September, 1912. 



271 



American ^ee Journal 



which covers a large section of Dixie. 

 The clump of low, scrubby bushes at 

 the rear of the hives on which the boys 

 are standing, are chinquapins, and one 

 of the main honey-plants of that sec- 

 tion. The sand along the famous 

 Suwanee river is very deep, fine and 

 white, and the natural growth is not 

 very heavy. 



Information Wanted 



Dk.\k Mr. Wii.dkk: — My parents are soon 

 going to settle at Orlando, Kla. How wonid 

 that section do to start in the bee-business ? 

 Suppose I purchase a copy of your book. 

 "Southern Hee-Culture," and use it as my 

 handbook, would it be necessary to take a 

 correspondence course in bee-culture ? 



Cambridge. Mass. Leon P. Jones. 



The vicinity of Orlando, Fla., does 

 not appeal to me as being much of a 

 place to start up an extensive bee-busi- 

 ness. I rather believe the venture 

 would be a failure, as there are but few 

 reliable honey-plants there, but not far 

 out in the country, in the sand ridges, 

 you will find a good partridge-pea 

 range, and there it will pay you. It 

 would be best to look the country over 

 for 30 or 4() miles around before be- 

 ginning to locate out-apiaries or to 

 embark in bee-keeping extensively. 



Yes, by all means obtain in every 

 way you can all the bee-knowledge 

 possible. Take up and finish the cor- 

 respondence course, then take " South- 

 ern Bee-Culture " as your hand-book, 

 and you will attain success if the neces- 

 sary amount of energy be expended. 



mer and fall honey-flows. This is true 

 of all the cotton-belt countrv. 



comb with new, and a good number do 

 so at their own loss. 



Does Changing Location Pay? 



Dear Mr. Wiliier —I once lived in Wash- 

 inston Co . Ga.. and while there became in- 

 terested in bee-culture and established a 

 good apiary, but I was not content with the 

 returns from my bees, and desiring a better 

 location came to Hawk's Park. Kla. But I 

 have found it no belter for bee-keeping than 

 dear old Georgia, and I would like to go 

 back there and engage in honey-production, 

 if I could supplement the regular honey-flow 

 witli clover or some other honey-plant simi- 

 lar. Poplar trees are about all the honey- 

 giants I hey have there, and it has been ium- 

 ered closely. 



Have you succeeded in getting clover, or 

 any other honey-plant, started which would 

 supplement your honey-flow in Georgia ? I 

 know you have there everything possible to 

 help out your honey-flow. 



Hawk's Park. Pla. S. 'W. 'Whitfield. 



Friend Whitfield, since you left Wash- 

 ington Co., Ga.. a man just two coun- 

 ties away became interested in bee-cul- 

 ture and has been very successful. 



There is no doubt that it does not 

 pay to leave one location and move to 

 another with the sole object of produc- 

 ing more honey. If a bee-keeper 

 wanted to change climate for his health, 

 or if he wanted to produce a certain 

 kind of honey, the plant of which did 

 not grow in his present location, a 

 move would be justifiable, otherwise it 

 would not. If I were located elsewhere 

 I surely would not leave and move 

 here, and I am not going to leave this 

 location for any other. I am going to 

 be content and do the best I can. I 

 might do better elsewhere, or I might 

 do worse, so I will run no risk. 



No, I have not succeeded in supple- 

 menting my honey-flow here with any 

 other kind of honey-plants, although I 

 have made several efforts. I don't 

 think any one else can succeed. The 

 acreage of cotton and field peas is rap- 

 idly on the increase, as are the sum- 



Removing Supers and Replacing Old 

 Comb With Foundation 



Dear Mr. 'Wilder:— Should 1 t<tUe oft my 

 supers and put the covers down on the hive- 

 bodies for winter ? Can I use the old comb 

 in them next spring, or should I replace 

 them with full sheets of foundation .^ 



Lake Kerr. Kla. .1. V. RVALS. 



Comb-honey supers should be re- 

 moved at the close of each honey-flow 

 and left off during winter. If the su- 

 pers are not removed at the proper 

 time the bees will spoil them. Empty 

 bulk comb-honey supers, or supers 

 containing only foundation or partly- 

 drawn comb, should be removed ; but 

 supers containing empty drawn comb 

 can be left on the hives. All extract- 

 ing supers should be left on the hives 

 60 the bees may protect the comb. 



It is never necessary to replace old 

 comb with full sheets of foundation if 

 such combs are not crooked or do not 

 contain drone-comb. The age of comb 

 does not impair its value for the brood- 

 nest nor for the extracting supers, even 

 if it does become very dark from con- 

 stant usage; in fact, queens prefer to 

 lay in the darker combs, for often they 

 will ignore the light, new comb for the 

 darker. Bees will also store honey 

 more readily in darker comb. 



It is a prevailing idea among begin- 

 ners in bee-culture that every now and 

 then they will have to replace the old 



The Summer Honey Crop 



The spring honey crop throughout 

 Dixie was about an average in most 

 localities. The tupelo-gum region had 

 a better flow than was expected, for the 

 bee-keepers procured an average crop. 



The crop in the palmetto region was 

 almost a failure. The average from all 

 sources there was not greater than 2') 

 pounds per colony. 



The bee-keepers in the clover region 

 had a good flow, and the summer flow 

 has been good everywhere. 



The cotton plant and field peas are 

 still yielding well, and the crop will be 

 considerably above the average. This 

 is very gratifying, for in some sections 

 the bee-keepers depend solely upon the 

 suinmer flow for their surplus. 



The constant local showers are keep- 

 ing the plants growing and extending 

 the flow. It will be late in the season 

 before the honey-flow ends. Many bee- 

 keepers will make a mistake in leaving 

 all the honey on the hives until the 

 close of the season, which will be late. 

 If the honey is not removed as fast as 

 the bees seal it, it will granulate at the 

 approach of cold weather, and much of 

 it before it reaches the consumer. This 

 should be done by all means, and it 

 should be rushed on the market or a 

 lot of dissatisfaction will arise on ac- 

 count of granulation. 



Contributed 



Articles^ 



Feeding Cubes of Lump Sugar 



BY EDWIN BEVINS. 



Starting to winter 85 colonies on the 

 summer stands, in the fall of 1911, I lost 

 23. The responsibility for this loss is 

 mine. I did not recognize the value of 

 a good thing at first sight. The idea 

 of using cube loaf sugar for winter 

 feed grew too slowly in my mind, and 

 I did not provide a sufticient supply 

 early enough in the winter. Some- 

 where near one-half of the yard was 

 fed this material. All colonies so fed, 

 with 3 exceptions, are alive and well. 

 These 3 had consumed all of the honey 

 and sugar in the hives. Of the other 

 colonies which died, some had not 

 been fed at all, and some perished with 

 a good deal of the honey yet in the 

 combs. 



Some colonies were saved by the use 

 of unfinished sections turned flat on 

 top of the top-bars, but I do not like 

 these as well as I do the sugar, as in 

 intensely cold weather it is not safe to 

 use more than 2 to 3 at a time, as they 

 are liable to divide the bees too much. 



I have a feeling approaching chagrin 

 at the loss of so many bees. The loss 

 was entirely avoidable. I have most of 

 my hives in pairs, facing south. They 

 stand 3 or 4 inches apart, and when 

 fixing for winter I put on an empty 

 hive-body or a half-depth extracting 



super. I want something deeper than 

 the comb-honey super. Then I lay two 

 corn-cobs across the middle of the 

 top-bars, then a piece of burlap, gunny- 

 sack, or old carpet cut a little larger 

 than the inside measure of the super, 

 and place this right over the cobs, so 

 as to cover the whole surface of the 

 brood-chamber, but do not let the 

 edges get between the brood-chamber 

 and super. Then I put in a big chaff- 

 cushion that almost fills the super. For 

 this purpose I get old sacks that have 

 been used to hold 100 pounds of sugar. 

 Then on the east, west and north of 

 each pair of hives I place the three 

 parts of a winter-case, arranged to leave 

 a 4-inch space between the case and 

 ' hives. The parts are held in place by 

 means of wires. Straw is pressed firmly 

 between the hives and on the 3 sides, 

 so as to reach the tops of the supers. 

 Then a cover of boards, large enough 

 to cover both hives, and packing is put 

 on. The cover is made to slant to- 

 wards the front of the hives and reach 

 a few inches farther. When thus pre- 

 pared I am not concerned about the 

 l)ees suffering much from cold if the 

 food supply is plenty and easily reached. 

 I have looked in at different times on 

 those colonies having a good supply of 

 the little squares of sugar, and found 

 the bees always busily working among 

 them. 



