418 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apb. 1 



BROOD TOUCHING THE FRAME-BARS. 



"I want to talk a little about brood-cham- 

 bers this morning, Mr. Doolittle. Up to last 

 year I always used a brood-chamber holding 

 frames 13 inches deep, and I seemed to have 

 trouble in getting the bees to work in the 

 sections." 



"What did you think was the trouble, Mr. 

 Jones? " 



' ' The bees seemed to store so much honey 

 at the top of the brood- combs, above the 

 brood, that it seemed to make the distance 

 too great between the brood-nest proper and 

 the sections above, and on account of this 

 they did not enter the sections readily." 



"And you think that was the trouble?" 



"Think! I almost know it was. A year 

 ago last winter I made all my new hives so 

 that the frames were only ten inches deep, 

 inside measure; and when colonies had been 

 in them a month or so it was no uncommon 

 thing to have these combs with the brood 

 touching the top-bars to the frames all along 

 the edges of the comb." 



"Were the results in section honey any 

 better? " 



"Nearly double the amount of section 

 honey was secured from such hives. The old 

 ones did about as well as ever, but hives 

 where the brood came up all along the tops 

 to the frames just piled the honey in the 

 sections." 



"Then I suppose you would call this last 

 hive of yours a good one." 



"Yes, I do; and I came over to ask you if 

 you think I would be making a mistake in 

 making my old hives over like these." 



"I do not think you would, for having the 

 brood extend to the top- bars of the frames 

 in the hive is one of the great secrets in 

 cow6-/io«e2/ production; and I claim that the 

 main reason for your new hive being a good 

 one is because you can thus secure the brood 

 in the frames. Few seem to realize that, 

 unless the hive is so filled with brood at the 

 commencement of the honey harvest that it 

 comes out to the frame-bars in the most of 

 the combs, there is no assurance of a good 

 crop of honey, no matter how profusely the 

 flowers bloom, nor how abundant the secre 

 tion of nectar in those flowers " 



'*But do you think that the brood touching 

 the top-bars to the frames has all to do with 

 it?" 



"No, not altogether I always thought 

 that this brood coming up to the top-bars 

 caused the bees to enter the sections as soon 

 as any nectar was coming in from the fields, 

 on the principle that it is nature's way for 

 the bees to store their honey above the brood. 



But this does not entirely control their go- 

 ing into the sections. There is something 

 else which has a great bearing on this part 

 of the matter." 

 "What is that? " 



' ' Unoccupied comb. Plenty of unoccupied 

 comb in the brood-chamber, at the com- 

 mencement of the honey harvest, means that 

 there is not apt to be plenty of honey in the 

 sections. Bees will always store honey in 

 any comb which is completed (and not oc- 

 cupied in some other way) before they will 

 go to building comb, or even drawing out 

 foundation in the sections; and as long as 

 there is such unoccupied comb in the brood- 

 chamber they will commence to store honey 

 there, no matter how much we may wish it 

 otherwise; and having once started storing 

 in the brood-chamber they are always more 

 or less reluctant about going into the sec- 

 tions." 



"1 supposed the trouble was that the bees 

 had to pass over the honey in going into the 

 sections." 



"That had some effect, without doubt; but 

 that was not the whole trouble. To give 

 the best results the combs remaining in the 

 brood-chamber at the commencement of the 

 honey-harvest should be literally filled with 

 brood, which term I use broadly; for where 

 brood is in abundance, there must also be 

 some pollen and honey to supply the wants 

 of that brood; and where no more is on hand 

 than is needed for the wants of the brood 

 from day to day, such honey and pollen are 

 virtually the brood. But, above this, there 

 should be room for nothing at the commence- 

 ment of the harvest. Empty cells of comb, 

 even to the amount of storing five pounds of 

 honey, will tell to the disadvantage of the 

 section honey. With the hive or brood- 

 chamber literally full of brood, as explained 

 above, at the commencement of the harvest, 

 the bees viust put their first loads of nectar 

 in the ' baits, ' which should be in the first 

 super of sections put on such hives; and with 

 the storing of this first nectar in these baits, 

 work is at once begun in the sections sur- 

 rounding these, the oomb foundation being 

 drawn out where the sections are filled, or 

 work on the starters progressing finely where 

 only starters are used; and having once thus 

 begun in the supers, the work is continued 

 to the end of the harvest." 



"Well, there is more to that part than I 

 had imagined, even in my enthusiasm." 



"Before we leave this matter let us consid- 

 er unoccupied combs in the brood-chamber, 

 and see what happens. With the unoccupied 

 comb the bees will commence storing their 

 first loads of nectar in the unoccupied cells; 

 and when these are nearly full the cells will 

 be drawn out or lengthened all through the 

 hive, which unfits them for the rearing of 

 brood; and as youn^ bees emerge next to these 

 drawn-out nectar-filled cells the brood-cells 

 will be drawn out, thus crowding out the 

 queen more and more, till at the end of the 

 season we have little honey in the sections 

 with few bees in the hive for winter. Now 

 this makes all the difference imaginable be- 



