January 



American Vae Journal 



ter with blanks to be filled out, and 

 since a stamped addressed envelope in 

 which to send the answer back is sent 

 along, there is no reason why every 

 bee-keeper who gets these should not 

 take the time to give the information 

 desired, and which would be of inesti- 

 mable value to all of us when they are 

 finally compiled. 



In case there are any of our readers 

 who do not get one of these letters, I 

 ask that you drop a postal card ad- 

 dressed to the " State Entomologist, 

 College Station, Tex.," telling him you 

 are a bee-keeper, and would like to 

 help by giving information about the 

 extent of the bee-business in your sec- 

 tion. In return your name will be put 

 on the mailing list gfor valuable publi- 

 cations published by the Texas Experi- 

 ment Station from time to time. Do 

 not delay this. 



Do Bees Move Larvae ? 



From a letter received from one of 

 our German correspondents, Mr. Theo. 

 Koerner, of Fayetteville, Tex., I trans- 

 late the following : 



Referring to your article relative to bees 

 niovins; eggs or larva;. I can not share a con- 

 clusion with you unless you may be able to 

 explain the following case to me: 



Two years ago I had a strong nucleus, and 

 for a division-board a comb built half way 

 down was used. As the virgin was lost in 

 mating, another comb of brood was given 

 them from an Italian colony. On the fourth 

 day I examined the nucleus for queen-cells, 

 but found none. Searched the hive for a 

 possible presence of a Queen, but there was 

 none. 



Now I wanted to unite the nucleus with 

 another colonv. but what did I find on the 

 half-built comb ? A fine queen-cell with 

 larva. This cell was hatched, and soon 

 thereafter the nucleus had a medium-large 

 laying Italian queen. 



But I had to have the experience of find- 

 ing that this nucleus reared only a "neces- 

 sity product." which quietly superseded 

 again in the fall. Theo. Koerner. 



This is quite an interesting experi- 

 ence, and enough to make a person 

 think. How did that egg or larva get 

 to that place on the half-drawn-out 

 comb used for a division-board, so to 

 speak .■' The queen out of this cell was 

 an Italian, hence the egg or larva from 

 which she was reared must have been 

 the same as the brood contained in the 

 comb given from the Italian colony. 



But most interesting is that which 

 our correspondent terms a "necessity 

 product " — a production when the nu- 

 cleus was in dire need of a new queen. 

 That a queen reared under abnormal 

 conditions, or one that is not perfectly 

 developed, is generally superseded 

 sooner than a good, thrifty queen, is 

 not new. Usually such queens are 

 permitted to remain throughout the 

 season as long as honey comes in 

 readily, but as soon as this ceases they 

 are invariably superseded. 



But we still do not know whether 

 bees are able to move eggs or larvK, 

 do we ? 



*-•-» 



The 10-Frame Hive 



Much discussion relative to the ad- 

 vantages of the 10-frame hive has cir- 

 culated in the bee-papers from time to 

 time, and the result seems to be that 

 this size of hive is pronounced as supe- 

 rior over the 8-frame hive. I am glad 

 to note this verdict, since it is in ac- 

 cord with what the Southern bee- 



keepers found many years ago. The 8- 

 frame hive is entirely too small for 

 best results in the South, and this has 

 been generally known throughout the 

 country for many years. There are, 

 however, a few bee-keepers who have 

 begun with 8-frame hives, and who 

 continue to use theiu with very good 

 success, but I aiu sure that they might 

 do even better with the 10-frame hive, 

 not only here in the South, but in the 

 North as well. 



To us who have become used to the 

 10-fraine width, it is the ideal width for 

 all purposes, especially for supering 

 above. It gives the bees a wider sur- 

 face instead of towering high up and 

 away from the brood-nest — an item 

 that is of great importance. If this 

 width should for some cause or other 

 not be suited to the size of a colony, it 

 is an easy matter to contract to 8 or 

 even a less number of frames with a 10- 

 frame hive, whereas an 8-franie hive 

 can not be enlarged to the 10-frame 

 width. Strong colonies will need, or 

 at least make good use of, a 10-frame 

 brood-chamber if given them, and in 

 my experience this is too small for all 

 conditions, and it becomes necessary 

 to use a shallow super over this to al- 

 low proper room. To give the same 

 amount of room with 8-frame hives 

 would necessitate at least two full- 

 depth bodies, one on top of the other, 

 throwing the top of the colony far 

 away from the main part of the brood- 

 nest below. Another story added 

 would throw it still higher into the air. 

 It is well known that the bees do their 

 best work nearest the brood-nest, and 

 the closer to it we can keep the work 

 the better the results. This can be ac- 

 complished with the 10-frame hives on 

 account of their extra width. 



Another important item is that the 

 colony has two extra combs in whfch 

 to store honey and pollen in reserve 

 for use at any time, hence the danger 

 of too little honey in the hive, and pos- 

 sible starvation, is reduced. 



Intensiv^Extensive Bee-Keeping at Long 

 Range 



There is a great deal of pleasure and 

 satisfaction in a venture that turns out 

 successfully, and if it is remunerative 

 or profitable in addition, this satisfac- 

 tion increases — one becomes more or 

 less enthusiastic about the matter. 

 Such successfulness, then, has much to 

 do with making life worth living, and 

 a successful bee-keeper knows how to 

 enjoy it. 



That is one reason why we are, 

 almost at the end of the year, as jubi- 

 lant over our more or less successful 

 ventures. In spite of a very dry year, 

 and more or less unfavorable beginning 

 in the spring, a good crop of honey 

 was obtained and disposed of, and that 

 at a good price, with a demand for as 

 much more than was produced, or the 

 entire crop itself. In other words, the 

 orders that came in, and are still com- 

 ing, after we had shipped all the honey 

 we could get together, amounted to 

 over 65,000 pounds, the amount shipped 

 by us this year. 



On account of the short-crop year 

 our entire output was not even that of 

 last year, although we have almost 

 twice as many bees. Last year our 



total shipments amounted to over 

 81,000 pounds. The price this year was 

 one-half cent more per pound than 

 last year, when the average price for 

 the entire year, and for all of the crop, 

 was slightly more than 11 cents per 

 pound. 



Almost the entire output was bulk- 

 comb honey, or practically all of it, as 

 we shipped less than luilO pounds of 

 extracted honey during the entire 

 year, and this was in only a few case 

 lots with large orders for bulk-comb 

 honey. There were very few, or hardly 

 any, orders for extracted honey this 

 year. Not because there was no de- 

 mand for it, so much, perhaps, as the 

 fact that we have the reputation of be- 

 ing almost exclusively bulk-comb- 

 honey producers. 



So much about our crop, and the 

 kind of honey produced. Our apiary 

 work is becoming more systematized 

 each year, and short cuts are being 

 adopted, and new methods worked out 

 whenever this is possible. This en- 

 ables us to produce the large crops 

 mentioned much more economically 

 and profitably than heretofore. Our 

 long experience of 20 years is one im- 

 portant item that is most valuable and 

 helpful toward accomplishing these 

 possibilities, of which we used to dream 

 when we first began bee-keeping, and 

 thought of the probability of number- 

 ing our colonies by the hundreds. 



There is a difference between iwlcn- 

 siz'c bee-keeping and i>i/ensiTc bee- 

 keeping. There is just as much differ- 

 ence between these and iiilensii'c-extoi- 

 sii'e bec-kecping. The latter is what we 

 have tried to carry out in actual prac- 

 tice for a number of years, and our at- 

 tempt has not been in vain. It pays to 

 squeeze just a little bit more out of 

 each colony — that is intensive bee-keep- 

 ing Others believe it pays better to 

 pay less attention to these little details, 

 and depend upon the larger number of 

 colonies to make the certain amount 

 of profit — extensiiv bee-keeping. We 

 have found, however, that the most 

 profitable bee-keeping is to pay the 

 closest attention to both of these items 

 at one and the same time, and thus 

 gain the profits of intensiveness, hence 

 our intensive-extensive bee-keeping. 



It means a whole lot more work and 

 fussing, some will say, and we grant 

 that. For this extra trouble, however, 

 we are so well rewarded, so that it pays, 

 and pays big. Even if an extra inan or 

 two mijst be employed to assist in car- 

 rying out the ends in view, the greater 

 returns will not only pay for this, but 

 there will be, if the right management 

 is followed, a nice profit besides. 



The secret of success in this kind of 

 bee-keeping is entirely the ability of 

 the bee-keeper to carry out in every 

 detail each and every problem that must 

 be attended to at the right and proper 

 time. It takes a man of good judg- 

 ment, foresight, and sound executive 

 ability to do it, but a man with a will 

 and determination can adapt himself to 

 the circumstances after a few years' 

 experience in bee-keeping. It may be 

 well to bear in mind, however, that not 

 every person is "cut out" for such a 

 place. In many persons either one or 

 the other necessary essential require- 

 ments is lacking, and these can not, in 

 manv cases, be attained, no matter how 



