May, 1908. 



American ^Bee^Joornal 



swarm hived on starlc-is only in one sec- 

 tion of a Heddon hive, without the sec- 

 tions being phiggcd full of pollen. I 

 found that there must he honey as well 

 as combs in the sections, or else I must 

 wait about putting on the super until 

 some combs were built and a brood-nest 

 established. This was the case when 

 hiving swarms in one section of a Hed- 

 don hive, but very seldom happened 

 when using the Langstroth hive. 



■'With an established brood-nest in 

 two sections of a Heddon hive, I don't 

 know as I was ever troubled with pollen 

 in the sections, but it often happened 

 when using only one section in this man- 

 ner." 



New Zealand Honey in Europe 



The New Zealand government pro- 

 poses to make a representative display of 

 the Dominion's honey at the forthcom- 

 ing Franco-British Exhibition to be held 

 in London. The Department of Agri- 

 culture has collected a large number of 

 samples in suitable jars, and these will 

 be displayed on a stand in the New Zea- 

 land Court. 



Confinement of Heat in Brood- Nest 



O. S. Rexford says this in the Ameri- 

 can Bee-Keepcr : 



"Some things have been said in sev- 

 eral bee-papers giving the impression 

 that the winter cluster of bees retains 

 all or nearly all the animal heat and 

 does not warm the space around the 

 cluster to any extent, even within the 

 hive." 



He then gives details of an experi- 

 ment. A colony had over it a double 

 glass cover with a 5<^-inch space between 

 the 2 glasses, and over thiS' was placed 

 a thermometer. This thermometer stood 

 at 3cS degrees above zero Jan. 31, when 

 the temperature outside the hive was 12 

 below. Another thermometer over the 

 brood-frames and under the glass, at the 

 farthest side from brood-nest, showed 

 34 above. Still another thermometer, in 

 the outside packing, showed 26 degrees. 

 He concludes thus : 



"I had supposed it was an accepted 

 fact that a cluster of live bees gave oflf 

 more or less heat at all tiines, and that 

 a hive with a small entrance could be so 

 protected that the temperature could be 

 raised by the bees in the whole hive just 

 as surely (but not of course to the same 

 extent) as the temperature in a room 

 can be raised by a fire in a stove. 



"And I must say that the test I have 

 made confirms me in this belief." 



Giving Swarms to Weak Colonies 



Wm. W. Case, in Gleanings, gives a 

 plan of dealing with swarms and weak 

 colonies. In an apiary of 100 colonies, 

 say there are 25 very strong, and 25 

 weak. When the first strong colony 

 swarms, go to the strongest vf the weak 

 colonies, remove the queen and cage her. 



"Now hive the swarm right into this 

 weak colony and give plenty of room 

 for surplus. As all the bees are well 

 filled with honey there will rarely be any 

 dispute. This poor w'orthless colony has 

 now become, like magic, one of the very 

 best in the apiary, and possesses every 

 requirement for yielding a large surplus, 



viz., a medium amount of brood, a large 

 force of field bees stimulated by having 

 swarmed, a good force of nurse bees al- 

 ready in the hive and a first-class queen. 

 Such a colony will rarely swarm again 

 during the season, as, by the time they 

 are again gorged with brood, the honey- 

 flow will generally be so far advanced as 

 to discourage further swarming. 



"Now to return to the hive from 

 which the swarm issued. Next day about 

 noon, when the new field bees are out 

 foraging, smoke the bees; and, if you 

 have time, remove all queen-cells and 

 turn the queen taken from the weak col- 

 ony loose on the combs. She will be 

 accepted ninety-nine times out of a hun- 

 dred, and no questions asked. If rushed 

 for time, just turn her loose on the 

 combs anyhow, and she will take care of 

 the queen-cells herself." 



As each strong colony swarms in turn, 

 repeat the process, each time giving the 

 swarm to the strongest of the remaining 

 weak colonies. 



Birds and Bees in the South 



"Why it is tliat bees are so slow to 

 build up and to keep up to a honey-gath- 

 ering point in early spring, in most loca- 

 cations in the South, is a mystery to 

 many bee-keepers." says J. J. Wilder in 

 the American Bee-keeper. He thinks the 

 birds are the culprits, drawing on the 

 bees to fill out their menu when other 

 insects have not yet become sufficient for 

 the purpose. Powder and shot he has 

 found the only effective remedy. 



Protecting Hives with Paper 



Some think well of tarred paper, which 

 is dark, for covering hives in spring, 

 but in some cases, it does not work well. 

 E. D. Townsend in Gleanings, reports 

 that in the spring of 1906, S. D. Chap- 

 man wrapped every other hive in his 

 home apiary of 200 colonies, after they 

 were taken from the cellar, with tarred 

 paper. 



"The ones that were covered with the 

 tarred paper absorbed the heat from the 

 Sun to such an extent the bees were 

 lured from the Iiives on days that were 

 too cold for them to fly. This meant 

 that the colonies in the papered hives at 

 the beginning of tlie honey-flow in June 

 were not nearly so far advanced as those 

 iri hives that were not protected. In 

 view of this, Mr. Chapman has decided 

 that no extra protection is needed if the 

 yard is well sheltered from the winds, 

 and if the hive-covers can be well sealed 

 the previous fall." 



In his own practice, Mr. Townsend 

 uses white felt building-paper, which is 

 so cheap that he can throw it away after 

 using it once. 



"White paper does not cause the hive 

 to become so excessively hot when the 

 sun shines as the lilack paper does ; and 

 if it has been well folded down and 

 fastened at the bottom of the hive the 

 bees are kept as warm as is necessary. 

 Colonies so protected went through the 

 severe freeze of May 10, 1906, witliout 

 the loss of a particle of brood, while 

 many colonies in hives not papered lost 

 heavily, and some of these were so 

 greatly reduced that they were able to 

 gather no surplus honey that season. 

 Generally speaking, night is the time 



when the extra protection is needed, for 

 the air during the day is warm enough. 

 Since white paper at night is just as 

 good in all respects as the black, it is 

 obvious that it is the better material to 

 use, since it does not absorb the heat of 

 the sun during the day and make the 

 hive too hot." 



Prevention of Bees' Drifting 



When bees are taken from the cellar 

 in the spring, there is often a tendency 

 toward drifting, many bees from other 

 colonies joining one or more particular 

 colonies that fly in force. It seems to be 

 pretty generally agreed that this may be 

 prevented by making the entrances of all 

 hives quite small as soon as they are set 

 on their stands. 



Requeening Colonies Annually 



There is no small difference of opin- 

 ion as to whether it is best to leave the 

 renewal of queens entirely to the bees, 

 or for the bee-keeper to take it in hand. 

 Also, among those who think the bee- 

 keeper should take it in hand, there is a 

 dift'erence of opinion as to whether a 

 queen should be replaced when a year 

 old, or when 2 years old. 



It is a somewhat serious matter either 

 to buy or to rear queens and introduce 

 them every 2 years, and the matter is 

 still more serious if it is to be an annual 

 affair. But S. D. Chapman gives in the 

 Bee-keepers' Review a plan so simple 

 and easy that the objection advanced 

 does not stand in the way. He says : 



How We Requeen. 



We will take 100 colonies as a basis. 

 About one week before the close of the 

 raspberry fiow, one of my helpers and 

 myself will go to this yard, and take 

 away all of the queens except about 5. 

 These are my breeding queens, and are 

 used the following year to rear drones 

 for next season's use ; and, by the way, 

 the following spring, the first time I look 

 over my colonies, I put into these 5 

 colonies enough drone-comb to make one 

 frame of drone-comb to each colony, 

 and I expect to rear all the drones from 

 these 5 colonies that I need for my 

 100 queens ; and, with my management 

 no other colonies rear any. It takes us 2, 

 some 5 or 6 hours to find the queens. 



Now, take notice : The queens are 

 taken away during the honey-flow, and 

 just at the time when the colonies are 

 as heavy as it is possible to have them ; 

 and my colonies have from 16 to 24 

 frames, if they can use them, for a 

 brood-nest; and right here I wish to 

 say that no better queens can be pro- 

 duced by any conditions or methods 

 known to .the bee-keepers of today. 



Weeding Out Poor Stock. 



About ID or II days after taking away 

 the queens is the time we take to weed 

 out any inferior colonies ; and I have 

 very little of this to do nowadays. This 

 is done by first going to these inferior 

 colonies, and shaking the bees from all 

 the combs, and destroying all the queen- 

 cells. I then go to one of my best colo- 

 nies, and take one frame that has queen- 

 cells and give it to this poor colony ; 

 and the change is complete. 



This day is the day on which to make 



