Oct. 19. 1905 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



727 



-V Contrtbutcb -f 

 Special Clrticles 



Bee- Keeping on a Large Scale 



BY ADHIAN GETA7, 



THE question is sometimes asked whether a bee-keeper 

 ougfit to add some other occupation to the keeping of a 

 moderate number of colonies of bees, or increase the num- 

 ber of colonies by adding apiaries. I will not undertake to 

 •discuss that question this time, but take for Ejranted that the 

 decision is to keep more bees and have a number of out- 

 apiaries. 



I suppose that it is admitted that the income from a sin- 

 gle colony is necessarily limited, and at the present prices of 

 honey not very great; and that if anything like a liberal rev- 

 eneu is to be derived from bee-keeping alone, a large number 

 of colonies is the first requisite. With the large number 

 comes the necessity of adopting short cuts, and what might 

 be termed a method of wholesale manipulation. In this paper 

 I propose to describe briefly the methods or management fol- 

 lowed by some of our largest bee-keepers The information I 

 have condensed here is chiefly taken from the articles lately 

 published on the same subject in the Bee-Keepers' Review. 



Mr. E. D. Townsend, of Michigan. 



Mr. Townsend believes in using large hives, not less than 

 10 Lang&troth frames, anyway. The colonies are wintered 

 oucof-doors, either in chaff hives or packed in chaff-packing 

 cases. Each colony should have enough honey in the fall to 

 go through the winter and build up freely during the spring. 

 He estimates 2S to 30 pounds. He says that with plenty of 

 honey in the spring the bees will build up better than with 

 less, and all the spreading of brood-nest and stimulative feed- 

 ing that could be conjured. 



The upper stories are put on about June 1 ; that is, about 

 two weeks before the main flow of honey. The strongest col- 

 onies receive two upper stories. This abundance of room (I 

 suppose already built combs are given) prevents swarming 

 altogether, or practically so, so that no watching for swarms 

 is needed. 



A first e.vtracting is done about July 1. The honey then 

 is all from clover, and Mr. Townsend wants as much as pos- 

 sible of pure clover honey, as the price is higher. But for 

 that the extracting might be postponed. In August the main 

 extracting is done, the honey then bsing a mixture of clover 

 and basswood. 



The essential is to have always plenty of empty combs on 

 every colony. The apiarist should have enough combs and 

 upper stories so as not to be obliged to extract in a hurry 

 during the flow. Mr. Townsend puts about 100 colonies in 

 «ach yard, the yards being quite far apart. He says that in 

 some localities the honey may be missing, while 25 or 30 miles 

 away there may be a crop. With out-apiaries far apart, one 

 or the other will give a crop almost every year, and insures a 

 regular income. He does not make any increase, as he thinks 

 it is cheaper to buy than to rear bees. If any moving is to be 

 done, it is done preferably in May. As his apiaries are on 

 rented grounds, he puts on every one a honey-house con- 

 structed so that it can be taken apart, moved "in the flat," 

 and reconstructed easily. As there is no watching for 

 swarms, he prefers to have the bees sufficiently far from the 

 houses or highways so as not to have any trouble. Weak 

 colonies are left to themselves to build up — never united. 



Mb. E. F. Atwater, of Idauo. 



Mr. Atwater's locality has only poor and rather uncertain 

 flows. For that reason be produces only extracted honey. 

 The bees are wintered either on the summer stands where a 

 windbreak is available, or in light, open sheds, facing south, 

 with two tiers of hives in each shed. The sheds keep the 

 hives dry, and protect them from the high winds prevalent 

 in that State. No packing is needed, as the winters are mild 

 ■enough to dispense with it. 



All colonies must have an abundance of stores and bees in 

 the fall, for the frequent flights, with large consumption of 

 stores, will usually result in the loss of all weak colonies dur- 

 ing the winter. 



He prefers a large hive, and thinks that even the Draper 



barn is hardly large enough. He doesn't want any self-spac- 

 ing frames in the upper stories, as there they should be placed 

 further apart than in the brood-chamber, to save time in un- 

 capping and extracting. He prefers plain frames, hanging 

 on casing nails. About May 10 shallow cases are added to 

 the colonies that may need them. Some equalising is done. 



Between June 1 and June 10 enough supers are put on to 

 hold the first flow of alfalfa. If any colony is crowded below, 

 one or two combs of brood are raised in the supers and re- 

 placed with empty combs. Plain zinc excluders are placed on 

 every colony. 



The first flow from alfalfa is extracted completely in July. 

 The extracting outfit is hauled from yard to yard in a special 

 wagon. Escapes are not used. The alfalfa honey is so thick 

 that it must be extracted while warm from the hive. The 

 second flow from alfalfa is extracted in August. The supers 

 are then stacked in the yard and the bees allowed to clean 

 them. Owing to the abundance of room but very few colo- 

 nies swarm during the first flow, and these are among those 

 superseding their queens. No swarming takes place during 

 the second fiow, not even in crowded colonies or those super- 

 seding their queens. Mr. Atwater produces some comb honey 

 also. 



Mr. R. C. Aikin, of Colorado. 



Mr. Aikin prefers wintering bees out-of-doors packed in 

 chaff. The colonies should be strong and have stores enough 

 to last until Mav 1, no matter how much brood might be 

 reared before that date. This packing is left until quite late 

 in the spring in order to protect the early brood against the 

 changes of weather. A visit is made about April 1, to ascer- 

 tain the condition of the bees, to feed those that might be 

 short of stores, and to unite the queenless ones with some 

 others. His locality fails to produce pollen early, and there is 

 but little nectar to be gathered until the main flows. So flour 

 is given early if there is need. On account of brood-rearing 

 each colony consumes from 40 to 60 pounds of honey from the 

 fall to the main flow. And it is important that brood-rearing 

 should be carried to the full extent, this being encouraged as 

 much as possible. The queens are all clipped. 



During May some colonies will get so strong that they 

 might swarm. To all such an additional story is given under 

 the brood-chamber. About 5 days before the flow opens a 

 super with sections full of foundation and one or two baits is 

 given to each colony, so they get used to it before the flow 

 comes. When it comes, the additional stories are removed, 

 and more supers are put on so that each colony has from three 

 to five (his supers holding 28 sections). The queens are all 

 removed. The queen-cells are cut out at once, and again 8 

 days later. A few colonies are set apart for building cells. 

 After the other colonies have been 4 or 5 days without un- 

 sealed brood, these cells are given them to requeen. The 

 young queens begin to lay during the latter part of the flow, 

 and thus cause the honey accumulated in the brood nest to go 

 "upstairs." When needed, supers are added below those 

 partly worked, except near the end of the flow, when they are 

 put above. The flow in this locality lasts from 40 to 60 days. 



This process to prevent swarming and keep the bees to- 

 gether is the same as used by Messrs. Elwood & Hetherington, 

 except in one respect: When they remove the queens they 

 take one or two combs with each and form as many nuclei. 

 Then 16 days after removal each queen is returned to her 

 former home. If a queen is too old or otherwise deficient, the 

 colony is allowed to requeen from one of its own cells. 



A Few Comments. 



When I began this paper I intended to give a description 

 of at least half a dozen leading apiarists instead of three. I 

 soon discovered that it would lengthen the contribution too 

 much and contain too many repetitions. The following few 

 points should be mentioned : 



1. A honey-house should be put up at every apiary right 

 in the midst of the bees, and built so that it can be easily re- 

 moved, for an apiary placed on somebody else's land may 

 have to be removed at any time. 



2. Some have an extracting outfit complete at every api- 

 ary. It costs more, but saves the hauling. It has the advan- 

 tage that should an unusual flow happen, the extracting 

 might be done simultaneously at every point needed. 



3. The majority insist on having enough combs to pile 

 up on the hives until the honey is ripe, or the apiarist ready. 

 Two or three say that in dry climates (California or Colorado) 

 the honey will ripen ju>t as well in the tanks as in the hives, 

 and they prefer to extract often. 



4. All but two want the ditferent yards 2 or 3 miles apart, 

 and as accessible as possible to the home apiary. The other 



