JANUARY 15, 1913 



45 



General Correspondence 



THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING YOUR LO- 

 CATION 



How the Absence of Pollen in the Breeding Season 

 in the Spring May Ruin a Whole Apiary 



BY A. B. ilARCHANT 



For the past fifteen veal's I have been 

 keeping bees for profit. I have kept from 

 500 to 1000 colonies in tlu-ee yards, running 

 mainly for extracted honey, having ship- 

 ped as mucli as 50 tons in one season. I 

 have always reared my own queens, and 

 the past two seasons I have gone into com- 

 mercial queen-rearing, which has led to the 

 discovery I am now writing about. 



Last March The A. I. Root Company 

 contracted with me for a carload of tln-ee- 

 frame nuclei and a carload of ten-frame- 

 hive colonies of bees. 1 knew tliis was a 

 big undertaking; but. as the bees were not 

 to be sliipped until I had gathered the sea- 

 son's crop it seemed to me there would be 

 a good profit in it. I accordingly made 

 pi-eparations to ship them; but before I 

 made either sliipment I had young laying- 

 queens ready to take the place of those that 

 were sliipped Avith the order. The hives 

 from which I shipped those bees were left 

 with about a tlu'ee-frame nucleus. I inrnie- 

 diateh" gave each a laying queen and began 

 feeding to start brood-rearing. I then left 

 the bees with my helper, and was gone for 

 over a month, expecting to come back and 

 find them in fine order, when, to my sur- 

 prise, I found about one hundred dead and 

 swarmed out. Upon investigation 1 found 

 that the bees were destroying the eggs as 

 fast as the queens could lay them. 



1 saw at once that something would have 

 to be done immediately. I examined all 

 apiaries near me, and found the bees weak, 

 and queens not laying, on account of no 

 pollen coming in. I have always known 

 that my locality is short on pollen after tl;e 

 honey flow is over; but I had no idea it was 

 as bad as this. So I decided the only chance 

 for me Avas to buy bees and strengthen 

 what I had left. So I began to look out 

 for bees. ]\Iany times I have heard the bee- 

 keepei-s 15 miles south of me say they had 

 swarms in Febniary and March, and plenty 

 of brood up till November; so I at once 

 called on some of these men, and examined 

 their apiaries. I found their bees in fine 

 condition. I purchased one yard Avith 65 

 colonies and borroAved 50 from another bee- 

 keeper, and began to give out the In-ood to 

 my weak ones. I had been in the business 

 for fifteen vears, and for the last ten veai-s 



I Avell kneAv that pollen Avas my difficulty 

 in getting my bees strong in time for the 

 honey-floAv. I also kneAV that the beekeepers 

 south of me built their bees up earlier than 

 I did ; but on account of my location being- 

 better for honey than those south of me I 

 paid no attention to them. 



After all th^e years I have found Avhat 

 I have needed in my oAvn locality, and a 

 Avay to get it. I am now moving my bees 

 to these locations, and Avill keep them there 

 until the first of April, Avhen the tupelo 

 bloom is open, then move to my present 

 location and stay till June 1. then moA'e back 

 and stay till next April. In this Avay I can 

 get a crop of tupelo honey, build my bees 

 up for Avinter, and at the same time have 

 an ideal place for queen-rearing and the 

 shipping of bees by the pound, and nuclei 

 of any size. This location I iDurchased Avith 

 the 65 colonies. The oAvner tells me that 

 he has drones flying in February and some- 

 times has SAvarms during the same month. 



Tliis place is located on an island; and, 

 Avith the exception of one small apiaiy, it 

 is five miles from any other bees; so it is a 

 fine place for queen-rearing and pure mat- 

 ing of bees. 



Sometimes it pays one to get into trouble. 

 In this case I believe it AA'ill pay me. It goes 

 to shoAv it pays one to study his location 

 and find out where the trouble is, and then 

 try to overcome it. 



Sumatra, Fla. 



A NEW CURE FOR BEE PARALYSIS 



A Disease Resembling Bee Paralysis Relieved by 

 Feeding Syrup Containing a Physic 



BY AA\ A. BARSTOAV 



Some may laugh at the strange treatment 

 that I gave my bees Avhen tliey Avere sick, 

 but nevertheless my plan Avas a success. 

 The bees in one of my colonies Avere dying 

 in large numbers, their abdomens being 

 unusually large; and Avhen I picked the'^i 

 up in my hands a slight j^ressure would 

 cause them to excrete a large amount of 

 yellow liquid, AA'hich, Avhen diy, looked like 

 pollen. The bees trembled as though in dis- 

 tress, and it occurred to me that tlie intes- 

 tines might be clogged. 



My theory is this: "When plenty of honey 

 is coming in, the bees may shoAV no sign of 

 sickness; but later in the summer or fall 

 the bees may get some honey containing 

 pollen that miglit be poisonous, or that has 

 soured, or groAvn moldy to a certain exent ; 

 so that, Avhen they feed on it, it is in tl;e 



