DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO BEES B-ISTE HONEY 
Vol. II. 
OCTOBER 1, 1874. 
No. X 
HOW TO CONDUCT AN APIARY. 
No. 10. 
BY JAMES BOLIN. 
M LTHOUGH the labors of the busy workers are 
over for this season, those of their owner are 
— '^i not by any means ; and if he has many stocks to 
care for, tins month will be u busy one for him. His 
labors no longer consist in preparations for surplus 
honey, or an increase in the number of his stocks; but 
in preparing those he has, for winter, if he would be 
cheered by their merry hum again next spring. 
K tj 1 ® lal) ors pertaining to Sept, were promptly and 
iaithlully performed, those of this month will be much 
lightened. All stocks should now be strong in num- 
bers, well supplied with stores, and have good prolific 
Queens. If, however, the apiarian has been negligent 
ind put oil until a more convenient season what 
should have been promptly done, no time must now 
lie lost. 
first and foremost then., lie should see that none are 
Quoenlcs^, for trying to winter Queenless swarms 
leads to nothing but vexation. If any are Queenless, 
they should be supplied at once with a laying, or vir- 
gm Queen, or at farthest a Queen cell; as giving a 
•stock brood at this season for the purpose or letting 
tnem rear a Queen, generally fails: not so much I 
rearing a Queen as in having her fertilized so late i 
the season. Il neither Queen or cell is to be had, pei 
4aps the best disposition that could be made of 
Quoeuless stock, would be to unite it with one bavin 
a laying Queen. 
II all have Queens, the next thing in order is to se 
„ l: ! 1(( i ley 1 nre stron £ enough. Much has been said am 
i a iJ 1 *' wintering a pint or quart of bees, and i 
-an be and has been done ; still 1 venture the nsser 
iV “ a . t 1 ^ree out of every lour who have tried it 
JwJi , Na POleon once said that Providenc 
toe heaviest battalions; so in bee culture, luci 
times ’ always favors th ® strongest stocks, at al 
oftilA? 001 da >\ lhe bees should occupy at least foui 
7 n-if s,Klces between the combs, and from that up t< 
“f ?L e , ve " ! “ 1 ' found that ave to< 
Hi. \',i - u ,’ ay stm 1,0 strengthened in some local! 
JC( ' H s''* 1 jet breeding, by giving then 
\V i!vo ?> blood fl ' om strong stocks that can spare it 
th mid i „ y c ,? n l 10t bc strengthened In this tvay, tliej 
stronest b m.t Hil 4 ! 1 snllUdently populous, as out 
thewfntovn, that .'7 llllju U( " 10S( sure to live througl: 
will f , . 1 worth more than two weak ones thal 
w 11 be about equally sure to die before spring. 
brood film! d , be tukeu ’ however, not to take too much 
slronlr storks, to aid weak ones, lest the 
ratmot m eb bu i'.'J’K'od. If any are short of stores and 
hnvitnr a snr'V leU .. ,y exchanging combs with others 
once S surplus ’ feeding should bo attended to at 
ear’l'v In th£V, 1 ,i’i d0lng what feeding is necessary, as 
urc ih™ lid i w 1 US P ?i 6s S c ‘\ s th “t«stho center combs 
feet! at'th.. t, ?‘ bro ?‘ ■ the bees are forced to put the 
Old,, the com .,. a “ a i back , emls of the combs, Instead 
the most Sf PtW 16 ,;' 0 U A uy J 110 quite sure to store 
The s“orln a nf alU ’ r th , e b, ’ 00li ls hatched out. 
where the Li. h s - v , r , u C 111 the center of the hive, 
the stronScs?^hWM 0uld . 0 1 as one of 
U,U h ° UCy 
the lieavvf omhi lB r COnl J )s ,‘’? r wl,,tor ' lf the hive ls full, 
the oXiL Cb " bS „° f seul lu ! 1 honey should be placed on 
ter, to,- the’. ld P 1080 °" lv Purthdlj tilled, in the ecu- 
combs onotmh : c l ! stW *,"• V [hvrK , are ,wt e,np ty 
should be i"' 1 ," *,° cluster in, one or two 
more room. 1 ' vlth the extractor, to give them 
II the hive is not full of combs, the combs and bees 
should be placed at one side, and the space contracted 
by a division board; and if any IVames are only par- 
tially lllled with comb they should, unless nearly full, 
be placed at one side of the hive, where the bees 
would naturally have them. 
While handling the combs in the fall it will pay to 
cut a hole in them about one third of the way flown 
from the top. The object of this passage is three fold ; 
viz: it will save the lives of a great many workers 
that are caught away from the main cluster during 
cold spells of weather that occur before they arc 
housed in the fall, ami after they are taken out in the 
spring; it will enable them to reach their stores du- 
ring the winter; and will promote breeding early In 
the spring, by enabling the Queen to distribute her 
eggs more regularly in the combs while it is too cold 
tor her to pass readily around the outside of them. 
During the cold weather that occurred last springs 
t lound on several occasions where I had neglected to 
to make a passage through the combs, a niece of scal- 
ed brood several inches square on one side of a comb, 
and not even an egg on the other side, the Queen be- 
ing unable to reach it. 
Where honey boards are used, they should be taken 
oft the last of this month and their places supplied 
with quilts. By putting the quilts on early, before 
much freezing occurs, no frost will be formed on the 
combs and the bees will go into winter quarters in 
better condition than they would do if the honey 
boards were left on until they are housed. 
Before putting on the quilts, a stick about % of an 
inch square should be laid across the tops of the 
frames, so as to leave a passage between them and 
the quilts. 
Notwithstanding all that has been said about hand- 
ling bees at all times, even in mid winter, I would 
earnestly advise that all the handling in the fall bc 
done as early, and as long before housing as possible, 
as I have repeatedly found by experience, that dis- 
turbing bees much just before they are put into win- 
ter quarters has an Injurious effect. 
Last fall, and several proceeding ones, I introduced 
a number of Italian Queens just before putting my 
bees in the house, and although I lost none of the 
stocks into which they were introduced, yet I almost 
invariably found more dead bees in them the next 
spring, than in others that were not disturbed. For 
bees to gorge themselves with honey just before going 
into winter quarters, is about as unwise as for a per- 
son to eat a hearty supper just before goiug to bed. 
Some people may stand it, and so will some swarms of 
bees, but it is unhealthy for all that. 
Did not the disturbance, consequent upon moving 
them so late in the fall, have something to do with the 
loss of the bees Mr. Daniels purchased? I think Mrs. 
I upper mentioned a similar case, as having occurred 
in the West some time ago. West Lodi, O. 
[Friend B’s remarks so completely cover the 
ground, that we hardly need add more, but it may not 
be amiss to advise that your Bee Houses or cellars bc 
put in good tVim now, before cold nnd stormy weather. 
For instance, our own Bee House was too cold last win- 
ter; we resorted to artificial heat then, but will it not 
be better to bank it in well with dirt all around and 
prepare straw cushions to put between the doors etc i 
II any cracks are to be seen from shrinking of lumber, 
they should be caulked with list or strips of cloth, 
doors made close etc. etc. For ventilating cellars we 
know of no plan equal to having a stove pipe run down 
within a few inches of the cellar bottom, the other 
end communicating with the pipe of the kitchen stove. 
By allowing a niece of burning paper to fall on the floor 
you can readily see how this tube draws all the heavy 
impure air from the floor, up the tube. We saw the ar- 
rangement at friend Blakeslee’s. Get it all fixed now 
before it is neglected. Ed.J 
