1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



731 



The hive was set outside, and then the re- 

 sult of artificial heat, out of season, became 

 apparent. That queen had been through 

 her season of laying, and now claimed a very 

 natural and well-earned rest; while the bees, 

 being all quite young, with no element of 

 hardy adults among them, made no attempt 

 to pull up, as do unmolested stocks when 

 starting off after their long winter rest. The 

 fact was, the "vim " was not there, and, for 

 all intents and purposes, that stock was 

 about worthless for the new season's work. 



COLONIES IN A WARM ROOM WITH ENTRANCES 

 OPENING OUTSIDE. 



I have in early spring applied heat to stocks 

 standing with free entrances to the open 

 air. The bees would expand, and a large 

 brood-nest would be developed; but ulti- 

 mately there was no progress, for the simple 

 reason the adult bees were induced to fly 

 too frequently, and many would be lost or 

 worn out too quickly.* 



The queens, as will always be found the 

 case, having started too early and too rapid- 

 ly, are not in position to continue at high 

 pressure just at the period their best work 

 IS required. In this connection it should not 

 be overlooked that, with stocks strong and 

 healthy, and in normal condition, the queen 

 claims a short and much-needed rest, in 

 mid-season, by the act of swarming. She 

 deposits few or no eggs for a day or two be- 

 fore swarming, hence with non-stimulated 

 and reduced ovaries she is able to fly with 

 the swarm — an act otherwise impossible. 

 For a week or ten days thereafter she is not 

 again forced to her full capaciiy, the short 

 rest having been very beneficial. 



HEAT APPLIED IN SEASON. 



When not applied too early I have found 

 artificial heat somewhat beneficial. The ap- 

 plication should be made just after bees are 

 developing normally, and when plenty of 

 natural pollen is to be found in fairly mild 

 weather. Under these circumstances the 

 general progress is rapid, and with such ap- 

 plied heat bees are ready for the supers in 

 from two to four weeks earlier than usual. 

 It is evident that comb-building is then car- 

 ried on more quickly than without artificial 

 heat during an early honey-flow. 



WARMING THE SUPERS. 



Even where the actual stock is not thus 

 subjected to artificial heat in season, a judi- 

 cious warming of the supers, where cold 

 nights are the rule, will add largely to the 

 apiarist's profits. Combs are built at an as- 

 tonishing rate, and the bees always find 

 plenty of room in the supers, and, moreover, 

 the work being continuous, the queen is 

 left free to follow her natural inclination 

 among the stock comSs, and a larger popu- 

 lation is naturally the result. 



For drawing out section (or other) founda- 

 tion prior to the honey-flow, I have frequent- 

 ly advised the use of a hot brick wrapped in 

 flannel; and also flat hot- water tins, cased in 



* If youne bees hatched in winter can not fly within 

 a reasonable time they die off wholesale. 



enamel cloth and wrapped round with warm 

 material. These are placed on the super; 

 and with gentle feeding many sections can 

 thus be got ready for the honey-flow, insur- 

 ing rapid work when the food time comes. 

 Of course a lamp- heated boiler would be 

 more effectual, and a small proportion of the 

 colonies kept would prepare enough drawn 

 combs for the whole apiary. The object is 

 not to prepare a lot of combs with deep cells, 

 but to get them " started " without being 

 stored, just as if a holder with sections were 

 placed between brood for twenty-four hours 

 — another effective plan of obtaining drawn 

 section combs. 



Many American friends procured my pam- 

 phlet of 1886, and they will remember the 

 stress therein laid upon the importance of a 

 systematic preparation of whole sets of 

 drawn combs in all sections ready for the 

 current season's harvest. 



ARTIFICIAL HEAT VERSUS NATURAL DEVEL- 

 OPMENT. 



It is apparent, from my own experience, 

 that there is no profit, but a decided loss, in 

 causing bees to breed to a great extent dur- 

 ing winter, or too early in spring. I prefer, 

 and I have no doubt most practical owners^ 

 prefer, a colony that will sit still, do no- 

 breeding, and therefore consume but little 

 store, until the first great flight when nat- 

 ural pollen can be gathered in abundance. 

 From that moment a higher temperature is 

 developed naturally, the queen begins to 

 feel her power under the general (and 

 genial) stimulus of awakening life, and the 

 adult hardy workers do not appear to dimin- 

 ish in numbers until there are enough young 

 sufficiently hardened to take up the burden 

 of a whole hive full of brood. 



CONFINED BEES PRODUCING WAX. 



My greenhouse experiment reminds me 

 that at a little later date (1886) I confined a 

 3-lb. swarm in a large canvas-covered room 

 for the purpose of determining the quantity 

 of honey that would be required in produc- 

 ing a pound of wax. Until that period it 

 had been asserted that twenty pounds of 

 honey were lost for every pound of wax the 

 bees were compelled to produce; and down 

 to quite a recent date some authors (who 

 knew of my experiment) have continued to 

 publish that exploded theory. 



The bees flew freely in the canvas room, it 

 being in autumn; but they had no access to 

 either pollen or water, beyond the slightly 

 diluted honey I fed them for the purpose in 

 view. I gave the process in detail in "A 

 Modern Bee-farm," and the ultimate result 

 was that I found it required some 6^2 lbs. of 

 honey to produce 1 lb. of wax. This was 

 beautifully white, with no trace of a yellow 

 tinge when molded into one block. Under 

 free and favorable conditions, doubtless less 

 than five pounds of honey are really requir- 

 ed in secreting that quantity of pure wax, 

 free from pollen. With wax at 35 cts., that 

 would be 7 cts. per lb. for honey; conse- 

 quently, wax is not, apparently, produced at 

 a profit by the modern bee-keeper, though 



