1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



21 



During the early spring tliese are 

 fed warm syrup, given to them in an 

 Alexander feeder at the rear of the 

 I'ower hive. This stimulates brood- 

 rearing to a great extent, and within 

 a short time they begin to gain num- 

 bers. As soon as the weather begins 

 to be somewhat settled after fruit 

 bloom, the colonies are placed each 

 on its own stand, side by side. If there 

 is a pair, they are kept in pairs, and if 

 there are three colonies the three, 

 and four kept in fours, are kept close 

 together. 



After four or five days the colonies 

 are examined and the weaker one 

 placed on the old stand, thus giving 

 it all of the field bees. Every four 

 or five days the colonies are exam- 

 ined, and if one colony is weaker 

 than the others the weakest one is 

 placed on the 'old stand, thus giving 

 it all of the old field bees. The en- 

 trances to each hive must be as 

 small as possible. 



Mr. Seastream says that this gives 

 excellent results. The old field bees, 

 being given to each colony alter- 

 nately, supply the colony with 

 plenty of fresh stores and pollen; 

 this incites the queens to lay, and 

 they gain very rapidly. 



It might be supposed that there 

 would be some fighting among the 

 bees, also that some queens might be 

 lost; but this is not the case. These 

 colonies having been tiered up with 

 queen-excluders between each of 

 them, and then being placed side by 

 side very close to each other, there is 

 no difficulty, whatever, in making an 

 exchange of the field bees in this 

 manner. 



The above manipulations require 

 considerable attention, as Mr. Sea- 

 stream has found that four or five 

 days' interval is as much as should 

 be allowed in making exchanges. The 

 results, however, are wonderful, and 

 the weakest colonies can be built up 

 in time for a good honey crop. The 

 plan has saved him hundreds of dol- 

 lars' worth of bees ready to go to the 

 field when the honey flow begins. — 

 L. C. D. 



APIARIAN EXHIBIT AT WASH- 

 INGTON STATE FAIR 



By Geo. W. York 



The Washington State Fair was 

 held at Yakima, September 20 to 26. 

 1920. As usual, the exhibits in the 

 Apiary Department were large and 

 excellent. It is pretty hard to excel 

 Mr. and Mrs. Robert Cissna and Mr. 

 and Mrs. H. L. Hart when it comes 

 to putting up an apiarian display for 

 a fair. 



Other exhibitors were J. C. Wallace 

 and Fred Mandery, from near the 

 coast, or "west of the mountains," as 

 that locality is referred to; also Mrs. 

 J. B. Cole and H. Christensen, from 

 the Yakima Valley. 



I wish I could do something or say 

 something, that would induce more 

 beekeepers to exhibit products of 

 their apiaries at fairs. I know of 

 no better way to acquaint thousands 

 of people with honey and its uses, 



and thus induce them to consume 

 more of it. At the Spokane Inter- 

 state Fair, Mrs. Arthur Sires gave 

 away hundreds of sample tastes of 

 extracted honey on crackers, and 

 thus helped to advertise honey in a 

 very tangible way. But more of this 

 should be done every year, and there 

 is no better place than at the fairs, 

 where people are always tired and 

 hungry, and will not soon forget 

 the taste of good honey. Of course, 

 at the same time distribute leaflets 

 with honey recipes and information 

 about honey that will be of interest 

 to everybody. 



THE PURPLE MARTIN 



By L. E. Webb 



I note in the October Journal, 

 under the editor's answers to ques- 

 tions, a question by "Kentucky" as 

 to whether martins destroy bees. 



Being a taxidermist and bird fan- 

 cier and also a beekeeper, I have 

 given the subject close attention for 

 years, having many colonies of bees 

 and large colonies of martins on the 

 same lot. 



The martins referred to by "Ken- 

 tucky" are the "purple martins," 

 which colonize in houses, do not de- 

 stroy bees, although they feed ex- 

 clusively on insects. 



The name of "Bee Martin" has 

 been applied erroneously to the pur- 

 ple or house martin. 



A colony of chattering martins is 

 one of the most beautiful and enjoy- 

 able things one can have and when 

 a good house is secured (it ihust be 

 the right kind, as martins are very 

 particular, and will not build in a 

 house unless it exactly suits their 

 requirements), the colony increases, 

 as year after year they return from 

 their winter home in the tropics and 

 spend the summer in the States. 



About the 1st of April the colo- 

 nies arrive and about July depart as 

 suddenly as they came. Next to bees, 

 the martin is the most interesting 

 thing one can attract They are 

 strictly a social bird and require 

 houses with a large number of 



rooms, as they prefer to colonize in 

 large numbers, and the most beauti- 

 ful scenes imaginable are when hun- 

 dreds of other martins visit the 

 colony and the air is full of beautiful, 

 graceful, chattering birds. 



With a colony on your place you 

 will have practical freedom from de- 

 structive insects. 



The U. S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture issues a bulletin on making 

 martin houses and ready-made 

 houses or plans can be secured from 

 Jacobs Bird House Co., 404 South 

 Washington St., Waynesburg, Pa. 



Don't make the mistake of stick- 

 ing up a box with rooms of just any 

 dimensions, as the martins will not 

 go about it unless it is properly ar- 

 ranged in every respect. 



North Carolina. 



Bair's two colonies in one 



TWO COLONIES IN ONE 



By Wm. Bair 



For intensive beekeeping, the plan 

 I vvish to describe seems to have pos- 

 sibilities. Having tried it only on a 

 small scale, my impressions are fa- 

 vorable enough to work it more an- 

 other season. 



The only extra equipment needed 

 is an inner cover bee-escape board 

 with one of the end cleats taken off. 

 I start the plan during the white 

 clover flow by raising brood to the 

 top story, providing there one, two 

 or more full-depth extracting supers 

 on the hive. 



"Stagger" the top story to give 

 the bees an entrance at the top. I 

 seldom fail to get queen-cells by this 

 plan, using a queen-excluder between 

 brood-chamber and first super. Just 

 before the virgin queens emerge, put 

 your prepared escape board between 

 the super containing the cells and the 

 lower parts of the hiv.e. There is 

 now no connection between the two 

 as the escape hole must be closed 

 and the removed cleat furnishes them 

 an entrance. 



I always leave this entrance at the 

 front, though it could be left at the 

 side or back, which would decrease 

 the danger of the virgin failing to 

 find the right entrance on her return 

 from mating trip. 



Both queens are now to be left in 

 their respective places during the 

 season. Of course, if the old queen 

 should swarm there would need to 

 be some special manipulation of the 

 lower colony. The young queen with 

 her colony on top could be left, no 

 matter what plan was used below. 



In the fall, when all supers are 

 taken off, simply leave the top colony 

 on the lower with the board in be- 

 tween as before. The two will help 

 keep each other warm during the 

 winter. 



Now for the next season. As early 

 as they need the room, give each an 

 extra hive-body, as shown in illus- 

 tration. 



When the honey flow has well 

 started, put the hive-body contain- 

 ing the younger queen and her brood 

 down on the bottom-board, the su- 

 pers on top of this and the old queen 



