506 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



August, 1919 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



stimulative feeding, I know of several cases 

 where, owing to oversight and neglect, 

 queens were confined in a cage in the hive in 

 June until the brooding season had passed. 

 The bees were in a section where there was 

 no fall flow, and the bees did not wear them- 

 selves out, and not only wintered with suc- 

 cess but were normal colonies the following 

 spring. 



Dr. Phillips and Mr. Demuth, of Wash- 

 ington, have said that three pounds of fair- 

 ly young bees is sufficient to take a colony 

 thru the winter and have it in good condi- 

 tion the following spring so far as numeri- 

 cal strength is concerned. I am quite pre- 

 pared to accept that statement; and yet I 

 Ikave known where four or five Langstroth 

 combs well covered with young bees, and 

 having a first-class young queen, wintered 

 well when properly fed and protected with 

 packing, and in an outside temperature of 

 20 degrees below zero; and they were first- 

 class colonies in the apiary the following 

 season. 



If I could devise a method by means of 

 which I could, at the close of the honey 

 flow, get rid of all the old bees and even 

 the half -worn-out ones, I would do so. Stores 

 would be saved until winter and during 

 winter, and many bees which would have to 

 be carried out by their sisters could be brim- 

 stoned in a moment and be saved greater 

 hardships when coming to a normal end. 

 When I have such a subject in mind I feel 

 disposed to envy some one who has the time 

 and means from the Government to experi- 

 ment. It may be that bees could be carried 

 in their hives a restricted distance, at which 

 the long and distant rangers would return 

 to the old location and the younger would 

 l)e out of the previous area of flight. Then 



the brood-chamber full of brood would all 

 be saved for the new or youthful colony. 



The entrances to the hives should be re- 

 duced when the honey flow closes. The 

 entrances should be in proportion to the 

 strength of the colonies, but much smaller 

 entrances than are desirable during the hon- 

 ey flow and the swarming season. 



Large and contented colonies are the foun- 

 dation of large crops of honey. For this 

 reason we seek to make it the will of the 

 colony not to swarm; but there is no reason 

 why the division of this large colony should 

 not take place after the object sought by 

 such holding* together has been attained. 

 Where one has in possession strong colonies 

 with large (such as 12-frame Langstroth) 

 brood-chambers, with two or three extract- 

 ing-supers of honey and bees, there is no 

 reason why two good colonies can not be 

 obtained. There should be almost, or even 

 quite, five combs, largely of brood, some 

 Ijollen, and a little honey which can be ad- 

 ded to by feeding 10 or 20 pounds of syrup 

 The division can be successfully performed 

 by splitting the colony and combs down the 

 middle, between the sixth and seventh 

 combs. The half with no queen should be 

 given a laying queen. It is better, but not 

 necessary, to move the new colony. The 

 young bees and those yet to emerge from 

 the cells will remain on the new stand. Put 

 the old queen with the bees on the new 

 stand, and fewer bees will return. I need 

 not mention the well-known device of put- 

 ting a board against the entrance to draw the 

 attention of the bees to the change in lo- 

 cation. 



Where there is a fall flow from such 

 sources as buckwheat, goldenrod, boneset, 

 aster, and the like, there is no better time 





liL .-'* 



Attractive backyard apiary of L. .1. White. Miflii2;an. 



