August, 191T- 



[American Hee Journal 



evaporate so rapidly, and the bees 

 gather from here nearly all day. 



The heavy roar of the bees in early 

 morning, gathering nectar from this 

 source, gives the bee-keeper a revival 

 in his pursuit that he does not get over 

 from season to season. 



Along large streams in the great cot- 

 ton-belt bees gather but little cotton 

 honey, because the snowvine and other 

 similar vines, which grovi in great 

 abundance along such streams, begin 

 yielding before the cotton does, and 

 continue throughout the summer. 

 The yield from such sources is very 

 slow, and does not amount to much in 

 surplus, but the bees get started on it, 

 and they don't quit, and the flow from 

 cotton comes on and passes off, and is 

 hardly noticed by the bees. 



I have some apiaries located in just 

 such sections, with thousands of acres 

 of cotton surrounding them, but it is 

 ignored by the bees, and I don't know 

 why they pass over the large cotton- 

 fields with nectar in such great abun- 

 dance, and fool away their time along 

 the rivers and creeks on the minor 

 honey-plants, unless it is because the 

 nectar from cotton contains so much 

 more water, and therefore is harder to 

 evaporate. Cotton honey is nearly as 

 clear as water in appearance, but when 

 well ripened it is a fine table article of 

 honey. 



Too Much Drone-Comb 



I use sectional brood-chambers and my 

 bees build too much drone-comb in the shal- 

 low frames with starters, and the swarms 

 break down full sheets. How can I over- 

 come this ? A Beginner. 



Ans. — Wire the frames as per in- 

 structions in your bee-book, or use 

 ready-built comb ; or you can use a 

 heavy grade of comb foundation and 

 have the top-bars made thicker, and 

 fastened in by the groove-and-wedge 



plan. 



■ *-•-* 



A Colony Getting Weaker— Why? 



Mr. Wn.DEK: — I am deeply interested in 

 bee-culture, but I have not studied it long, 

 and I write for a little information. 



I have one colony that I think is queenless. 

 and the way I judge is, that they don't work, 

 and for the last 2 or 3 weeks they seem to 

 grow weaker and weaker. Until this time 

 they have been an industrious colony of 

 Caucasian bees. W. T. Gaskins. 



Ray's Mill. Ga. 



Mr. Gaskins, no doubt this colony of 

 bees needs your immediate attention, 

 but it may be too late to lend them a 

 helping hand now, for the bee-moth 

 may have almost completely destroyed 

 their comb. Butlet's see what is really 

 the trouble, and apply a remedy. 



Let me say, first, that when it comes 

 to the management or the practical 

 side of bee-keeping, outward appear- 

 ance is wholly unreliable and can't be 

 depended upon. We just can't tell 

 when they are doing well or otherwise 

 just by the few bees that we may see 

 flying in and out at the entrances of 

 the hives, but we can tell by examining 

 the comb. 



We do not invest our hard-earned 

 dollars in modern bee-hives just for 

 tidy homes for the bees, or for a better 

 appearance than our old-style box-hives 

 and log-gums presented. While they 

 do appear neat, this is not their great 

 feature, for the greatest is that they ad- 



mit of the bees building their comb 

 straight in movable frames, which can 

 easily be lifted out of the hives and ex- 

 amined at our will ; and this has to be 

 done if we keep bees successfully or 

 profitably. 



While you are not accustomed to 

 handling bees on their comb, you can 

 examine the doubtful colony about 

 this way: 



Smoke them just a little at the en- 

 trance, and remove the cover, and the 

 super, too, if it should have one on it, 

 and as you remove it send under it 

 some smoke ; then send a little down 

 between the frames of comb and pry 

 the one loose that appears to be most 

 easily moved, with a screw-driver or 

 some otiier similar tool. Lift the frame 

 out and examine it carefully, and set it 

 on its end, and lean it up beside the 

 hive. Take out and examine another 

 frame, and set it back in the hive, and 

 so on until all have been examined. If 

 there is considerable brood (young 

 bees in all stages of development in 

 the cells) scattered around in almost 

 all the comb, it may have swarmed, 

 which may account for the shortage of 

 bees, and now they have a young queen. 

 Place all the frames back in the hive as 

 nearly as they were as possible. 



If you should not find any brood it 

 may be queenless, and you should give 

 it a frame containing some tiny bee- 

 larvse from which they will make a 

 selection and develop for themselves 

 another queen. 



If the colonies should have dwindled 

 down to only a double handful of bees, 

 better set the hive on top of some 

 other colony, so the bees can use the 

 frames to store honey in, or keep them 

 rid of the moth and save them for 

 future use. 



If there is a gallon or more of bees 

 in the hive, it can be built up by adding 

 a frame of sealed brood to it every 

 few days, but while exchanging combs 

 be sure not to exchange any old bees. 

 Should you find but little or no honey 

 in the hive, you should give them a 

 frame of honey from some colony 

 which may have it to spare. Bees very 

 often run short of stores and dwindle 

 down, as you describe. 



If you should find that the moth were 

 webbing up the comb, you should pull 

 them and their web out, and if the 

 combs are damaged too much, render 

 them into wax at once, but if you can 

 save even a few of the combs, do so by 

 setting them on a strong colony. 



Should you decide to save the col- 

 ony and build it up, you should not 

 give it more comb than it can well 

 cover, or it may get mothy again. 



Keeping More Bees 



With all thinfs considered, I have no room 

 for complaint of my bee-business, and I will 

 have to " keep more bees " or turn down or- 

 ders for honey. Would you advise me to 

 keep more bees ?" Enthusiast. 



Ans. — "More bees" is one of the 

 greatest questions that now confronts 

 Dixie bee-keepers, and a very serious 

 one to answer. If I say "Go ahead" 

 to every one that asks me for this ad- 

 vice, some will most surely fail, and I 

 am blamed; while others will succeed 

 and I am praised. 



There are a lot of professional peo- 

 ple who are to some extent bee-keep- 



ers, and the question of "more bees"' 

 often comes from them. To such a 

 class I always say, "Go slow;" because 

 they are less apt to take hold and do 

 the necessary work in establishing a 

 large bee-business, and about all they 

 would do would be to furnish the capi- 

 tal and hire the work done, and this is- 

 yet to be proven profitable in the bee- 

 business. But to the inquirers as 

 above, who have been successful, sur- 

 rounded by unlimited territory and a 

 ready demand for the product, and 

 ready to shoulder the burden of work, 

 I say, "Keep more bees." 



Cure for Bee-Loafing 



My bees all seem to be loafing, for they 

 have covered the front of their hives, and it 

 looks like a swarm hanging out at the bot- 

 tom. Give me a cure for bee-loafing. 



A Reader. 



Ans. — Elevate the hives from the 

 bottoms by means of two strips about 

 ?4X:'4, cut the length of the hives, and 

 placed under the sides. Then if they 

 don't go to work there is nothing ir» 

 the field for them to do, which is not 

 often the case here in the South. 



Bee-Keepers, Get Right 



Bee-keeping in Ui.xie is burdened 

 with Doubting Thomases, and bee-keep- 

 ers that are " on the fence." and don't 

 know which side to get off on — better 

 bee-keeping and " more bees," or just 

 continue to keep a few bees in any 

 kind of a way, as usual. 



If interested bee-keepers knew that 

 they could go ahead and establish a 

 large bee-business, and tliereby make 

 money, they would jump at the propo- 

 sition. But they are standing around 

 looking on with doubtful eyes. Can 

 you give a solution to this critical 

 problem that confronts so many inter- 

 ested ? 



Then there are some bee-keepers- 

 who hold some amount of prejudice or 

 ill-will, or in some way are distant to- 

 wards some member of their craft. 

 Brother bee-keepers, this ought not so- 

 to be. Let's get right, and have the 

 good, warm feeling for each otiier that 

 we should Iiave, and stand ready with 

 helping hands to assist a brother ia 

 any way opportunity may afford. 



"Bee-Keepiug by 30th Century 

 Methods ; or J. E. Hand's Method of 

 Controlling Swarms," is the title of a 

 new booklet just issued from the press 

 of Gleanings in Bee Culture. While it 

 is written particularly to describe Mr. 

 Hand's methods of controlling swarms- 

 by means of his new patented bottom- 

 board, the booklet contains a great 

 deal of other valuable matter, among 

 which is the following: The hive to 

 adopt; re-queening; American foul 

 brood; wintering bees; out-apiaries; 

 feeding and feeders; section honey; 

 pure comb honey; conveniences in the 

 apiary; producing a fancy article o£ 

 extracted honey; swarm prevention by 

 re-queening; increasing colonies, etc. 

 The price of this booklet is 50 cents 

 postpaid, but we club it with the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal for a year— both for 

 $1.30. Address all orders to the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, 117 North Jefferson 

 St., Chicago, 111. 



