1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



885 



that, if the flow of honey is good, it will not take 

 long to have our bait sections filled, and work well 

 commenced in the others. 



Now, to secure the most honey for the rest of the 

 season, I proceed as follows: When a swarm issues 

 from a hive, the old colony is moved to a new stand, 

 and the swarm hived on the old stand, which se- 

 cures us nearly all the working force from the par- 

 ent colony. The sections are now taken from the 

 old colony and carried to the new hive. In this new 

 hive are placed only six Gallup frames, and the rest 

 of the hive filled up with dummies so as to contract 

 the size of the hive to the real wants of the queen 

 at this time. The work done by a swarm thus treat- 

 ed for the next ten days is almost marvelous, be- 

 ing- far more than can be secured by any other 

 plan which I know of. These six frames give plen- 

 ty of bees for winter, and, often, enough honey. 

 If not, they must be fed, of course. The old colo- 

 ny will build up in good shape for winter, and often 

 give many combs of honey for extracting or giving 

 to those which have been contracted as above. As 

 full sections are taken out of the middle of those 

 on the hive, the others on the outside are drawn to 

 the middle, and more empty ones placed at the 

 sides, and so on to the end of the season. This get- 

 ting the bees in the right condition for the harvest 

 may be called by some, " Doolittle's hobby." If so, 

 'tis well, for I believe it one of the best hobbies 

 ever ridden upon by any one producing comb hon- 

 ey. G. M. Doolittle. 



Borodino, N. Y., Nov. 5, 1889. 



MANUM IN THE APIAEY WITH HIS 

 MEN. 



ESTIMATING STORES PREPARATORY TO FEEDING. 



§EPT. 15.—" Well, Scott, we have now got the 

 honey all off to market, and every colony 

 supplied with a queen, so far as we know; 

 and now we will commence to prepare the 

 bees for feeding, and we will take the fur- 

 thest yard first, while the roads are good, as you 

 and I are alone now to do this work, except what 

 little Fred may have time to help us after he gets 

 the farmwork done. 



"Jennie, you may put up dinners for two; and 

 you, Scott, may be harnessing up old Bill while I 

 hunt up the veils and wristers, as we may need 

 them. I always like to have them with me in ease 

 they are needed, as the bees are liable to be cross 

 at this season of the year. How nice it would be 

 for us if they were getting a little honey— just 

 enough to keep them even good-natured. 



"There, here we are, ready for work. We had 

 better put on these wristers, in order to keep the 

 bees from crawling up our sleeves, as they will 

 surely do without them. They are cheap-looking 

 things, but they answer every purpose. They are 

 made of cotton stocking-legs, with a rubber cord 

 hemmed in the lower (or ankle) end of the leg. 

 These are drawn over the coat-sleeves thus. There, 

 you see the cord hugs tight to the wrist, preventing 

 the bees from getting under them, making it much 

 more comfortable in handling bees when they are 

 cross. I will try to work without a veil, as I dislike 

 so much to wear one, on account of my eyes; but 

 you had better put yours on. 



" I will now look over two or three colonies, and 

 estimate the honey, and arrange them as I want 



them while you look on, then you can go by your- 

 self. 



"There, now I remove the cover— or honey-board 

 —very carefully, so as not to excite the bees any 

 more than I can help. You observe that the combs 

 are not all covered with bees. As it is a little cool 

 this morning, the bees are clustered quite well. 

 Now I think I can remove two combs from this 

 hive, leaving ten, which will be all that should re- 

 main in this hive. I will place the two combs in 

 this carrying box, to keep them away from the 

 bees; and when the box is full I carry it to the 

 honey-house and empty it, as great care must be 

 taken at this season of the year not to expose any 

 honey or even empty combs, as it takes but very 

 little to set the bees to robbing. 



" There, now, we have the space of the two combs 

 to work in, and I will show you how I estimate their 

 stores. I take out the combs one by one, and reck- 

 on up the amount in each comb, thus: First comb. 

 This has honey on only one side, occupying about 

 half the surface. If the other side were as well 

 filled it would contain about two pounds; but as it 

 is, I call it one pound. I now place this on this side 

 of the brood-box, in order to keep the vacant place 

 open, made by the removal of the two first combs. 

 The second comb, as you see, has about two pounds 

 and some pollen. We have now three pounds, third 

 comb, some brood, and two pounds of honey, mak- 

 ing five pounds. The next three combs, some 

 brood, and so little honey I do not count it in. The 

 sixth comb has pollen and two pounds of honey, 

 making seven pounds. The next comb has three 

 pounds, making ten pounds, and the next two have 

 about three pounds each, making sixteen pounds, 

 and the last comb you see is well filled on both 

 sides, and contains probably four and one-half 

 pounds; but I figure it at only four pounds. We 

 therefore find that this colony has at least twenty 

 pounds of honey, so I mark on this record-board 

 (kept in each hive), "Twenty pounds." Now, when 

 we come to feed this colony we will give them ten 

 pounds of syrup, making thirty pounds for their 

 winter stores, as that is the amount I want each 

 colony to have. I now place the combs back to the 

 further side of the brood-chamber, and put in a di- 

 vision-board next to the combs. There, now you 

 see they have much closer quarters than they had 

 before. I now replace the honey-board. 



" 1 will now mark in this book, which I carry in 

 my pocket, ten pounds, under the head of ' yard No. 

 6, short,' so that, when we get through, we may 

 know just how much we shall have to feed this 

 yard. Now, this second colony has less bees, so we 

 will remove three combs, leaving nine; and as you 

 see they have only eighteen pounds of honey, we 

 shall have to feed this one twelve pounds of sugar. 



" This third colony is strong in bees, but the hon- 

 ey is pretty well divided in all the combs. I will re- 

 move but one comb, as that will give space enough 

 to spread the other combs apart all that will be nec- 

 essary. There, you see I make these eleven combs 

 occupy the some space that the twelve did." 



Scott asks: 



" I have noticed, Mr. Manum, that you spread the 

 combs further apart than they were. Why do you 

 do that?" 



" Yes, Scott. I do that for the purpose of giving 

 the bees more space between each comb, to cluster 

 in. I believe they will keep warmer, and consume 

 less honey, by giving them a chance to form a 



