MARCH 15, 1915 



colony. If no otiior hive was ])ut out, 

 however, they would soou timl (heir own. 

 The more hives put out, on the other hnnd. 

 make it more unlikely that they will find 

 their own. 



There are certain colonies that seem to 

 i)e inclined to welcome all comers; and as 

 soon as some of the lost be<^s aliyht at these 

 entrances, and start the " home call " it 

 means a steady gathering of the strays, so 

 that certain hives are jDacked full while 

 othei-s are depleted. 



Another thing- that tends toward the 

 same results is to leave too large an en- 

 trance during the first tlight. There is no 

 need of a large entrance at this time excei:)t 

 where the bottoms have been left on over 

 winter, and the bees are expected to clean 

 tliem of dead bees and capping-s. It is 

 more economical and much better to winter 

 the colonies without bottoms, thus having 

 clean ones to set them on each spring. But 

 if they are on, rather than make the bees 

 clean them we would change each one when 

 setting out, getting a clean one to start with, 

 and after changing the first one clean that 

 one for the next hive, and so on. so that all 

 have clean bottoms when through. 



Contract the ordinary %-inch entrance to 

 one or two inches in width for fair to good 

 colonies, and y-i to %, inch for weak ones. 

 This is more to prevent the bees getting into 

 the air too fast than to prevent robbing. 



If bees are set out on a windy (hiv thev 

 are pretty sure to "drift" — that is, head 

 ui> against the wind, and go into the hives 

 on the windward side of the apiary. The 

 oidy reasonably sure way to prevent this is 

 to avoid setting them out on a windy day. 

 although it may help some to set the lee- 

 ward side out first, letting as many bees 

 retui-n as time will permit before putting 

 out the windward side. Drifting is nmch 

 worse in an open yaixl exposed to wind than 

 in a sheltered place with trees or shrubs 

 in it. 



We have tried changing places with hives 

 that had more than their share, putting 

 weak ones in their place. This will equalize 

 some, for many of these bees will go back 

 to the same location at their next flight; 

 but there is some chance of losing queens 

 by this procedure. Another thing to be 

 remembered is to air out the bee-cellar 

 thoroughly if possible, the night before tak- 

 ing the bees out. If tliis is done the bees 

 will be much quieter, and will not notice 

 the fresh air that comes in when the door is 

 opened to enter the cellar as they would if 

 the air in the cellar were warm or stag- 

 nant. 



We do not use any smoke in the cellar in 

 taking bees out, but always have a good 

 smoker handy outside, to make them behave 

 until the hives are fixed as wanted. 



Dunlap, Iowa. 



THE SEASON OF 1914 IN THE CENTEM OF ENGLAND 



BY W. J. WOOLLEY 



Being a touring expert in the southern 

 part of Worcestershii-e 1 send you my .short 

 report of 1914. 



This is a noted fruit and vegetable 

 growing district bordering on the outside 

 with farming. The honey crop was tln^ 

 best for about twelve years. Although the 

 Tsle-of- Wight di.sease did some little damage 

 the district still contains a lot of strong 

 healthy colonies, and the bees paid well. 



The average in the fruit-growing district 

 was ."^O lbs. of honey. Some of tlie membei-s 

 of my association Avho live in the vale at 

 the foot of the hills had an average of Tf) 

 to 80 lbs. each for which they received the 

 price of Od jier lb., extracted, and lOd per 

 section wholesale. 



The bees were busy from April till 

 August, when the drouth affected the yield 

 from the clover. Polonies went into winter 

 well provided with plenty of well-ripened 

 food, and look promising to come out strong 

 in the spring. The bees swarmed very little 



this year. Out of my apiary of 28 stocks 

 I had only three swarms, and I could not 

 get enough to supply orders for swarms. 



At one place where I called on my 

 autumn tour the man had not taken his crop 

 of honey off, and he asked me to do it for 

 him. He had put only one rack of sections 

 on, and had been too busy to attend to 

 them, so he said. Well, Avhcn I got to the 

 hive I had hard work to ^^i the roof off. 

 What a sight ! The owner had put only one 

 small quilt over the rack of sections, and 

 the bees had found a way. after finishing 

 the rack of sections, into the empty space 

 above, and had built and sealed wMth honey 

 the wdiole of the space under the roof of 

 the hive. They had sealed the roof dowm 

 with honey. The bees had stored over 30 

 lbs. above the rack of sections. 



He wi.shed, when he saw the sight, that 

 he had looked after them a little better, 

 and so had a far greater crop of honey. 



Evesham, Worcestershire, Eng., Dec. 'M. 



