THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



135 



[We might answer your questions 

 in several different ways and yet not 

 answer them correctly , as applied to 

 hers in your locality. 



Possibly the reason the bees will 

 not work in the super is because they 

 are not gathering sufficient honey so 

 that they have any to store. Fifty- 

 six pounds per colony is a very good 

 average for this locality, although 

 some of our colonies, have already 

 stored as high as seventy -five pounds. 

 A two story hive is in some ways de- 

 sirable, hut both supers should not 

 be put on at once. We. find the best 

 way is to get one super partially 

 filled, after which raise it and place 

 another under it. In this way yon 

 can get the bees to work in both 

 supers. In this localit} T a great deal 

 of comb is often buih in the brood 

 chambers after August 1st. It, how- 

 ever, depends upon the amount of 

 honey there is to be gathered. Comb 

 is only built when honey is being 

 brought in. 



We are glad to hear from you, and 

 hope you will be successful with your 

 bees. — Ed.] 



Editor American Bee-Keeper, Dear 

 Sir: I thought I would tell about my 

 venture in keeping bees. I have kept 

 bees more or less for a number of 

 years, but I lost them all, and during 

 the Summer of 1890 I purchased a 

 swarm in a box hive. In 1891 it 

 swarmed twice. Then I put them in 

 movable frame hives, and this Spring 

 in March I purchased six colonies in 

 box hives. X let them swarm so as 

 to get some in frame hives without 

 transferring. (I use the eight- frame 

 Wisconsin hive.) So this Spring I 

 had nine colonies. The three I had 

 I took out of the cellar the first week 

 of March to let them fly, and put 

 them back in the cellar again and did 

 not take them out for good until 



April 15th. I never take my bees 

 out of the cellar to stay until the 

 willows begin to blossom. I saw 

 some carrying in pollen in less than 

 two hours after I had them on the 

 summer stands. I rind they do not 

 rob if they find some work to do as 

 soon as they get out. 



From eight colonies I got fourteen 

 natural swarms and from the first 

 swarm one, making fifteen in all. I 

 sold two cotinies and united the sec- 

 swarms. Now I have nine old colo- 

 nies and nine young ones. From the 

 first young swarm I got 40 pounds of 

 clover honey in one pound sections 

 before they swarmed. The bees are 

 working now on Buckwheat in the 

 supers. 



I find it hard to control swarming 

 when working for comb honey, as I had 

 two supers on the young swarm when 

 it swarmed again. I took off a full 

 super and put on an empty one four 

 days before the colony swarmed. I 

 think if I had put on the third super 

 sooner the}' would not have swarmed 

 at all, but I did not think they had 

 the sections filled so soon, but white 

 clover was extra good here this year. 

 However we had so much rain during 

 June and July, excepting the first two 

 weeks in July, that the bees could not 

 work. 



We have had no honey dew here 

 this summer. Prospects are that bees 

 will winter well here the coming 

 winter. Yours, &c, 



John M. Seiler. 



Chauhassen, Minn., Any. 'JO, 1892, 



How to Manage Bees, a 50-cent book, 

 just the thing tor beginners, for only 25 

 cents postpaid, or with the Bee-Keepee 



one year for 05 cents. 



