Febr. 



uary. 



1922 



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I Our Inquiry Depart- | 

 I ment I 



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IN a future issue please state your opinion as to 

 the benefit of feeding apples to laying hen» 

 during the winter months. — J. B. F., Oregon. 



Even good, sound apples have no virtue over 

 the much less expensive green foods recommended 

 for the hens' winter diet. But the almost invari- 

 able trouble in this connection is that apples carry- 

 ing decayed spots are given the hens. The propor- 

 tion of these usually increases, in fact, as the 

 season grows later. Hens are not like hogs in 

 being scavengers. They should never be fed rot- 

 ten apples. This, we judge, gives you an adequate 

 answer, for it is entirely unlikely that you or any 

 other readers care to feed sound apples to their 

 poultry. 



■^ AAA 



IW.^NT to sow clover for cover crop in some 

 fall wheat I have on my place. When should I 

 sow it? — H. J. C, Washington. 



As you are in western Washington you will find 

 the best time to sow the clover comes this month. 

 Fall wheat makes an excellent nurse crop so you 

 should have little trouble in getting a good stand. 

 Readers living east of the mountains will do well 

 to wait until about the first or second weeks in 

 March. 



Bees for Pollination 



By H. A. ScuLLEN 

 Specialht in Bee Culture, Oregon Agricultural 

 College 

 'C'REQUENTLY we are asked by orchard owners 

 •^ and managers how many colonies are necessary 

 for proper pollination of a given acreage. This is 

 not the vital question, since one strong colony 

 will do more pollenlzing than 10 weak ones. 



The normal colony should come through the 

 winter with a working force in early February of 

 close to 15,000 bees. The attempt then should be 

 to build this force up to 50,000 or more. Good 

 heavy-laying, standard Italian queens are doubtless 

 the most Important requisite. 



Next it is highly important that the queens be 

 provided with conditions favor.ibic for maximum 

 brood rearing, during the early spring. The first 

 condition necessary is ample stores. The queen 

 tends to stop egg laying when the stores in the 

 hive drop to approximately 15 pounds. It is a 

 good practice to see that a surplus beyond this 

 amount is always present. 



With sufficient stores and favorable conditions, 

 a good queen will during late March find the one- 

 story, ten-frame hive too small, so will be unable 

 to lay to her full capacity. It is important to 

 remember that the workers hatched from eggs 

 laid three weeks before fruit bloom are the bees 

 which will do the bulk of the pollenlzing and for 



BETTER FRUIT 



that reason it is extremely important to have the 

 queen laying to her maximum capacity at that time. 

 When colonies have come through the winter 

 In good condition, and the weather has per- 

 mitted them to gather considerable nectar from 

 the maples, they are very apt to make preparations 

 for swarming about the second week of April, 

 which, if not prevented, will greatly lessen thrir 

 number of field workers. It is, therefore, of rr- 

 treme importance that the colony not only be 

 built up to the maximum strength, but that it be 

 kept from dissipating this strength in swarming 

 just before or at the starting of fruit bloom. 



Some of the important factors in swarm pre- 

 vention are: Young queens, not over two years 

 old, preferably only one year oldj a minimum 

 of drone comb, resulting In a minimum number of 

 drones in the hive; sufficient ventilation; a mod- 

 erate amount of shade during the hottest part of 

 the dayi sufficient brood rearing room, that is, 

 two ten-story hives or a larger one-story hive. 



Another Item to consider is location of the bees 

 In the orchard. In this connection the writer 

 would suggest that although the bees under cer- 

 tain conditions will go several miles for nectar, 

 they will do more efficient pollenlzing If they arc 

 not compelled to go over one-half mile. 



They should be so located that It would not be 

 necessary to drive or work horses directly In front 

 of the hive. It would also be to an advantage to 

 have the prevailing winds blowing from the or- 

 chard toward the bees. The bees prefer to fly light 

 against the wind and loaded with the wind. This 

 would assist In getting the bees to work on the 

 owner's orchard in preference to the neighbors, if 

 It is possible to Influence them at all. 



In order that the bees may take advantage of 

 every opportunity to work on the fruit bloom 

 during unsettled weather conditions, it would be 

 advisable to have no shade over them during the 

 period of pollenlzing, so they will be attracted out 

 whenever the sun appears. 



From what has been said, one can readily sec 

 the necessity of having the bees under the care 

 of some one who Is familiar with their manage- 

 ment in order to get good results, and avoid loss 

 from disease, swarming and other factors. 



If the owner is not experienced in managing 

 bees properly, it would be more economical to turn 

 them over to a practical bee keeper to care for or 

 to dispose of the bees and pay a bee keeper to move 

 bees to the orchard during blooming period. The 

 u&ual charge for the latter ranges from $3.00 to 



Page Thirty-three 



$5.00 a colony, depending upon the difficulty in 

 moving the bees to and from the orchard. When 

 bees are run on shares by another the crop and 

 increase are divided equally between the owner and 

 manager, in which case the owner furnishes all 

 necessary supers and other equipment. If the 

 manager must supply extra equipment, he must 

 receive a higher per cent, say three-fourths of 

 the crop. 



WANTED! 



Capable working foreman 

 for apple ranch. Must board 

 men. Only experienced men 

 need apply. Address 2349 

 West Twenty-third Street, 

 Los Angeles, California. 



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Opportunities for More Salesmen 



SIMONS, SHUTTLEWORTH & CO.. Liveroool and Manchester 

 SIMONS & CO., LTD., Glasgow GARCIA, JACOBS & CO.. London 



SIMONS (Southampton) LIMITED, Southampton 

 Agenciei and Repr«!entativ»i in Every Important European Market 



European Receivers of American Fruits 



SIMONS, SHUTTLEWORTH 4 FRENCH C©. 

 204 Franklin Street, New York 



For Market Information Addreit 



SIMONS FRUIT CO. 

 Toronto and Montreal 



SIMONS, SHUTTLEWORTH, WEBLING CO. 

 12 South Market Street, Boston 



OUR SPECIALTIES ARE APPLES AND PEARS 



