.\r;;ii. i.->, uii; 



Comb containing aster honey gramilated so solid that the bees could not use it. Note the granules in the 



open cells at the left. These were almost like flint. The bees had gnawed the 



cappings from the other cells but had left the honey. 



drawn combs in the middle. This gave the 

 queen all the room she needed; and as fast 

 as I got a super of full combs of honey I 

 put it on top of the hive until I was ready 

 to extract. The liives were tiered up three 

 stories high (ten-frame hives), and at the 

 end of the season they were full of three- 

 banded Italian bees from the floor to the lid. 

 In these big mountains of California it 

 pays to have apiaries located close together. 

 The mountains are full of canyons with 

 high i-idgcs between, and the bees do not 

 seem to fly over these ridges, nor care to go 

 over them to the next canyon, perhaps only 

 a mile away. For this reason smaller api- 

 aries, say 100 colonies or so, are more logi- 

 cal about a mile apart. I liave been in this 

 country- two years, and am. satisfied that 

 this is the best plan. In Texas or any level 

 country, bees will fly a long distance in 

 search of nectar, and in such localities one 

 can keep much larger apiaries, but they 



must be further apart. Small apiaries are 

 nicer to work in, however, for one can get 

 through the yard before the bees are hardly 

 aware of it. This is quite a big item; and 

 then, besides, when a poor year comes the 

 small apiary will have enough stores to 

 winter on, while the larger one is likely to 

 need feeding. 



Most of the writers tell us to have the 

 colonies strong when the honey-flow comes 

 on, but fail to tell the way to keep them 

 strong. The best way to have a hive full of 

 bees when the harvest comes is to have 

 plenty of honey in the combs at the right 

 time. Very few hives have too much honey, 

 for the bees turn the honey into brood. This 

 point can hardly be made too emphatic to 

 the beginner, and even the veteran would 

 do well to give the subject more thought — 

 making sure that his colonies have plenty of 

 stores. 



Nordhoff, Cal. 



ASTER HONEY AS A WINTER FOOD FOR BEES 



BY JOHN H. LOVELL 



After corresponding with beekeepers from 

 Michigan to Georgia 1 am convinced that 

 aster honey, if properly ripened and sealed. 



can be safely used for wintering bees. Any 

 bouf'y. if unripe, would probably be open 

 to objection. Mr. 0. H. Townsend writes 



