1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



507 



California he found an abiding-place in the 

 extreme south, at San Diego. We were in 

 hopes for a time that Los Angeles would be- 

 come his permanent home, and there is not 

 the least doubt in my mind but this city would 

 have been the more healthful for him ; but 

 • business matters necessitated the change to 

 his present quarters. 



Mr. Newman is an eminent spiritualist, pub- 

 lishes the Philosophical Journal, and but a 

 few moments' conversation with him will 

 demonstrate that he is a man who desires to 

 benefit and elevate his fellow-men. He has 

 been a faithful worker in the interests of bee- 

 keepers, and there is no use to refer to the 

 firmness of his backbone in reference to the 

 affairs of the B. K. Union, and especially when 

 considering the marriage of the Union with 

 the newer association. 



There are several points that are not taken 

 into account when considering this nuptial 

 affair. The members of the Union never 

 gather in an annual meeting, like the U. S. B. 

 K. Association. If it did hold annual meet- 

 ings, and both associations would meet at the 

 same time and place, there is no doubt the 

 wedding-feast could be amicably spread. 



As the case now stands, Mr. Newman is the 

 only visible head to the Union, and he gets all 

 the blame for standing so strenuously against 

 the wiles of the new association ; but there is 

 a power behind Mr. Newman in the member- 

 ship of the Union. He has his ear to the tel- 

 ephone, and the majority are shouting to him 

 to keep the door shut, and he is faithfully 

 obeying orders. From Mr. Newman's stand- 

 point I sum the situation up in the attached 

 cartoon. 



S& S&r S^tr ]g^ &P- J 



FEW UNFINISHED SECTIONS IN THE FALL. 



Question. — Do you not think that we are 

 liable to overdo the thing of tiering up sec- 

 tions so as to secure a large yield of honey, 

 this causing too many unfinished combs in 

 the fall ? I have followed the advice given in 

 our bee-papers, of giving room every time the 

 bees seemed somewhat crowded, and the 

 result has been that I have many unfinished 

 sections in the fall — many more than it seems 

 an advantage to have. 



Answer. — How to manage our bees so as to 

 secure the greatest yield of comb honey is a 

 question of great importance to all those who 

 are engaged in producing such honey for mar- 

 ket ; hence we have many articles on this 

 topic, giving us instructions regarding how 

 we should proceed. But comb honey is of 

 little value unless pretty nearly or fully sealed 

 over, so that " how to manage our bees so as 

 to have few uncapped sections in the fall " is 

 a question of nearly as much importance to us 

 as the first. For years I was troubled by 

 having from one-fourth to one-third of the 



combs in the sections not fully sealed at the 

 close of the honey harvest, which were salable 

 only at a reduced price ; but of late I do not 

 have nearly so many as formerly. After ex- 

 perimentirjg for some years in this matter I 

 became convinced that the cause of the trouble 

 was in giving the bees too many sections ; and 

 especially conducive to this was the plan of 

 tiering up sections late in the season. Many 

 and many a time, years ago, I spoiled a prom- 

 ise of an abundant yield of comb honey by 

 tiering up four or five days before the honey 

 harvest closed. To tier up sections profitably 

 requires considerable tact, and especially do 

 we want a thorough knowledge of the honey 

 resources of the field we occupy. 



I think there has been too much injudicious 

 talk during the past regarding not allowing 

 the bees under any circumstances to cluster 

 on the outside of the hive, the idea being gen- 

 erally, conveyed that, when bees thus cluster 

 out, they need more room. Now, it depends 

 on when this clustering-out occurs, whether 

 more room is needed or not ; and hence I say 

 "injudicious talk." If the clustering-out 

 occurs at the commencement or in the height 

 of the honey-harvest, then more room should 

 be given ; while if at the latter part of the 

 honey harvest, or in a time of honey dearth, 

 no more is needed, for more room at this time 

 results in the one case in many unfinished 

 sections, and in the other in an absolute waste 

 of time used in enlarging the hive. To illus- 

 trate : 



During some seasons we have but very few 

 days of honey secretion, and that often after 

 the flowers which produce the nectar are 

 rather «past their prime. At such times we 

 often do not have on the hive more than one- 

 half the capacity which we would use in a 

 good season ; and for this reason the bees 

 begin to be crowded out. Hoping that the 

 weather may be good during the rest of the 

 time that the flowers are in bloom, we double 

 the room for our colonies, only to have it turn 

 bad weather again, thus giving us only par- 

 tially filled sections in the fall ; while had we 

 left them as they were, and not been stam- 

 peded at the sight of a few bees hanging out 

 on the front of the hive, all would have been 

 finished. 



I well recollect one such season when, in 

 time of basswood bloom, we had bad weather 

 up to the middle of the same. At this time I 

 had on the hives about one-half of the surplus 

 room generally used, when, all at once, the 

 yield of honey became abundant, and the bees 

 began to be crowded out. Hoping that the 

 weather might be good for some time, I dou- 

 bled the capacity on a few hives. The result 

 was that the bees immediately took possession 

 of the empty sections, while the weather turn- 

 ed unfavorable again ; and when the season 

 was over I did not secure half as many finished 

 sections from these hives as I did from those 

 which were allowed to remain as they were. 



Again, very often after basswood bloom has 

 failed there conies on very hot weather when 

 not a bit of nectar can be obtained ; and the 

 result is that the fronts of the hives are black 

 with bees. According to the advice above 



