1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



343 



practicing the tieiing-up plan. ( )ne of niy 

 supers, when ready to raise, weighs between 

 75 and 80 lbs., which is more than I care to 

 handle right along. I am, therefore, com- 

 l)elled to remove my crop by the single 

 comb. 



Another item that should be taken into 

 consideration is the additional expense of 

 getting stocked up. It would require quite 

 an amount to furnish the necessary outfit 

 for the season's crop if left on the hives un- 

 til fall, besides the handling and taking 

 care of so much more paraphernalia. 



In brief, I manage my extracting in the 

 following way: As soon as the season is far 

 enough advanced to show signs of incoming 

 honey, all better swarms are supplied with 

 their supers. This generally takes place 

 iluring fruit bloom, about the 'iOth or 25th 

 of jSIay. When the white-clover flow be- 

 gins, or a little before, all the rest that prom- 

 ise fairly well are also supplied to make sure 

 that al' have room for storage. As the flow 

 advances, and the strong and best-working 

 colonies are filling n\), I take from two to 

 four of their heaviest combs and exchange 

 for empty ones from tiie weaker colonies 

 that have not started yet. The bees that 

 adhere to these full combs, I try to shake in 

 front of their hives; but I am not very par- 

 ticular if a few bees are left on the combs. 



Two or three days after the first exchange 

 was made, the inserted combs in those 

 strong colonies are probably full again, and 

 need exchanging a second time. When this 

 is done, all the bees are left on the combs 

 taken from colonies that are overly strong, 

 and exchanged for empty ones of the weak- 

 est swarms. In this way I hit two birds 

 with one stone — I control swarming with 

 one lot and build up another to proper work- 

 ing condition. 



About this time I have no more empty 

 combs in weak colonies to draw from, nor 

 storage for full ones o\er weak colonies. All 

 need their empty combs for their own use, 

 and the extractor has to be called into re- 

 quisition to help out. The combs that were 

 not exchanged, but were left in the strong 

 colonies from the opening of the season, are 

 now more or less capped, and have to be ex- 

 tracted to provide storage where needed. 



With a comb-basket full of empty combs 

 I go to the first hive that needs more room 

 and exchange all the comljs of honey, fit to 

 be extracted, for empty ones. The full ones 

 are taken to the honey-house, and extract- 

 ed, after which they are taken to the next 

 hive that needs more room, and exchanged 

 as before. In that way all crowded supers 

 are relieved of their overplus. 



When the comb-baskets of the extractor 

 begin to drag in the honey, the latter is 

 drawn off and emptied into tai;iks. No 

 strainer is used at any time. It is not nec- 

 essary with my management. 



The next round, two or three days later, 

 brings the whole yard to that state of jier- 

 fection which I consider ideal in every re- 

 spect. Every super has sufficient storage to 

 accommodate the incoming nectar, which 



controls swarming; and every super, with, 

 perhaps, the exception of a very few of the 

 weakest that have not caught up yet, has 

 honey ready for the extractor, and that en- 

 ables me to extract whenever I desire to do 

 so. 



In the honey-house, conditions are as fa- 

 vorable for the progress of my work as they 

 are outdoors. By the time my tanks are 

 full, or nearly full, the first one has clarified 

 itself and is ready to be drawn ofT into re- 

 tail packages. Thus I always have storage 

 for the honey from the extractor, and honey 

 ready to be canned. 



During the rush of the honey-flow I make 

 it a point to extract daily, but only during 

 the middle or warmest part of the day. 

 Mornings and evenings I spend my other- 

 wise leisure hours canning. Cleaning, la- 

 beling, and filling cans keeps me busy. It 

 takes me about three days to make the cir- 

 cuit; and when the flow is at its best I can 

 begin again at one end when I am done at 

 the other. 



In giving the foregoing outline of produc- 

 ing extracted honey, as I practice it, I am 

 well a>vare that the same management 

 would not suit everybody, nor could it be 

 followed by everybody else; but it is the plan 

 that is best adapted to my own conditions. 

 and I can say I have been quite successful 

 in the past. 



La Salle, N. Y. 



THE STARVATION PLAN OF CURING FOUL 

 BROOD. 



The Infection of the Hive; the Quinby-Jones 

 Plan. 



BY G. W. BARGE. 



In the summer of 11>05 I discovered foul 

 brood in my home apiary as well as in the 

 outyards where my bees were out on shares; 

 and when Mr. France came here he advised 

 using the McEvoy treatment, which we did, 

 but it did not prove entirely successful with 

 us, as the disease appeared again in some 

 hives. We accordingly treated it the next 

 spring. We also tried the Alexander meth- 

 od, with no better results, and, after think- 

 ing the matter over, we came to the conclu- 

 sion that the only way in which the disease 

 spreads is through the diseased honey, so 

 we decided to try a method of our own. 

 which is as follows, and with which we have 

 had complete success. 



First, remove the queen; and if she is a 

 good one which you wish to save, put her 

 into a nucleus. After fifteen days look 

 through the hive for queen-cells and destroy 

 all but one to prevent swarming. Wait at 

 least twenty-one days after removing the 

 old queen, as by that time the healthy brood 

 will all be hatched; then take an empty hive, 

 cover the top with wire screen, nail the bot- 

 tom-board on tight, leaving only the en- 

 trance open. Set the hive containing the 

 foul brood a little to one side and put the 



