1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



345 



When the members of the National convention asked him to 

 make a series of observations to determine the facts regaiding 

 tome disputed points, no better man from training and experience 

 could have been selected; and we think onr readers will agree 

 with ns that it is fortunate that he happened to reduce his find- 

 ings to writings before he died. — Eu.] 



During the National convention at Harrisburg, 

 I, among loine others, was directed to observe 

 closely the action of colonies storing honey in 

 •upers, with a view to ascertaining, if possible, 

 just how the bees manage this important part of 

 their domestic economy. 



Having given considerable time and some 

 study to the subject assigned to me for investiga- 

 tion I am now ready to make a report.* 



My observations have all been made with fair- 

 ly strong colonies in normal condition; and it is 

 my belief that natural conditions prevailed dur- 

 ing all the time of making my observations. 



In view of my findings I am forced to believe 

 that, during a heavy honey-flow, bees of all the 

 flying ages, even down to the nurse stage, are 

 sent afield in as large numbers as can be spared 

 from the brood during the warmer hours of the 

 day. If cool, damp, lowering, or windy, how- 

 ever, the field bees carry on only the work of 

 honey-getting, while the youngsters stay in the 

 hive to keep up the temperature. It is the young 

 bees only that store away the honey in the su- 

 pers, under normal conditions. The field bees 

 bring the raw nectar to the hive and deposit it in 

 the combs of the brood-chamber wherever cells 

 are available. Some is given to the young bees, 

 to be sure (more to set them on the right track to 

 the field, I believe, than for the purpose of stor- 

 ing); but it is mainly placed in the cells of the 

 brood-combs to be later removed, when partially 

 ripe, by young bees, to the store-combs. If the 

 combs below are filled or partially occupied, the 

 partly cured honey naturally goes into the super. 



Some little ripening of honey progresses during 

 the day by the heat of the sun and the bees; but 

 the greater part of the ripenirg is done at night 

 by vigorous and continuous fanning by the en- 

 tire colony. I have visited my bees night after 

 night to ascertain the amount of time needed to 

 reduce honey to keeping consistency; but the 

 time varies with the amount brought in during a 

 given day. At times the fanning is continued 

 until morning, while at other times it may stop 

 at midnight or an hour or two later. I am con- 

 vinced that the raw nectar is mainly placed di- 

 rectly in the brood-combs; for, go at any hour 

 you may to a super, and only young bees will 

 be found at work there, excepting, of course, the 

 few old workers on the " gluing job " — they may 

 be seen at all times. The young bees are con- 

 stantly lifting the partially ripe honey from the 

 brood-combs up into the super, and the field bees 

 are constantly refilling the cells in the brood- 

 chamber emptied by the young bees. The nec- 

 tar gathered to-day is lifted as partially ripe hon- 

 ey into the super the next or perhaps the follow- 

 ing day (this I demonstrated by coloring mate- 

 rials on several different occasions). Many bee- 



* Where I ose the word " super " will apply just as well to 

 '■ store comb " or combs at the sides of a brood-nest. The 

 same may apply also to the upper part of any or all the brood- 

 combs, where bees naturally place their ripe stores, gradually 

 crowding the brood dow.nward until it finally occupies but a small 

 portion of the combs at the lower parts or corners. I use the 

 term " super " in the text as being convenient and well under- 

 stood by all. The correct term is store comb. 



keepers have noted how much thinner the honey 

 is in the brood-combs than that found in the ex- 

 tracting-combs during any given flow. 



During quite cool nights, few if any bees re- 

 main in the super much after midnight; but they 

 reoccupy the super as soon as the sun is again 

 high, which goes to show that the warmth of all 

 the bees is needed in ripening the nectar below, 

 and that the new honey above is at keeping con- 

 sistency, or it would not be neglected. The heat 

 of the sun and the constant fanning of the venti- 

 lators reduce the honey to that thick ripe consis- 

 tency, after which it is gradually conveyed to the 

 store combs; and, when thoroughly ripe, it is 

 sealed by the wax-workers and middle-aged bees. 

 When once stored, honey is not handled again 

 by the bees, but is allowed to thicken in open 

 cells. 



To aid our bees in ripening the extracted hon- 

 ey, therefore, a black " paroid " roofing to draw 

 the heat of the sun would seem an advantage in 

 cooler climates. To hold the heat and to prevent 

 its escape at night, a deep telescoping cover with 

 black covering is an aid to bees in comb-honey 

 production. 



When sweets are available, those first finding 

 it do not deposit it. They use it as a signal to 

 the other bees, feeding it right and left to all at 

 hand as they rush over the combs. If the flow 

 of the sweet keeps up, every member of the colo- 

 ny is given a taste; then depositing begins, and 

 will continue until the end of the flow from that 

 given source. Slow colonies may be started on 

 a flow by shaking some of the new honey of oth- 

 er colonies over its combs. 



Swarthmore, Pa., Feb. 22, 1909. 



PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR 

 BEGINNERS. 



What to Do Just Preceding the Honey- 

 Flow; the Importance of Having Plenty 

 of Stores to Last Until the Main Honey- 

 Flow Begins. 



BY E. D. TOWNSEND. 



Immediately following fruit-bloom there is an 

 interval of about three weeks before the clover- 

 flow, when there will probably be bo honey com- 

 ing in in the northern States; and at the begin- 

 ning of this interval, providing the weather has 

 been favorable, so that the bees could work on 

 the fruit-bloom, the hives are heavy with brood. 

 If the beginner will remember that, during the 

 three weeks preceding the honey-flow from clo- 

 ver, there will be more brood in the combs than 

 at any other time in the year, and that nearly 

 the whole force of workers that gather the sur- 

 plus-honey crop are reared during the six weeks 

 preceding the clover season, he will better under- 

 stand what I shall have to say a little later. 



The conditions favorable to brood-rearing dur- 

 ing the six weeks preceding the clover-flow are 

 very important; but I think I am safe in saying 

 that not half the colonies in the country are pro- 

 vided with these favorable conditions. Every 

 good colony should have at least 12 pounds of 

 honey in the frames for breeding purposes at the 

 end of fruit-bloom. Colonies medium in size, 

 that is, those light in bees and brood, may need 



