166 



May, 1915. 



American Hee Journal 



considerable quantities of honey. 



It is an annual with large, showy, 

 pink or purple flowers. ,\t one time 

 there was much interest in this plant 

 on the part of eastern beekeepers who 

 tried to introduce it by sowing seed. 

 .•\t the Michigan Agricultural College 

 a small field was planted to ascertain 

 whether it could be grown profitably 

 for honey alone. As no plant has as 

 yet proven to be sufficiently valuable 

 to justify its cultivation for this pur- 

 pose exclusively, it is not surprising 

 that the Rocky Mountain bee plant did 

 not prove to be an exception. It is 

 acrid and pungent and said to be dis- 

 tasteful to animals, which seldom eat 

 it. If the plant had any value for any 

 other purpose beside honey produc- 

 tion, an effort to extend the area of its 

 distribution might succeed, but the in- 

 troduction of plants that are essen- 

 tially weeds in their nature seldom 

 meets with favor. 



Atlantic, Iowa. 

 Copyright: IQIS. by Frank C. Pellett. 



How I Produce Extracted 

 Honey 



BY F. KITTINGER. 

 (Rciid ill the Wisconsin Stale Meeting.) 



IN producing a crop of honey, either 

 comb or extracted, preparations 

 should begin with the previous fall. 

 Each should have a good prolific 

 queen. 1 prefer queens not over two 

 years old, as a young queen will con- 

 tinue laying later in the fall than an 

 old queen, thus securing a good force 

 of young bees to go into winter quar- 

 ters. Having all colonies strong in 

 bees of the right age, the next thing is 

 to see that each colony is supplied with 

 sufficient stores of good quality. For 

 cellar wintering I prefer a little sugar 



FIG. 24 -ROCKY MOUNTAIN BEE PLANT 



syrup fed to each colony late in the 

 fall, unless it has sufficient sealed 

 honey of the best quality. 



I winter my bees both in the cellar 

 and out-of-doors, the majority, how- 

 ever, being in the cellar. I have ROod 

 success either way. I aim to take them 

 from the cellar about the time soft 

 maples are in bloom, providing I can 

 keep them quiet that long. We take 

 them out at niglit when the prospects 

 are for a mild still day following. I 



FIG.aj.-FLOWERS OF BUTTON BUSH 



find that by taking them out at night 

 they quiet down before morning and 

 come out more gradually the next day, 

 not drifting as badly should it prove to 

 be windy. All entrances are reduced 

 as soon as the hives are removed from 

 the cellar. It is a very important thing 

 that the hives be located in a well shel- 

 tered place, out of the sweep of the 

 wind. 



About five days after removing the 

 bees from the cellar I start examining 

 them, as the queens should be laying 

 by this time. All colonies that do not 

 show eggs or brood are marked as 

 queenless to be examined again later. 

 At this time each colony is marked by 

 a small stone placed on the cover, the 

 different positions of which indicate 

 the condition of the colony, whether 

 strong (ir light in bees ; whether heavy 

 or light in stores, and whether having 

 a laving queen or being queenless. 

 Each colony is again examined from 

 time to time, and any short of stores 

 are provided with frames of honey or 

 fed sugar syrup, provided frames of 

 honey are not to be had. As soon as 

 the strong colonies can spare a frame 

 of brood, one is drawn from each col- 

 ony and given to one of the medium 

 ones. This plan is continued until all 

 but a few of the very weak ones have 

 their brood-chamber full of bees and 

 brood. 



During the time of fruit bloom, or 

 before adding upper stories, each col- 

 ony is examined and the queen found. 

 All queens of the previous season's 

 rearing are then clipped, and a tin tag 

 indicating the age of the queen placed 

 on the front of each hive. All colonies 

 that are strong in bees and brood are 

 then given a set of worker combs in an 

 upper story witliout a queen excluder, 

 giving the queen an abundance of 

 room for brood. 



.'\bout ten days or two weeks before 

 our main honey flow I slip a queen ex- 



