THE BEE-KEEPERS* REVIEW 



203 



on, were it not that I do whatever 

 work is possible to lig-hten the work of 

 the busier season that is to follow, 

 hence, I put in about a week in the 

 round. From this time on, I aim to 

 keep thoroujjfhly in touch with my bees. 

 Before the clover yield comes on, I 

 make my round about every nine days, 

 althoug-h, sometimes, I mav be ten, 

 and it takes me about three days to the 

 round. To do this veiy little time is 

 wasted upon one colonj^ Weijifhts 

 on covers, shade-boards, or anything 

 necessitating- extra work, is strictly 

 avoided. I pass along the row of 

 hives, generally commencing with the 

 front row, glance at the conduct of the 

 bees in their flight, then raise tlie cover 

 and take a look, and, as a rule, I 

 know exactly the condition and require- 

 ments of that colony without lifting a 

 frame. In some cases they will need a 

 second story of combs, others a third; 

 or, possibly, they might be queenless, 

 and, in case their actions indicate such 

 a condition, I glance at their brood 

 nest; and, if I find it to be the case, I 

 either set them over another colony or 

 set a weak colony over them. I have 

 good success either way. In the above 

 work, and in all following work, I 

 handle frames as little as possible. 



EXTRACTING BKFORli THE FLOW FROM 

 CLOVER. 



As soon as clover begins to yield, I 

 extract all the honey from the hives, 

 taking the yards in their order. In 

 this extracting I throw out all the 

 honey in the hive which may be ready, 

 both above and below. In doing this 

 I can, with two helpers, take the honey 

 from 75 colonies, can it, and take it 

 home in a day, and 1 have a nice choice 

 clover honey for my next extracting — 

 not light amber as you too often see 

 clover honey, but almost water white. 



AN EXTRACTING TEAM AND OUTFIT. 



Up to this time I have done all the 

 work alone, but now that the real 

 jheavy work comes on in taking and 



handling the honey, I have three men 

 to the team, and, if the rush is heavy, 

 tvvo teams at work. As I have these 

 men only in the actual rush of extract- 

 ing, they are hired by the day. The 

 outfit going with each team is extractor, 

 two smokers, two honey knives, an un- 

 capping can, a strainer can with dairy 

 cloth for strainers, one two-horse 

 wagon, a single buggy and plenty of 

 empty cans, and here I would empha- 

 size plenty of cans, as I have repeatedly 

 had to send for more cans for the day's 

 work. 



As we arrive at the yard, each man 

 has his place, and in ten minutesevery- 

 thing should be in full swing in the ex- 

 tracting house; and, in IS or 20 minutes 

 after we are through extracting, my 

 honey and outfit are loaded up and we 

 are started for the next yard. As we 

 quite often cannot take all the honey 

 home with ns, we have to store the 

 balance with the occupants of the 

 farm. 



NO USE FOR OUERN EXCLUDERS. 



As I use no queen excluders, the 

 queen uses the second story to some 

 extent, and often the third story. This 

 is no detriment, as I extract those 

 combs just as though there was no 

 brood there, and that without any 

 damage to brood. The use of queen 

 excluders largely increases the ten- 

 dancy to swarm. I extract from each 

 yard in rotation, as often as they are 

 ready, which is usually every 8 to 10 

 days in a good clover or basswood 

 flow. 



MAKING INCREASE. 



As the honey season advances, the 

 hives (mine are a little larger in capac- 

 ity than a 10-frame Langstroth), 

 though three stories high, become over- 

 crowded with bees. I then take the 

 story in which I find the queen, with 

 the queen, and place it on the old 

 stand, removing the other two stories 

 with their bees to a new stand. All 

 the field bees go back to the hive on 



