1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



945 



THE PROPER CARE OE 

 ING-COMBS. 



EXTRACT 



Does it Pay to Give the Bees Wet Combs? 



Feeding Colonies for Winter; Thick 



Sugar Syrup Recommended. 



BY E. D. TOWNSEND. 



I formerly practiced spacing our combs after 

 the last extracting, and criss-crossing them out of 

 doors for the bees to clean up, as this was the way 

 some advised. In some cases a part of the combs 

 would not be cleaned by the bees as usual. When 

 these were given to the bees to be filled the next 

 season, we never could see any difference in the 

 quality of the honey, whether the combs were 

 cleaned or not. Some of the honey left in the 

 combs candies, while the rest apparently disap- 

 pears; at any rate, none shows up in the honey at 

 extracting time. I take the precaution to gi\e 

 combs, from which dark honey had been extract- 

 ed, to the bees, before the season opens, as I 

 have explained heretofore. I used to tliink I was 

 doing the bees a favor by giving them these wet 

 combs to clean outdoors; but now I'm very sure 

 it is an actual damage to thtm rather than a help; 

 for with their mad scramble for the honey, they 

 use up valuable vitality, and this, too, at a vital 

 time late in the season, when all their strength is 

 needed to carry them through the winter. Then 

 I would rather have the honey left in the combs 

 than have that dirty purging smeared over the 

 stories and frames. The bees are so eager for the 

 honey that thev overload, thus causing them to 

 purge before taking wing. 



Upper stories set back on the hives are cleaned 

 all right; but the honey is stored right back in 

 the same combs, so this method is a failure. 



Toward the end of summer, or in this location 

 early in September, bees begin to curtail brood- 

 rearing. When this is going on, and as the 



brood-nest begins to grow smaller and smaller 

 each day, instinct teaches the bees that a period 

 of rest is in store for them. At this time they 

 manage the interior of their hive as if they had 

 lull knowledge of the rigorous winter that is in 

 store for them, for, as the brood hatches out for the 

 last time in the fall, they busy themselves carry- 

 ing honey from the outside combs and filling in 

 those cells made vacant by the hatching of the 

 bees. This carr\ing-in process of honey from 

 the outside combs is continued until there is as 

 much as ten pounds of honey placed in these 

 empty cells in the middle of the brood-nest. If 

 the honey in these outside combs is of good qual- 

 ity, all is well; but if it is of an inferior quality, 

 and the colony does not winter perfectly, there is 

 likely to be trouble. 



Knowing of these conditions, and of the in- 

 stinct of the bees, we take advantage of this peri- 

 od to feed all colonies that are short of honey 

 for winter stores. If the honey in these outside 

 combs is of an inferior quality we have fine re- 

 sults by feeding every colony ten pounds of su- 

 gar syrup. After the last extracting, the yard Is 

 gone over and the colonies " hefted " to see if 

 they have stores enough to last them until the 

 main honey-flow of the next June. Any colonies 

 falling short of 25 lbs. are marked "short," and 

 the amount of stores necessary to bring the weight 

 up to 30 lbs. is marked on the hives. In estimat- 

 ing the amount of stores needed, but few colonies 

 are looked into — just enough colonies are looked 

 into to get the run of how they are as to amount 

 of stores. Colonies with very old combs are 

 much heavier than new swarms; and taking this 

 into consideration it does not take long to get on 

 to the knack of estimating very correctly, since 

 all the new colonies are marked. 



Knowing the amount of stores needed, it is 

 best to buy 15 to 20 per cent less of granulated cane 

 sugar than the amount that is to be fed. The 



APIARY OF GEO. W. MORRIS, IN CORN ISH VILLE, KY. 



