1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



889 



First, the hive must be large enough to hold 

 sufficient stores and accommodate the colony. 

 To illustrate: Here we have no honey to speak 

 of from July or August till June. Sometimes 

 September will give a living, and sometimes 

 not. At times in April and May a little is 

 gathered and at once used, but never added to 

 store. The bees will fly more or ess every 

 month, and much in fall and spring, and breed- 

 ing must start early to keep up the colony, or 

 they perish in early spring from lack of num- 

 bers. In March, April, and May, and usually 

 the first half of June, brooding goes on as rapid- 

 ly as the strength of the colony will permit, pro- 

 vided the old stores are abundant, consuming 

 much honey. I count on about 40 lbs. average 

 as necessary, so that, as a rule, an eight-frame 

 hive is not large enough unless solid full of 

 honey — no empty combs on which to cluster. 

 So we must use a ten-frame hive, or carry a 

 stock of feed for use in the spring. 



The flow here opens about June 15th to 25th. 

 In five years with from 1.50 to 300 colonies I 

 have found that I can not get an average of 

 more than about six to seven combs of brood by 

 June 15tb; though with care to have all queens 

 good we no doubt might average seven or 

 better. Some colonies with feeble, poorly bred, 

 crippled, or aged queens will get but three to 

 five combs of brood, while the best queens will 

 get seven to nine combs full. Shortness of 

 stores, or scarcity of bees to care for brood, will 

 also cause the colony to fall short in amount of 

 brood. So, with good wintering and plenty of 

 stores, we can count on having six to seven 

 combs of brood June 15th; and as a few queens 

 will do 'e?ttra, filling eight to ten combs, the 

 eight-frame would hot be iar'^e enough unless 

 we took fJ-om the Strong and gave to the weaker. 



I have no doubt that where 20 to 30 lbs. of old 

 stores is sufficient for winter and spring, and 

 where the brood is equalized by the apiarist, 

 that the eight-frame hive will do very well. 

 Nor do I doubt that the smaller hive wil in- 

 crease the disposition to swarm in general. If 

 there has been a complete dearth of honey 

 from the fields, and if the stores are well con- 

 sumed and the colouies strong, the large hive 

 will be first to swarm because it has the most 

 old honey; but if all have p?e?itiy o/ sto7'c.s, the 

 small hive will cast swarms first. 



1 contend that the large hive, with its abun- 

 dance of honey, will bring the largest colony. 

 One condition, however, will make the small 

 hive equal to the large in the quantity of bees 

 reared ; and that is, a constant supply of nectar 

 coming in, sufficient to keep up the needs of 

 the colony. Talk as we will about size of 

 hives, and feeding, oue thing is certain— if we 

 get the best results in breeding we must not 

 stint the colony in stores; and the locality that 

 will not furnish it from the fields must fall back 

 on old stores or the sugar-barrel. 



Now, according to the foregoing it appears 

 that in poor to fair seasons for brood-rearing, 

 the eight-frame hive will accommodate all 

 brood and necessary stores when a living 

 can be had from the fields from four to six 

 months of the year. In fair to good seasons 

 for brooding, the apiarist may need to equalize 

 brood to give the best queens room, and some 

 colonies may breed so much that a shortage of 

 nectar may put the colony in a starving con- 

 dition, which, if it occurs any time within six 

 or eight weeks of the opening of the flow, ruins 

 that colony for that flow. The hive that is big 

 enough one season may not be the next. 



The rapidity and duration of the flow alsa 

 has a bearing on the question. Whether the 

 hive be large or small, if it be full of bees we 

 expect good work. Should the flow be slow 

 and " long drawn out," i. e., thirty to sixty days, 

 a contracted hive wU) force the bees to the sec- 

 tions sooner (this does not apply to those run 

 for extracted unless they have their combs to 

 build), and will result in more section honey, 

 while the brood-chamber will be filled with 

 brood to the exclusion of winter stores; and, in 

 case of extracting with full sets of combs, will 

 leave the colony with nothing but brood and 

 bees. If the flow comes with a rush, there will 

 be but little difference in the quickness with 

 which they enter the sections, and little differ- 

 ence in the total yield. The difference will be 

 mainly in the amount of the extra combs in the 

 brood ■ chambers, provided, however, these combs 

 ivere empty when the flow came; and if they 

 were empty, there must have been more honey 

 converted into bees in the large hive, conse- 

 quently more honey gathered. 



Here, the difficulty is not in the hive being 

 large enough in which to rear a strong colony 

 of bees, for I can not get an average of over six 

 to seven combs of brood by the harvest time, 

 but the constant danger of short rations at the 

 most critical time. The small hive will hold 

 the brood, and the bees fan pile on the outside. 

 If eight frames of stores and the incoming nec- 

 tar will surely keep the colony from even feel- 

 ing the need of economizing, it is large enough 

 to give good results; but if it will not do this it 

 is too small. 



IMPORTANCE OF STRONG COLONIES UNDER ALL 



CIRCUMSTANCES. 



Some write as though a colony could get too 

 strong. How it is possible to get one too strong 

 without doubling, I can not understand. I 

 know that, in poor seasons, only strong colo- 

 nies will do well, eyen in getting winter stores. 

 In a/ttir season the strong colony will outstrip 

 the average colony; and in a good season the 

 strong colony must certainly do the best, for 

 surely two pounds of bees can and will gather 

 more honey than one pound. have never 

 been able to believe that apiarists are able to 

 get colonies so strong that they refuse to work. 



