and best quality granulated sugar for feeding,—to be on the 
safe side 100 pounds for the four colonies of Lot A. Then 
unless you are a carpenter, as every beekeeper should be, 
take the specifications for the winter box to a mill man and 
order the lumber. Cheaper lumber may be used later; but 
for the experimental box first class tongue and groove floor- 
ing or siding is best. 
CHOOSING EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. 
The Experimental group should be chosen at the time 
of taking off supers, or earlier if possible. It takes eight 
colonies for the experiment. These should be as nearly 
uniform as possible in every way. 
They should all have the same quantity of bees, and of 
nearly a uniform age. The proportionof young bees in each 
hive should be as great as possible. ‘ 
They should all belong to the same race of bees and be 
good tempered. Vicious colonies should never be tolerated 
in an apiary ; but when it comes to wintering they are par- 
ticularly liable to loss through being restless. 
The queens should all be of the same age, or where 
they have been introduced from some other source, they 
should have been put in about the same time. Young 
vigorous queens are of course the best. 
The hives should all be of the same make, or, at least, 
the same dimensions, with the same space under and over 
the frames. 
There should be the same proportion of drone to worker 
comb in all the brood-chambers, and it should be small. 
Bottom-boards should all be loose from the hives so 
the entrances and the space under the frames can be 
properly enlarged. 
The hives or outside cases if painted, should all be 
about the same color, should face half east and half west 
and have the same exposure to wind, sun or rain. 
The apiary should be on dry ground, well sheltered 
from cold winds. If there is no good natural windbreak, 
an eight foot tight board fence should be erected all around, 
or at least on the coldest sides. 
Neatness should be observed in all apiary arrangements. 
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