THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



iSi 



It has been urged against contraction 

 that it results in small colonies at the 

 end of the season. If it is carried to too 

 great an extent, or too long continued, it 

 certainly does. If a man wishes to turn 

 bees into honey, contraction will enable 

 him to accomplish his object. If colo- 

 nies are too weak in the fall as the result 

 of severe contraction, they must be united; 

 but the course pursued by nearly all who 

 practice contraction is to enlarge the 

 brood nest again in time for the colony to 

 build up for winter. 



If the locality is such there is a contin- 

 uous flow through the whole season, or 

 if the main flow conies in the fall, as is 

 the case in many localities, it will be 

 readily seen that little or nothintj would 

 be gained by contracting the brood 

 chamber of swarms. There would be 

 time in which to fill the brood chamber 

 and be all ready for the fall flow when 

 it came. 



Bro. Root speaks aI)out the small cr()])s 

 of honey that have been secured, that 

 perhaps 25 or 30 pounds were the average, 

 and that some Michigan bee-keejiers 

 thought that they were doing well if they 

 got 10 pounds to the colony, and he 

 rather intimates that these are the refeults 

 of contraction. He well knows that we 

 have been having some very poor seasons 

 of late, with the exception of the last year 

 or two, and it seems scarcely fair to at- 

 tribute them to contraction of the brood 

 nest. I have been practicing it now for 

 at least fifteen years. One year I got no 

 surplus, and neither did those who did 

 not practice contraction. By the way, I 

 did not practice it that year, as there were 

 no swanns to practice it on. Other years 

 my surplus has varied from ten pounds a 

 colony to over one hundred pounds. Per- 

 haps the average would be about sixty 

 pounds. Both Mr. Heddon and Mr. 

 Taylor have practiced contraction for 

 years; and it does not seem as though 

 bright men like these would continue a 

 practice that they did not find advanta- 

 geous. But let us not forget in this dis- 

 cu.ssion that there is a difference in locali- 



ties, as I have mentioned. This is really 

 very important. It is so difficult for us, 

 sometimes, to comprehend conditions 

 with which we are not personally famil- 

 iar. Mr. C. P. Dadant and myself used 

 to have arguments over the size of hives; 

 and I can see now that we were both right, 

 according to our localities and methods. 



Since the foregoing was written Glean- 

 ings for June ist has put in an appearance, 

 and I notice that Bro. E. R. Root in his 

 advocacy of large brood nests says, that 

 someone else says "Oh, yes, everyone 

 believes in two or more stories when 

 running for extracted. " Then Mr. Root 

 says "Well, try it for comb hone\-; it will 

 cost you nothing." Suppose, brother 

 Ernest, that you trj- a few colonies with 

 two or more stories for a brood nest in 

 working for comb honey and see what 

 it will cost you. As I have said so many 

 times in reference to these "fads," if you 

 must try them, do it on a small scale first. 

 If you find it is profitable to double or 

 triple the size of your brood nests do it by 

 all means, but first find out that it does. 



Just one more word: If many, or any, 

 of the experts who formerly practiced con- 

 traction, as I have explained it, have 

 "gone back on it," as Bro. Root says he 

 believes they have, let us hear from them, 

 with the reason luhy. It matters little 

 which of us, Bro. Root or myself, is right, 

 if we only get at the truth. 



I)i'])artment of 



riticism 



R. L. TAYI^OR. 



HI,... 

 Aud 



o yoti must. t)c cnndid wherp you can, 

 criticr tho (Too.inatured M.in. 



QOLDSNinH. 



NOT TALKING TO THE POINT. 



The American Bee-Keeper, page 8t, 

 publishes an article of considerable length 



