lAY 15, 1913 



349 



Heads of Grain from Different Fields 



Extracting Close and Feeding; the Price of Bee- 

 yard Labor 



With our plan of producing extracted honey, the 

 bees and brood are kept together thi-oughout the sea- 

 son. At the last manipulation the queen with a 

 small patch of brood is put into the lower story with 

 an excluder over it ; and all the surplus chambers, 

 filled with the brood and empty combs, are put on 

 over the excluder. With this plan the brood-chamber 

 never becomes clogged vrtih honey ; and the question 

 is, What is the best method to employ in getting 

 winter stores to a colony ? Whenever we believe the 

 last honey gathered from basswood to be ripe, we 

 begin the work of extracting. When the supers are 

 taken off, the brood-chambers have all the way from 

 a very little to about twenty pounds of honey in 

 them. In this locality the flows following the bass- 

 wood run barely supply the daily consumption of a 

 colony. 



Our object in writing is to learn if our method of 

 carrying a colony over into the next season, to a 

 time when the bees can gather what they consume 

 every day, is as practical and efficient as any that 

 could be employed, so far as feeding is concerned. 

 By exchanging combs with the bees we aim to sup- 

 ply our lightest colonies with at least ten pounds of 

 honey at the time of extracting, and two full combs 

 of honey are set aside for next spring's feeding. 

 Early in September we begin the work of feeding 

 up for winter, with a feed made up of the following 

 proportions : boiling water, 1 part ; cane sugar, 2 

 parts ; 1-3 as much honey as water. We are well 

 equipped with large feeders that hold more than any 

 colony will ever need for winter stores. The wagon, 

 used for transporting the feeding outfit, is arranged 

 to carry 100 feeders, the necessary sugar, honey, 

 and a water-heater of 160-gallon capacity. The ca- 

 pacity of the heater allows the heating of sufficient 

 water to make feed enough for an apiary, and still 

 leave room for a rack which can be set at varying 

 heights from the bottom of the boiler, and on which 

 the five-gallon cans containing the honey for feeding 

 can be set and heated. By means of a large gate, 

 boiling wat«r is drawn from the heater into a large 

 mixing-tank, and the honey and sugar added. The 

 feed from the mixing-tank is also drawn, by means 

 of a large gate, into large graduated pails having 

 large snouts to facilitate pouring the feed. The water 

 is put on to heat, and is ready for use by the time 

 the feeders are on the hives ; and, with two men 

 working with a vim, a large number of colonies can 

 be fed up in short time. 



Colonies run for extracted honey are always in 

 more or less need of winter stores ; and to supply 

 this want by giving them combs of honey in the fall 

 seems impractical to us, therefore we adopted the 

 plan outlined above. Then, too, we can buy sugar 

 of excellent quality for feeding purposes at $1.50 

 below retail prices. We use powdered cane sugar 

 that is swept up on the floors of the sugar-mills. 

 This sugar is free from dirt, but contains about one 

 per cent of starch. 



We are great believers in an abundance of stores ; 

 and your candid opinion, on our method of supplying 

 winter and spring stores, will be cheerfully received. 

 We could have given you a great deal of detail, but 

 did not think it necessary. This will be the first 

 season when we shall have to employ outside help ; 

 and as we are not posted on the wages beekeepers 

 have to pay, we should like to ask you in regard to 

 this also. What wages could an intelligent, trust- 

 worthy man who works steadily with the speed of 

 an average person, and who can do very satisfactory 

 work of all kinds in the workshop, and carry out 

 any kind of orders in the beeyard, but who has not 

 had sufficient training to take the initiative, be paid 



per month, including good home, board, and wash- 

 ing, in a locality where farm hands receive 130.00 

 and dairymen from $35.00 to $40.00 per month? 

 Again, how much more per month can a beekeeper 

 demand than a farm hand, other things being equal? 



E. L. HOFMANN. 



.Janesville, Minn., March 25, 1913. 



[The plan outlined seems to be correct so far as 

 we can see. There are only two ways by which you 

 can supply a colony with stores after extracting. 

 One is to equalize stores by changing combs, and 

 the other is to feed. But in your particular case it 

 would be more practicable to extract close and then 

 feed. 



Your method of feeding seems to be all right ; but 

 did you ever try the plan of making up the feed at 

 home, and pouring it into 60-lb. square cans ? A 

 wagon is necessary to carry your melting-apparatus, 

 sugar, and honey. You can carry all the syrup you 

 need in square cans unless the yard is very large. 

 By so doing you will need to carry only one- third 

 more of the actual bulk in water. It sometimes 

 transpires that it is inconvenient to get water at an 

 outyard. If there is a dearth of honey it is im- 

 practicable to make the feed at the outyard, any 

 way. However, we employ both methods, making the 

 syrup at the yard ; but more often we find it con- 

 venient to carry the syrup, and then it can be given 

 to the colonies while hot. 



The question of beeyard labor depends somewhat 

 in outside labor, as you suggest. A competent man 

 in the yard, one capable of going ahead alone, who 

 knows how to put colonies in condition for a har- 

 vest as well as extracting and taking off comb honey, 

 will command about double the price of ordinary 

 labor. In some cases you may have to pay three 

 times as much. A thoroughly competent man who 

 can manage a series of yards so as to make money 

 for his employer is hard to find, for the reason that, 

 if he can earn money for the other fellow, he will 

 prefer to be his own boss, and make the profit for 

 himself. — Ed.] 



Uniting by the Alexander Plan Not Always a Suc- 

 cess ; Mating Queens from an Upper Story 

 Generally a Failure 



Is the Alexander plan of placing weak colonies 

 over strong ones in the spring for the purpose of 

 building up, a recognized success? Is anybody get- 

 ting virgin queens mated in the second story over a 

 queen-excluder ? With me, both schemes are failures. 

 Last summer I got lots of queens hatched in the 

 upper story (over queen-excluders), but not one 

 fertilized. In less than a week they disappeared. 



This spring I put weak colonies over strong ones 

 — i. e., Alexander's plan. Four days later I found 

 queens of weak colonies all right, with a big force 

 of bees. Two weeks later I found no eggs, no un- 

 sealed brood, no queen, except in one instance, 

 where the queen of a weak colony was doing fine 

 work ; but the queen below the excluder had been 

 killed. 



Dixon, Cal., March 17. J. T. Bowen. 



[The Alexander plan of uniting is not a success 

 in the hands of every one. Some have succeeded 

 very nicely with it, while others have met with fail- 

 ure. In some instances, at least, this failure is due 

 to the fact that the directions given by Mr. Alexan- 

 der have not been strictly followed. For example, 

 he specifies that the two lots of bees — the weak and 

 the strong colonies — should be put together, one on 

 top of the other, very gently, so as not to disturb 

 them. If too much smoke is used, or if the bees are 

 disturbed, the queen in the upper hive \vill be de- 

 stroyed. It is also very important to have a little 

 brood in the upper story. If the nucleus is so weak 



