Mar. 24, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



233 



where one wants to save some extra queens iu the fall ? 

 Last fall I wintered about 1 quart of bees on 4 combs of 

 honey, and by the next May they covered 3'2 combs, and 

 proved to be as good an any colony I had. But this winter 

 they were dead Jan. 15, and 25 full colonies besides. 



4. Do you think your method of increase, that you de- 

 scribed to "Illinois," page 170, is any better than the way 

 W. W. Somerford does, page 260 of Gleanings in Bee Cul- 

 ture for 1899 ? 



What I mean is, to have all colonies for increase very 

 strong by the commencement of the honey-flow, then divide 

 into 8 or 10 nuclei, and give each a ripe queen-cell. By 

 " strong," I mean each old colony to have a double brood- 

 chamber, each nucleus to have the remainder of the hive 

 withdrawn comb. I am anxious about this increase matter, 

 as I will have only about 35 colonies left out of 80 this 

 spring, and I want them to store enough to winter on, and 

 would like to make 100 colonies out of 10. Ohio. 



Answers. — 1. Yes. But that way of living from hand 

 to mouth is hardly the best way. Bees seem to have more 

 sense than some folks, and if they have just enough to do 

 from day to day, they seem to say, "We haven't on hand 

 enough stores to last very long, and we had better go a little 

 slow about starting a lot of brood that we may not be able 

 to feed later on." With a good reserve on hand, you may 

 find the bees will need little if any stimulative feeding. 



2. I don't know. Not out of the woods yet. Too warm, 

 though. Most of the time above 50, sometimes up to 60. 



Wait a minute, and I'll go and see what it is now 



Well, the thermometer in the cellar stands at 56, and the 

 bees are unusually noisy. The trouble is that it is a muggy 

 sort of a day, with the thermometer outdoors at 46. If the 

 outer temperature was zero, the bees would be very still at 

 56 inside, for in that case the air in the cellar would change 

 more rapidly. So far as I can judge they are doing fairly 

 well, but they would probably do better if there were not so 

 many in one room. 



3. From your own statement one would judge that in a 

 mild winter a quart of bees would do very well, but in a 



severe winter three quarts would be none too many. That's 

 for outdoors. In the cellar less than a quart might do, 

 whether the winter was mild or severe ; especially if two 

 nuclei were kept in a double hive with a thin partition be- 

 tween them. 



4. Much depends on the locality and the season. If you 

 are sure of a good flow and a long season, then it may be 

 better, and certainly will be less trouble, to wait till all are 

 strong (which should be done in either case), and then finish 

 up the whole business by dividing into the total number. 

 But it would be a very risky thing in my locality, and very 

 likely it would be in yours. For if the season should be 

 poor or short, you might have the fun of doubling up again 

 in the fall. 



Comb vs. Extracted Honey— United Colonies— When to 

 Put on Supers. 



1. What is the difference between working for comb and 

 extracted honey ? I wish to run for comb honey only. 



2. Would you leave the combs in the brood-chamber that 

 have been emptied the past winter? I find them in good 

 shape. 



3. I have 2 light colonies of bees, in the cellar, and 

 wish to unite them as soon as I can. How soun can I take 

 them out of the cellar (to place them on the summer stands) 

 and unite them ? 



4. Would you put supers on before the brood-chamber is 

 filled? Missouri. 



Answers. — 1. The chief difference is that in one case 

 the finished product is in white combs, and in the other the 

 honey is liquid, combs being used over and over again, and 

 the honey thrown out by an extractor. 



2. Yes, if in good condition they are better than new. 



3. As soon as warm enough to fly nearly every day, say 

 after red maples are in bloom. 



4. No, not till it is filled and the honey harvest is nearly 

 on. 



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FROM MANY FIELDS 



3 



Helping to Sow the Seed. 



I am a reader of the weel;ly American Bee 

 Journal, and read it with much interest. 

 When through with them 1 talie them out on 

 the road with me, and toss them from my 

 engine-cab window to all the farmers that I 

 see having one or more colonies of bees. 



W. W. MUBPHT. 



Linn Co., Mo., March 7. 



Caught Short on Supplies. 



The American Bee Journal has been lots of 

 help to me in handling my bees. Last season 

 was good, but it caught me short of supplies, 

 so I gave one colony the advantage of the 

 rest, just to see what it would do, and the re- 

 sult was 131 nicely filled sections, for which 

 IgotS'24 20. I do not intend to be caught 

 that way this year. Alfred Rives. 



Montgomery Co., HI., Feb. 9. 



\ DAVENPORT, \ 



\ 



Comb Hone,y Management. 



I put the supers on the strongest colony 

 Jan. 35, and the Ijees are worliing in them. 

 The honey is from gum-trees, manzanita, and 

 other flowers. 



I find the best way tor comb honey is to tier 

 up and take no honey from the bees until 

 they swarm, or until the honey season is 

 nearly over, and give them big entrances in 

 warm weather. Last year I told a friend to 

 do this ; he had 17 colonies of black lises, and 

 had as many as 4 or ."> supers on at a lime, and 

 got from lliu to I'-'ii sections of honey, all fin- 

 ished. He had only one swarm from each 

 colony; before that he had intended giving 

 up liee-keeping because they did nothing but 

 swarm. 



I may be mistaken as to thecauseof honey 

 granulating, but this is my opinion; Honey 



■lOWA- 



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Send for our Free CATALOG. It will tell 

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