comb honey, but this was an exceptional colony in an excep tional season managed, by an exceptional man. But our bee keeper allows one hundred and sixty sections per colony. He will not have to use all these once in a life-time, but he has them if he needs them, and if he does not want them they will keep till next year. To get these sections and other supplies ready for the season the bee keeper has worked all winter, Now the winter work inside is done and spring has advanced far enough to make an examination of the bees's safe. Early in the following week we find our bee keeper and assistant at one of the six apiaries hard at work. The bee keeper has begun at one side of the yard and his assistant at the other. Occasionally the assistant calls for advice or shows the bee keeper certain conditions he finds in the hives as he works. In this way they do their spring cleaning up work. Each hive is opened, the combs, bees and amount of brood examined. The queen in each hive is found and her condition noted. Queenless colonies are united with those having a queen. The bottom boards of the hives are cleaned off, all winter's packing is removed, and where the hive is damp the combs are transferred to a new hive. As each colony is thus put in shape to build up the condition is noted' on a shingle or slate. Occasionally a hive is found having all the bees dead. The colony may have been killed by lack of stores, dampness, queenlessness, or any of a dozen other causes. These empty hives are set aside to be cleaned when the bees have been attended to. Thus the day wears on. As night approaches and it becomes too cool to open hives containing bees for fear of chilling the brood, the empty hives from which bees have died are cleaned and put into shape to use again. In one clay this apiary has been changed from winter conditions to' condi tions favorable to the most rapid increase in bees and building up for the honey flow now about two months distant. But this general change and cleaning out which the hives receive is not all that is necessary for the best development of the colony. In another week the bee keeper returns after ,
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