GLEANINGS IN BEE G U L T U R E 



8t;i'Ti':.MHKK, 1918 



c 



TALKS TO 



By the 



lur 



IT is time to 

 discuss the 

 question o f 

 feeding — a pos- 

 sible! necessity 

 always in the 

 fall. In those 

 localities where' 

 there is little or 

 no fall flow it 



will be best to feed in September, if the 

 stores be low, and brood-rearing has almost 

 entirely stopped. If there is a good fall 

 flow, such as that from goldenrod, aster, 

 heartsease, etc., brood will, perhaps, be 

 found in most of the combs. In this case it 

 would be necessary to delay feeding until 

 a few weeks later, when there is less brood 

 and so more room in the hive. But if stores 

 are to be given, it is always an advantage 

 to feed early, so that the stores may be well 

 sealed. When first placed in the cells, the 

 stores are too thin for good wintering; and 

 so, if there is time before winter, the bees 

 evaporate or ' ' ripen ' ' the stores until of 

 the right consistency, when the stores are 

 sealed. If given poor stores, or fed too late, 

 the stores will be so thin that it will be apt 

 to result in dysentery and death of the colo- 

 ny by spring. 



Amount to Feed. 

 For outdoor wintering, about 2.5 or 30 

 pounds of sealed stores will be plenty in 

 most of the Northern States. In some in- 

 stances no feeding at all will be recpiired, 

 for suflieient honey will have been stored 

 in the brood-nest to meet the requirements 

 of winter, and it is always (and especially 

 during war times) a poor plan to extract 

 from the brood-chamber and then feed 

 syrup. The sugar stores should be given 

 only to those having a shortage of honey. 

 The beekeeper should not plan to feed in 

 the spring, if he can possibly avoid it; but 

 enough should be gr\'en in the fall to last 

 till the next honey flow. Of these stores fed 

 in the fall, the bees consume only a small 

 part at the time of feeding. All the rest 

 is stored in the combs, and saved to tide 

 them over the winter months, when no nec- 

 tar call be gathered. 



Examining For Stores. 

 In estimating the number of pounds that 

 will be needed, some experienced beekeep- 

 ers simply judge by lifting the hive; but, if 

 the beginner wishes to be on the safe side, 

 he should remove each comb from the hive 

 and make his estimate by noting the 

 amount of sealed honey in each frame, and 

 remembering that a full standard-sized 

 comb holds from five to six pounds. The 

 equivalent of five full combs will be suffi- 

 cient; but this amount should be left in 

 seven or eight frames so that the brood- 

 chamber may be contracted to smaller com- 

 pass by removing empty combs, and, later, 

 the extra space at the side packed for win- 

 ter, which point will be mentioned more ful- 

 ly in our next issue. When doing this work, 

 if tlic bees are not giithciiiig liouey, tliev 



BEGINNERS 



Editor 



3 



u 



will be inclined 

 to rob; and, 

 therefore, before 

 starting this 

 work all en- 

 trances should 

 b e contracted, 

 and it may also 

 e V e n be found 

 advisable t o 

 work in a tent sucli as that described in our 

 August issue. Just as last month, anj' colo- 

 nies found weak or queenless should be at- 

 tended to immediately, the weak being unit- 

 ed with other colonies, and the queenless 

 being either united with weak ones or given 

 a queen. 



In order to leave the bees in good con- 

 dition for winter no excessive amount of 

 beebread should be left in the hive, as this 

 may cause dysentery. Combs having a large 

 amount of beebread should be lifted 

 out, and used the next spring if needed. 

 Also a few old dark combs should be left 

 at the center of the hive for the bees to 

 cluster on. The cells of these old combs 

 are lined with so many layers of cocoons 

 that they are much warmer than those of 

 newer whiter combs. 



After having marked on each hive the 

 amount to be fed, the whole apiary may be 

 checked up to find the amount of syrup re- 

 quired and the number of feeds necessary. 

 If ten-pound friction-top pails are used as 

 feeders, probably all the needed stores may 

 be given in one or two feeds. 

 Feeding Honey. 

 Just now, while there is such a shortage 

 of sugar, any deep supers of honey saved 

 over from extracting time will be found 

 very handy for winter stores, if one is cer- 

 tain that such honey does not come from 

 diseased colonies. Those combs with no 

 stores or brood should be replaced with 

 these combs of honey. But if there is not 

 enough of such honey, sugar stores must be 

 resorted to if sugar can be obtained. 

 How to Get Sugar. 

 To obtain sugar, the beekeeper should 

 apply to his local food administration for a 

 blank which should be filled out stating his 

 needs, number of colonies and surplus ob- 

 tained. This should be sent to his State 

 capital, to the Federal Food Administration, 

 Sugar Division, which will grant him a per- 

 mit to buy of his grocer or wholesaler. There 

 will likely be no trouble in obtaining the 

 permit, but to get the sugar may not be 

 quite so easy; for, obviously, the grocer or 

 wholesaler can not sell what he does not 

 possess. The present condition is causing 

 considerable woriy among beekeepers who 

 so far have been unable to get either hon- 

 ey or sugar enough to feed their bees. To 

 such our best advice is to move the bees to 

 some swamp or other location where there 

 is a good fall flow. Of course this honey 

 is not as good for wintering, but it will do 

 very well as a part of the stores. After 

 til is fall flow, the remaining eight or ten 



