44 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



unsuitab'e weather. If using paper alone 

 for spring-protection I would use a light 

 colored building paper. By using two or 

 three inches of sawdust between the 

 outer covering and the hive, the heat was 

 modified. Perhaps it was hours before 

 the packing was warmed through, and 

 projably as many more hours before 

 jt cooled ofT after the sun was gone. 

 The great object of the protection was 

 to retain the internal heat. In a long 

 continued rain, a little v/ater would run 

 down inside the felt, but not enough to 

 dampen the sawdust materially. Be- 

 sides, this is not so important a matter in 

 the spring as in the winter. 



Very early in the spring, when a colony 

 must remain clustered most of the time, 

 nothing fills the bill for feeding, equal to 

 a solid comb of sealed honey placed 

 against one side of the cluster. After 

 the weather is warm enough for the 

 bees to fly nearly every day, the charac- 

 ter and manner of the feeding is not so 

 important. I think the giving of liquid 

 feed has a greater stimulating effect 

 than that of combs of honey, and the 

 filling of combs with syrup as suggested 

 by Mr. Laing has no objection except the 

 work of making the syrup, filling the 

 combs and putting them in the hives. 

 There is more work, and more messi- 

 ness, about it than making a syrup with 

 cold water and pouring it into the feeders 

 with no opening of the hives or disturb- 

 ing of the bees. 



My hives are the ten-frame Langs- 

 troth. This location is a good fruit and 

 clover district, but there is nothing else 

 that furnishes honey. When white clover 



is done, the season is over. The flow 

 from clover last season was nothing 

 extra; just a fair, ordinary season. The 

 trouble was that the bee keeper and his 

 colonies were not ready for it wlien it 

 came. Colonies left to shift for them- 

 selves did not average more than one- 

 fourth as much in surplus or increase, as 

 I secured: and I can see no reason why I 

 might not take 75 colonies and do just 

 as well, in proportion to the numbers, as 

 I did with the 40. Certainly, there is no 

 reason, unless it is that of overstocking, 

 and it is my opinion, that ZS colonies, 

 spring count, would not overstock this 

 locality. Mr. R. F. Holtermann writes 

 me that he approves of my manage- 

 ment last spring, except that he would 

 have kept the working forces together — 

 would not have divided the colonies. 

 Neither would I, had I been working for 

 honey alone, but I wanted some increase. 

 In fact, I had planned to increase the 

 40 colonies to 150, and get whatever 

 surplus came in after I had increased to 

 that number; but I was taken sick, and 

 the plan had to be abandoned — the work 

 turned over to whomsoever I could pick 

 up. 



Yes, increase was made at a profit, if a 

 colony is worth S5.00. It figures out 

 about as follows: Hive, SI. 00; queen 

 (purchased) 75 cts.; feed, 75 cts.; foun- 

 dation, 50 cts.; total. S5.00. 

 colonies, and their increase, 

 S40 worth of sugar. Even if no increase 

 had been made, some sugar feeding 

 would have been necessary so I think 

 that 75 cts. for each new colony is a 

 fair estimate for feed. — Editor Review.] 



To the 40 

 fed about 



Judicious Feeding Helped to Make $4,000 in one 

 Year. Overstocking not Feared. 



FRANK COVERDALE. 



SRIEND Hutchinson: — You ask and find that my best season was 1 903 — 

 which year brought me the most 350 colonies stored 32,000 pounds of 

 money from bees. Well, I have comb honey, which sold at I2/2 cts.; 

 brushed the dust off my past records, bringing in S4, 000. 



