664 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOLRMAL. 



Sept. 29, 1904. 



Report of the Fourth Annual Meeting of the 



Texas State Bee-Keepers' Association, 



Held at College Station, Tex., July 



5 to 8, 1904. 



REPORTED BY LOUIS H. SCHOLL. 



iCoatinued from page 646.) 

 SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT OF OUT-APIARIES. 



The most important factor in this line of work, I believe, 

 is to be done in cleaning of frames, bottom-boards and hives 

 in general. See that all colonies have queens, and how breed- 

 ing is progressing. In cleaning hives, etc., it has always been 

 easier to have an e.xtra hive-body and bottom-board. The first 

 thing is to set the colony off to one side and put the empty 

 hive down, then proceed to clean frames and place in the 

 empty hive down, then proceed to clean frames and place in 

 the empty hive-body. In this method I find we kill less bees, 

 and work faster. 



The next time around we spread brood. That is, those 

 colonies that need it, and it has been my experience that nearly 

 all colonies with brood in four frames need it, if there are 

 enough bees to cluster on 6 frames. I generally give them one 

 comb in the middle, then place pollen frames on the outside 

 of the brood-nest, and on each visit to the yard thereafter I 

 spread likewise. After the first spreading I always place the 

 comb containing eggs and larvae on the outside of the sealed 

 frames of brood, so in case of any chilling it will be better 

 for the colony to lose the larvae than the brood, as we are 

 working for young bees to help rear more brood, and as a rule 

 queens lay in combs between hatching brood better than they 

 do between combs containing larvae and eggs. 



As I have described brood spreading I will describe equal- 

 izing. It is my opinion that it is the best policy to build up 

 strong colonies by help from the weaker ones. Of course, 

 if you have plenty of time to stimulate brood-rearing, and if 

 your strong colonies Iiave 8 to lo frames of brood, then take 

 a frame of hatching brood from the strong ones, placing 

 the empty frame in tlic middle of the brood-nest of the strong 

 colony. 



We will now suppose all colonies are ready for the flow. 

 We begin supering by giving one super with a bait-comb, and 

 if the flow is late in arriving, as in the past two seasons, 

 and colonies commence building cells and preparing to swarm, 

 if increase is wanted we draw two combs of hatching-brood 

 and a queen-cell and start a nucleus,, inserting in their place 

 frames containing full sheets of foundation, thus preventing 

 them from building drone-comb, and nine times out of ten 

 preventing swarming. 



If no increase is wanted, then cut the queen-cells, and 

 if there are any weak colonies in the 5'ard, do some more in- 

 terchanging of brood for empty combs. 



After the flow is on, super where needed. Never super a 

 colony that has no need of it. When a super is 2-.^, or nearly 



2-3, finished, place a super under it, and so on through the 

 flow. 



In some cases where you draw two frames of brood and 

 it does not check the swarming fever, then shake them on 

 full sheets of foundation, and if the queen is very prolific, give 

 one comb of hatching-brood and one frame of larvEe. Select 

 larvae, if possible, too old to start queen-cells from. This 

 plan has never failed to quell the swarming fever, and I have 

 never had a swarm to go out. 



When taking honey one man shakes the supers and an- 

 other man carries and stacks them up. 



After this, super colonies as if expecting another flow. 



The most essential thing in successful bee-keeping, wheth- 

 er out-apiaries or not, is the quality of stock — good, prolific 

 queens. Holy Lands or three-banded Italians mated to golden 

 drones are my preference. 



And" movers among assistants that have the ability to do 

 as instructed. Carl Wurth. 



F. L. Aten discussed at length his method of managing 

 out-yards. He uses all lo-frame hives throughout. All his 

 supers are lo-frame, deep-hive bodies. These he tiers up as 

 high as needed and gives the queen all the room she needs. 

 He produces mostly extracted honey, and that with plenty of 

 room that he furnishes he has little trouble with swarming. 

 He uses half sheets of foundation in the supers and alternates 

 them with a honey-comb and a frame with foundation. A 

 bee-keeper intending to run out-yards must have a good deal 

 of experience in bee-keeping before spreading out too far. 



Willie Atchley uses full-depth bodies throughout, and 

 leaves all the supers on during the winter. During the breed- 

 ing season he scatters brood through two or more bodies and 

 thus reduces swarming. 



L. Stachelhausen uses divisible brood-chamber hives and 

 with them and the shaking of swarms he manages out-apiaries 

 successfully. With these hives swarming can be successfully 

 controlled whether running the out-yards for extracted or for 

 comb or section-honey. For years his average of swarming 

 has been only 2 per cent. 



Hereupon several questions came up for discussion on 

 the order of a question-box, and after that the several com- 

 mittees made their reports. 



A large delegation of bee-keepers expected to attend the 

 St. Louis meeting of the National Bee-keepers' Association, 

 and an earnest effort will be made to secure the meeting of 

 this Association for next year. This meeting will be held 

 then during the time of the International Fair at San Antonio, 

 and a good convention will be assured. It is now about time 

 that the National should come South, and Texas wants the 

 meeting. Every effort will be made to entertain the North- 

 ern bee-keepers when they do come, and we will be glad to 

 show them what our country looks like. 



There are many Northern bee-keepers who are interested 

 in Texas as a honev country, and if the National meets here 

 it will give these a chance to come and look Sround. 

 (Concluded next week.) 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Is Handling- Queens a Cause of Balling-? 



I feel under such obligation to our good After-thinker for 

 his original and attractive way of putting in a new light many 

 of the good things he afterthinks, and especially for his doing it 

 in such a delightfully good-natured way, that I hesitate to 



talk back ; but I feel impelled to stand up for the practices 

 of the bees — at least of the bees "in this locality," whatever 

 may be their training in Mr. Hasty's region. 



On page 616 he says: "I think Miss Wilson is wrong 

 in assuming that Sister 'Colorado's' queen was balled to pro- 

 tect her. That startling smell, originating with the fingers of 

 that 'critter' that had touched their queen, was what did the 



