The Honey Bee 139,5 



one, except possibly the beginner. The old adage that " a cat in 

 gloves catches no mice " is applicable here. 



HIVE TOOL 



Some kind of hive tool is a necessity, and Eoot's, illustrated 

 herein, is excellent. It is used for prying covers, supers and bot- 

 toms loose from the hives, pry- 

 ing frames apart, etc., and the [^^ '-^-^ ■ | 



scraper end for cleaning 



J. 1 ^^ 1 T 1 Fig- 48. Eoot's Hive Tool 



irames, bottom boards and i 



other surfaces of propolis and wax. It is nicely tempered as it is 



not soft enough to bend nor hard enough to break with ordinary 



use. It surpasses any other implement for the purpose. 



PEEDEES 



There are several styles of bee feeders on the market, both large 

 and small. The former are used principally for supplying winter 

 stores to colonies which have failed to store in the brood chamber 

 the required amount, which is about thirty pounds. The smaller 

 ones are used for stimulative purposes in the spring, or at any 

 time in the season when a shortage occurs. By using large hives, 

 the brood chambers often contain honey enough to bridge over shore 

 periods of scarcity without feeding. The entire apiary should be 

 examined at the close of the season. Experienced apiarists can, 

 by lifting, determine whether a colony is short of stores, and how 

 much will be required to make them safe. Others should weigh 

 the hives and deduct the proper amount for the weight of hives, 

 combs and bees; then bring the amount of stores up to thirty 

 pounds. 



In the spring, a sharp watch must be kept on all strong colonies, 

 as such use large quantities of honey for brood rearing and then 

 sometimes starve before getting honey from the fields. If the 

 beekeeper has no hotiey in combs that he can supply them with, it 

 will pay him well to feed them until the flowers yield a sufficiency. 

 2 



