1920 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



239 



Bees Among the Ruins 



Epehy, Meuse, April, 1920. 

 "Returning in 1917 to the ruins of 

 my village, I suddenly heard the hum 

 of a honej'bee. It was working on 

 the blossoms of a willow. I stopped 

 and wondered. I might have asked 

 her: 'Where are you from? How is 

 it that the barbarians have not killed 

 you? Has the Creator given you 

 the trust to restock our deserted 

 villages?' Mystery! The following 

 day, about 200 yards from this spot, 

 I heard a roar. I saw a number of 

 bees about the ruins of a roof. I had 

 discovered the colony, lodged in a 

 spot of difficult access. It was prob- 

 ably this circumstance which had 

 saved it. I secured a basket and a 

 few rags and soon had them in my 

 possession. The combs were sus- 

 pended crosswise of the entrance in 

 the angle of a ruined roof. A large 

 drone-comb, 28 inches in diameter, 

 was at the back, with smaller combs 

 diminishing towards the front. 



"The next day I put them in a 

 ready-made movable-frame hive, fill- 

 ing two frames with pieces of brood. 

 Later I transferred them in a D.-B. 

 hive, and gave them a super, which 

 they filled. 



"We were the first people who 

 came back to our village. I was as- 

 tonished to see the number of wil- 

 lows growing through the ruins. The 

 tussilagos (colt's foot) were also 

 there in large numbers, the white 

 sweet clover and the yellow, the 

 epilobium (willow herb), all growing 

 spontaneously in the plain of uncul- 

 tivated land. 



"I have since bought 4 fine colonies 



from Mr. , whom I thank heartily 



for the fine manner in vifhich he filled 

 my order." — (Bulletin de la Suisse, 

 May, 1920) Auguste Despagne. 



(This reminds us how much misery 

 there is still to be relieved in those 

 unfortunate countries. — Editor.) 



Combless Packages Versus Win- 

 tered Coloines 



By Wallace Park 



Apicultural Investigations, Iowa Ex- 

 periment Station. 



During the past two seasons, the 

 Apicultural Section of the Iowa Ex- 

 periment Station has run a compara- 

 tive test on package bees and win- 

 tered colonies for the purpose of de- 

 termining their relative value in 

 honey production. We oflfer the re- 

 sults obtained as a report of progress 

 only. The two seasons differed 

 greatly, as did also the results ob- 

 tained ; and next season maj' give 

 still different results. Conclusions 

 reached are tentative and subject to 

 modification, should future results 

 warrant a change. 



In order to determine the ootn- 

 parative value of package bees and 

 wintered colonies, we must know in 

 each case (1) cost and (2) produc- 

 tion. 



Cost of Wintering 



The cost of wintering is made up 

 of (1) stores consumed (2) packing 

 cases (or cellar) and (3) labor. Dur- 

 ing the winter of 1917-18, colonies 



wintered in quadruple packing cases 

 consumed an average of 20 pounds of 

 stores between the close of the fall 

 flow and the beginning of the spring 

 flow. This quantity, at 25 cents per 

 pound, was worth $4.60. The cases 

 used were of the type recommended 

 by the United States Department of 

 Agriculture and were built at a cost 

 of $15 per case. They should last 20 

 years, but with average care per- 

 haps 15 years would be more nearly 

 their lifetime. This means a depreci- 

 ation of about 7 per cent per year, 

 which, added to 8 per cent for inter- 

 est on investment, totals 15 per cent. 

 Then IS per cent of the original cost, 

 or $2.25, is the cost of one case per 

 year, and one-fourth of this, or 56 

 cents, is the share of each colony. 

 The packing material used was fine 

 mill shavings. Allowing for a little 

 wastage each year, 12 cents per col- 

 ony is about the cost of the shavings. 

 Thoroughly dried forest leaves would 

 be just as good, but probably would 

 not be any cheaper, considering the 

 labor of gathering them. 



The labor cost for packing and un- 

 packing will vary greatly, depending 

 upon equipment and system, or the 

 lack of them. Whih it is said to be 

 possible for two men to pack 100 

 colonies per day it is estimated that 

 the average number packed by two 

 men would noif exceed half that num- 

 ber. With labor at $5 a day, 20 cents 

 per colony would seem to be a rea- 

 sonable cost for the labor of pack- 

 ing; and unpacking costs about the 

 same so 40 cents per colony is al- 

 lowed for labor of packing and un- 

 packing. 



Then the total cost of wintering 

 for 1917-18 was $5.68, with perfect 

 wintering. But in general, a winter 

 or spring loss of one colony in ten 

 may be expected. It would cost $56.80 

 to winter 10 colonies, and if one 

 dies, the cost is still $56.80, which 

 must be apportioned among the nine 

 remaining, and one-ninth of $56.80 

 is $6.31. 



During the winter of 1918-19, and 

 average of 27 pounds of sitores was 

 consumed, an increase of 7 pounds 

 over the previous winter. But the 

 market price was slightly lower this 

 year, so 27 pounds at 20 cents gives 

 $5.40. By referring to the accompa- 

 nying table it will be seen that the 

 cost of packing cases and packing 

 materials was greater than in the 

 previous year. The cost of wintering 

 in 1918-19 was $6.66 per colony with 

 perfect wintering, of $7.50, with a loss 

 of one colony in ten. 



Cost of Packing Bees 

 A 2-pound package with untested 

 queen cost $5 delivered and installed 

 on combs the first year, as against 

 $6.25 the second. But a loss of about 

 one package in ten might be ex- 

 pected, so each of the remaining nine 

 would cost $5.55 in 1918 and $6.72 in 

 1919. 



Gains 

 The first season , the packages ar- 

 rived the last week in April and were 

 installed on drawn combs containing 

 some stores. They made an average 

 net gain of 40 pounds as against 60 

 for the wintered colonies. The pack- 



ages arrived the first week in May 

 the next season and made an average 

 net gain of 103 pounds, as against 133 

 for the wintered colonies. 

 Comparative Value 

 To compare the value of the pack- 

 age bees with that of the wintered 

 colonies, it is only necessary to di- 

 vide the cost of the bees by the num- 

 ber of pounds of honey produced in 

 each case, and then make diredt com- 

 parisons. (See table.) We have, 

 then, in each case, the cost of pro- 

 ducing a pound of honey in so far as 

 the cost of the bees alone is con- 

 cerned. It must be borne in mind, 

 however, that these figures do not 

 represent the total cost of produc- 

 tion. If we desired to determine the 

 absolute cost of production, it would 

 be necessary to include interest on 

 all capital invested, depreciation of 

 equipment, and labor through the 

 entire season. But these items would 

 be essentially the same for both pack- 

 age and wintered colonies, and can, 

 therefore, be omitted in determining 

 comparative values. 



For the first season, which was a 

 very poor one in this locality, win- 

 tered colonies produced honey for 

 Syi cents per pound less than the 

 package colonies. The second sea- 

 son was probably a little better than 

 the average for the locality. Win- 

 tered colonies produced honey for ap- 

 proximately one cent per pound less 

 than did the package colonies. The 

 average for the two years shows a 

 difference of 254 cents in favor of 

 the wintered colonies. 



General Considerations 

 In 1919 cold, wet weather from May 

 16 to June 12. greatly hindered brood- 

 rearing in all colonies, but especially 

 in the package colonies, The main 

 honey-flow came on before the pack- 

 age colonies had a chance to build 

 up. There was no late flow of any 

 consequence. 



In 1919 there was no real period 

 of dearth from the time the packages 

 were installed until the middle of 

 September. Some of the package 

 colonies stored surplus from bass- 

 wood. The wintered colonies, how- 

 ever, were stronger and stored much 

 more from this source. A late honey- 

 flow enabled the package bees, which 

 had just reached the peak of produc- 

 tion, to pile up a substantial surplus, 

 while many of the wintered colonies 

 stored only a moderate amount at 

 this time, due to the fact that they 

 had passed the peak of production 

 earlier in the season. 



Conclusions 



In a locality where there is a light 

 honey-flow during the early part of 

 the season, with the main flow com- 

 ing in the fall, package colonies may 

 be expected to be as profitable as 

 wintered colonies. Only under the 

 most favorable conditions can pack- 

 age bees be expected to store much 

 surplus from an early honey-flow. 



Unfavorable conditions during the 

 building-up period in spring, retard 

 brood-rear. ng in package colonies 

 more than in wintered colonies. 



Results so far indicate that pack- 

 age bees cannot be relied upon to 

 take the place of wintered colonies, 



