204 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



BEE NOTES. 



It is now time for our northern 

 beekeepers to tliink of the coming 

 winter and begin to prepare the 

 bees for the same. 



Look over and replace all old 

 and worthless queens ; 3'ou have had 

 an opportunity to test those that 

 3'ou have and should not winter one 

 that has produced lazy workers. 

 See that you have plenty of honey 

 for winter stores for the bees, as it 

 is quite unpleasant and unprofita- 

 ble to find in early spring that 

 your bees have perished for want 

 of food. Do not permit your bees 

 to depend upon late fall honey, as 

 oftentimes such honey is too thin 

 and of that nature which causes it 

 to sour or sicken the bees when 

 eaten. If you have not enough 

 honey for stores, feed the bees with 

 sugar syrup using about one quart 

 of water to four lbs. of sugar and 

 using a " Mason fruit jar" feeder 

 like the one described in "Alley's 

 Handy Book " which we think is a 

 very simple and handy one. To 

 make it, cut out a small round piece 

 of tin wliich will just take the place 

 of tlie glass cover, and punch say 

 twenty holes in it with a' brad awl. 

 If you have on hand plenty of bass- 

 wood or clover honey and can use 

 it more economically than you can 

 to purchase sugar, feed that to 

 them after regulating the size of 

 the brood chamber, and always do 

 this feeding early so that the bees 

 may have plenty of time to seal it 

 all before cold weather arrives. 

 Keep bees as nearly in a natural 

 condition as possible. We have 

 one colony in an " American" hive 

 that has stood under an old pear 

 tree for about nine years and never 

 yet has a colony died from that 

 "hive or been troubled with dysentery 

 or anything of the kind, and they 

 have thrown about one swarm per 

 year and averaged say twenty lbs. 

 of box honey per year. This col- 



ony has never been examined (hav- 

 ing the combs removed), and never 

 has been removed from the stand 

 in summer or winter ; neither has it 

 been packed. We think that this 

 shows that artificial manipulation 

 of bees generates disease and 

 causes losses. Now, we would re- 

 peat "always conform as closely 

 as possible to the natural laws that 

 govern bee-life, if 3'ou wish suc- 

 cess." 



If you use sawdust with which 

 to pack your bees, do not wait un- 

 til 3'ou want to use it before secur- 

 ing it ; the better way is to get the 

 sawdust and spread it upon old 

 boards in the attic of the barn, bee- 

 house or shed and let it dry; the 

 older it is the better so long as it 

 is dry and clean. A good chaff 

 cushion is the best thing with which 

 to cover the top of the brood nests 

 and we prefer two or three inch 

 chaft' division boards as there is no 

 loose sawdust or chaff to scatter 

 about and because they are so 

 handy. Look out for robbing about 

 this time ; do not leave any honey 

 laying about where the bees can 

 find it. Do not leave surplus sec- 

 tion honej- in the hives for any 

 length of time after it is sealed over. 



Always watch for foul brood 

 when examining the combs, (for 

 instructions see reports of N. E. B. 

 convention in our Feb. and March 

 Nos.,) as a little caution may save 

 much trouble. During the month of 

 September is a good time to rear a 

 few queens to supply the place of 

 old ones. Remember if honey is 

 scarce and you are rearing cells it 

 pays to feed your bees just a little 

 to keep them busy. Also, if you 

 are running fertilizing nuclei, they 

 should be fed during periods of 

 scarcity, or else the}^ are liable to 

 swarm out. 



Do not be in a great hurry to 

 rush 3'our honey on the market ; the 

 crop is not very large and it will 

 only depreciate prices to force the 



