Beekeeping in the Buckwheat Region. tt 
- foulbrood is found throughout the buckwheat region, however, this 
also necessitates the possession of strong colonies much earlier than 
would be necessary simply to get the buckwheat honey harvest. It _ 
therefore is unnecessary for the beekeeper to do anything other than 
prevent the ravages of this disease in order to get all the nectar avail- 
able from the clovers. The practices herein given are such as to yield 
the fullest return from the clover crop. 
EQUIPMENT RECOMMENDED. 
The hive generally used in the buckwheat region is the 10-frame 
Langstroth, and all the practices described in this bulletin are based 
on the use of this hive, which is the standard for the United States. 
Hives having deeper frames or a larger brood chamber may be used 
without great difference in the methods here described, but no hive 
smaller than the 10-frame Langstroth should be used in this region. 
This hive is not patented and is now sold by all the dealers in bee- 
keeping supplies. Care should be exercised to get accurately made 
hives and frames. The spacing of the frames should be accurate and 
the parts of all the hives should be interchangeable. 
The combs of the brood chamber should be all of worker-sized 
cells. This may be obtained by the use of full sheets of comb-founda- 
tion, and no beekeeper of this region can afford to use merely starters 
of foundation. The frames should be carefully wired to strengthen 
the combs. Detailed directions for arranging the sheets of founda- 
tion in the frames and for wiring are given in Farmers’ Bulletin 447 
and in still greater detail in the books on beekeeping. Even when 
full sheets of worker foundation are used there will be a tendency 
for the foundation or the combs to sag, leaving several rows of im- 
perfectly formed cells at the top of the frames. The beekeeper should 
constantly sort out imperfect combs and use them for the supers. 
Extra care should be exercised to see that only perfect combs are 
placed in the lower one of the two hive-bodies during the winter, in 
order that the queen may pass easily from the second to the first 
story during the period of brood-rearing previous to the time of 
unpacking. 
Because of the presence of European foulbrood throughout the 
buckwheat region, no race of bees may be used with safety except the 
Italian. This race has the ability to clean house so well developed 
that the bees can clean out the remains of the larve dead of this 
disease, provided other conditions are right. Not all strains of 
Italian bees are equally good for this purpose, however, and the bee- 
keeper of this region should take pains to get those which are best. 
No one strain can be recommended as the best, and the proper plan 
for the beekeeper is to buy several untested queens from several 
