March IS, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



165 



bees handling^ their old stores, but shifting- the brood has 

 its effect under either condition, and is well worth the 

 trouble to accomplish it. I g-ot this idea several years ago, 

 and have largely practiced it ever since. If a colony had 

 the fronts of all their combs filled with brood, and the 

 backs of all, or nearly all, empty, when the honey-flow 

 starts the first stored goes right to those back ends ; but 

 just turn the hive at that time and get the brood to the 

 back, and they will store in sections rather than put honey 

 so close to the entrance, and between it and the brood. 



To have empty comb next the entrance, and the brood 

 back of it helps quite niateriallj' to lessen swarming. I 

 know from experience that dry comb placed below and for- 

 ward of the hrood. just at tlw bcginningoi the flow, will very 

 largely control swarming when running for extracted 

 honey. I have practiced it. Of course, this is not practi- 

 cal in producing comb honey, but in a comb-honey colony, 

 if there must be empty comb in the brood-chamber when 

 the honey-flow starts, have it as much as possible between 

 the brood and the entrance. Thus arranged, much of the 

 honey that would have been put in this comb had it been 

 back, will be put above in sections. 



Referring again to those colonies that failed to get a 

 good start in early spring, and so are not able to get to 

 proper strength when the flow begins, it is well to help such 

 just as soon as others are strong enough to spare help for 

 them. Remember that the weak colony is not in need of 

 brood, it is bees they want. Give them bees and the queen 

 will very soon get the brood. The queen has simply been 

 held back because she had not workers enough to care for 

 the brood, and when she has the bees, is ready to supply 

 the eggs. I suspect that many a good queen has been con- 

 demned (blindly) because she did not have a good, strong 

 colony when she was not at fault at all. 



I say give the weak colony bees. My method of giving 

 the bees varies according to circumstances. Usually I find 

 and give a comb, from some strong colony, that has a 

 goodly patch of brood from which the bees a.rejust emerg- 

 ing. There should be bees enough emerge in a short time 

 after the comb is given to care for the rest of the brood in 

 that very comb and keep it from chilling, for the trouble 

 with the colony is that it has not bees enough to care for 

 what the queen can already supply. In two or three days 

 the larger part of this ripe brood is hatcht, and the queen is 

 supplying the vacated cells with eggs. 



Another way is to bring bees from an out-yard, if such 

 you have, bringing them in a wire cage and hiving them in 

 just at dark or nearly so. They should be sprinkled with 

 sweetened water, or in some way made to fill their sacs so 

 that all go in loaded. If the weather is cool, hive them in 

 both full of honey and so nearly chilled that they are glad 

 to get in out of the cold, thus the danger of having the 

 queen killed is reduced to the minimum. In putting 

 strange bees into a colony always have both those added 

 and those in the hive being added to, full of honey. Also 

 try as much as possible to add young bees ; old ones will be 

 far more likely to kill the queen. 



In localities where there is little or no honey brought 

 in before the main harvest begins, it is a good plan to try 

 to have each colony almost out of stores just the last few 

 days — say a week to 10 days — before the flow begins. This 

 keeps down the disposition to get the swarming-fever, and 

 it is a great gain to have all come right up to the flow with- 

 out thought of swarming. 



If, however, there is a light flow for some days or weeks 

 just prior to the main flow, then it is almost out of the 

 question to have that " semi-starvation " condition, and so 

 much harder to keep the swarming under control. The 

 next best thing to the short-stores plan is to have adjust- 

 able brood-chambers so that they can have plenty of comb 

 and ventilation, the surplus comb to be removed at once 

 when honey is coming in freely. The difficulty with the 

 extra-comb supply is to keep the queen from spreading her 

 brood too much ; not getting too much of it, but getting it 

 scattered into too many combs. Larimer Co., Colo. 



Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the 



copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent 

 by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee 

 Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and 

 thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00 

 for your Bee Journal subscription a full year in advance, 

 we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it. 



The Wild Aster in North Carolina. 



BY W. H. I'KIDGKN. 



IN reading Mr. Schmidt's excellent description of wild 

 aster, on page 785 (1899), I was struck with what I sup- 

 pose is another peculiarity. Judging from the date of 

 blooming in Ohio compared with that of this place, it be- 

 gins North as soon as the right atmospheric conditions pre- 

 vail, and keeps pace with those conditions southward, 

 altho the young shoots for next year's growth are now 

 forming around the old stems at the ground, and the further 

 South the longer the season for development. 



Here it begins to bloom in September and lasts until 

 late in November, varying with the seasons. I^ast year our 

 bees commenced storing rapidly Oct. 5, and continued a 

 month before there was any evidence of a hold up, except 

 from an occasional rainy day, the peculiar odor referred to 

 being very pronounced. 



When the flow from it is light, the honey sometimes has 

 a strong or bitter flavor ; at other times it is good, and es- 

 pecially if extracted and allowed to candy, which it does 

 quickly. 



It flourishes best on moderately dry alluvial soils, or 

 good uplands that are cultivated every third year. The 

 first year after the land is cultivated, it is thinly set, but 

 the bunches present seem to attain their full growth, while 

 the second year nearly everything else is crowded out, and 

 while in bloom it presents a field of whiteness. 



Where the conditions are the same, some plants bloom 

 much earlier than others, and the time of blooming is has- 

 tened or delayed by the different conditions or kinds of soils, 

 and the surroundings also, which supplies a prolonged, 

 continuous flow from this source. 



The cultivation of only a small plot of land two years 

 in succession, altho it may be surrounded by or in a lot, 

 treated as above described, throws matters out of joint, and 

 the spot can be detected for several years, even if so treated 

 only once, and afterwards remains unbroken for two years. 

 This is true, altho one year's cultivation apparently de- 

 stroys it root and branch. 



It furnishes excellent early grazing for cattle or sheep, 

 and is seldom seen on pasture lands. On roadsides and in 

 fence-corners, waste-places, etc., where the land is neither 

 broken nor continuous grazing allowed, it thrives for years, 

 possibly from the same roots, but finally yields to the laws 

 of nature, and gives place to something else. 



Years ago I regretted to see frost during the time of its 

 bloom, but I have learned that light frosts do not injure it 

 in the least, and that heavy dews and cool nights are con- 

 ducive to the best yields, while hot, dry or windy weather 

 has the reverse efi'ect. 



Like other plants, it sometimes fails to yield nectar at 

 all, but can usually be counted on for at least a little help. 

 I think many of my colonies stored at least SO pounds each 

 from it the past season. Warren Co. N. C. 



York's Honey Calendar for 1900 is a 16-page pamph- 

 let especially gotten up to create a demand for honey among 

 should-be consumers. The forepart was written by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, and is devoted to general information concern- 

 ing honey. The latter part consists of recipes for use in 

 cooking and as a medicine. It will be found to be a very 

 effective helper in working up a home market for honey. 

 We furnish them, postpaid, at these prices : A sample 

 free ; 2S copies for 30 cents ; SO for SO cents ; 100 for 90 

 cents ; 2S0 for $2.00 ; SOO for $3.S0. For 25 cents extra we 

 will print your name and address on the front page, when 

 ordering 100 or more copies at these prices. 



" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is 

 the name of the new bee-keeper's song — words by Hon. 

 Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is 

 thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr. 

 Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can 

 furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies 

 for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for 

 sending us one new yearly subscription to the American 

 Bee Journal at $1.00. 



