EXPERIMENTS I1S T APICULTURE, 1892. 



By J. H. Laebabee. 



.LETTER OF SUBMITTAL. 



Agricultural College, Mich., November 17, 1892. 



Sir: I beg leave to submit berewitb a report upon the experiment a] work in api- 

 culture conducted at this place during the season of 1892. While the results 

 obtained may vary with varying conditions, either more or less favorable than those 

 under which these experiments have been conducted, yet it is hoped that some of the 

 conclusions reached may prove of definite value to the- important interest of apicul- 

 ture. 



Very respectfully, 



J. H. Larrabee. 

 C. V. Riley, 



U. S. Entomologist. 



During the season of 1892 the branch station for experimenting in bee 

 culture at the Michigan Agricultural College was continued at the ex- 

 pense of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Entomology, 

 and of the Michigan State Experiment Station. 



An effort was made to undertake a line of experiments closely con- 

 nected with the practical work of the apiary. While all of the experi- 

 ments undertaken have not given results of practical value, some have. 

 Especially gratifying are the results obtained in the experiments upon 

 the subject of wax secretion and the evaporation of honey, for the 

 reason that they were nearly free from those elements of uncertainty 

 that must necessarily enter into nearly all experimental work in the 

 apiary, such as season and condition of bees. 



When the bees were taken from the cellar, on April IS, they were in 

 rather poor condition, due doubtless to the dampness of the cellar ami 

 the character and amount of the stores. The loss during the winter and 

 spring was about one-third of the number placed in the cellar. 



In May and June the bees of the whole apiary were transferred from 

 the old hives into modern dovetailed hives, and from the old reversible 

 frames, of three distinct sizes, to the new, wide, thick, top bar frames of 

 the Langstroth size. In this operation all drone comb or other imper- 



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