workers, and an empty brood nest 

 to fill. The bees will fill it with honey, 

 and that is about all they will do. To 

 have bees go into the sections and do 

 work that amounts to something, the 

 brood nest should be nearly one solid 

 mass of brood when the harvest opens. 

 To more perfectly accomplish this, some 

 bee-keepers change about the frames in 

 the brood nest, bringing the outside 

 combs, containing but little brood, into 

 the center, where they will be filled. 



With a horizontally divisible brood cham- 

 ber this same object can be secured with 

 less labor by simply interchanging the 

 two sections, putting the lower one at 

 the top and the upper one at the bottom. 

 This divides the "globe" of brood in the 

 center, and brings the convex spherical 

 parts together in the center of the hive. 

 Nothing is gained by uniting weak colo- 

 nies, nor by taking brood from strong col- 

 nies to strengthen the weak. See that 

 all have good queens, abundant stores, 

 and are packed up snug and warm, then 

 if any uniting is to be done, wait until 

 just before the main honey harvest, when 

 brood may be \.a^^r\ from weak colonies 

 and used to bring some colonies up to the 

 standard that are a little lacking in num- 

 bers. As a rule, I don't approve of such 

 work; it is too much like robbing Peter 

 to pay Paul. Weak colonies can usually 

 be used to the best advantage in raising 

 extracted honey. 



I have devoted considerable space to 

 this topic, because, unless our hives are 

 overflowing with bees and brood at the 

 opening of the harvest, there is little 

 chance of success. 



>^^>P<^'g^^^4J'^^<^ 



Bee Hives and Their Characteristics. 



N "Bees and Bee-Keeping, " under 

 the head of " Hives for Bees, " Mr. 

 Frank Cheshire shows that external 

 ' -^ protection is essential; that, lacking 

 this, a crust or envelope of closely cling- 

 ing bees must be formed on the outside 

 of the cluster, thus forming a living hive, 

 inside of which it is possible to maintain 

 a temperature of 95°. This envelope or 

 crust would vary in thickness according 

 to the temperature. Upon our hottest 



days it would break up altogether. By 

 furnishing the bees with an outer cover- 

 ing, the workers composing the ' ' living 

 hive " are released for other labors; but if 

 the hive is too large the bees cluster at 

 one side or corner, thus leaving one side 

 of the cluster exposed, over which must 

 be formed a protecting crust of bees. Mr. 

 Cheshire says: "It is true that hives 

 gather no honey, but in so far as they 

 effect the objects which have engaged 



