THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



323 



SACKING SWARMS 



By J. W. STINE, Deputy State Inspector, 

 Alantic, Iowa. 



The prospects are tine here (June 21) 

 for the best honey yield for years. I 

 never saw the white clover so abundant 

 and with as much nectar in it. We are 

 having a tine rain today which will 

 lengthen the white clover flow into July 

 if not up to August. The linden trees are 

 full of buds and will be in bloom in 

 two weeks. 



The photo is a picture of my team 

 and myself and two swarms of bees. I 

 hived one of the swarms in a nail keg 

 and the other in a sack which I hung 

 on the side of the bugg>-. I had just 

 come in from a five mile trip east of 

 Salem, where I had been doing inspec- 

 tion work. I thought possibly the read- 

 ers of the Review might be interested 

 in this way of catching and carrymg 

 swarms from a distance. 



There is a great deal of foul brood 

 in my territory — the southeastern part 

 of the state. I finished my inspection 

 work in and near Cantril this week 

 and go to the locality of Pleasant Plain 

 next week. I went out with some men 

 one evening at Cantril in an automobile 

 and helped them sack a fine swarm of 

 bees. These people said they had never 

 heard of sacking a swarm of bees, but 

 it was a great saving of time, as one 

 did not have to go back after a hive. 



of the white clover honey. Will they 

 carry that up above a little later, or 

 will it decrease the strength of my 

 colonies? 



Some of them have got their supers 

 nearly filled and some have the brood 

 nest filled with honey and scarcely any 

 brood. Please tell me how best to 

 handle the matter. It is past my ex- 

 perience what to do, and I thought best 

 to ask of some one who knows. Thank- 

 ing you very much. 



Respectfully yours, 



Alton O. Carley, 



July 1, 1913. Munith, Mich. 



Answer — While Mr. Charley does not 

 say so, I take it by the tone of his let- 

 ter that he is a producer of comb 

 liMuey. The Italian or yellow races of 

 bees are more inclined to crowd the 

 brood nest with honey than the blacks 

 of hybrid strains. In some cases it is 

 an advantage to have the brood nest 

 well supplied with stores, and in others 

 it is not. It is presumed in your case, 

 Mr. Carley, that no harm will result 

 from this crowding of the brood nest 

 with honey, especially on the date you 

 mention, July 1. Let us see; you are 

 in Jackson County, Michigan, where 

 no fall flow of honey can be expected, 

 and as your honey flow will naturally 

 close before you can rear more bees 

 to take advantage of this early flow, 

 any eggs laid by the queen during July 

 cannot help being consumers, as they 

 will be too late for surplus gatherers 

 and too early for rearing bees to win- 

 ter over, so you have not lost anything 

 along this line by your queens not lay- 

 ing much during July. 



After the flow from clover is over, 

 along in August, with this nice stock 

 of honey as capital to work upon, your 

 colonies will be in fine shape to breed 

 up a nice normal swarm for winter, so 

 you have no cause for worry along 

 these lines. 



The cause of the clogging of the 

 brood nest during the clover flow and 

 ♦^he remedv are material for another 

 letter. 



Editor Review : 



I wish to ask for some information. 

 I am in some trouble with my bees 

 about their storing the brood nest full 



Editor Review : Honey crop entire 

 failure up to date — cold windy weather 

 the cause. No hot weather except a 

 very few days during first cutting al- 

 falfa in June. Second crop just begin- 

 ning to bloom, and unless we get hot 

 weather during next twenty days, the 

 nrospects are good for an entire failure 

 in the Yakima \^alley. 



Virgil Sires. 



