THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



13 



more if frames instead of sections are 

 used; a la the chunk honey apiarists in 

 Texas. The difference, however, is not 

 S3 great (as far as I know) as some 

 people say; provided, however, that the 

 bees are properly managed and induced 

 to g-o into the sections. 



A good deal depends upon the nature 

 of the flow. Let a heavy flow come on 

 suddenly, during warm weather, and the 

 bees will almost rush into the supers, 

 separators or no separators, full sheets 

 or only starters; there is but little differ- 

 ence. But it is seldom that way in this 

 locality; the reverse is the usual rule. 



MORE HONEY CAN BE SECURED IN THE 

 EXTRACTED FORM. 



No separators, says Mr. Morrison, 

 gives us no more swarming, and as much 

 surplus as is the case when working for 

 extracted honey. My first impulse was 

 to deny flatly this assertion. My second 

 thought was that it might depend alto- 

 gether upon how the extracted honey 

 was obtained; and that when comparing 

 a badly managed extracted honey apiary 

 with a well managed comb honey apiary, 

 the results might even be in favor of the 

 latter. But if both are well attended too, 

 I claim that the exti acted honey apiary 

 must be considerably ahead of the other. 

 The reason is not far to seek. In the ex- 

 tracted honey apiary the bees have nothing 

 to do except to gather the nectar and store 

 it. I mean so far as surplus honey is 

 concerned. In the other, they have to 

 build the combs; that means honey con- 

 sumed for that purpose, and a consider- 

 able amount of time to secrete the wax 

 and build the combs. Add to this, that 

 the swarming fever can be controlled 

 when working for extracted honey, but 

 not when working for comb, and it is 

 easy to see that one and one-half, or 

 twice, as much honey can or rather could 

 be obtained when working for extracted 

 than when working for comb honey. 

 The Dadants say that in their apiaries 

 only four or five per cent, of their colo- 

 nies swarm, and that occurs when sup- 



erseding their queens. This means that 

 if the apiarist were doing the supersed- 

 ing himself, hardly any swarming would 

 ever take place. Some European apia- 

 rists, working on the same system, have 

 not had any swarms, for several years in 

 succession. 



MODERN AMERICAN METHODS NOT THE BEST. 



I know I am going to be considered a 

 rank heretic, or lunatic, or something of 

 that sort, but I will say it all the same, 

 our modern American methods of work- 

 ing for extracted honey is radically 

 wrong. We begin in the spring with too 

 small a hive, and, as a general rule, too 

 small a colony; then later, add another 

 story and make it too big. Then, when 

 the flow comes, we take off the added 

 story, put the combs full of brood and 

 honey in the other, and confine the queen 

 there with almost no room to lay her 

 eggs. Then the bees begin to loaf and 

 prepare for swarming. We cut that 

 short by shaking. The colony is then 

 weakened by the amount of bees and 

 hatching brood taken to the new stand. 

 Furthermore, it has to rebuild its brood 

 nest, combs, brood and all; and that at 

 the height of the flow, when all their 

 energy and work should be spent in filling 

 the supers. Why not do like the Dadants? 

 Even if there were no more honey 

 secured there would be lots of work 

 saved and we could "keep more bees." 



Mr. Morrison says that if a colony ap- 

 pears at the point of swarming, the 

 addition of a super without separators 

 will prevent them from swarming; that 

 is, they will work in it instead of swarm- 

 ing. But if the bees are in condition to 

 take possession of the super, it should 

 have been on already. The giving of a 

 super will sometimes prevent swarming, 

 if the queen cells are just started, but 

 not always, by any means, and not at 

 all if they are in a more advanced stage. 

 I have '.ried it often enough to know it, 

 and with supers without separators at 

 that. 



Knoxville, Tenn., Nov. 29, 1909. 



