December, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN 



E E CULTURE 



783 





FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



down, putting two into one, or three into 

 two. If he united two he would shake a few 

 beos back into the parent colony. Then 

 after seven or eight days he would remove 

 all but one queen-cell from the parent colo- 

 ny, thus preventing second swamis. In this 

 way he kept every colony strong, and he 

 could run every one for comb honey. 



When feeding for winter he aimed to do 

 this at one operation about Oct. 1. He 

 stated that if the feeding were done in one 

 night the bees would put the food into the 

 brood-nest, and after a few warm days dis- 

 tribute it as they would stores gathered 

 naturally. Feeding, Oct. 1, 10 pounds of 

 sugar to 6 pounds of water, and cellar win- 

 tering the bees, he had never found a colony 

 starved in the cellar, even if they had no 

 natural food; but in such a case they had to 

 be given stores pretty early in the spring. 



Asking Mr. Elthorp if he thought 16 

 pounds of syrup per colony enough food if 

 the bees were wintered outside, he said he 

 did not know, but doubted it. Of late years 

 Mr. Elthorp has not kept so many colonies 

 of bees. One of his best years was 1916, 

 when from 125 colonies, spring count, he 

 secured an average of 175 pounds of comb 

 honey. On the other hand, Mr. Elthorp has 

 sometimes had a total faikxre. 



Mr. Elthorp is in favor of letting the bees 

 have ample stores for breeding rather than 

 stimulative feeding. This is a conclusion 

 after making several careful tests. He said 

 there might be localities where it would pay, 

 but in his section there are too many cold, 

 cloudy days, and it does not pay to disturb 

 colonies unless the day is quite warm. When 

 asked if the bees would quiet down before 

 morning if fed at evening, he said, "Yes, 

 but the feeding breaks up the cluster, and 

 in that way a lot of warmth is lost from the 

 brood-chamber." When asked if this would 

 be as much the case when the colonies were 

 packed, he said, ''No; I am in love with 

 having bees spring-packed as you have 

 yours. We need that kind of packing for 

 them. " E. F. Holtermann. 



Brantford, Ont., Can. 



A HOMEMADE WAX-PRESS 



How Six Hundred Pounds of Good, Marketable 

 Wax Can be Rendered in a Single Day 



Blaine Elkins, at Fillmore, Gal., where 

 the sage is at its best in good seasons, made 

 for himself a mammoth wax-press out of 

 some pieces of hard-wood timber and plank. 



The brood-frames in the foreground show that Mr. Elkins has done some work. 



