1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



281 



undesirable results. The frames in 

 these hives were planned for half- 

 depth Langstroth size and were 4% 

 inches in the clear. I bought the 

 Langstroth size comb-foundation and 

 cut the sheets in two lengthwise. Be 

 it, that the foundation received had 

 been scantily cut or for other reason, 

 at any rate, when these shallow 

 frames were filled with this founda- 

 tion it left a space above the bottom- 

 bars from three-eighths to one-half 

 inch. In such shallow frames, even 

 without wiring, sagging would be neg- 

 ligible, when medium foundation is 

 used. My bees very cleverly filled out 

 my frames with a row or two of 

 drone-cells at the bottom. What this 

 means when you want to inspect 

 'brood sections from the underside, or 

 drive the bees downward or upward, 

 as the case may demand, those will 

 realize who are familiar with the man- 

 agement of sectional hives. The 

 sheets of foundation should almost 

 touch the bottom of such shallow 

 frames as these were. 

 New York. 



Labor, about an average of four 

 hours per week for seven months. 



Used practically 100 pounds for 

 home use. 



COST OF PRODUCTION OF 

 HONEY CROP 



By John Burgschat 



Twenty-five colonies in yard. 



Five of these were not used for 

 surplus, but for increase and to rear 

 queens. 



Twenty colonies were run for sur- 

 plus. 



Fifteen of these were 2-lb. pack- 

 ages purchased in the South in May. 

 Cost of 20 hives, including 



painting and foundation-. $118.00 

 Cost of 50 comb-honey su- 

 pers 220.00 



Cost of 50 extracting supers 



(second-hand) 20.00 



Cost of extractor (one-half 



interest) 15.00 



Cost of bees 100.00 



Total cost of equipment-- $473.00 



Interest on investment of 



equipment at 7 per cent_-$ 33.11 

 Depreciation on cost of 



equipment at 10 per cent- 47.30 



Total expense of use of 

 equipment $ 80.41 



Expense of use of equip- 



meni; from above $ 80.41 



Cost of foundation for su- 

 pers/ 12.50 



Cost of cartons for sections- 22.00 



Cost of glass containers 20.00 



Cost of 1,600 sections 18.75 



Total expense to produce 



2,100 pounds of honey- $153.66 



Gross receipts of 1,600 sec- 

 tions $450.00 



Gross receipts for 600 lbs. 



extracted 210.00 



SOME KANSAS NOTES 



By Frank Van Ilaltcrn 

 Hive records properly kept are 

 often quite valuable in pointing out 

 mistakes ana making it po«:sible to 

 plan ahead with some certpmty of 

 success. The following figures, ob- 

 tained from our records, are based on 

 estimaies made by examination.s in 

 the fall and spring: 



Between October, 1920, and April 

 20 to 26, l'J21, when r.hey were un- 

 packed, 156 colonies corsuined an av- 

 erage of 24 pounds of stores, ranging 

 from 13 to 35 pounds. This woild 

 seem to show that the miriimuni al- 

 lowance should be not less tiian 40 

 pounds for the winter, .^o .is to have 

 some honey in the hive for spring 

 brood-rearing. 



Ninety-six young queens averaged 

 3.97 frames of brood, in the sprine:, 

 as against 3.75 frames for 30 old 

 queens. These frames were mostly 

 modified Dadant. The colonies with 

 young queens averaged one pound of 

 stores more, in the sprir.g. than tliose 

 with old queens. The young queens 

 do not show up strong here. How- 

 ever, the time when tiie old queens 

 fell down was in the heavy brood- 

 rearing season. 



One hundred and twelve colonics 

 with five pounds or more of stores in 

 the hive, at time of unpacking, aver- 

 aged 4.1 frames of brood, while 44 

 that had less than five pounds aver- 

 aged 3 frames of brood. This shows 

 that as the stores are reduced, brood- 

 rearing is restricted. 



In one year, 17 colonies wintered 

 on modified Dadant frames averag;"d 

 3.6 frames of brood in April, while 32 

 colonies on Langstroth frames aver- 

 aged 3.1 frames of brood. The colo- 

 nies on the deep frames consumed 



Gross receipts for total__ $660.00 

 Total cost of production- 153.66 



an average of 23.7 pounds of stores, 

 while those on shallow frames used 24 

 pounds, each, during the v/inter. I 

 am using the number of frames of 

 brood as an index of the number of 

 bees in the hive, and therefore of the 

 strength of the colony. In the cool 

 days of spring there is a close relation 

 between the number rf bees and the 

 amount of brood. In the heat of 

 summer the amount of brood, espe- 

 cially in small colonies, may be large 

 in proportion to the number of ma- 

 ture bees. Results in thir yard heem 

 to indicate that the doe;) frame is a 

 little the best for winter. 



Fifty colonies, at one outyard, were 

 packed in two long rows, the hives 

 being placed close side by side, and 

 observations made to determine the 

 amount of drifting during the winter. 

 So far as we could tell, there w.'s no 

 drifting, the strength of different cl- 

 onies running about the same as the 

 hives that were packed in pairs. How- 

 ever, the entrances were all distinctly 

 separated from each other and plenty 

 of markers, such as stones and .'•ticks, 

 placed in the front. 



Kansas. 



Net profit for labor $506.34 



The split section on which patent was recently 

 issued to Harry Hartman, of Braddyville, la , 

 as mentioned in a recent issue. 



BEES KILLED BY SPRAY POISON 



Dear Mr. Dadant: 



I wish to inform you that last week 

 two farmers here in this vicinity 

 sprayed their apple orchards, iust as 

 the trees were going into full bloom, 

 and as a consequence fully two-thirds 

 of my bees were killed by this poison. 

 Two more smaller bee yards were 

 ruined. These farmers were told 

 again and again not to spray while 

 in full bloom, but pleading and even 

 giving them honey was of no use. 

 The loss to me, figured at the lowest, 

 is at least $500, besides the loss of the 

 honey crop, as no matter what I do, 

 these bees cannot breed up in time 

 for the clover flow. Besides many 

 colonies are dead outright. It makes 

 it all the harder for us, as we made 

 our living from the bees. Is there no 

 law, or cannot something be done 

 to protect our bees? If this keeps on 

 we might as well go out of the bee 

 business. I wish, Mr. Dadant, you 

 could have seen how the bees rolled 

 out of the hives and how they suf- 

 fered, and the whole bee yard was 

 literally covered with dead and dying 

 bees. They were never in finer condi- 

 tion than they were this spring. 



G. A. Barbisch. 



Minnesota. 



(This is a very unfortunate affair. 

 Those farmers ought to be punished, 

 and there is a possibility that you 

 might obtain damages, if the injury 

 can be proved. 



We tried to get a State law passed 

 in Illinois upon spraying, a few years 

 ago. But we had no positive evidence 

 to produce, and the Committee of the 

 Legislature refused to do anything 

 until evidence could be produced. 

 They argued that it was against the 

 fruit grower's interest as well as the 

 beekeeper's, to spray during bloom, 

 and that is true, for there is more or 

 less damage done to the pollen and 

 to the pistil of the blossom by using 

 poisons in spraying during bloom. Be- 

 sides, the bees are useful in fertilizing 



