THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



127 



times bee-keepers may think that their 

 locality is overstocked when it isuH. 

 They have been brought up to believe 

 that "about so many colonies" may 

 be profitably kept in their locality, 

 and the}' accept that decision without 

 experiment or question, greatly to 

 their loss, as was the case with Mr. 

 Alexander. I wished them to be rous- 

 ed up sufficiently to investigate. 



I may say that my personal belief in 

 the matter of overstocking is that there 

 is a vast difference in localities and 

 seasons. It is quite likely that there 

 are times in basswood localities, yes, 

 and in buckwheat and clover regions, 

 when it would be almost impossible to 

 overstock the locality, but such con- 

 ditions last only a few days. In a 

 locality well-stocked with basswood, 

 such as may yet be found in some 

 parts of Michigan and Wisconsin, 

 there come times when it would be 

 practically impossible to overstock the 

 localit3^ The number of blossoms is 

 so great, and the flow so quick and 

 abundant, that a bee would never have 

 to wait for an opportunity to fill its 

 sac. But such flush times as these 

 last only a few days, and during the 

 rest of the j'^ear it is possible to over- 

 stock the locality. 



The onlj' practical course I can see 

 in this matter is for each man to keep 

 a careful record, year after j'ear, of 

 his yields of honey, and of the number 

 of colonies that he has, also of the 

 yields in other apiaries that are near 

 his own and in which the conditions 

 are similar. The conditions vary so 

 greatly even in a few miles, and with 

 the dift'erent years, that the best any 

 man can do is to arrive at an approx- 

 imate nearness to a decision; and, 

 even then, there is likely to come an 

 occasional year that will upset all 

 previous decisions. Mr. Alexander's 

 experience is certainl}' out of the or- 

 dinary, but I think it was all right to 

 publish it, because there may be others 

 situated just as he is and don't know 



it. If anyone has anything new to 

 offer on this old subject, the Review 

 will be onl}-^ too glad to publish it. 



POPULOUS COLONIES. 



They are Needed During the Honey 



Harvest, and may be Secured by 



"Shook-Swarming." 



If there is one central point around 

 which all else revolves in the profitable 

 production of honey it is that of having 

 colonies with a large numberof workers 

 at the opening of the main honey-flow. 

 There may be different methods of 

 securing this condition, but secured it 

 must be, in some way or another, or 

 there is no profit. Editor Morehouse, 

 of the Rocky Mountain Bee Journal, 

 tells of one way in which this may be 

 secured. He says: — 



One thing the writer has learned by 

 experience is, the number of bees at 

 work in an apiar5% not the number of 

 colonies, is the vital fact to be consid- 

 ered at the opening of the honey flow. 

 The more these forces can be conserv- 

 ed and held together, the better will 

 be the showing on the right side of the 

 bee-keeper's ledger. A swarm, no 

 matter how large, shaken on starters 

 and given ample storing room in the 

 surplus apartment, will not, normally, 

 cast a swarm that season, but will 

 continue gathering and hoarding the 

 treasured sweets the whole summer 

 long. There is profit in such a colony. 



Apiaries, say of 100 colonies, as 

 they average at the beginning of the 

 honey flow, ought to have their work- 

 ing forces concentrated into at least 

 75, or even a fewer number. The 

 weaker colonies should be shaken to- 

 gether on starters and given all the 

 room they can comfortably occup3\ 

 The principle is this: The greatest 

 force is needed when the flow is at its 

 best, as it will last but a short time, 

 and rapid work is necessary to take 

 full advantage of it. 



Fellow bee-keepers, j'ou who doubt 

 the dictum of this article, try as an 

 experiment this summer, shaking two 

 of your strongest colonies together on 

 starters, give ample storage room, and 

 make note of results. Compare these 

 results with the average of your col- 



