Feb. 27, 1902. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL- 



'S 



a good (iiR'cii-ccIl llic next ilay after tlie old ciiiecn was flc- 

 stroyed. Tliis, 1 think, is the best jilaii, except for one dis- 

 advantage. 1 Iiave foniul that in excessive swarming there- 

 is always a great deal of excitement among the liees, ami 

 that more than half of llie young inieens are lost bcfoK- 

 they begin to lay. 



The next plan was to cage the old queen when she came 

 out with the swarm, and keep her caged for a few day- 

 Usually the bees will go to work when she is liberated— ai 

 least mine did — l)Ut to this day I can't say positively that 

 caging the queen made them go to work. They may h;ive 

 been just ready to get over their swarming fit, and might 

 have gone to work soon any way. 1 did not try that until 

 late in the season; but if I ever have another cxperieni<: 

 like last year's I shall depend u|)on hiving swarms nn 

 starters on the old stand with a caged queen. In a small 

 apiary I should kill old queens and give cells or newly- 

 liatfhed (lueens, but in a large apiary the loss is too great, 

 as not more than one in three of the young queens will get 

 to laying. 



We have all our bess in shade now, and believe that we 

 shall have less trouble. My home apiary is in a nice grove, 

 and last year when nearly all the other bees were crazy 

 we had but little more than the usual swarming there. 

 The apiary at the Kramer place was in sunshine most of the 

 day, and we only had three colonies that did not swarm 

 at all at th.at place, and all the rest of them swarmed from 

 once to half a dozen times each. This year we have not had 

 as many swarms as we wanted, but about the same amount 

 of honey — a short crop in both cases. 



I regret very much that I have so little to ofifer upon this 

 subject, as I think it is a very important one, and would be 

 pleased to help much more than I have been able to do. 



Mrs. a. J. Barber. 



Mr. Lytic — The paper is chiefly valuable as showing the 

 probable reason of excessive swarming. The remedy is plainly 

 pointed out in the same paper. My hives are covered with 

 shade-boards, and I have no trouble with excessive swarming. 



H. Rauchfuss — I do not know -how to prevent excessive 

 swarming except with a special system. Shade will not 

 prevent it. 



Mr. Gill — I want my bees out in the sun._ My bees do not 

 swarm any worse in the sun than in the shade. If you get 

 an abnormally scant flow, bees will swarm in the shade as well 

 as in the sun. If you give ample ventilation the bees will do 

 as well in the sun. 



J. B. .\dams — Part of my home apiary is in the shade, and 

 50 or 6o hives are in the sun. When it gets hot, I raise the 

 covers of these. 



Mr. Aikin — Heat is an important agency in producing the 

 swarming fever, but there are other conditions. If the con- 

 ditions are such that the bees commence gathering honey and 

 keep straight on storing it in the super, it will surprise you 

 how little swarming there will be. 



Mr. Hawley — I run for extracted honey. I had excessive 

 swarming one year — sometimes lo or 12 to 15 swarms in 

 the air at one time. The following year there was a heavy 

 flow, and two bee-yards acted ditiferently. I can draw no 

 conclusions. 



When to Produce Extracted Honey. 



One of the first things to be considered in the production 

 of comb or extracted honey is the market. To produce comb 

 honey profitably when the market is distant, it must be 

 handled in car-load quantities, or the local freight rates will 

 take up a large part of the profits. This is not so necessary 

 with extracted honey. But for the same returns on the capital 

 invested, extracted honey must be produced in larger quan- 

 tities, which requires a larger equipment and more extensive 

 preparation. 



For instance, wdten comb honey ranges in price from 12 

 to 15 cents, and extracted from 5 to 8 cents, the producer 

 of extracted honey must have enough more colonies and 

 enough better averages to make up the difiference in price. 

 This requires a larger outlay of capital, inore time in getting 

 the outfit established, and the ability to run the business on a 

 larger scale. 



If there is a home demand for extracted honey, or if one 

 can be worked up, it may be profitable to produce it on a 

 smaller scale. Often it can be profitably combined with comb- 

 honey production. 



If the first and last flows are dark honey, it would be well 

 to have these extracted from special combs, while the white 

 flow could be stored in sections. In this way the extracting 



supers can be used to coax the bees into the supers early in 

 the spring, and at the close of the flow put them 011 where 

 sections would not be likely Kj be properly finished. 



It seems probable that in the future, conib-honcy produc- 

 tion will surpass that of extracted honey. Imitations arc so 

 common, and the production of comb-honey is increasing so 

 fast, that extracted honey is likely to give place largely to 

 comb-honey as a table article. This will lead those who can 

 liroduce a fine, white quality to become conib-honcy pro- 

 ducers, leaving those who produce the darker grades to supply 

 the candy factories and bakeries. 



At present, in our vicinity, it would be almost impossible 

 lo run for extracted honey profitably, on account of the 

 prevalence of foul brood, which would be very likely lo be 

 spread broadcast over the yard by the changing of combs lo 

 different hives. A. F. Foster. 



Mr. Lytic — The time to produce extracted honey is when 

 it pays to produce it. When to produce it exclusively is 

 another question. In every yard it will pay to produce a 

 certain amount of it. I have used a section of a Heddon 

 hive at the beginning of the season for an extracting super. 

 It relieves the brood-chamber of the excess honey. 



I have thus taken 10 or 15 pounds when the scale again 

 showed only 5 pounds, showing that quite a quantity had 

 been moved up from below, thus giving the queen more 

 room to lay. Then I put on foundation for comb honey 

 later. It is a very slight cost and a great gain. If the colony 

 is at all weak, the same reasons hold good ; it gives the 

 queen opportunity to lay freely until the colony becomes strong 

 enough for comb honey. Each one should determine for 

 himself what course to pursue according to the conditions. 



Mr. Krueger — I don't agree that people will more and 

 more like comb honey better than extracted. When I began 

 selling extracted, I had hard work to sell it. But I did sell 

 it. If we sell the people pure, unadulterated extracted honey, 

 they will like it better than comb honey. This year 1 had less 

 than enough to supply the demand. The smallest amount 

 I sell is half a gallon. Under my present circumstances, I 

 would not think of selling comb honey. If I had 100 colonies, 

 I might run 50 for extracted and 50 for comb. I don't 

 believe extracted is used less from year to year; I believe it 

 is used more from year to year. Extracted honey when 

 granulated is all right, but what are you going to do with 

 comb honey when it candies? 



The Interests of Isolated Bee-Keepers. 



There are many bee-keepers in this State, I suppose, 

 who, like myself, live in localities remote from towns and 

 railroad lines, and therefore find little opportunity to' ex- 

 change ideas on bee-topics with the bee-men of their county, 

 and who are in a measure handicapped in conducting their 

 business, from the buying of supplies to the marketing of 

 their crops, because of this isolation. And possibly for the 

 reason that I am a represenative of this class it has become my 

 privilege to state to this convention my ideas as to how our 

 interesis might be best served. 



There can be little doubt that our condition admits of 

 improvement, or that it would be improved could we but feel 

 certain as to just what our best interests are, and then act 

 accordingly. Most of us keep bees for profit, if not, indeed, 

 as the sole means of income ; and of course our aim is to 

 produce large crops of honey at the least cost of production. 

 Our next aim is to place it upon the market in such manner 

 and at such a time as to command the very best prices at the 

 least possible cost to us. 



To accomplish these results we must endeavor to come 

 into full possession of the latest and most approved methods 

 of management, together with a complete understanding of 

 what our market requires in the way of package and grading. 

 And we must likewise seek to keep informed on the best 

 figures obtainable, not alone on the honey which we have 

 to sell, but also on all supplies which we may need for the 

 season. In addition to this, we should keep our weather- 

 eye trimmed on matters calling for legislation — such as 

 the question of spraying, of uml -brood, of adulteration, and 

 perhaps others, lest our inditTerence in this connection prove 

 to be a source of serious consequences to us in time to come. 



Such, then, are our requirements and our duties, if we 

 are to achieve the greatest success financially; and anything 

 which will aid us in obtaining desired information or neces- 

 sary legislation must be. regarded as furthering our very best 

 interests. 



Now, it w-ill be noticed that the factors necessary to the 

 success of isolated bee-keepers are essentially the same the 

 State over, be it at Denver or at Grand Junction; and it 



