OCTOBER 15, 1913 



727 



of diseased honey in tlie hive has been re- 

 duced. 



Now, I am not going to pose as an expert 

 in foul-brood matters, for I do not believe 

 I ever had more than five colonies with the 

 disease at one time in an apiaiy. I think 

 1 have had that ; but I am very much afraid 

 of it, and extremely anxious not to become 

 any more familiar with it from a practical 

 standiDoiut. In order not to be a menace to 

 others, as well as not to spread it in my 

 own apiary, I have read all that I thought 

 worth reading about it, and have thought 

 a good deal upon the subject. 



The danger comes from the infected hon- 

 ey the bees take up and carry in their honey- 

 sacs. Why, then, not do all one can to 

 prevent them from getting any of this hon- 

 ey? Some combs, owing to propolis, and 

 on account of the way they are built into 

 the frames, and even attached to the sides 

 of the hives, are so difficult to remove that 

 the bees might almost get full honey-sacs 

 before tliey are separated from their stores. 

 Almost any hive, however, can be made 

 more convenient for action. Where the 

 colony does not occupy all the combs in the 

 hive, all surplus combs can be removed — 

 in fact, all that have no brood in them, or 

 perhaps even more. The two outside combs 

 can in any case be removed, and then when 

 the bees do not expect it the beekeeper can 

 go there with what help he can muster, 

 smoke the bees if at all cross, or give little 

 or no smoke if they are gentle (but better 

 smoke the bees than work slowly). The 

 combs can be seized quickly, the bees shak- 

 en off by every operator, and in that way 

 the danger of transmission of the disease 

 be overcome because the bees get little or 

 no chance to fill themselves. 



I am still a strong advocate of brimston- 

 ing the bees if there are only one or two 

 diseased in a large apiary. This is not 

 necessary; but I always feel that it is a safe 

 way, and I am no stranger to that method 

 of treatment, and under such circumstances 

 I am in favor of burning the comb. 



Brantford, Canada. 



BEEKEEPING ON HILLCREST FRUIT FARM 



BY S. H. BURTON 



As bees are considered a necessary ad- 

 junct to a fruit-farm for the proper pol- 

 lination of bloom, my first investment as 

 soon as my berry plants and trees began to 

 bloom was five colonies of bees. The bees 

 were in eight-frame dovetailed hives, and 

 were knocked down to me at a jjublic sale 

 at $2.00 per stand. 



They were purchased in October; and as 



the honey-flow was practically over I at 

 once moved them to my farm and prepared 

 them for winter by removing the sections 

 and filling the supers with leaves and chaff, 

 first spreading a cloth over the brood-frames 

 to prevent the packing from going down 

 between the frames into the brood-chamber. 



One colony was lost on account of being 

 queenless. The other four wintered finely 

 in an oi3en shed with outside packing. 

 These four colonies have never swarmed, 

 although I have owned them for three years. 

 However, this little experience gave me the 

 " bee fever," and I have since built up my 

 apiary by jjurchase, swarms, and increase, 

 till now I have 24 colonies. 



Up to July 1 the honey crop was im- 

 mense, some colonies filling a super in ten 

 days. The extended drouth for the past 

 two months has shut oft' all sources of sujj- 

 ph', and it now looks as though I might 

 have to feed in order to winter through 

 safely. Buckwheat was sown the middle of 

 July, but it has been so dry that a great 

 deal of the seed has never sprouted. How- 

 ever, a beeman is hard to down, so I still 

 live in hojDes of better luck ahead. 



Having read about requeening and in- 

 troducing, I decided to try my hand at 

 introducing new blood into our apiary, and 

 also see what I could do in the way of mak- 

 ing artificial increase. Two queens were 

 ordered, and the directions for introducing 

 to a queenless colony were followed. The 

 cage was slii:)ped down between the frames, 

 and was left 24 hours. Upon examination it 

 was found that the bees had not released 

 the queen, so she was turned loose, and ran 

 down between the frames. The next day 

 an insiDection was made, and no queen was 

 to be found. 



With the second queen I had better suc- 

 cess. Artificial increase was tried here; 

 and instead of introducing the queen to the 

 bees I did just the reverse — introduced the 

 bees to the queen. A frame of honey was 

 removed from a hive, and only about three 

 dozen bees with it. This was placed in an 

 empty hive with the rest of the frames 

 containing full sheets of foundation. The 

 entrance was closed, and left for two days. 

 Then the cover was removed ; and my queen, 

 (vhose wings had been clipped, released. 1 

 then went to a strong colony having a full 

 super of honey, and removed the super, 

 bees and all, and placed on my hive con- 

 taining the new queen. I left the entrance 

 closed until the next morning. In 24 hours 

 after opening the entrance those bees were 

 carrying in pollen, and every thing was as 

 orderly as could be. This, too, w^as during 

 a drouth, and no robbing. 



Washington, Ind. 



