124 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



May 



and this would have left $571.50 

 from this yard to pay for tne work. 

 Reader, do you see the point? Sup- 

 pose these colonies had beeu in big 

 hives, and had 30 pounds of honey 

 they would certainly have used this 

 up if they had not been fed, and they 

 would also have certainly put that 50 

 pounds of basswood honey in the 

 brood-nest. And, say it took 30 

 pounds of it to keep them until the 

 next spring, they would have only 

 20 pounds for another start. They 

 would not have secured any more per 

 colony, or as much, if they were larg- 

 er, for there were bees enough in this 

 yard to gather all, and more than 

 there was to be had from it, and it 

 did not cost any more, if as much, 

 to rear them in small hives as it 

 would in larger ones. If we would 

 carry the matter out, and count the 

 fall honey, the small hives would 

 come out much farther ahead. With 

 big hives, where no feeding is done, 

 the season is often an entire failure. 



If this is not thrown into the waste 

 basket, in my next I will have some- 

 thing to say about swarming, for 

 probably many of you will think that 

 bees, especially if they are in small 

 hives, and fed up as I have described 

 will swarm before, or right in the 

 midst of, the flow. 



Southern Minnesota. 



(From Gleanings.) 



EARLY SWARMS. 



Question. — I am desirous of secur- 

 ing early swarms. Would there be a 

 gain or loss along this line by putting 

 on surplus cases of sections ? 



Answer. — It might be safe to say 

 that, taking early swarms into consid- 



eration, there would be a disadvantage 

 or tendency toward a few days delay, 

 if the surplus arrangement is put upon 

 the hive before the bees swarm. 

 Heat is one of the elements in forcing 

 early swarms ; hence, by putting on 

 the surplus arrangement before the 

 hive is crowded with bees, much of 

 the heat from the colony will be dis- 

 tributed up among the sections, which 

 would retard swarming, as it also does 

 brood-rearing. If early swarms are 

 what we vimt have, even if we have 

 tu sacrifice other values, then it is best 

 to keep the top of the hive as close as 

 possible, and stimulate the bees by 

 feeding them or otherwise. Later on, 

 when the hive becomes crowded with 

 bees, and the preparations for swarm- 

 ing begun, the placing-on of sections 

 may not delay it. But if we count 

 surplus honey a gain, then I can con- 

 ceive where there would be a gain in 

 putting on sections as soon as our main 

 honey-harvest opened, as it is often 

 the case that, with all our crowding 

 and desiring early swarms, the bees 

 will obstinately refuse to swarm, when 

 we not only fail to accomplish what 

 we are after, but lose a part or all of 

 the honey crop we might have had if 

 we had put on the sections at the 

 proper time. I verily believa, that, 

 during the past, when conducting ex- 

 periments along this line, I have sus- 

 tained more loss by trying to force 

 swarms by crowding the bees than by 

 giving them too much room. Hence 

 my advice of late years has beeu to 

 place the sections on the hives at the 

 proper time, no matter whether swarm- 

 ing is desired or otherwise, resting as- 

 sured that, with the majority of bee- 

 keepers, more swarms will issue, w^hen 

 doing our best to secure a good crop 



