136 



GIvEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15. 



and frames that it seems superfluous to touch 

 on the subject ; but from an experience of 

 thirty }'ears, working for extracted honey, I 

 am convinced that a large hive of not less 

 than twenty h. frames is required. For rapidity 

 and ease of manipulation I prefer the space 

 between the bottom-bar and the floor of the 

 hive to be half inch, and as much between 

 walls and frames. In construction of hives 

 no allowance is made for shrinkage of timber 

 exposed to the hot sun or the sagging of the 

 bottom bars. 



The question may be asked, how about burr- 

 combs ? They are far preferable to propolis ; 

 and if the honey is extracted as rapidly as 

 placed in the combs, there will be little trou- 

 ble with them. 



A top-bar should be not less than one inch 

 wide, for a bee-keeper wants to carry thick 

 heavy combs to the extractor, saving a large 

 amount of work. Bees will not build as thick 

 a comb on a ^4 -inch top-bar as on one an inch 

 wide. Give me wide top and thick wide bot- 

 tom-bars, with plenty of room in the hives for 

 rapid and easy manipulation, then I can go 

 through my apiary with celerity. Frames are 

 too often made for comb-space at the loss of 

 strength and durability, which makes a dear 

 frame for one working for extracted honey. 



Greenville, Miss. 



' Scale Colony ; " Its Use ; Recording Temperature ; 

 Weather and Colony Conditions, etc. 



BY R. C. AIKIN. 



I have always been interested in keeping a 

 " scale colony." I suppose for over 15 years I 

 have always kept a colony on scales during 

 the honey-flow. I am fully satisfied there is 

 much to be learned by carefully recording the 

 work of a colony each day, together with the 

 weather conditions and the conditions of the 

 colony. I regret very much that my work in 

 this line has not been more methodical and 

 thorough, and that it is only within the last 

 few years that I have preserved the records 

 beyond the season of making them. I am 

 now endeavoring to accumulate a list of rec- 

 ords ; and that this collection may become 

 large at as early a date as possible I wish to 

 ask any who have such to exchange copies 

 with me. We can each make a copy of what 

 we have, and exchange by mail. 



Every apiarist, who closely observes, knows 

 that some of his colonies do not do nearly as 

 well as others, though apparently in equally 

 good condition. Usually the difference is at- 

 tributed to laziness or some peculiar trait in 

 the blood of the stock, and off must come the 



head of the queen of the colony that is be- 

 hind. I have long believed that many a fine 

 and valuable queen has been sacrificed simply 

 because her owner did not know the environ- 

 ments that caused her colony to fall behind. 



How many who read these lines have decid- 

 ed to kill a queen because her colony has built 

 too many burr and brace combs ? I know that 

 there is a difference in disposition, vigor, or 

 other traits in bees ; but there are so many 

 factors that bear upon the colony, and influ- 

 ence results, that even the most expert apia- 

 rists will be mistaken in their judgment at 

 times. Possibly some burr-combs are built 

 because it is in the blood of the colony (they 

 are predisposed) to do so ; but I am just as 

 sure that ninety-five out of one hundred or 

 over of all burr and brace combs are caused 

 by something else than a trait of the colony 

 building them. The principal cause of burr- 

 combs is improper spacing; next, lack of stor- 

 age room; and, third, a surplus of wax. 



Suppose that two sets of men go out to dig 

 potatoes. One crew gets into a patch yielding 

 300 bushels per acre, the other crew to a patch 

 that yields but 100 per acre; which will har- 

 vest the most potatoes ? Or, send out several 

 huntsmen to bring in game, and they, not 

 knowing where the game is, but each striking 

 out for liimself, would you expect each to find 

 and kill as much as the other? It is just as 

 reasonable to expect even results from differ- 

 ent colonies of bees as to expect ten hunters 

 to each return in a given time with ten rab- 

 bits. 



I believe that bees communicate to each oth- 

 er by some means, especially between mem- 

 bers of a colony, and to some extent between 

 members of different colonies where located 

 close together ; but where there are various 

 blooms and fields to labor in I do not believe 

 that the forces of all colonies are equally dis- 

 tributed in all fields. In order to get light 

 upon this point it has been my desire to have 

 a nmnber of colonies upon scales and com- 

 pare their work, though I have never been 

 able to have more than two scale colonies at 

 one time. To lift colonies on and off, using 

 one scale for all, is too much work for a bread- 

 and-butter winner. 



Although it is many years that I have fol- 

 lowed the practice of taking daily records of 

 a colony during a honey-flow, I have not yet 

 obtained all the knowledge sought or obtain- 

 able in that way, yet I have learned some 

 things that seem of value. 



I consider that the daily weighing fully pays 

 for the trouble, in its being an index of the 

 strength of the flow, that thereby I can de- 

 termine more quickly what will be needed in 

 the way of supers and super adjustment. A 

 colony may bring nectar freely for a portion 

 of the day, yet the average of the day's work 

 be nothing extra. If an average colony is gain- 

 ing two pounds gross daily, I know that means 

 about one to one and a half net, say about 

 twenty days to fill an ordinary super. The 

 scale also tells me within a day or two whether 

 the flow is increasing or waning. It is the 

 surest and quickest way of obtaining a gener- 

 al knowledge of work being done, unless one 



