JANUARY 15, 1918 



Heads of Grain from Different Fields 



Making Increase and Honey at the Same Time; 



Feeding Candied Honey as a Winter Food; 



Camiolans Excessive Swarmers 



I have 20 stands of liees (Italians), and want to 

 build up to at least 100 the coming season, at the 

 same time getting what honey I can. I have planned 

 to set aside a few hives to work for increase, divid- 

 ing as soon as I safely can in the spring, and by so 

 doing leave half or more of my bees to harvest un- 

 disturbed what honey they can. 



From the time the first willows start in April until 

 the last of the sweet clover and goldenrod is killed 

 by the frost in October we have no time when pollen 

 and nectar can not be found if the bees can fly. 



I have some 175 lbs. of thick honey, candied, that 

 I am holding for stimulative feeding, but have had 

 no experience; in fact, the past is my first season's 

 work with bees. I was fairly successful in building 

 up by separating into two-frame nuclei, and either 

 providing a queen-cell or eggs and larvae. I am 

 using Danzenbaker ten-frame hives, but shall change 

 to the double-walled of the same dimensions. 



Can you give me any hints that will steer me clear 

 of the pitfalls I am apt, as an amateur, to fall into ? 



Are you still of the same opinion regarding the 

 Carniolans, as when the 1908 edition of the ABC 

 book was published? 



I don't enjoy the " glue " left on the frames in 

 the fall, nor do I want to fight swarming all of the 

 time. The last is all that keeps me from trying the 

 Carniolans, and doing away with the Italians. 



Ironside. Ore., Dec. 15. A. W. Axthoxv. 



[Your plan of dividing your colonies by running 

 one portion for honey and the other for increase is 

 correct. It is usually a mistake to try to secure in- 

 crease and honey both from the samie set of colonies, 

 although there are some seasons when a heavy flow 

 of honey will enable the apiarist to secure both in- 

 crease and honey. 



For the best methods of increase we would refer 

 you to the subject of " Increase " in our ABC and 

 X Y Z of Bee Culture. The Alexander plan has 

 much to commend it. 



Your locality is exceptionally favorable, for it is 

 seldom indeed that bees 'will be able to secure some- 

 thing, either pollen or honey, whenever they can fly. 



Your candied honey can be given to the bees di- 

 rect, providing it is not dry and hard. In fact, 

 feed in that form is an excellent thing to give to 

 bees either in the North or South. In your climate 

 there is danger that your candied honey wiU " run " 

 and daub the bees. We would advise putting it in 

 wooden butter-dishes or on paper pie-plates, so that 

 in case it becomes mushy the receptacle will hold it 

 until the bees can take care of it. 



In a general way we are not able to give you 

 hints as to how to avoid pitfalls: but if you are a 

 beginner we would suggest that you read " Spring 

 Management," " Robbing," and " Feeding," in our 

 A B C and X Y Z of Bee Culture. 



Our opinion concerning Carniolans has not chang- 

 ed since the 1908 edition of our ABC and X Y Z 

 of Bee Culture was put out: and while the edition 

 of 1913 contains new matter and fuller details as 

 to their undesirable as well as their desirable traits 

 in the line first mentioned, we can not make the 

 emphasis too strong that Carniolans are the most 

 inveterate swarmers of any strains of bees we have 

 ever tried. Last year our sixty or seventy colonies 

 of Carniolans at our waterworks yard gave us more 

 trouble in the matter of swarming, twice over, than 

 our five other yards of Italians combined. Ordinary 

 methods of swarm control will not work with Carni- 

 olans. For the production of comb honey they would 

 be very undesirable, for the simple reason that the 

 ordinary methods of comb-honey production would 



cause them to swarm excessively; but in the hands 

 of some experts Carniolans are excellent for the 

 production of extracted honey. We would, however, 

 advise the average beekeeper to try a few of them 

 in a yard by themselves before he invests in them 

 largely. We should much prefer the leather-colored 

 Italians for all purposes, to either Carniolans or 

 Caucasians. The latter are about as bad for swarm- 

 ing as the Carniolans. In these days of out-apiaries 

 it is desirable to have a strain of bees that will 

 swarm as little as possible. The ordinary leather- 

 colored Italians will give as little trouble in this re- 

 spect as any. 



The bee-glue deposited by the Italians is nothing 

 compared with the amount deposited by the Cauca- 

 sians. The Carniolans are only a little better than 

 good Italians in the amount of bee-glue they use. — 

 Ed.] 



Ideas for Up-to-date Honey-house Wanted 



I started five years ago with a few stands of bees 

 as a side line to ranching, and they have increased 

 until now they take up practically all my time dur- 

 ing the summer. 



The expansion of the business makes it necessary 

 to build a new honey-house in which I desire to put 

 all up-to-date equipment for both comb and extract- 

 ed honey. 



I should like to have, through the medium of 

 Gleanings, plans for building, location of doors 

 and windows, and placing of equipment for conven- 

 ience of work and economy of floor space. I can 

 obtain water power from a nearby irrigation ditch 

 to run saw, extractor, and other machinerj-, and 

 should be pleased to hear from experienced persons 

 as to some manner of installing. 



Cedaredge, Colo. Gale H. Patterson. 



[There have been other inquiries of a similar na- 

 ture. We should be glad to hear from those who 

 have had experience. — Ed.] 



Outdoor Feeding for Supplying Winter Stores 



This fall I began looking over my colonies early 

 in October, and found a number of colonies that 

 had not over a pound in the hive. 



I took a burlap sack that was woven tight, and 

 made it about the size of a stove-pipe, and about 30 

 inches long. Then I made some half-and-half syrup, 

 and when it got cool I poured it into this sack and 

 hung it out in a tree about ten rods from the api- 

 ary. Then I put a dish under to catch the drip. In 

 this way the weak ones could get their share. 



Swartz Creek, Mich. Charles Burton. 



[While the bees of weak colonies get some of the 

 syrup when outdoor feeding is practiced, they do 

 not get as much in proportion. For this reason the 

 safest plan is to feed each colony individually, to 

 an extent depending upon the needs of each. — Ed.] 



How Many Hives Needed to Provide for Increase? 



Last year I started an apiary in June with 15 

 three-frame nuclei of pure Italians. The bees built 

 up strong by fall without help, and made about 300 

 pounds of surplus honey. I wintered them in an 

 ideal bee-cellar, under my residence, with no loss. 

 They came out strong last spring. They increased 

 to 36 good strong colonies, and produced for me 

 2000 lbs. of surplus comb honey in one-pound sec- 

 tions. Last year was a very poor one for honey in 

 this locality, but the season was very good this year. 



I put my bees out on summer stands last spring 

 on April 8. I put them in last fall, Dec. 19. This 

 fall I put them in Dec. 8. My hives will weigh from 

 70 to 90 pounds now. They are all ten-frame dove- 

 tailed hives. 



