Page i8 



BETTER FRUIT 



Managing Bees from a Production Standpoint 



By Geo. S. Demuth, Agricultural Assistant, Bee Culture Investigations, 

 United States Department of Agriculture 



IT is important to note that four essen- 

 tial factors enter into the securing 

 of a crop of honey: (1) A suflicient 

 amount of bloom of healthy and well- 

 nourished nectar-secreting plants grow- 

 ing in soil to which they are adapted 

 and within range of the apiary. (2) 

 Weather conditions favorable to nectar 

 secretion and bee tlight. (3) A large 

 number of workers in excess of those 

 needed for the routine woi'k of the 

 colony. (4) Conditions of the colony 

 making the storing instinct dominant. 

 If any one of these factors is absent, 

 the effect of the other three is immedi- 

 ately nullified, and the amount of honey 

 secured will vary as these factors are 

 present at the same time in greater or 



less degree or as the time during which 

 they are all present is longer or shorter. 

 It is therefore possible to have each of 

 these factors present at some time dur- 

 ing the season without securing a crop 

 of honey. The period during which 

 they are all ])rcsent at the same time is 

 usually {[uite short. 



Grouping the first and second factors, 

 we have a combination usually spoken 

 of as the locality and season. These 

 factors are largely beyond the control 

 of the beekeeper except that (1) he 

 may choose a location in which both 

 are usually present at some time or 

 times during the season, (2) he may 

 take advantage of the plants of several 

 locations by practicing migratory bee- 



INCE the discov- 

 ery of the science 

 of spraying no experimental nor 

 half-tested spray-material has ever 

 been put on the market under a Gras- 

 selli label. To play absolutely safe, use 

 these Grasselli products. 



ARSENATE OF LEAD, PASTE AND POWDER 



CALCIUM ARSENATE 



LIME SULPHUR SOLUTION 



BORDEAUX MIXTURE PASTE 



SULPHATE OF NICOTINE FREE NICOTINE 



The Grasselli Chemical Company 



Founded 1839 Cleveland 



RASSELLI GRADE 



Insecticides 

 and Fungicides 



February, ip30 



keeping, or (3) he may improve a given 

 locality by directly or indirectly in- 

 creasing the amount of nectar-secret- 

 ing plants, such as buckwheat, alsike 

 clover, sweet clover, or alfalfa. 



In the third and fourth factors we 

 have conditions capable of being brough 

 about by management and for which 

 the beekeeper is more directly respons- 

 ible. Thee beekeeper's skill therefore 

 lies in suppling and maintaining these 

 factors throughout the short period 

 duiing which the bees may store more 

 than they consume. In order to do this 

 he should know which i)lants may be 

 expected to furnish the nectar for his 

 crop of honey, that his various opera- 

 tions may be properly timed. It should 

 be noted that the shorter the duration 

 of the honey-flow, the greater becomes 

 the necessity of having the colonies in 

 proper condition at its beginning and 

 keeping them so until its close. 



Nectar may be available in abund- 

 ance and the weather may be ideal for 

 gathering and storing, yet no honey can 

 be produced if there is not a large force 

 of workers in each colony, in excess of 

 those needed for colony maintenance, 

 to gather and store the' honey crop. 

 Furthermore, nectar may be abundant, 

 weather conditions ideal, and the colon- 

 ies strong, with the results in honey se- 

 cured meager or none at all because the 

 beekeeper has failed to keep the forces 

 of each colony together and the storing 

 instinct dominant. It is a common oc- 

 currence among inexperienced beekeep- 

 ers to have the colonies become strong 

 enough to work in the supers only after 

 the flowers have ceased blooming or to 

 see strong colonies during a good honey' 

 flow doing nothing in the supers simply 

 because conditions are not such as to 

 make the storing instinct dominant. 



So far as the skill of the beekeeper 

 is concerned in the production of the 

 crop of honey in a given location, every 

 manipulation of the season should be 

 directed (1) toward securing the great- 

 est possible number of vigorous work- 

 ers at the proper time, and (2) keeping 

 the entire working force of each colony 

 together and contentedly at work 

 throughout the given honey-flow. 

 Securing Workers for the Honey-Flow. 



The management directed toward se- 

 curing workers for the honey-flow be- 

 gins during the previous late summer 

 and early autumn. It includes (1) pro- 

 viding favorable conditions for the pro- 

 duction of the bees that constitute the 

 winter colony; (2) conserving the en- 

 ergy of these bees during the brood- 

 less period of winter, when they can 

 not well be replaced by further brood- 

 rearing; and (3) building up the popu- 

 lation of the colony after the adversi- 

 ties of winter so that the maximum 

 strength is reached at about the begin- 

 ning of the main honey-flow. 



The function of the beekeeper is first 

 to see that each colony is in normal 

 condition and headed by a good queen 

 in time to produce the bees that form 

 the winter colony and then to supply 

 any deficiency in food, protection, and 

 room for both brood-rearing and stores 

 that may exist at any time during the 

 three periods mentioned above. 



WHEN WRITING ADVERTISERS MENTION BETTER FRUIT 



