118 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 16, 1905. 



best and most suitable manner for their purpose. For this 

 reason it is important to look after the condition of the 

 brood-nest also. 



Provide the colonies with plenty of stores — for winter ? 

 No, not only, but for next spring also. Many a time a col- 

 ony has had enough to live on during the winter, only to 

 starve during the early spring until the honey-flow arrives. 

 This is a decided loss. It retards the progress of the colo- 

 nies to such an extent that they are not in shape to do the 

 best possible work when the required time comes. 



WINTERING THE COLONIES. 



Such a subheading looks strange in an article on South- 

 ern bee-keeping ; nevertheless there is more truth in it 

 than may be supposed, for we winter our bees in the South 

 as well as elsewhere, or at least we should do so. This does 

 not mean bee-cellars or chaff-hives, and the like, but it 

 means that the bees are to be prepared for the winter just 

 as outlined above, with sufficient stores, and every colony 

 in good condition, with plenty of young bees. Very little 

 else is necessary in the South during winter. If they are 

 protected from the north and exposed to a southerly loca- 

 tion, it is all the better. 



The extracting-supers are left on the hives the entire 

 year, and usually contain some honey as part of the winter 

 stores. Later in the spring they are used for brood-rearing, 

 thus providing additional room for the queen ; and large 

 hives prevent swarming. Still later, when this room is not 

 occupied with brood any longer, and more honey is being 

 brought in than is used by the bees, it is stored in these 

 supers, thus preventing the clogging of the brood-nest, 

 which so often happens if only a single-story hive is used. 

 Thus, the extracting-supers have an advantage for three 

 purposes if left on the hives — for containing an extra 

 amount of honey for winter stores ; in providing additional 

 room for brood-rearing ; and furnishing room for storing 

 early honey. 



THE HONEY-FLOWS. 



In my own locality, and many others, some honey is 

 coming in more or less during early spring, and brood- 

 rearing goes on rapidly, so that colonies soon become very 

 populous. Brood-rearing is begun very early, the queens 

 quite often not ceasing their egg-laying at all, in which case 

 some brood is present during the entire year. Therefore it 

 is possible to have strong colonies very early, and ready in 

 plenty of time for the coming honey-flow. The first flow 

 comes in April, from mesquite, and is the one toward which 

 we are building our colonies during the early spring. They 

 should be so managed that they will be in the best possible 

 condition for this flow — strong in bees of the right age for 

 gathering the nectar. Upon this depends the profit of 

 keeping bees. 



SWARMING AND PREVENTION. 



With everything favorable, swarming might be ex- 

 pected early from such populous colonies, and such will 

 appear as early as the month of February in some years — 

 sometimes later — and often lasting until June or July. This 

 is what we want to prevent if we have an early flow and ex- 

 pect any surplus. For a later flow it may be best to force 

 them to swarm instead of preventing it, as the two, if built 

 up, might store more surplus than if they were not in- 

 creased. This would be the better plan perhaps if increase 

 is desired. The swarms might be natural or artificial. 



SWARMING CEASES WHEN FLOW BEGINS. 



If the colonies can only be kept populous and swarming 

 can be prevented until the honey-flow has begun well and 

 the bees have gone to work in earnest at storing surplus 

 honey, then we shall have conquered so much of the prob- 

 lem._ The bees devote their whole time and attention to the 

 storing of honey, and seem to forget all about swarming — a 

 fact which is entirely different from those existing else- 

 where, especially in the North where the colonies swarm 

 right in the midst of the honey-flow, leaving the hive with 

 supers of sections only partly completed, much to the vexa- 

 tion of the bee-keeper. 



There are two ways of preparing your bees for the sur- 

 plus honey-flow for the best results, when such comes early 

 in the season. One is by preventing swarming altogether, 

 and the other is done by preventing swarming up to a cer- 

 tain time, but forcing them to the swarming condition just 

 before the flow, and then practice " shook swarming ". Of 

 these more will be said later, as space here does not allow 

 me to dwell upon it as fully as I would wish to. 



Brazos Co., Tex. 

 [To be continued.] 



(£onr>cntton 

 Procccbings 



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J' 



ONTARIO BEE-KEEPERS' CONVENTION. 



REPORTED ?Y MORLEY PETTIT. 



The Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association held its 2Sth 

 annual meeting in Toronto, in connection with the Provin- 

 cial Fruit, Flower and Honey Show, Nov. IS, 16 and 17, 1904. 



The secretary read the minutes of the 24th annual meet- 

 ing, which were approved and signed by the president. 



Pres. J. W. Sparling's address was then presented, 

 after which Mr. Morley Pettit read the following paper on 



EXTRACTED MONEY. 



The main products of our industry are comb honey and extracted 

 honey; and in this country we produce the latter much more exten- 

 sively than the former. It will be seen, then, that my subject is 

 almost as broad as the business itseU. It naturally falls into two 

 main divisions : I. The production of extracted honey. II. The care 

 and sale of extracted honey. 



The quantity and quality of honey produced depends upon: 



1. Weather. 2. Locality. 3. Bees. 



1. Weather is beyond our control ; but a careful study of condi- 

 tions extending over several years enables one to forecast with some 

 degree of accuracy, and plan operations accordingly. 



2. Locality must be chosen and studied with equal care. The 

 nature of soil, flora and climate are of the utmost importance. The 

 soil should be moist, though not cold, and flora of the honey-bearing 

 varieties. It is desirable to have honey coming from early spring until 

 late fall with two or three sharp intermissions, when bees may kill 

 drones and lose the desire to swarm. 



3. I spol;e of weather, locality and bees, meaning by the latter: a. 

 Race or breed of bees. b. Condition of bees. 



a. There are three races of bees which play an important part in 

 Canada : Italians, Carniolans, and blacks. Blacli bees are the most 

 common, and have their good qualities and their champions. They 

 are, however, too excitable to be handled comfortably, and do not 

 defend their hives well from robber-bees and moths. Tlie Carniolans 

 are handy and prolific. They breed up rapidly in spring; but are 

 great swarmers. The Italians are quiet and good workers, defend 

 their homes well, and are not so much inclined to swarm. 



6. The condition of bees would include style of hive and manage- 

 ment. As we strive for uniformity in the apiary, or set of apiaries, so 

 throughout the Province, country and bee-keeping world, the standard 

 hive should, as far as possible, be adopted. That is the Langstroth 

 hive. For the production of extracted honey I prefer the 12-frame 

 Langstroth hive, with supers of the same size. A good queen will 

 occupy this brood-chamber with brood until the fall flow, when she 

 will slacken her operations enough to allow plenty of winter stores to 

 be crowded in at the sides. 



There is nothing about a hive so Important as the queen. She is 

 the heart of the colony. From her comes the life-blood, as it were — 

 the young bees to take the place of those which are wearing out and 

 dying. With a good, vigorous queen the brood-chamber is kept full 

 of brood in all stages, from the egg to the young bees emerging from 

 the combs. A populous, energetic colony is assured, ready for any 

 honey-flow that may come. A poor queen allows the circle of brood 

 to become smaller and smaller, and the bees get " lazy " according to 

 the old idea. That is, they dwindle in numbers, lose ambition, and 

 store but little honey. The sooner such a queen is replaced the better. 



But the thing most to be dreaded is queenlessness. The bees are 

 working and growing old, while none are hatching to talie their place. 

 The combs of the brood-chamber which should be bright and filled 

 with eggs and brood, take on a forsaken appearance, and soon become 

 choked with pollen and honey. I am convinced that if it can possibly 

 be avoided a hive should not be one week without a laying queen at 

 any time. With the present scientific methods of queen-rearing, and 

 the low price at which queens can be obtained, one should always 

 have a few extra queens, of his own rearing or coming by mail, to use 

 in emergencies. The queen-condition of every colony must be care- 

 fully watched at all seasons of the year, but particularly in preparing 

 for winter. 



The year around management has a direct bearing on the amount 

 of honey produced. During the fall flow every colony is assured a 

 good queen, good worker combs in the brood-chamber, and plenty of 

 stores for winter. In preparing for winter, remember first that in 

 cold weather bees must supply their own heat to keep the hive at a 

 living temperature. They also must breathe like any other animal. 

 Third, their breath is laden with moisture. Fourth, as in any other 

 city of from 30,000 to 50,000 inhabitants, the death-rate is considerable. 



The spring management is quite as important as the winter. It is 

 then the breeding-up for a honey-flow is done, and two points particu- 

 larly must be observed. By all means provide plenty of stores, and 

 conserve the heat of the hive. By the beginning of fruit-bloom most 

 colonies should be ready for a super. At the opening of white clover 

 and alsike in June, the dark honey of the previous fall and present 



