30 lii I -In 1,11111 III ]' icfiiriii . 



From ]5 lbs. 1o 2.'> lbs. of honry is more like the i|naiitity required in an 

 average locality to obtain the best results in brood-rearins;- till sufficient 

 new nectar is available from outside sources. As the consumption 

 greatly increases as soon as brood-rearing commences, any shorta'i'e 

 slioiild lie made good bv feeding sugar svrup. (See Cliapter XVII., 

 page r2.) 



If no feeders are on hand, a clean empty comb may be filled with 

 syrup by placing it flat in a milk or other suitable dish and pouring the 

 syrup into the cells from a height of about 15 inches. When one side is 

 filled, the comb is turned o-\'er and the other side filled. To get a fine 

 stream of syrup, a jug with a rather pointed lip is the most suitable 

 vessel. AVhen the comlD is filled, it should be held or suspended over the 

 disli for a short time, to allow the surplus syrup to run off. The latter 

 woidd otherwise fall on to the floor of the hive, and in all probability 

 attract robbers. 



Every hive should have a fertile cjueen ; and, as a minimum, bees on 

 at least two or three combs. It is not absolutely necessary to see the 

 queen, the presence of eggs and of brood in the several stages being 

 sufficient evidence that the queen is all right. AVhen the eggs, however, 

 are at the side of the cell bottom, and not in the centre, laying workers 

 instead of a cfueen may be present. 



A further indication of laying workers, an unfertile young queen, 

 or an exhausted old one, is that the cappings of the sealed brood, instead 

 of being onlj' slightly oval, are hemispherical and project much beyond 

 the general surface of the comb. This is due to the fact that the eggs 

 of laying workers and unfertile or exhausted queens produce drones 

 only. The larva? of the latter are larger than those of the workers, and 

 being in worker instead of in drone cells there is not sufficient depth 

 and the cell is therefore lengthened in capping it. If a hive in this 

 condition still contains sufficient bees, and is to be retained as a separate 

 stock, the laying workers or the drone-laying queen must be replaced 

 with a fertile queen. AA^ith Italian bees, which are ciuieter than blacks, 

 and the queen differently marked from the workers, she is usually 

 easily found. Black queens are often very hard to find on account of 

 their sombre colour and the habit of black bees of clumping or running 

 off the combs when disturbed. 



Correct Way of Handling Combs. 



In hunting for cjueens, or examining brood for disease, it is neces- 

 sary to see both sides of each comb. To do so, many bee-keepers turn 

 the comb in the wrong way, resulting in a fracture of the cells near the 

 top bar when the comb is not built right down to the bottom bar and it 

 is at all heavy with honey. It also causes spilling when the comb con- 

 tains new thin honey. A comb should never be turned on a horizontal, 

 but alwaj^s on a vertical axis. Combs fractured or strained through 

 handling them the wrong way often mash up in the extractor. "When 

 the combs are returned to the hive the bees repair them; but, as the 

 damaged cells, become elongated through the weight of the comb, they 

 are large enough for drone-brood, several rows of which will be found 

 aci'oss the comb where it was fractured when the comb is used in the 



