July 15. 1911 



421 



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Louis Scholl, New Braunfels, Texas 



"SHAKING ENERGY INTO BEES." 



A good deal was said on this subject at 

 one time, but not much stock was taken in 

 it. There may not be so much in it after 

 all; but in our manipulations in the apiaries 

 we have always practiced shaking the bees 

 up as much as possible, for the puri)0se of 

 securing increased activity, better work, 

 and, consequently, better results in the 

 end. Have we gained any thing by this 

 imaginary (?) practice? 



^^'e began to investigate this matter near- 

 ly twenty years ago when we discovered 

 that certain manipulations and handling 

 of the combs, disarranging them in certain 

 ways, and yet not enough to do any harm 

 to the brood, and other factors important to 

 the best welfare of the colony, created a 

 greater activity in the colonies so treated. 

 As a consequence, we have not only contin- 

 ued to practice the method but have advo- 

 cated it, and we require our assistants each 

 year to do the same. 



There is no doubt in our mind that vari- 

 ous manipulations at certain times will cre- 

 ate greater energy in the work done by a 

 colony of bees than if it is left alone the en- 

 tire season. Then, to go a step further than 

 this, there can be no doubt that additional 

 manipulations, carefully learned and prac- 

 ticed after years of observation, may add 

 to the advantages obtained from such meth- 

 ods. This has been our experience, and we 

 have profited thereby to such an extent that 

 we do not fail to make use of "shaking en- 

 ergy into bees " whenever advisable. But 

 we do not practice as radical methods as 

 have been advocated by some writers. There 

 is a limit to every thing. 



THE WIDE-BEVEL UNCAPPING-KNIFE. 



The more we study the question of honey- 

 knives, the more we are convinced that we 

 have not been far off the track in using the 

 common butcher-knife for a number of 

 years. After trying a great many uncap- 

 ping-knives of different styles, including 

 such flat-bladed knives as the Novice, the 

 narrow beveled-edge Bingham, the old-style 

 .Jones, with its bevel extending to the center 

 of the back of the knife, and various com- 

 mon straight-bladed knives, we have once 

 for all settled on a straight-bladed butcher- 

 knife, of which the cutting edge is slightly 

 curved so that it will extend into the frames 

 when uncapping thin combs. They have 

 gi\ en us the best of satisfaction; and other 

 bee-keepers who have visited us for the pur- 

 pose of finding out more about the exact 

 shape and size of these knives, on learning 

 to use them have adopted them. In an- 

 swer to several requests, exact drawings, 

 made by placing one of the knives on a large 

 piece of paper, have been furnished so that 

 the right kind of knife with the exact shape 

 might be procured by the enquirer. 



Our experience, after several years' use of 

 these knives, has proven to us that they are 

 very satisfactory for the purpose, and much 

 more so than any of the unwieldy, bevel- 

 edge knives with crooked or offset handles. 

 Our butcher-knife is much easier to handle. 

 It is just like cutting off steak from a large 

 piece of beef when we uncap our combs. A 

 butcher most certainly would not think of 

 doing this with such an awkward knife as 

 one with the offset handle. The straight- 

 handled knife is easier to manipulate; and 

 its slightly beveled edge extending the en- 

 tire width of the blade makes it easier to 

 guide smoothly over the comb surface. 



A REMARKABLE SEASON IN TEXAS. 



During the early months of the year there 

 was an abundance of rain. In lact, there 

 was considerable complaint; for the long- 

 continued wet weather, in addition to the 

 cold damp atmosphere lasting so long, had 

 a bad effect on the bees. The rains were 

 badly needed, however, after several dry 

 years during which we had very little rain. 

 Because of the moisture in the ground, re- 

 sulting from the rains, the prospects for an 

 abundant crop were most favorable. In 

 most parts of the Htate the bees built up 

 very rapidly, as the spring flowers were in 

 greater profusion than for many years. The 

 cold damp weather retarded the progress of 

 the colonies in many ways, as the weather 

 was too bad for the bees to get the necessary 

 water and pollen at the time the hives were 

 filled with brood in all stages. And when 

 the main honey-tlow began, excessive rains 

 again delayed the work of the bees so much 

 that the spring crop in many places was 

 very short. The heavy and constant rains 

 also had a bad effect oh the plants and the 

 blossoms, from which the spring crop was 

 expected, tending thus in two different ways 

 to cut off the honey-ilow. 



Immediately after the excessively wet 

 spell a most severe drouth followed, and 

 this affected both the bees and the vegeta- 

 tion. During the rainy season every thing 

 had grown very rank and tender; the exces- 

 sive heat following so suddenly simply burn- 

 ed up the vegetation. The bees were then 

 cut off from doing much work on the fast- 

 disappearing bloom. 



At the present time this most severe 

 drouth continues, and every thing is suffer- 

 ing from it. In spite of this, however, we 

 are in the midst of as fine a honey-flow as 

 we have had for several years, and the bees 

 are rolling in honey from very early in the 

 morning until late at night. The source is 

 the mesquUe-trees, which are loaded with 

 fragrant blossoms. And since the bees have 

 just finished working on the horsemint, the 

 colonies are in shape to store up a good 

 amount of surplus of fine bulk comb honey. 



