THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
41 
success is to crown our efforts. These bees 
must be on hand in time for the honey har- 
vest, else they become merely consumers in- 
stead of producers. How often we find people 
keeping bees on this consuming plan, getting 
nothing from them in the time of section 
honey, except perhaps a little fall of honey of 
inferior quality, for the reason that they do 
not have anything but colonies weak in bees 
at the time the harvest of white honey occurs. 
Such beekeeping does not pay, and if we would 
succeed, our first t tep is to get plenty of bees 
in time for the honey harvest. 
White clover is the principal honey-pro- 
ducing plant in most localities, which blooms 
about 15th June,* and is at its best from 25th 
to 30th June, heuce our bees must be in 
readiness at that time if we wish to succeed. 
After years of trial I find that it takes about 
six weeks to build up an ordinary colony in 
the spring to where they are ready to get 
honey to the best advantage, so we should 
commence active operations about 1st May, 
where clover produces our white honey crop. 
There are several ways of working our bees 
to get the greatest possible number at the 
right time, the best of which, as I consider 
them, after years of trial, is the spreading of 
the brood in connection with chaff packing as 
given to us by T. H. Townley, 1.S77. 
For this packing some prefer one kind of 
material and others a different kind, such as 
sawdust, leaves, the many kinds of chaff and 
hay. After trying nearly all of them 1 find 
that oat-straw is fully equal to anything and 
less objectionable on account of litter and 
scarcity. Having the colonies all warmly 
packed we must reverse the brood at the time 
pollen becomes plentiful, in all of the good 
colonies, but leave the poorer ones till later 
because they might suffer from such a pro- 
cedure if a cold spell should occur. By re- 
versing the brood, I mean the placing of the 
combs having but little brood in them at the 
outside of the brood nest, in the centre, which 
brings the combs having the most brood in 
them on the outside. Thus while the colony 
has no more brood than it had before, the 
queen finds plenty of empty cells in the centre 
of the brood nest, in combs having some 
brood in them, and she at once fills these 
combs with eggs, so that in a few days they 
will contain more brood than those which were 
moved tu the outside, while tire bees have fed 
and taken care of tliis as well as though its 
position had not been changed. In this way 
quite a gain is made in regard to increasing 
the brood. 
In about a week, if the weather is favor- 
able, a frame of honey is taken from the out- 
side of the cluster, the cappings to the cells 
broken, and after separating the brood nest in 
• These Ontei* nre for the Northern Hemisphere May, 
June, July, mat Aucu-t. iu America, will correspond in 
•eiwon to October, No vein her, December uml January in 
Australia. 
the centre the frame of honey thus prepared 
is placed therein. In removing this honey 
and carrying it to the outside of the brood 
nest the bees are made happy, which causes 
them to feed the queen an extra supply of 
egg-producing food, so that in a short time 
this frame is also filled with eggs. In a week 
or so, as the bees increase in strength, another 
frame is placed in the centre as before, and so 
we keep on till every comb in the hive is filled 
with brood. 
In proceeding as above it is essential to 
know that each colony has sufficient honey to 
supply all its wants for at least two weeks, 
for if we wish to obtain the largest amount of 
brood possible the bees must never feel the 
necessity of feeding the brood sparingly on 
account of scanty stores. If plenty of honey 
in the frames is not at hand, a feeder and 
some sugar syrup will be a necessity, but I 
consider the frames of honey preferable for 
this purpose. Having the hive filled with 
brood, the next thing to he done is to put on 
the sections. Of course these are all in readi- 
ness, for a successful beekeeper will always 
work at this getting ready part at odd spells 
during winter and early spring. After several 
years of experience and testing of various 
plans I conclude that it is best to fill the 
sections with thin foundation, not so much to 
help the bees as to get nicer looking combs, 
aud those which w ill stand shipment better. 
Some think that the bees w ill not work so well 
on foundation a few months old as they will on 
that just made, so defer this getting ready 
part till at the time wanted. I think the idea 
a mistaken one, but even if there was some 
truth in it I still should put the foundation in 
during winter, believing that the gain would 
more than overbalance the loss. The best 
way which I know of (after trying nearly all 
the plans and fasteners recommended) to 
fasten this foundation in sections is to take a 
board of suitable width and length and fasten 
to it five or six little boards of the right thick- 
ness to come half way or to the middle of the 
sections. Now- slip the sections over these 
little boards and lay the foundation in its 
place with one edge coming closely to the 
underside of the top piece to the section. Set 
the board angling in two directions, so that 
when melted wax is poured from a spoon at 
the upper corner of the V-shaped trough 
formed by the foundation and section it w ill 
slowly run to the other side, thus fastening 
the foundation securely to the section. If we 
begin at one end and put on a section and 
foundation till we get to the other, the first, 
will be cool and ready to take off when we get 
to it so that no time is lost waiting for the wax 
to cool. In this w ay I can put in foundation 
almost as quickly as I can handle foundation 
and section. The sections filled with founda- 
tion are next put in wide frames holding hut 
one tier of sections deep, and having separators 
nailed to them, for after repeated trials I con- 
