May, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



325 



c 



TALKS TO BEGINNERS 



By lona Fowls 



THERE is 

 h a r d 1 y a 

 more delight- 

 ful time of the 

 year to work 

 with one's bees 

 than during 

 fruit bloom. 

 Those who ha\e 

 not yet obtained 



their bees will wish to do so this month. 

 The best time for moving them is in the 

 spring before the hives become heavy with 

 honey. 



It will be remembered that in the Febru- 

 ary issue the advice was given to buy en- 

 tire colonies if possible, otherwise nuclei on 

 combs, or, preferably, combless packages. 

 Those who have purchased combless pack- 

 ages or who will obtain them this month 

 will probably have no difficulty in building 

 them up, if the queen is successfully intro- 

 duced and the directions followed that ac- 

 company the bees. They must, of course, be 

 kept supplied with stores until the honey 

 flow. It is to be hoped that the beginner 

 may have at least one good colony from 

 which he may take one frame of sealed 

 brood to give his package bees; also if they 

 C£>n be given frames of comb instead of 

 frames of foundation they will build up 

 much more rapidly. A two-pound package 

 should have at least four combs, and a three- 

 pound package six. More may be added 

 later as the colony increases in size. These 

 combs should be shoved over to the side of 

 the hive and a division-board placed at the 

 inside. Crowding the frames over to one 

 side like this gives a smaller space for the 

 bees to keep warm and therefore results in 

 less danger of the brood chilling on cool 

 nights. Also the hive-entrance should be 

 contracted to but a small opening in order 

 that the brood may not chill and die, and 

 that robbers may be prevented from enter- 

 ing the hive. Bees from other colonies near 

 sometimes overpower a small nucleus and 

 steal their stores; but, with a small entrance 

 about % by % inch, the bees of the nucleus 

 can more easily repel such unprincipled in- 

 vaders. Of course, after they build up a 

 little the entrance may be enlarged some- 

 what. 



Two- or three-pound packages purchased 

 early this month, and given a little unsealed 

 brood, will, with slow feeding, build up into 

 good colonies in seven or eight weeks, and 

 therefore will in many places be strong 

 enough to gather honey during at least a 

 part of the honey flow. 



Starting with Entire Colonies. 

 Most beginners will doubtless be able to 

 obtain entire colonies, which is a much bet- 

 ter way of making a start. As stated in 

 the February issue, such colonies should flrst 

 be examined by a good beekeeper to make 

 certain they are not diseased, and also to 

 place what he considers a fair value on them. 

 Their worth will depend on the style and 

 condition of hive, strain of bees, quality of 



1 



queen, size of 

 colony, freedom 

 from disease, 

 amount of 

 stores, regulari- 

 ty of the combs, 

 and amount o f 

 drone brood 

 present. If any 

 disease is found 

 the colonies should not be taken, even as a 

 gift. 



Taking the Colonies Home. 

 Moving the colonies is a very simple mat- 

 ter in case they are in modern hives, and, 

 if care is taken, colonies may be prepared 

 for moving without one bee leaving its hive. 

 Toward night or in the morning, when no 

 bees are flying, remove the entrance-block 

 and into the entrance shove a stiff strip of 

 screen about three inches in width and as 

 long as the entrance, taking pains that it 

 fit tightly so that no bees can escape. Next 

 gently remove the cover and immediately 

 cover with a screen attached to a rim two 

 inches in depth, fastening this to the hive 

 with a long staple at each corner. This 

 leaves a nice clustering-space over the colo- 

 ny, and provides plenty of ventilation. As 

 the bees are jolted along the road they be- 

 come so active that the temperature in the 

 hive is increased considerably; and, unless 

 plenty of ventilation is supplied, the bees 

 may suffocate. When the weather is cool, 

 less ventilation will be needed, and the 

 screens may, therefore, be partly covered. 

 The bottoms should be attached to the hives 

 by means of a staple at each corner. 



If the bees are in old out-of-date hives, 

 with cracks here and there, special care 

 should be taken that the bees be shut in se- 

 curely; and in order to be on the safe side 

 it might be well, when the weather is not 

 too warm, to sack them, as described by E. 

 R. Root, page 214, April Gleanings. We 

 caution the beginner, however, not to han- 

 dle bees after dark as there described. The 

 exjjert beekeeper may occasionally do this 

 as a matter of expediency; but from our 

 own experience we know there is no pleasure 

 or poetry in the operation. 



When colonies are moved a distance less 

 than a mile many of the bees often return 

 to the old location and are lost. To avoid 

 this, when it is desired to move a short dis- 

 tance colonies should be moved to a place 

 two or three miles away, and then a few 

 weeks later placed in the desired spot. They 

 may be moved a very short distance by mov- 

 ing gradually a faot or two every two or 

 three days. 



For moving bees, the best conveyance by 

 far is the auto. If driven carefully there is 

 very little danger of breaking the combs. 

 Whatever conveyance is used, the hives 

 should be placed in such a way as to prevent 

 the combs swinging because of sudden jolts. 

 Placing the Hives. 

 On arrival home the hives may be placed, 

 if convenient, where there will be winter 



