392 THE HANDBOOK FOR PRACTICAL FARMERS 



duction supers should not be added too fast or the bees will not 

 fill the sections nicely. Obviously during the honey-flow the 

 bees need care and unless they can receive it it is better not to 

 have them. There is, however, little work on the farm which 



pays better for the time 

 spent than does beekeeping. 

 In years when there is little 

 honey the bees require little 

 attention, except to see that 

 they do not starve, so that 

 the beekeeper works when it 

 pays him best. 



Race of bees. — There are 

 several races of bees, but 

 there is none which sur- 

 passes the Italian. The com- 

 mon black or German bees 

 are exceedingly poor and 

 should not be tolerated in 

 the apiary. Care is neces- 

 sary in keeping the bees 

 pure, for there are usually 

 plenty of colonies of black 

 bees in the woods or in 

 poor apiaries and the young 

 queens may mate with the 

 inferior drones. By culling 

 out the hybrid stock the bee- 

 keeper can keep his bees 

 pure bred. 



Diseases of bees. — Men- 

 tion was made of two serious 

 diseases of bees. Both are 

 bacterial diseases which at- 

 tack the developing brood 

 and not adult bees. Hidden 

 thus in the hive, they often escape the notice of the unobservant 

 beekeeper. The beekeeper should constantly watch for any 

 dead or discolored brood, and if any is found he should send a 

 sample to the Department of Agriculture for examination. It 

 is better, however, to know something about the diseases in 

 advance. It is wise to make inquiry of thorough beekeepers in 



Fig. 203. — A ten-frame hive with comb-honey 

 super and perforated zinc queen ex- 

 cluder. — U. 8. Dept. of Agriculture. 



