THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



87 



soon, or too late, the surplus gathered 

 will be meager. In the ability to bring 

 the grea*^^est number of his colonies into 

 this condition at the opening of the 

 harvest, lies the highest skill of which a 

 bee keeper can boast. 



The question naturally arises, how 

 shall we know this condition? What are 

 its factors? How may they be secured? 

 I never saw this whole question more 

 thoroughly covered than in an article by 

 that eminent German bee master, C. J. 

 H. Grovenhorst, and published in the 

 Review nearly 20 years ago. Consider- 

 ing that the Review now has ten readers 

 where it then had one. and the import- 

 ance of thoroughly understanding this 

 basic principle of profitable bee keeping, 

 I feel justified in reproducing the article. 

 It is as follows: 



"There are not many attentive bee 

 keepers of long experience who have not 

 noticed that in so-called poor seasons 

 one or more of their colonies not only 

 stored enough honey for its own use but 

 perhaps even a surplus; while the majori- 

 ty of colonies may not have secured even 

 sufficient for their winter stores. Like- 

 wise, in a good season it must have been 

 noticed that some colonies give an aston- 

 ishing surplus in comparison with others. 



These results are more striking if all 

 the colonies had access to the same 

 pasture, and if the work was carried on 

 under seemingly exactly the same con- 

 ditions as regards combs, hives, strength 

 of colonies, etc. 



Even in the beginning of my business 

 as a practical bee keeper, it often hap- 

 pened in a poor season that three or four 

 of my colonies in the round straw hives 

 with no frames had more than enough 

 for winter, while the majority, often 

 stronger in bees, had not sufficient for 

 winter. Then in a good honey fiow I 

 often observed that some of the small 

 colonies went far ahead of the stronger 

 ones. I have had four-frame nuclei give 

 me from ten to twenty pounds of ex- 

 tracted honey in a season, while others 

 of the same strength, and stronger ones, 

 gave me scarcely as much. Still more 

 remarkable seemed that small queen 

 rearing colonies that had in the aggregate 

 not more comb than one full sized frame, 

 little by little at a time, would finally 

 yield five or six pounds, or more, of 

 honey, while others in apparently the 

 same condition gathered only their daily 



supply. In the face of all this, the asser- 

 tion is frequently heard that only strong 

 colonies yield a surplus! 



When such results come about with the 

 colonies, comb, hives and pasturage ap- 

 parently the same, there must be other 

 factors not so easily discovered. By re- 

 peated examination and observation I 

 have learned that there exists a certain 

 condition under which a colony will gather 

 the most honey whether it be strong or 

 weak. If this condition has not yet been 

 reached, or if it has been passed, the 

 storing of surplus will be neglected or at 

 least carried on only moderately. 



That being the case, the question 

 naturally arises, what is this condition? 

 By an exact examination there will be 

 found five central points. Three of these 

 are well known to first class bee keepers, 

 and they are mentioned only that I may 

 be able to give a complete statement, 

 and in my second part be able to refer 

 to them if desirable. 



1. The ideal colony m.ust have a 

 faultless queen; hardy, sound of body, 

 and. above all things, fertile, and her 

 progeny distinguished by diligence. 



2. Nevertheless, such a queen alone 

 does not make an ideal colony. At the 

 right time, that is, when honey is coming 

 in freely there must be plenty of empty 

 comb that no time nor honey be lost in 

 building comb. 



3. Our ideal colony must swarm at 

 the right time or not at all. It swarms 

 at the right time when it swarms so 

 early that the queens of the after-swarm, 

 if such are allowed, become fertile, and 

 the first or prime swarm has its combs 

 completed, before the opening of the 

 main harvest. 



4. The ideal colony must not be over- 

 populous. A hive is over-populous when 

 its working force is too great in compari- 

 son to the dimensions of the hive and to 

 the number of wax building bees. 



Such a condition is intolerable to the 

 bees and they try to help themselves by 

 loafing. Their instinct teaches them to 

 begin this loafing even before the hive is 

 over-populous. The bees seem to see 

 that the combs are filled and capped, 

 that bees are daily hatching, and that 

 they will soon be crowded. A colony in 

 such a condition will never perform the 

 wonders in gathering honey that we may 

 expect from one less populous. Such a 

 colony feels instinctively that its abode 

 will soon be too small, and the swarming 

 fever sets in, and we all know that when 

 that is awakened the bees will continue 

 to loaf. At the most, only as much honey 

 will be gathered as is needed for mak- 



