1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



333 



FIG. 5. — SOLID CAKES OF CANDIED HONEY CUT UP INTO TWO-POUND BRICKS WITH A WIRE. 



ey. In the old way, such honey in a 

 square can requires an immense amount of 

 work to gft't it into shape to sell to the local 

 trade. The cans must be set in boilers of 

 water not hotter than 15,0 to 160 degrees, 

 and kept there for hours at a time. The 

 amount of fuel required to melt these solid 

 chunks is quite an item; and it is not easy 

 to pour the honey out of these c ins after it 

 has once melted. There will always be a 

 draining- that is practically a loss. 



Perhaps it may be objected that it is too 

 bad to cut up a good square can, and spoil 

 it. in order lo carry out this method of re- 

 tailing in bricks. When it is remembered 

 that a second-hand can brings only a few 

 cents, one can well afford to spoil one if he 

 considers time, labor, and fuel any item- 

 especially so if he can double on his money. 

 This he can easily do if he makes the bricks 

 small enough. 



STANDARD SIZE OP COLONIES. 



Shall we Unite in the Spring? Some Seasonable 



Teachings on Preparing Colonies for the 



Harvest. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



FIG. 6. — CANDIFD HONEY TOO SOFT TO CUT 

 UP INTO BRICKS. 



The following questions have been sent to 

 me, from which it is desired that I make an 

 article for Gleanings: 



"How many bees should each queen have 

 in the spring to be in the best condition for 

 the honey flow from white clover? Would 

 it be p ofi table to bring all to some standard 

 of strength in spring by uniting?" 



I will commence by answering the last 

 question first. I have never found the unit- 

 ing < f bees in early spring as profitable; 

 and from past experience it would be an 

 impossibility to obtain a "standard of 

 strength" in that way. There is s' me- 

 thing about this uniting of bees in early 

 spring that I never could fully comprehend. 

 It would certainly seem that, where two or 

 three weak colonies were found in April or 

 early May, if the same were put together 

 so as to form a single colony with the maxi- 

 mum number of bees for a good stroog colo- 

 ny at that season of the year, a colony so 

 formed would keep right along, the same 

 as does a colony of the same strength in 

 bees that needed no help; but such is not 

 the case. I have tried it scores of times, as 

 have many others of our best beekeeoers, 

 only to find that at the end of a minth such 

 colony of unit d bees would be no better 

 than would 07ie of the weak colonies that 

 had been left entirely to itself. For this 

 reason I hare, of late years, not tried to 

 build up colonies which came out weak in 

 the spring by uniting the bees by any of the 

 known plans, but treat thtm as will be 

 given further along. 



