1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



547 



len in it I am quite sure to find several. 

 AlasI ihey got started to storing pollen in 

 the wrong- place, and kept on. 



One colony g"ets started to gathering' pro- 

 poli-. while another may be gathering hon- 

 ey; and it does not stop when every crack 

 and crevice is filled, but keeps right on 

 smearing everj' j^int and frame and sec- 

 tion; and even the c:)mbs in brood-chamber 

 and super come in for a share of this sticky 

 substance. 



When once a colon}' gets started or pre- 

 pares to swrarm it requires vigorous tieat- 

 ment to turn it from its purpose. I have 

 taken away a 1 the brood and honey — j-es, 

 and every brood comb from a colony, and 

 yet it would swarm. 



This impulse is not always bad by an 3' 

 means. During the season of 1897, when 

 clover was in full bloom, and honey very 

 abundant, and most hives had combs begun 

 in supers yet but little finished, the flow of 

 honey was from some cause (probably from 

 too inuch rain) suddenly cut off; but the 

 bees k<=pt on filling their supers with honey 

 from their brood chambers, for some time 

 after they could gather much from the fields. 



But there is another line along which, 

 when bees once get started, they are apt to 

 " keep it up," and that is the waj- they fin- 

 ish off their combs. On the same page 

 from which I quoted at the beginning of 

 this article, I read, " I picked out two sam- 

 ples of sections from Martin's honey; for I 

 observed that, if one section in a case was 

 ridged, all the sections in that case would 

 show somewhat the same fault, thus indicat- 

 ing that some bees are more inclined to 

 ridge than others." Just so; and so some 

 colonies are more likely to finish their combs 

 in other ways when once they get started; 

 as, for instance, sealing their surplus combs 

 next to the wood. If we find one comb in a 

 super finished perfectly we are likely to 

 find most of the combs in the same super 

 sealed in the same way; or if we find the 

 first comb we take out not sealed around 

 the edges, we are not likely to find many 

 that are. 



On page 910, of the same issue, Mr. F. 

 L. Thompson, in comparing the old style of 

 sections with the plain sections, says: " So 

 far we have had no experimenting lately 

 published that was worthy of the name. 

 Both kinds of sections to be compared should 

 be in the same super." 



However it may be in other parts of our 

 broad country, I can not tell; but I feel very 

 sure that, in this section, such a method of 

 experimenting would be very far from sat- 

 isfactory, from the fact that, as bees begin 

 to finish, ihey are likely to continue with- 

 out much regard to our notions as to how it 

 should be done, or whether the sections are 

 plain or otherwise. Suppose we have two 

 or more hives with supers that have half of 

 their sections on one side plain between 

 fences, whi'.e on the other side are old-style 

 sections with solid separators, narrow 

 enough so bees can pass both above and be- 

 low them into adjoining sections. The bees 



will most likely finish all with but little 

 difference. Should the bees begin to finish 

 on the side with old sections it is not prob- 

 able that the plain sections will be finished 

 much better. Or if the bees commence to 

 finish on the side with plain sections first, 

 they will be likely to finish those on the 

 other side in the same way. 



As was said of Mr. Martin's honej'. so of 

 these: As you find one you are likely to find 

 the rest in the same clamp. But if we fill 

 one or two hundred clamps with one kind 

 of box or separator, and as many more with 

 another kind, and place them on our hives 

 just as it happens, we shall be much more 

 likely to secure results that will be more 

 satisfactory. It is not very dilficult to aver- 

 age the different lots after they are ready 

 for market. 



Again, if we feed bees with cappings or 

 other refuse honey, and they get " started" 

 on it while yet there is honey to be had in 

 the fields, they are ready to leave field 

 work for this artificial feed, to their own 

 disadvantage. 



Once more, if a colonj' gets "once start- 

 ed " to robbing we all know the result. 

 They are apt to leave honest industry and 

 follow the bee keeper from hive to hive; and 

 every time a comb is exposed they pounce 

 upon it, making more trouble than they are 

 worth; and when "once started " thej' are 

 almost sure to " keep it up." 



From the foregoing will be readily seen 

 the importance of getting bees started in 

 best way, and keeping them from getting 

 started wrong. 



Middlebury, Vt. 



[I doubt not that your article will recall 

 to the minds of manj' of our practical bee- 

 keepers many cases similar to those to 

 which you allude. In the production of 

 comb honey I soon found that it was very 

 important to get the bees started early in 

 the supers; that, when once started, the 

 colony would go on working without clus- 

 tering out, ard pile in the honey as long as 

 there is any to be obtained. A colony that 

 fusses around, has its brood- nest packed 

 full of honey, and will not go into the su- 

 pers, will, unless made to go to work some- 

 how, loaf a good part of the season. 



Again, if a colony is once stirred up to 

 sting, it is liable to be for ever after nerv- 

 ous — at least so far as I have noticed. We 

 had once one colony that was near the 

 driveway, very peaceable; but after it was 

 bumped by a wagon- wheel it was so ob- 

 streperous that we had to move it away 

 from the roadway. In a similar way we 

 have a path right down in the center of our 

 bee yard. If a colony on this path once 

 gets used to the walking back and forth, it 

 will give but little trouble the entire season. 



In this way we might multiply hundreds 

 of instances. This same rule that applies 

 to Apis ■}}iellijica applies with even more 

 force to the human race. The young man 

 who starts out right, keeping good company, 

 and is never too big to go to church and 



