DECEMBER 1, 1915 



Heads of Graie fF€)im Differeeit Fields 



The Backlot Buzzer 



BY J. H. DONAHEY 



Uncle Raspberry Flow, who lives up in Michigan, 

 and who is always getting inio arguments with his 

 wife, says if his queen don't quit quahking all the 

 time he's going to leave the old hive. 



The Uniting of Weak Colonies; Why Does 

 the Combination Dwindle? 



It is pretty well known and admitted that the 

 uniting of two or more weak colonies for the pur- 

 pose of making a strong colony is practically useless, 

 and results in no lasting benefit. In a few days the 

 combination colony is left with no larger population 

 than before. 



After diligent search of modern authorities I have 

 been surprised to find but slight mention and no 

 explanation of this great loss of bees. It would ap- 

 pear that knowledge of the fact is deemed sufficient, 

 and a knowledge of the reason as of little impor- 

 tance. 



Is it not a fact, that a weak colony is always com- 

 posed of mostly old bees — that is to say, a colony 

 which is weak from natural causes and not from 

 accident or human agency? If such is the case we 

 need not look much further for the cause of rapid 

 dwindling after uniting. A large family of old bees 

 becoming enthused by their sudden increase of force 

 loses many from the excitement, but goes to work 

 vigorously and beyond its strength and age, the ef- 

 fect being to exhaust quickly the vitality of the old- 

 est of the old Dees, which then fall by the wayside 

 in greater numbers; whereas, if no uniting had been 

 done the weak colonies would have dragged along 

 quietly for a longer period, only to succumb finally. 



As suggested, if "old bees" is the reason (as 

 appears to me entirely logical) thon the condition is 

 such that there is no remedy when the uniting is 

 done solely for the purpose of utilizing weak colonies 



with the idea of making one good one in place of 

 several poor ones, and the futility of the plan is self- 

 evident. There is, however, some satisfaction in 

 knowing why a thing succeeds or fails. 



New Jersey. B. Kekp. 



[It sometimes happens that, when it seems desir- 

 able to unite, the bees of the weak colony are old, 

 weak, worn-out ones, just as you say. This condi- 

 tion may apply in the spring as well as in the fall. 

 Uniting in either case will not result in much good, 

 and therefore your explanation is quite plausible, 

 and possibly may be the ti'ue one. 



Very often, however, colonies are united in the 

 same apiary, made up of yon g and vigorous bees ; 

 but the loss is occasioned by these young bees going 

 back to their old stands and becoming lost, or else 

 they find their way in near-by hives. Uniting, how- 

 ever, can generally be practiced to very good advan- 

 tage, if the bees are not too old, by uniting two 

 colonies side by side, or taking the nuclei from an 

 outyard and uniting them after they are brought 

 home, as explained in the reply to Mr. Stratton, in 

 this department. In either case, if the bees are not 

 too old, a fairly good colony will be formed, in good 

 shape for winter. We have been doing considerable 

 of this outyard uniting and neighbor-hive uniting, 

 and the results have been very satisfactory this fall. 

 Moreover, there has been no diminution of the 

 strength of the united colony as there has been 

 sometimes. — Ed. ] 



Uniting and Feeding; Is It Too Late? 



I should be glad to have your advice as to the 

 relative advantages of uniting or feeding weak 

 colonies at this season in this section. Owing to a 

 cold spell when the asters were in bloom, or from 

 some other cause, brood-rearing stopped early, and 

 bees are short of winter stores. Many beekeepers are 

 facing the alternative of feeding or doubling up, 

 and, no doubt, will be interested in your answer. 



I will say that the aster is our main dependence 

 for winter supplies, and we have no trouble in win- 

 tering on summer stands. C. L. Stratton. 



East Chattanooga, Tenn., Nov. 12. 



[You speak of the alternative of uniting or feed- 

 ing. We know of no reason why you should not do 

 both. If the colony is weak it ought to be united; 

 and then if it has insufficient stores the combina- 

 tion should be fed. Of course there are various 

 ways of uniting. To pick up weak nuclei from 

 several different places in an apiary, and combine 

 them together in one place, is not satisfactory, on 

 account of the many returning bees. The usual 

 plan is to take two colonies side by side. Remove 

 one hive, and then place the other hive in the space 

 between the other two. Put the two colonies to- 

 gether, preferably on a cool morning or evening, and 

 then let them gradually unite when it warms up the 

 next day. If there is no choice of queens, let the 

 bees make their own. Of course if one queen is 

 Ijetter than another the operator should kill the in- 

 ferior one and unite. 



It sometimes happens that there will be a medium- 

 sized colony and a weak one side by side. Remove 

 the hive containing the weak one entirely, and put 

 the weak one with the strong one or the medium- 

 sized one, and the uniting will be accomplished very 

 satisfactorily. When colonies are at outyards, and 

 it is expected to move the outvard to the home yard 

 for wintering, the uniting can be very easily accom- 

 plished by placing two, three, or four weak nuclei 

 together and uniting at the new location. 



In the matter of feeding, if the weather has turn- 

 ed so that it is cool during the day, especially cool 

 nights, the syrup should be given hot — about two 



