.Skctkmhku, 1!MS (J I, K A N [ N (J S IN 15 K K <! II li'P U K !•; 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



to have sufficient stores below to winter on 

 and come out in the spring strong and ready 

 for the honey flow. Now, to obviate this 

 trouble, I liave for several years practiced 

 using excluders and prefer to use them after 

 the nuiin honey How is over and the prob- 

 ability of swarming is past. Then the colo- 

 ny will till the lower story full and leave 

 the bees in much the same condition for 

 winter as when run for comb honey. 



If the supers contain honey suiiicient for 

 extracting, take off part of it, leaving two 

 or three full frames in each super. As the 

 cool weather gradually comes on, take off 

 the supers and at the same time carefully 

 examine each colony to be sure that it has 

 plenty of honey below and a good queen. 

 Perhaps you will find a few where an ex- 

 change of a heavy frame of honey for a 

 light one will be beneficial. Leave combs 

 with pollen next to the combs containing 

 brood. Perhaps in six or eight supers you 

 will find enough combs with honey in them 

 to fill one super. Place this on a strong 

 colony over an excluder. As some colonies 

 will consume more than others, the combs 

 of honey will come in handy to help out 

 during the winter and early spring months. 



The dry combs that have been taken off 

 should be thoroly cleaned by scraping all 

 top, end, and bottom bars. Most of the 

 moth eggs are laid on the top and bot- 

 tom bars. Those combs containing any 

 pollen should be looked after very care- 

 fully as they are a paradise for wax worms. 

 Combs well cleaned, placed seven in a 10- 

 frame super and stacked in a dry, ojjen 

 shed, where there is plenty of light and 

 where no mice can get at them, usually 

 come thru the winter in good condition. 



Begin this month to prepare for winter 

 by requeening all colonies that have old 

 queens or have not given satisfactory yields 

 of honey. It is not always the most popu- 

 lous colonies that store the most honey. 

 Some of the largest ones seem to consume 

 a good part of the honey they gather. Oth- 

 ers that do not appear to be so strong are 

 better honey gatherers and always give 

 good results in surplus. 



Be sure that all covers are rainproof. If 

 you use cloths under the covers, it will be 

 well to place a weight of some kind on each, 

 sufficient to keep them from blowing off. 

 Most parts of this country have occasional 

 liigh winds during the fall and winter 

 months. 



See that all hives slope to the front from 

 one to two and one-half inches. All bits of 

 wax, etc., will then be carried out instead 

 of accumulating in the back of the hive; 

 the rainwater will also run away rather 

 than into the hive. 



It is well to place the hives on some kind 

 of a stand to keep them off the ground 

 durint;- the winter. Anvtliing one inch or 



more in thickness will do. I have tried to 

 observe if there is any difference between 

 those colonies wintered with the hives sit- 

 ting directly on the ground and those on 

 one-inch stands; but have seen none. How- 

 ever, it is a great saving of hive bottoms 

 when some kind of stand is used. Many 

 times squirrels and gophers will throw earth 

 against the hives, and, if these remain 

 damp, the wood will decay and the combs 

 may mould. A free circulation of air under 

 the hive seems to soon dry this eartii ami 

 prevents bad results. 



Wintering in southern (Jalifornia may be 

 in many ways preparing for the next year 's 

 honey crop. Very little, if any, brood is 

 in the hive during a period of about a 

 month in November and December. By 

 January, in many localities, colonies will 

 begin to build up and will soon have from 

 one to four frames of brood. It is not long 

 until they may be quite populous. Some 

 winters — like our last one — bees will gather 

 considerable nectar almost every month. If 

 the colonies have become strong early in 

 the season, that is when our wintering prob- 

 lem may cost us the lives of these same colo- 

 nies. Should a long cold spell come on, be- 

 ing sure that the bees have plenty of food 

 is the necessary item to save them. This is 

 the time a 10-pound frame of honey is 

 worth — well, what is the life of a good colo- 

 ny of bees worth next season? 

 * * * 



The honey market remains active and 

 buyers are taking all offerings at from 20 to 

 22 cents a pound for extract. From $5 

 to $6 per case is being asked for what little 

 comb honey has been produced. While the 

 crop has been less than .50 per cent of nor- 

 mal in many cases, yet about 100 tons of 

 extract honey have been shipped from Cor- 

 ona this season. This conies from a source 

 tliat would be entirely lost were it not for 

 the little busy bee and will do considerable 

 to help feed the boys "over there" and 

 help to swat the Kaisei-. 



•X- Is * 



Very few apiaries are being offered for 

 sale and most beekeepers feel that, in their 

 bees, they have one of the best investments 

 they can make. L. L. Andrews. 



Corona, Calif. 



In Minnesota — ""«: 



ci'op 



is the honey 

 ' ' What is hon- 



ey selling for?" These and similar ques- 

 tions are being asked here daily by beekeep- 

 ers and by others as well. The interest 

 shown by the general i)ublic in the honey 

 industry is no doubt due in large measure 

 to the prominence given to honey as an im- 

 jiortant article of food by the U. S. Food 

 Administration. To ])ut an estimate on the 

 Minnesota honey cioj) for this year is not 



