102 
THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS JOURNAL. 
top bars may stand level with the top of the sides ! 
of the hive. Two strips are put on so as to j 
cover the spaces between the top bars, 
and give a level surface to the whole hive, upon 
which is placed what is termed a quilt, that is, a 
cover of unbleached calico, and three or four 
thicknesses of cloth or something of the kind, to 
keep in the bees, and prevent the escape of heat. 
The entrance-hole should be half an inch deep, 
and at least bin. long, and ought to be provided 
with some kind of door to reduce, when neces- 
sary, the size of the opening. For this purpose 
the door described under 1 Robbing ’ will be 
found useful. A space of ^in. between the frame 
and the hive sides is required, and the bees will 
use this for passage way. If more space be left 
they will build comb in it ; ‘if less, they will glue 
the parts together with propolis, a resinous sub- ; 
stance collected by the bees. When the cottager i 
has not the facilities for making the standard j 
frames accurately it would be better for him to 
purchase them ready made, as it is absolutely 
necessary that they all be exactly the same size, 
and perfectly rectangular. 
(To be continued.') 
©orrcspaititcucr. 
To the Editor of the Australian Bee-keepers' 
Journal. 
Dear Sir, — In reply to your invitation in the 
Journal a month or two ago, asking Beekeepers 
to report, I herewith Send you my experience 
since I began 
I started Beekeeping November, 18S7, by pur- 
chasing two full colonies of Ligurian bees in 
Langstroth hives, one of them having an imported 
queen. I had also a couple of colonies in boxes 
which I transferred to bar -frame hives and Italian- |‘ 
ised. I increased to eight before the end of the 
season. Having had three swarms from one of 
the Ligurians, and one from the other, ail wintered 
well, and I had my first swarm on the 2nd October. 
I purchased four colonies in boxes from a 
neighbour about the end of October, and have 
now twenty-two full colonies, after selling four j 
full colonies of pure Ligurians and one full colony, 
and six nuclei hybrid bees, also a pure queen. 
Have taken off this season about 900 sections and j 
400 lbs. extracted honey. The most I have taken j 
from one hive was 135 sections, and about 60 lbs. 
of extracted honey, and from another 120 sections 
and So lbs. extracted. My honey crop would 
have been much larger, but a lot of my bees were 
not in proper trim when the redgums began to 
bloom, having been just hived. The redgums 
began to bloom about the end of November and 
continued till nearly the middle of January, but 
on account of the dry weather they did not yield 
so well as they otherwise would have done, There 
was then a cessation in the honey flow’ for a few 
weeks, and some of the bees commenced to swarm 
again. I put a few of them into new hives, the 
rest I put back 10 where they came from, after 
cutting out queen cells and giving them more 
room, so as to have them strong for the next 
yield, viz., — peppermint, which yielded well owing 
to the rains in January, and as most of my bees 
were ready I got mere surplus from it than redgum. 
We have now a tree blooming what is termed '■ 
here the bastard gum, and three or four of my 
colonies are filling sections now from it. I was 
rather surprised the other day when looking 
through my bees to find a few of the hives with 
brood in ten frames, w'hich seems to me rather 
extraordinary at this time of the year ; of course 
they are presided over by young queens. 
Below I give you a rough statement showing 
my expenditure and income since I began, I took 
no surplus the first year beyond what we used 
ourselves, as we use about 28 lbs. per month. 
Yours truly, 
JAS. McFARLANE. 
St. John’s Wood Apiary, 
Lyndhurst, 29/4/89. 
To Bees purchased at commencement £700 
,, Hives made up and painted, founda- 
tions, sections, honey and wax 
extractors, &c., &c. ... ... 23 10 O 
^SS 10 ° 
By Honey sold ^32 3 o 
,, Bees sold 16 5 o 
,, Honey on hand 7 12 o 
,, 22 Colonies of bees in two-storey 
hives, valued at 40s. each* .. 44 o o 
„ Hives, extractors, &c., on hand ... 15 o o 
£115 O O 
It will be seen that leaving out the value of the 
bees, hives, and appliances, estimated at ,£59, 
the profits to begin with are a little in excess of 
expenditure, but counting stock the actual profit 
may be taken as ^59 10s., or an interest of over 
100 per cent, for my outlay. Added to this a 
season’s experience (worth a good deal), and plenty 
of honey for the table in our house — no small 
item. 
* The estimate of 40s. each for bees in two-storey frame 
hives, which at this time of year, cover 8 to 10 frames well 
supplied with winter stores is, we think, too low. We 
should say 60s. — E d. 
(Sadr acts. 
THE HONEY BEE.— INSTINCT AND 
SENSE. 
To make the subject clearly understood I will 
illustrate a few instances to show what I mean by 
instinct, what by sense. Under instinct those 
acts are understood which are innate with the 
birth of the individual animal or insect. Instinct 
induces the new-born infant to suckle ; instinct 
induces the ducks to swim, the chickens to make 
use of their feet almost as soon as they have left 
