348 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



some colonies store a fair surplus. In 

 1892 one of my colonies stored more than 

 75 pounds of surplus comb honey, while 

 the average was less than 40 pounds. 

 Some colonies did not go nmch over 20 

 pounds each; yet there was no remarka- 

 ble difference in the strength of the col- 

 onies. Last month I mentioned one con- 

 dition that has a most important bearing 

 upon the amount of honey stored as sur- 

 plus, viz., the amount of unsealed brood 

 compared with the number of hatched 

 bees. One great point of superiority with 

 the Italians is that when the big harvests 

 of clover and basswood come on, the 

 main energies of the bees seem to be 

 bent in the direction of securing the har- 

 vest — brood rearing is a secondary consid- 

 eration and treated accordingly. 



If we could discover the why and where- 

 fore of these greatly varying amounts of 

 surplus, and apply the remedy, so that 

 all colonies would come up to the high 

 water mark what, a stride it would be. 

 The late Mr. Gravenhorst of Germany tried 

 to solve the problem, and a few years ago, 

 in an extract from the journal that he 

 published, I gave his views on this sub- 

 ject. Under the circumstances I think 

 that I may be pardoned for reproducing 

 them. Mr. Gravenhorst said: — 



There are not many attentive bee-keep- 

 ers of long experience who have not no- 

 ticed that in so-called poor seasons one or 

 more of their colonies not only stored 

 enough honey for its own use but per- 

 haps even a surplus; while the majority 

 of colonies may not have secured even 

 sufficient fo*- their winter stores. Like- 

 wise, in a good season, it must have been 

 noticed that some colones give an aston- 

 ishing surplus in comparison with others. 



These results are the more striking if 

 all the colonies had access to the same 

 pasture, and if the work was carried on 

 under seemingly exactly the same domes- 

 tic conditions as regards combs, hives, 

 strength of colonies, etc. 



Even in the beginning of my business 

 as a practical bee-keeper, it often hap- 

 pened in a poor season that three or four 

 of my colonies in the round straw hives 

 with no frames had more than enough 

 for winter, while the majority, often 

 stronger in bees, had not sufficient for 



winter. Then in a good honey flow I 

 often observed that some of the small 

 colonies went far ahead of the stronger 

 ones. I have had four-fram.e nuclei give 

 me from ten to twenty pounds of extracted 

 honey in a season, while others of the 

 same strength, and stronger ones, gave 

 me scarcely as much. Still more remark- 

 able seemed the fact that small queen- 

 rearing colonies that had in the aggre-. 

 gate not more comb than one full sized 

 frame, little by little at a time, w-ould 

 finally yield five or six pounds, or more, 

 of honey, while others in apparentl)- the 

 same condition gathered only their daily- 

 supply. In the face of all this, the asser- 

 tion is frequently heard that only strong 

 colonies yield a urplus ! 



When such results come about with 

 the colonies, comb, hives and pasturage 

 apparently the same, there must be other 

 factors not so easily discovered. B}- re- 

 peated examination and observation I 

 have learned that there exists a certain 

 condition under which a colony will gath- j 

 er the most honej^ whether it be strong ] 

 or weak. If this condition has not yet 

 been reached, or if it has been passed, 

 the storing of surplus will be neglected 

 or at least carried on onh- moderateh-. 



That being the case, the question nat- 

 urally arises, what is this condition ? By 

 an exact examination there will be found 

 five central points. Three of these are 

 well-known to first-class bee-keepers, and 

 they are mentioned only that I may be ; 

 able to give a complete statement, and in .\ 

 my second part be able to refer to them ' 

 if desirable. 



I — The ideal colony must have a fault- 

 less queen; hardy, sound of body and, 

 above all things, fertile, and her progeny 

 distinguished by diligence. 



2 — Nevertheless, such a queen alone does 

 not make an ideal colony. At the right j 

 time, that is, when honey is coming in ! 

 freely, there must be plenty of empty 

 comb that no time nor honey be lost in 

 building comb. 



3 — Our ideal colony must swarm at the 

 right time or not at all. It swarms at 

 the right time when it swarms so early 

 that the queens of the after-swarms, if 

 such are allowed, become fertile, and the 

 first or prime swarm has its combs com- 

 pleted, before the opening of the main 

 harvest. 



4. — The ideal colony must not be over- 

 populous. A hive is over-populous when 

 its woi king force is too great in compari- 

 son to the dimension of the hive and to 

 the number of wax-building bees. 



Such a condition is intolerable to the 

 bees and they try to help themselves by 



