102 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



FtB 15 



BEE-KEEPING IN THE 

 SOUTHWEST 



By Louis Scholl 



Learn to cut doivn when uncapping, instead of 

 using that unhandy upward stroke. 



The bees were never in better condition at this 

 time of the year in the Lone Star State than they 

 are this spring. 



■4>- 



Better packages for our next honey crop should 

 be considered by every bee-keeper who ships hon- 

 ey. We do not care to have the railroads raise 

 the freight rates. 



If one has not ordered his supplies for the com- 

 ing season he should do so at once, and during 

 his spare time get them put together so as to be 

 ready for the honey-flow when it comes. 



they averaged from 20 to 25 lbs of honey, while 

 those with only third and half sheets averaged 

 only about 10 to 15 lbs. This taught us a les- 

 son; and hereafter we shall use full sheets under 

 all conditions. 



It costs about 20 cents per super for full sheets; 

 and by putting in half-sheets, we saved 10 cents 

 per super. In six days' time the difference be- 

 tween the two in honey stored was fully ten 

 pounds in favor of the full-sheet supers. This 

 was comb honey, and averaged 12 cents per pound, 

 making $1.20 per super, or a loss of $1.10 above 

 the 10 cents saved on foundation. The colonies 

 that fell behind on this account remained behind 

 the rest of the season. The test was a very con- 

 clusive one, as the two yards were among the 

 best we had, the colonies unusually even in 

 strength and ability, and the flow an extra good 

 one of long duration. With a poorer flow the 

 results might have been worse. The supers were 

 hastily put on at random, just as taken from the 

 wagon, without paying attention to which had 

 full sheets or only starters. 



WAX SECRETION, AND ITS EFFECT ON THE AMOUNT 

 OF HONEY STORED. 



There are times when the bees secrete more 

 wax than at others — during a good honey-flow, 

 for instance, or in the case of booming colonies 

 in the spring that have their hives full of honey 

 from the previous year and are required to handle 

 it, making room for the queen, etc. At such 

 times I have found comb-building cheaper than 

 otherwise, and have often taken advantage of 

 that fact in making the bees draw out combs for 

 future use. 



At the very beginning of the honey-flow, or 

 even before, every colony in our yards is suppli- 

 ed with a shallow super of drawn combs to catch 

 the first honey that comes in scatteringly, and in 

 too small quantities to cause comb-building to 

 any great extent. If we did not do this we should 

 lose some honey at this time. A little later a 

 comb-honey super with full sheets of foundation 

 is added under the one containing the drawn 

 combs. By this time the bees are secreting wax 

 plentifully, which is shown by the whitening of 

 the combs in the first super, and comb-building 

 is begun on this foundation at a rapid rate, wax 

 secretion being on the increase as the flow ad- 

 vances. 



For years we supplied all supers given after the 

 first two just mentioned, with only half-sheets of 

 foundation, because we thought that the addition- 

 al foundation was not needed, since the bees were 

 secreting wax involuntarily, and that the extra 

 wax used in full sheets would, therefore, be a 

 loss. Last year, however, we had an experience 

 that seemed to upset these conclusions. We were 

 putting on supers with full sheets of foundation 

 all the way through, mainly because we had it; 

 but, on account of delay in a shipment, we ran 

 short, and only half-sheets of foundation were put 

 in 50 supers or more. As there was a good hon- 

 ey-flow still on, and the bees were working well 

 in their third supers, secreting wax at a rapid rate, 

 we thought it would not make any diflterence. 

 But it did make a difference; for in six days' time 

 all the supers with full sheets of foundation were 

 fully drawn out, and, upon careful estimation, 



HOW WE "shake ENERGY INTO BEES." 



There are several ways of " shaking energy " 

 into bees. One is by going through all colonies 

 some time previous to the honey-flow and scrap- 

 ing all the frames of burr-combs and propolis, 

 taking out all drone comb and replacing it with 

 worker comb or foundation, and doing a dozen 

 other things for the welfare of the queen and the 

 colony. Do this during a spell of warm weather 

 when the bees are booming, and watch the results 

 from then on. 



Bees can also be brought into the same condi- 

 tion if moved from one place to another. 



In using the divisible-brood-chamber hive the 

 same condition is obtained by "cutting" up the 

 colony at various times to accomplish certain ef- 

 fects desired. To stimulate breeding, the upper 

 and lower stories of the brood-chamber may be 

 exchanged. This tears up the colony, and the 

 brood nest is rearranged by the bees, which has 

 a stimulating effect on them. Late the two shal- 

 low stories are exchanged again, and one with 

 empty combs is slipped in between them to "knock 

 swarming in the head." Just before the honey- 

 flow they are torn up again, as the two lower 

 stories (there are three now for the brood-cham- 

 ber) are exchanged again. The top story, which 

 is now partially filled with honey, so that the 

 bees are crowding out the brood, is raised up, 

 and a new super with foundation placed under 

 it. This makes still another shaking; and, how 

 those bees do work! 



The first shaking occurs when the spring ex- 

 amination is made, and it stirs up the bees be- 

 cause the cluster is torn open, and burr-combs, 

 etc., broken, when the cover and the upper and 

 lower stoies are separated or tilted back. Then 

 the scraping of the frames, etc., as enumerated, 

 follows in rotation. Except for the scraping of 

 the frames, these are never handled again in any 

 of the other shakings, preceding or following. 

 Several of the same kind of shakings take place 

 during the honey-flow when putting on or remov- 

 ing a super; and I must say our hive is the best 

 adapted to shaking energy into bees with the 

 least labor. 



