724 



GI.EANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



But tu jiet the combs oli' is another job 

 requiring about as much time and laboi'. 

 If one has an assistant he goes with the 

 escapes, and a smoker well lit up, and one 

 lifts the pile of empty supere enough at one 

 end for the other to force in several good 

 j)uffs of smoke and insert an escape in the 

 escape-board. Then after a day or two tlie 

 dry combs may be taken back to the honey- 

 liouse. If robbei"s are bad and the weather 

 warm, this has to be done after dark also. 



None of these methods protect old brood- 

 combs from the moth-lan'as. If one uses 

 new combs — that is, combs that never con- 

 tained brood — the moth will not damage 

 them here, according to my experience. 

 But in different manipulations I frequently 

 have a set of old brood-combs that it is de- 

 sirable to fill and extract. Fjvery fall finds 

 me with several on hand. They are valu- 

 able ; 3'et how to care for them, without too 

 much time and laboi", is a problem I ha\e 

 not been able to solve. 



Put tliese back with the bees till cool 

 veather. This Avould protect the comb, but 



is objectionable here for this reason: We 

 often have about enough flow after bass- 

 wood and clover to fill a colony up in good 

 shape for winter if they are crowded down 

 to one set of combs as eai'ly in the fall as 

 possible without swarming troubles. The 

 honey so gathered is, with few exceptions, 

 the very best of winter stores. But by giv- 

 ing moi-e ready-built combs, and especially 

 old brood combs, the bees will continue to 

 bi'ecd a little hea\ier, using up a part of 

 what would otherwise be winter stores, and 

 scattering the rest llirough the combs in such 

 a Avay that no one set would contain enough 

 for winter. 



It is probable that, by leaving these colo- 

 nies till late in the fall, they would move all 

 die lioney into the top story. This is not 

 practicable witli a large number of colonies 

 to care for, as many colonies in some sea- 

 sons would be found light too late for best 

 results in feeding. 



I have gone thus into detail lioping to 

 open up a subject that I wish very mucli to 

 get more light upon. 



Dunlap. IdWii. 



THE FOLLY OF TOO RAPID AN INCREASE 



BY ''observer^' 



Did it ever make you sore because the 

 bees were so strong in the spring at clip- 

 ping time that you could hardly find the 

 queen? 



When one does not wish to unpack colo- 

 nies until nearly time for the honey-flow, a 

 pretty fair idea of inside conditions can be 

 determined by noting the relative numbers 

 of spring-hatched bees and " pioneers " that 

 are going in and out at the entrance, and 

 noting whether they are carrying in pollen 

 or not. 



I wonder how many beekeepers are ob- 

 serving " dandelion day." The dandelion 

 usually yields but little surplus, but yields 

 a wonderful tonic of nectar and pollen that 

 makes the weaklings strong. 



Some good work for the beekeepers might 

 be done by the forestry departments of oui" 

 state colleges and experiment stations by 

 advocating the planting of nectar-producing 

 trees for shade purposes. 



The following is a true story, and wortliy 

 of consideration by all beginners. In the 

 spring of 1913 a Imsband and wife, both of 

 more than average intelligence and ability, 

 secured a couple of stands of beas. They 

 determined to inci'ease as much as possible 

 until they would have sufficient numbers to 

 yield a considerable retarn. By June, 1914, 



they had 38 strong nuclei. These were 

 formed by dividing the colonies as early as 

 possible. Those which were divided in the 

 spring were the product of a division the 

 previous season. The appearance of an 

 increasing number of dead lan'a? in the 

 hives finally alarmed the enthusiasts so 

 much that a sample comb was sent to Dr. 

 Phillips, who pronounced it American foul 

 brood. The tin-tube method of treatment 

 was then used, with the result that only two 

 were cured. This spring there are left three 

 colonies and fifteen nuclei. By good for- 

 tune one colony is strong, and free from 

 disease. The rest are diseased and weak. 

 Over $300 has thus far been spent on the 

 venture. As Aesop says: Moral. 



The division method of increase will 

 surely increase the number of cases of foul 

 brood if it is present in the original colony. 



If in doubt, practice natural swarming, 

 hiving the swarm on i/4-inch starters. Don't 

 ti-y the tin-tube method of transferring on 

 a weak colony. Even success in other lines 

 of business, and great natural ability, must 

 l»e sui)i>lemonted by real bee experience in 

 building up a profitable apiary. Don't 

 hurry the business. Starting with one colo- 

 ny this spring, and doubling the number 

 each season, granting that all increase lives, 



