July 19, 1906 



(.21 



American Ttec Journal 



is the desirable one. If you can close your hive, and load 

 up. and get away, before dark, you are a great 

 tunc. So. in practicing this system of moving about, we put 

 m the screen in the hive in this way, then, towards evening, 

 when the bees begin to discontinue dying, we lake the colo- 

 the earliest ones to quit, and we simply 

 drop the screen in place, put a tack here, and the operation 

 is finished; and in ten minutes we can have our bees loaded 

 and move away. We load upon hay-racks because they are 

 available at almost all times, and it is a very nice way to 

 load them. We put three across in the wagon and put 

 plent) of hay in there; and by means of the rack and hay 

 or straw we get sufficient spring to keep the comb from break- 

 ing down. We load them up with one n iw in the center, and i me 

 either side, and move away. In such a way I have tried to plan 

 to do this work as expeditiously as possible. I have no bee-space 

 in the top of the hive. And I think you will find it an advantage 

 in having it below rather than above. In our practice wc 

 must simply and quietly judge by what means we can get 

 the largest number of advantages to suit our own case, and 

 then adopt that. And for that reason, after carefully weigh- 

 ing, I decided on not having a bee-space above, but rather 

 below ; and through the screen excluder, or super, or cover, 

 what ever it is, by not having the bee-space above, even if 

 you have not got frames where the sides are self-spacing, 

 you can keep them from rocking. 



Our covers are arranged in this way: I don't intend 

 to blame the supply dealers. A supply dealer cannot waste 

 his energies in educating bee-keepers ; he has to use his 

 energies in supplying goods and putting them upon the 

 market, and he can't go ahead of public opinon. As long 

 as bee-keepers are content with a ^-inch board cover so 

 long he must give it to them. The cover which I use here 

 is a 's-inch board with a }i - inch lining, and this is 

 filled with felt paper, which is a great non-conductor, and is 

 of very great use in either cold or hot weather. This is a 

 felt underneath which I imported from England for the pur- 

 pose. It is tacked on the cover and it rests on the hive ; 

 and then we have this galvanized-iron top which is good for 

 25 years. It costs more, but eventually it is cheaper ; hav- 

 ing put that cover on, by simply driving a nail at either 

 side it is closed. Of all the things I have tried I ha 

 far succeeded in getting no better method than a very crude 

 one. and that is simply the stripping up the sides of the hives 

 in order to connect the upper stories and the brood-chamber. 

 This year I moved bees 4 or 5 times during the hottest time 

 in the summer — August. 



For several years I moved with two supers on quite 

 frequently, but the most practical method I have found so 

 far — I haven't succeeded with clamps — is simply to strip up 

 with a lath — one on each side and one at the back, in order 

 to keep the different things together. In doing that there is 

 more or less of nail driving. 



Dr. Miller — Do you object to the common staples? 



Mr. Holtermann — I have used those. I have never had 

 any accidents with them, but after using them I came to the 

 conclusion that it was not quite safe enough for me, so I 

 abandoned them again and used the lath. A hive might get 

 broken up. I don't want anything to happen, and that is the 

 reason why I left the staple and used the lath. 



Dr. Miller — I have used both the lath and staple for 

 years, and I have had more trouble with the lath coming 

 loose than the staples. 



Mr. Holtermann — That is a matter you will have to de- 

 cide for yourselves. I want to say to those of you who have 

 not practiced this moving about of bees, if you want to know 

 what hard work is. begin that line of business. In my es- 

 timation, to simply set down the bees and run them for one 

 season in one place is play, when you compare it with what 

 you get when you have to move your bees about, and per- 

 haps be up all night some times, and carry on the bum - 

 in that way. But in my estimation there are many locali- 

 ties where you can get much better results by moving them. 

 No one should do it unless he knows how to do it, and fol- 

 low it up carefully and watchfully. 



In moving, the bees get restless in hot weather, and 

 perhaps you have seen them, when they were screened, with 

 their tongues out through the screen. Now, we water our 

 bees, and in moving them I think it is exceedingly impor- 

 tant. Give the bees sufficient, and you will be surprised how 

 they will quiet and cool down under those circumstances 



I also find a peculiar characteristic of the Italian I 



in this respect, and that is this: Of the blacks, hybrids and 

 Carniolans and Italians, the Italians I found were the only 

 ■. hen they got very restless or very excited and began 

 to run about, that would actually turn upon one another and 

 sting one another to death right in the hive; but by water- 

 ing you can always stop that, and overcome these difficul- 

 ties. 1 believe by not watering them you might have very 

 disastrous results by having them destroy the brood. The 

 tune will come when they will suck the food from the young 

 larvae, and in a very short tune destroy a number of young 

 bees. 



Mr. Abbott— How many pounds of honey do you get 

 from vour hives from those 5 moves? 



Mr. Holtermann— In the Farmers' Institute, when they 

 asked that question, I replied by asking them, How much 

 milk do you get from your cows? 



Mr. Abbott— I get about 2 gallons from mine. 



Mr. Holtermann— It is a very long and interesting study. 

 Clover does well upon clay soil. I don't believe under proper 

 conditions there is any soil it will do as well upon. When 

 you turn around again to buckwheat, I used to say, the 

 better the soil the more yield you will get from the blossoms. 

 It depends upon the nature of the blossom. You have got 

 to get down to the kind of soil that the plant will do best 

 upon. This year has been an exceptional year for me. I 

 have had from 296 colonies of bees over 60,000 pounds of 

 honey, and I have done no feeding. My 12-frame Langstroth 

 hives will average 85 pounds going into winter quarters. 

 But I don't want this convention to think, and Mr. Abbott 

 knows well it is a question you can't answer — to get the best 

 results out of it, you have to be a careful observer. 



Mr. Abbott — On a chance estimate what would you get? 

 200 pounds? 



Mr. Holtermann— No, not when I say this was an ex- 

 ceptional year with me. But I think the members of the 

 convention here will justify me in saying that I could not 

 give an honest and sincere answer to that question. 



Dr. Miller— Do you use the cover altogether, regularly, 

 in that way? 



Mr. Holtermann — I use it regularly in that way. 



Dr. Miller— Will you give us about the cost of the two 

 parts? 



Mr. Holtermann— This thickness of galvanized iron can 

 be bought for a 12-frame hive, made up, for about 17 cents. 

 The rest of the cover would be about the cost of your hive; 

 and the felt paper, you will have a pretty good idea of what 

 felt is worth in your country. I don't want you to figure 

 that cost with a 7 8 -inch ordinary board. In the spring of 

 the year there is heat escaping from that, and you know how 

 often, if there is a lot of frost, you find that no frost has fallen 

 upon the cover, and that indicates the heat is passing off 

 from that cluster at that time of the year; it is a very expen- 

 sive cover, if that is the case, because you are not only using 

 honev that is required to produce that heat, but the vitality 

 of the bee is being exhausted. If that were all it would be 

 sufficient, but, more than that, you are curtailing the capacity 

 of those bees by using that kind of cover. 



Dr. Miller— If there is any part of the hive that I would 

 not economize on it is the cover. 



Mr. Holtermann— When you go into the dairy business 

 vou are not looking around for $25 cows, but for the cows 

 which for the least amount of food and looking after will 

 give vou the greatest returns; and just so soon as bee- 

 keepers will look at matters from that standpoint, so soon will 

 the supplv dealer give them something better than he is giv- 

 ing them today. There are little unevennesses in your combs 

 and quilt, and so on. and if you have a plain wooden cover 

 over them there must be more or less spring out at the sides. 

 With this soft felt there is sufficient "give" to it to overcome 

 this unevenness, and the cover fits down more closely. 



Mr. Putnam— Did you ever use wool-twine to tie around 

 to hold the hive together? 



Mr. Holtermann — No, I have read of it, but I wouldn't 

 want it. When I start I n int to be sure I am not going to 

 have any accidents. 



Mr. Abbott— I was thinking while Mr. Holtermann was 

 talking about the people who were interested in that kind oi 

 thing, how manv there were of them, and how practical it 

 was; and I tried to get at th' practical side of it by getting 

 a -direct answer from Mr. Holtermann. Now. while it may 

 be applicable in Canada. I ; to see if it would work in 



Missouri. I know how much honey we get down there with- 



