33S 



October, 191.i 



American "Bae Journal 



ed against when the apiary is located 

 near a thoroughfare or a highway. 

 Aside from these dangers there is 

 always more or less disaster in the api- 

 ary. The demoralization has a ten- 

 dency to wear out bee-life to a consid- 

 erable extent, and consequently leave 

 the colonies in a weaker condition. 

 This is more apparent in the late fall, 

 especially when there is no honey com- 

 ing in, and thus the colonies may go 

 into winter quarters in an unsatisfac- 

 tory condition and result in bad win- 

 tering. Many weak colonies may be 

 robbed out entirely before the apiarist 

 discovers the trouble. 



Where we can safely do so, and that 

 is any time when some honey is com- 

 ing in so that bees are not inclined to 

 start robbing, we place all our extract- 

 ing supers with the wet combs right 

 back on the hives. This is done at 

 dusk, however, and reasonable care is 

 taken to have the outside of the supers 

 clean by having been rapidly washed 

 off with a wet cloth as they are re- 

 moved from the honey-house. Put on 

 at this time of the day it gives the bees 

 a chance to clean up and get over the 

 first excitement. By the next morning 

 they will have quieted down sufficiently 

 to guard the entrances, and there will 

 be no trouble about robbers molesting 

 any but very weak colonies. Indeed, 

 no weak colonies should receive such 

 supers of combs. It would be better to 

 first place several of the wet supers on 



the strongest colonies, and then re- 

 move them to the weak colonies as 

 needed, after they have been cleaned. 



Handling Fragile Combs of Honey and 

 Brood 



When examining newly-built or 

 other combs that may break out easily, 

 especially during warm weather, we 

 practice handling them as illustrated 

 herewith. The method of the different 

 passes is self-explanatory as shown by 

 the figures. 



The trick of handling all combs in 

 this way soon becomes a kind of sec- 

 ond nature to the operator, and pre- 

 vents many disagreeable mishaps to 

 combs. When the comb is removed 

 from the hive the surface in front of 

 the operator is examined first. Then 

 an upright swinging motion is made 

 by the left hand, raising the comb into 

 a vertical position, at the same time 

 twirling the bottom-bar around to the 

 right of the operator, as shown in No. 

 3. Bringing the right hand up, the 

 comb is before the operator upside 

 down, and the opposite side from that 

 already examined is before him for in- 

 spection. When returning the comb 

 to the hive, the exact reverse motions 

 bring it into place. Care should be 

 taken not to tilt the combs sidewise, 

 but at all times during the operation to 

 keep them on edge. 



L s Method ok H.^NDLl^G a Frame. 



the clover. Then a prolonged drouth 

 followed, with the result that it was 

 badly stunted and soon dried up. Pic- 

 ture Xo. 1 shows all the colonies with 

 but one super each ; a few in the back 

 row having two, while one has three. 

 The other view shows nearly all with 

 two supers, while many have three — 

 both pictures were taken on the same 

 day. The bees from the east that were 

 wintered inside, while in good shape in 

 the spring, were about ten days behind 

 the other lot. and when they were in 

 shape for the honey-flow it was already 

 nearly over. 



The other picture shows the motor 

 boat we have on the river near this 

 apiary, my father being seated near the 

 end of the boat at the right side. This 

 boat has been very useful. Any one 

 situated near a navigable river, in a 

 good honey location, would have an 

 ideal place for running out-yards. Un- 

 fortunately the river is not navigable 

 east from our apiary, and it is only 2 

 miles west to the apiary, so we cannot 

 establish out-apiaries to be visited by 

 boat. We are situated -5 miles from 

 the nearest town, and this town is on 

 the stream near the apiary. The boat 

 comes in very handy for hauling gro- 

 ceries and other supplies, for the help- 

 ers there do their own cooking and 

 general housekeeping. The boat gives 

 many hours of recreation after a day's 

 work, when they get time to go on the 

 water for a few hours, incidentally 

 doing a little fishing. 



A few days ago my father went up 

 the bay some distance, and with the 

 help of another boat, towed some 5000 

 feet of lumber in a raft down to the 

 yard, said lumber to be used for mak- 

 ing winter cases. .'\11 things consid- 

 ered, where the navigable waters are 

 at hand, this means of conveyance has 

 an automobile beaten, as the question 

 of roads does not bother the boat, and 

 on this inland stream no storms are 

 ever of a serious nature. The boat 

 illustrated is 24 feet long, and has a .3- 

 horse power engine. It will run 8 

 miles an hour, and if we ever desire 

 more speed, a larger engine can be put 

 in any time, as the hull is heavy enough 

 to accommodate one of 7 or 8 horse 

 power easily. 



Conducted by J L. Ever. Mt. Joy. Ontario. 



Results of Moving Bees— Wintering 



The readers of the .American Bee 

 Journal may remember that I moved 

 240 colonies of bees last May over 250 

 miles by train, and that I promised to 

 give a picture of the bees in their new 

 location. The views given were taken 

 during the honey season. This fall 

 380 colonies will go into winter quar- 

 ters all in one yard. They are to be 

 wintered outdoors even if the location 

 is 100 miles north of Toronto. Picture 

 .Vo. 1 shows most of the bees that were 



moved in two cars in the spring, and 

 No. 2 shows the lot that were wintered 

 outdoor? last winter, and where they 

 are now. 



There is often much discussion as to 

 the merits of wintering outdoors and 

 inside, and while seasons differ much 

 in this respect, there is no question 

 but that last spring, bees that were 

 wintered well outdoors, outstripped 

 cellar-wintered bees in the storing of 

 surplus. The season for clover about 

 this vard was very short on account of 

 late spring and frosts badly damaging 



Brood-Chambers Well Filled 



We are busy (Sept. 10) extracting oui 



buckwheat honey. In our locality, 

 owing to prolonged drouth, the crop 

 is short and will not average over 25 

 pounds to the colony. Last fall the 

 brood-nests were very light, and the 

 feeding bill was heavy, but for some 

 reason this fall the reverse is the case. 

 While the surplus is not great, the very 

 heavy brood-nests are pleasing. In 

 fact, I have not had the brood-nests so 

 heavy in years. The honey in them 

 was all gathered during the hot, dry 

 weather, and I have no fear of leaving 

 it for wintering. 



Judging from letters from different 

 parts of Ontario, this condition is gen- 

 eral, and it looks as though much less 

 sugar will have to be fed than last fall. 

 While colonies invariably winter well 

 when fed heavily on sugar syrup. I am 

 always pleased to see the hives well 

 filled with natural stores, so that feed- 

 ing is avoided. In years like the pres- 



