16 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan 1 



" Well, I am not so sure about there being 

 no kings in this country ; for we often read 

 about the ' money kings ' of Wall Street. But 

 we will drop that matter, and I will ask if you 

 have your surplus arrangements all ready for 

 next year." 



" No. I have nothing but the bees ready. 

 What would you do with the surplus arrange- 

 ments ? " 



" My first work in preparing for the next 

 season has always been to get around the su- 

 pers to the hives which have been in use the 

 past season, and scrape off all the propolis ad- 

 hering to the separators, or any bits of comb 

 that may be adhering to any part of the supers, 

 so that the sections may fit in these supers 

 just as well as they did when they were new. 

 If you allow propolis to accumulate on all parts 

 of the surplus arrangements for years, you 

 will soon find that this will make a certain 

 number of sections of the same size occupy 

 more space than at first, this causing fuller, 

 or, more properly speaking, heavier, sections 

 of honey than formerly ; besides, your keys, 

 springs, or wedges, will not work well in tight- 

 ening the sections together." 



"I think that would be a good idea; but 

 how is it best done ? " 



" My way is to take a cold day for this, 

 working in a cold room, because at such times 

 the propolis is very brittle, and will easily fly 

 off ; while in warmer weather it is more plia- 

 ble, and will stick tenaciously to what it ad- 

 heres to. Lay the separators down on some 

 flat surface, and with a chisel, or other iron 

 having sharp corners, go over the surface of 

 the separators, allowing the chisel to lie flat 

 on the separator, when, with a swift motion 

 over the separator, the propolis is easily knock- 

 ed off." 



" I think I understand this part. What next 

 about getting the supers ready ? " 



"All sections which are partly filled with 

 honey should have the honey extracted from 

 them (unless you think you will need it to 

 feed in the spring), as very likely the honey 

 now in them will not correspond as to color 

 and flavor with that gathered next season to 

 finish out the sections." 



" But will it not spoil the combs to try to 

 extract this honey during cold weather? " 



" Yes, if you try to extract while cold ; but 

 it can be done nicely by fixing a shelf close to 

 the ceiling of your room. Put the honey 

 thereon and keep the room so warm that the 

 mercury will stand at 90 to 100 degrees for 

 three or four hours before you commence ex- 

 tracting. By placing the honey near the ceil- 

 ing it does not require nearly as much fire to 

 heat it as it would if placed on the floor or a 

 bench." 



" What is to be done with the sections after 

 the honey is extracted from the combs? " 



" They are to be used for ' baits ' as they are 

 called, to entice the bees to enter the supers 

 very much sooner than they would were no 

 comb given in the super." 



" How are they arranged ? " 



" They are placed in the center of the super 

 generally — one, two, four, or eight being used 

 in each super, just in accord with the number 



of partly filled sections you have in proportion 

 to your colonies. Where a person has two, 

 four, or eight to the colony it is best to so ar- 

 range these baits that one section having only 

 foundation in it can come between each two 

 baits. This causes the bees to commence 

 work in the sections between as soon as they 

 do on the baits, and leads them to commence 

 soon on all of the sections in the super." 



"What next?" 



" The next work is to make up all the sec- 

 tions you think you will need during the sea- 

 son, furnishing each with a starter of comb 

 foundation, or filling them entirely, as you 

 can afford or think best. Then fill out each 

 super having baits in it with these ; and those 

 having no baits in them, entirely." 



" Do you use any supers without baits? " 



" Yes. I put baits only in the first super 

 that goes on any colony. When the bees are 

 well at work in this first super it is generally 

 raised up, and a super with no baits placed un- 

 der it, and this causes the bees to work in the 

 second super as well as they would were 

 baits used." 



" You speak of filling the sections with 

 foundation at this time of the year, for using 

 next season. Will not this foundation become 

 hard and tough where so put in, so that the 

 bees will not work on it as soon as they would 

 on new ? I think I have read something of 

 this kind." 



" There used to be great stress laid on using 

 only foundation fresh from the mill, or that 

 dipped in tepid water immediately before plac- 

 ing on the hive ; but bee-keepers soon learned 

 that the heat of the hive softened and made 

 pliable any foundation, no matter how old, so 

 the bees worked it readily, providing the 

 foundation had not been in the light long 

 enough to bleach and harden it." 



" Again allow me to ask, what next ? " 



" Supposing your supers are all filled, as we 

 have talked, you are to pack them away all 

 nicely so they will be ready at a moment's no- 

 tice, when the honey harvest arrives in June, 

 1901 ; and having this done I would next look 

 over all empty hives which are stored away for 

 future use ; and if any repairs or cleaning is 

 needed, this can be done, and they are stored 

 away also, all in perfect readiness for the first 

 swarms which issue." 



"One question right here: You spoke of 

 getting the supers ready, and filled with sec- 

 tions ; but you did not tell how many I need- 

 ed for each colony I have now. How many 

 do you calculate are needed to each old colony 

 in the spring ? " 



"After trying various numbers I settled 

 down on 150 one pound sections for each old 

 colony I had when I was preparing the sec- 

 tions during the winter. Probably all of these 

 will not be filled one year in four ; but if you 

 try to get along with less, there is likely to 

 come a ' down pour ' of honey when you least 

 expect it, and you will not be able to secure it 

 all by not having sections enough. It is far 

 better to have a few too many, always, than to 

 be caught with not enough " 



" Again, what next ? " 



" Having your hives in readiness, and pack- 



