270 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



October 



the excess of moisture from freezing, 

 or if such excess can be can led out 

 from the hive there will be no danger. 

 It is easier to aUow it to escape from 

 top of frames than for the bees to 

 keep it heated ; and then again the 

 bees will not be all worn out with the 

 labor necessary to keep up the heat. 



If any doubt, let them try it. It is 

 only by experiment that we can tiavel 

 in unknown paths, and bee keeping 

 has as yet been solely a matter of ex- 

 periment. 



No. Attleboro, Mass. 



1^ ■ ■ ■ ^ 



Fall Management of Bees. 



BY MRS. OLIVER COLE. 



No doubt the season of 1895 will 

 long be remembered, not only by bee 

 keepers in our vicinity, but also by the 

 farmers w^ho have suffered severe loss- 

 es of all kinds of crops from late frosts 

 and droughts. The grasshoppers also 

 have been a serious plague, ruining 

 whole fields of oats, which had often 

 to be cut green to save them. Surely 

 it seems to be a year of plagues, yet 

 we have much to be thankful for. 



I do not wish to complain of my own 

 losses, and perhaps I have even more 

 blessings than I deserve. I have not 

 taken one pound of honey from my 

 bees. I would be ashamed to admit 

 this if I did not know that there are 

 many others all over the country who 

 can say the same. I am sure it was 

 not through mismanagement for I 

 worked to build up strong colonies for 

 the white clover flow, putting on the 

 sections at the right time. At the 

 opening of white clover bloom the 

 season seemed favorable, but very 

 soon the blossoms dried up, yielding 

 no nectar. The bees filled their frames 

 very well with chestnut honey. We 



had no basswood, the late frosts kill- 

 ing the buds. 



All summer my bees would lay out 

 on their hives in great masses. They 

 had no work to do and no mind to 

 swarm, and knowing it was not a fav- 

 orable season for bees I did not try to 

 make any increase by dividing. It 

 has proved very fortunate for me that 

 I did not divide them for I have had 

 to feed enough now to insure them 

 sufficient stores for winter. My bees 

 were not to blame that their prospects 

 were blasted as well as mine, but I do 

 not intend that they shall suffer for 

 want of care or food. 



I will give for the benefit of the in- 

 experienced bee keeper my method of 

 fall management. I left the sections 

 on until the 1st of September so that 

 any boxes that were partly filled with 

 honey could be emptied by the bees, 

 as they usually will do this before us- 

 ing stores from below. Then taking 

 off the sections and using only enough 

 smoke to settle the bees so that I could 

 see their condition and inside of the 

 hive, I would drive them with smoke 

 to the opposite side of the hive and 

 take out the first three frames. See- 

 ing but very little brood and perhaps 

 plenty of honey, I would take away 

 two frames of honey and place two 

 empty frames of cleam comb next to 

 the brood, leaving one comb of honey 

 on the outside ; then I put on a quart 

 feeder, and fed half a pint of granu- 

 lated sugar syrup about every third 

 evening. This will stimulate the 

 queen to laying, and will fill the 

 frames with brood, thus providing 

 young bees with which to go into win- 

 ter quarters. The bees will then be 

 ready for spring business, and as we 

 usually have late, cold springs the old 



