636 
OBSERVATORY HIVES 
in the hive, spacing them about an inch 
and a half from center to center. It is de-' 
sirable that comb containing some honey 
be used also, and if there is not any honey 
in the upper part of the brood-comb, a 
strip or two of comb containing honey 
should be cut from some other sheet. If 
cells with the ends against the glass are also 
desired, a little more delicate work is nec¬ 
essary. 
From a new dry comb a strip somewhat 
wider than needed is cut, then with a hot 
knife, the cells are cut from the base. These 
baseless cells are very delicate and must be 
cut to the required dimensions with the hot 
knife. They are then lifted on a cool knife 
or piece of cardboard and slid into posi¬ 
tion in the hive. No gluing or waxing is 
needed, for the bees will do that perfectly. 
The other pair of panes are next care¬ 
fully slid into place. If any of the strips 
were cut too wide the glass will hit and 
move them and cause a lot of trouble, but 
otherwise the operation is easy. The en¬ 
trance guard is lifted, a queen put in and 
the guard replaced, and the cover put on 
the box. On a wide board in front of the 
entrance are now shaken the bees from two 
combs taken from any hive. The older bees 
will go home, the others will crawl into the 
hive. They go in better if the hive is dark; 
hence the putting of the cover on the box; 
but it may be opened from time to time to 
watch matters. If they are a little slow to 
enter they may be hurried by a gentle puff 
of smoke now and then, but on the whole 
it is better to let them take their time. 
This operation is preferably done near 
the close of the day, and at a time when 
nectar is being secured, then robbing is not 
troublesome. 
The hive is left in its horizontal position 
for a couple of days, the box being shaded 
from the direct rays of the sun. If it is 
found that not enough bees are in the hive 
to fill the spaces fairly between the strips 
of comb, more may be shaken in front at 
any time. In about two day's all of the 
combs will be seen to be attached to the 
upper one of the inner panes. By the time 
this is noted, it may be certain that the 
combs are likewise attached to the lower 
one of the inner panes. The hive may now 
be taken from the box, set in an upright 
position, and taken away. 
MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION. 
As soon as the hive is in its place syrup 
should be given in the feeder and feeding 
continued for several days, for .the little 
colony has virtually no field force, and will 
soon exhaust the honey in the combs. Also 
the feeding will stimulate wax production 
and enable the bees to complete the combs. 
During a heavy honey flow these little colo¬ 
nies will gain stores, but in a light flow 
their field force is too small and help may 
be needed in the shape of syrup or honey 
in the feeder. 
By coloring syrup (using a candy color) 
it is easy to see just where it is put first 
and more or less of it moved afterward. 
An ounce of deeply colored syrup is enough 
to use at a time for this experiment. 
If feeding is necessary in cold weather, 
use a hot syrup, nearly filling the feeder 
(a half-pint). It will warm the hive and 
arouse the bees, and as soon as the syrup 
cools sufficiently they will take it. Use for 
this purpose a syrup made of two parts 
sugar and one of water. If the weather is 
very cold, close the hive and remove it to 
a warm room, keeping it there until the 
bees have taken up all or most of the 
syrup. If, however, the combs were packed 
with stores before settled cold weather, and 
the room temperature keeps between 35 de¬ 
grees, and 60 degrees F. as the extremes, 
the bees will not need feeding until spring. 
If the hive becomes over-populous, it 
should be removed at night to some other 
window and in its place should be put any 
convenient box containing a piece of comb 
with unsealed brood, or a caged queen. The 
next morning the field force will start out 
as usual, but will return to the old location 
where the brood or queen will hold them. 
As soon as the population of the observa¬ 
tory hive seems to be reduced enough, its 
entrance should be closed to prevent the 
escape of more bees. Within two or three 
hours the box on the old location may be 
closed and taken away and the hive put 
back and the entrance opened. The re¬ 
moved bees may be destroyed or kept con¬ 
fined for a few days, and then at nightfall 
be dumped into some hive in the yard. 
If the colony in the observatory hive 
becomes weak, it is most easily strength¬ 
ened by turning in a lot of young bees. An 
