34C 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



June, 1918 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



ing of brood. For the first super I selected 

 nice partly drawn-out sections (bait sec- 

 tions) of the previous fall. Of four queens 

 received the year before from the Univer- 

 sity queen-breeder, Mr. Aeppler, one was 

 especially good. In the first suj^er for this 

 colony I placed large foundation starters, 

 but not drawn out. This colony fell short in 

 the quantity production, and also had many 

 poorly finished sections in the third and 

 fourth supers; and, perhaps, room was given 

 a little too freely, as I desired all the honey 

 I could get. 



My prize-winning colony had a young 

 queen of the preceding fall; and by May 

 the hive was full of working bees. They 

 swarmed early, and I cut out the cells and 

 returned the colony to the same hive, en- 

 larging the entrance by raising the hive- 

 body from the bottom-board, and, as fast 

 as needed, giving more section supers of full 

 sheets of foundation. On Sept. 3 the colony 

 had 97 jjounds in 96 sections. All were 

 well filled, fancy and No. 1 section, and the 

 exhibit at the Stat© Fair made a fine show- 

 ing, as I think all who saw it will testify. 



Another colony was selected for the best 

 extracted production. My best single-colony 

 production was 157 pounds net. This, at 15 

 cents a pound, brought $23.55. The comb 

 honey sold at 21 cents in case lots. Nine- 

 ty-seven pounds at 21 cents brought $'^0.37. 

 At present it is difficult to know honey 

 prices. It is, apparently, anything for which 

 you choose to hold up your neighbors. At 

 times "frenzied finance" is a sordid af- 

 fair. The figures show a balance of $3.18 in 

 favor of the extracted-honey colony. Such 

 a statement and such ,a showing, I think, 

 would in general have been true for last 

 year. Of course I am aware that higher 

 prices on extracted honey are now quoted; 

 also that my figures for extracted-honey pro- 

 duction are not as high as those of the 

 winner in the contest. Therefore from the 

 above considerations, together with the fact 

 thgrt comb-honey production requires con-' 

 stMht care and watchfulness, it would seem 

 that comb-honey production is doomed. The 

 above would also prove the wisdom of the 

 United States Government when it advises 

 beekeepers to produce extracted honev. 



Woodford, Wis. H. H. Moe. 



MOVING TO PASTURES NEW 



How to Take Advantage of a Poor Season with a 

 Light Truck 



I lost a crop of honey last year thru lack 

 of foresight, in-siglit or hind-sight — one 

 may take one's choice after knowing the 

 circumstances. In 1916 we had a big clover 

 flow; the pastures were white witli cIovim- 

 nearly all the growing season. Tlmt t';ill 

 everything looked as if tlie clover must re- 



peat in 1917. The action of that repeater 

 must have got jammed, as it most flatly re- 

 fused to repeat in 1917. 



Nothing happened to suit a beeman. We 

 had a cold and, I believe, the dryest winter 

 in our history. The clover winterkilled. 

 There was no snow to protect it and it failed 

 to show up in the spring. I kept looking 

 for it, feeling sure it would come but that it 

 was late for some reason. My experience 

 had not at that time included winterkilled 

 white clover. After I was convinced the 

 winter had killed it, I expected it to come 

 from seed later in the summer. The summer 

 was very dry until late in August and, if it 

 did come, it came when I was not looking. 



Then I pinned my hopes on sweet clover, 

 and the sweet clover made good all right. 

 Rut it came after a starvation period for the 

 bees and it required all the flow to build 

 the bees up to a storing point. Then after 

 the August rains we had a light heart 's-ease 

 flow which made just a little surplus in the 

 stronger colonies and put all in good shape 

 for winter. Now here is where I was shy 

 of some of the above "sights." 



If I could have convinced myself that 

 there would have been no white clover, I 

 might have fed the bees for the sweet- 

 clover flow which I was sure was coming. 

 I am sure now that if I had fed a few sacks 

 of sugar at the right time, I could have had 

 those bees ready and have gotten at least a 

 fair crop of sweet-clover and heart^'s-ease 

 honey. I can 't see now why I couldH 't see 

 it then, but the remorseful fact remains that 

 I didn't. 



Then just a few miles north and a few 

 miles south, there was clover in plenty in 

 places where it was protected, on creek bot- 

 toms and in low-land pastures. Now I wish 

 some one would tell me why I did not think 

 to move my bees to some of those places. 

 I '"was just too bullheaded to give up the 

 white clover in my own particular locality 

 ^till it was too late, and I missed a migfity. 

 MgRj^iced honey crop. 



I believe last year's experience will not 

 be without its value to me. The conditions 

 remain the same in my own .home bee pas- 

 ture. N6V enough white clover showed up 

 last fall to create a bit of enthusiasm in a 

 beeman. But in the places south and north 

 of me on the creeks there was plenty. I 

 took several trips to find it, and I kno\Y 

 where it is and a good many places where- 

 it has been before and isn't now. ~ 35^ 



I have changed my mind about how I ^V^r 

 keep bees. I will put the whole apiary-'4n 

 the country next spring in yards of 40 and 

 50. 



For moving and bringing hom? crops I 

 may get, I bought a new Ford truck and 

 went in debt for it too. If there is a place 

 in the country where there is a chance for 

 a iioney How, I intend to have bees there 



