132 



April, 1914. 



pounds or, vice versa, the less capping, 

 the heavier the yield. However, cap- 

 ping cannot be entirely provented, but 

 the more we can restrict it the greater 

 the gain. The same principle applies 

 alike to extracted and comb honey. 



To explain the philosophy of the 

 foregoing assertion I refer the reader 

 to the accompanying photograph. It 

 represents four broad frames, gener- 

 ally called section-holders, filled w-ith 

 four sections each and each of the 

 latter supplied with full sheets of 

 extra thin super foundation and bot- 

 tom starters, in the different stages 

 of development. They wore taken 

 from the supers during and after the 

 buckwheat flow, selected with a view 

 of the desired stages of progress, but 

 otherwise taken as they averaged. So 

 far, there is nothing new in the pic- 

 ture, the same conditions can be 

 found in almost any apiary where 

 comb honey is produced, but the point 

 the picture does not show is this: 

 It takes bees as long to do the work 

 from 3 to 4 as it does from 1 to 3, 

 while the gain in the latter case is 3% 

 lbs. against % lb. of the former. (Al- 

 though these figures are the actual 

 weights of the four frames taken as 

 an illustration, they would vary prob- 

 ably several ounces with any other 

 similar set.) For the full super of 24 

 sections the difference would be 19% 

 against 4% lbs. 



It does not require very deep figur- 

 ing to see that when bees are doing 

 the capping from 3 to 4 they are sim- 

 ply wasting precious time of the 

 honey flow. To make the most of the 

 season, bees must not be allowed to 

 do more capping during the honey 

 flow than shown at 3. Less would be 

 more profitable. The stage half-way 

 between 2 and 3, when the combs are 

 fully drawn out and filled, ready for 

 the capping, should be our aim. 

 When this point is reached, it is a 

 simple matter to get unfinished sec- 

 tions like number 3 finished between 

 and after the honey flows. Bees have 

 nothing else to do during these per- 

 iods, and to keep them from "loaf- 

 ing." likely enough study up mischief 

 in the way of swarming, they can be 

 kept busy finishing the work they 

 have begun. Such a term as "un- 

 finished sections," against which our 

 experienced comb honey i)roaucers 

 always caution the beginner, need not 

 be found in the vocabulary of the 

 bee keeper. Every section can be 

 finished, all we need is a good bee 

 feeder and the necessary feeding ma- 

 terial to feed. The bottom row, 4, 

 was finished by feeding after the 

 buckwheat flow had ceased. 



It will be noticed that those four 

 sections are not fully bound with 

 capi)ed honey. I prefer them that 

 way for the same reasons that Mr. 

 G. M. Doolittle so ably described in 

 a recent article. I therefore need not 

 say anything on this point. If full- 

 bound sections are desired, a little 

 more time on the hives will accom- 

 plish the object. 



The question, where and how to se- 

 cure the required feeding material 



American "Bee Journal 



brings us to the second principle of 

 my method, namely: No apiary can 

 be run for extracted or comb honey 

 exclusively if best results are die- 

 sired. The two must go hand iH hand, 

 one must assist the other. This is 

 as essential, if doubling the yield is 

 our aim, as it is for the dairy man to 

 keep horses. He must have teams to 

 run his dairy farm, just so with the 

 production of honey. If we are comb 

 honey specialists we need a small 

 percentage of our colonies say from 

 5 to 10%, according to circumstances, 

 to produce the necessary feeding ma- 

 terial, and if extracted honey is our 

 main force, a like number of colonies 

 must be set aside to transform the 

 unripe extracted honey, which will 

 accumulate by my method, into comb 

 honey.. This seems at present the 

 most advantageous use for this pro- 

 duct. 



The third principle, which my ob- 

 servations have brought out, is this: 

 When the production of extracted 

 honey is our choice, we must see to 

 it that all colonies have empty combs 

 in at least one super at all times dur- 

 ing a honey flow. I firmly believe, 

 that a prime, merchantable quality of 

 this article can be produced only by 

 being ripened and capped on the 

 hive, even If it is done at the expense 

 of a heavier yield. A few empty 

 combs when bees are capping will 

 partially make up this loss. It gives 

 them a continual chance for storing. 

 I am inclined to believe, that a much 

 greater quantity of extracted honey 

 can be taken from a colony by the 

 same method as outlined for the pro- 

 duction of comb honey than by the 

 usual management. Instead of over 500 

 lbs., which my best colony, spring 

 count, has produced this last season, 

 1000 lbs. may be reached. This is 

 one of the points I intend to settle 

 the coming season. 



The fourth principle, and probably 

 the one that brings me in antagonism 

 with many beekeeping friends is the 

 most essential. No bee yard, whether 

 home or out-yard, can be left two. 

 three or more weeks at a time to 

 shift for itself and yield a paying 

 crop. The bee keeper must be with 

 his bees at least once every three or 

 four days, oftener is better. My meth- 

 od, which may be termed "intense 

 management," makes this obligatory. 

 It may seem like spending a great 

 deal of time with our bees and there- 

 fore objectionable. When I explained 

 my management to a beekeeping friend 

 he said: "I consider so much 'fuss- 

 ing' with bees unnecessary." Well, 

 it is unnecessary if we are satisfied 

 with the usual 40 or 50 lbs. But if we 

 wish to double and treble our yield, we 

 have to put forth the effort; the let- 

 alone-plan will not do it. At the 

 same time, this same beekeeper will 

 spend precious time travelling the 

 highway back and forth, day after 

 day, carting bees, hives and material 

 of all kinds from one place to an- 

 other, all hard, unpleasant work, that 

 does not increase the yield of his 



bees one single ounce, while a little 

 better management of fewer bees 

 would greatly increase his returns. 



Another beekeeper says: "With the 

 performing of certain operations the 

 work of that ward is done for fifteen 

 days'.' A great mistake! That bee- 

 keeper does not get one-half the reve- 

 nue from his yard, that a little closer 

 attention would secure. 



In the foregoing I have simply out- 

 lined the skeleton of my method. A 

 detailed rehearsal of management 

 would occupy too much space for this 

 article. It will be given later. 

 La Salle, N. Y. 



An Unknown Power 



BY A. F. BONNEY. 



IN A RECENT number of the "Out- 

 look," ex-President Roosevelt gives 

 an account of his visit to the Hopi 

 Indians in Tusayan, and includes a de- 

 scription of the Snake Dance, in which 

 he makes some remarkable guesses. 

 First, that the venom of the Crotalus 

 of Arizona is not as deadly as that of 

 the rattlers of the South, that the In- 

 dians dope the snakes, or have a power 

 over them similar to that " some men 

 have over bees." He asserts he knew 

 a man who had this power over rattle- 

 snakes, and could handle them with 

 impunity, which was an odd claim for 

 a man of Mr. Roosevelt's mental cali- 

 ber, for no man alive ever had any 

 "power" over the cold-blooded ani- 

 mals other than that attained by "tam- 

 ing " them. 



I have in my short time on earth 

 known three of these " Snake Charm- 

 ers," and all of them were bitten re- 

 peatedly, and one died. These reptiles 

 were so stupid they did not know one 

 person from another, and I handled 

 some of them as freely as did the 

 owner, but not long at a time. 



As to an unknown power possessed 

 by some men over bees, I think the 

 statement will make all beekeepers 

 grin. I did, while I have much respect 

 for Mr. Roosevelt and his attainments. 



I, 15 years ago, spent a good deal of 

 time in Tusayan, the home of the Pu- 

 eblo Builders, as we call them, the 

 remnant of a civilization older, I firmly 

 believe, than ancient Egypt, or older 

 than the Garden of Eden. From the 

 evidence to be found on every side I 

 believe our great southwest was in- 

 habited as early as was any part of 

 Eurasia. In the lava on the mountain 

 side are the remains of a house. This 

 flow of melted rock was cold untold 

 ages ago. The Cliff Dwellings were 

 deserted when Coronado with liis sol- 

 diers went north seeking tlie Seven 

 Cities of Cibola, as was the Casa 

 Granda, a communal house so old that 

 even the present inhabitants of the 

 country have no tradition of its build- 

 ers. I have seen the Snake Dance 

 twice, and both times saw Indians 

 struck by rattlers, and the men did not 

 quit the dance, yet, believe me if you 

 can, an hour later there was hardly a 

 mark to show where the fangs went 

 into the llesh. 



A reason for it ? There must be a 

 cause for all tilings. Having never 

 seen the Indians catching the snakes. 



