FEBRUARY 15, 1914 



139 



This necessitated the removal of 135 colo- 

 nies. In making repairs and reloading, 

 fifteen hours were lost. From Montgomery; 

 to Bainbridge, Ga., a little water was used 

 — possibly twelve or fifteen gallons. Upon 

 arrival at Bainbridge the bees were taken 

 from the car and placed on the steamboat 

 dock. From the time of unloading to the 

 departure of the steamer, thirty hours 

 elapsed. The shortness of time and nearness 

 to destination prevented me from giving 

 them a flight. To keep the bees quiet during 

 (his interval a very large amount of water 

 was used. Four hours were ccmsumed -in 

 loading the bees upon the steamer; the 

 weather being very warm, and the bees 

 being piled upon the open deck, necessitated 

 an almost continuous supply of water. 



The trip from Bainbridge to Randlett's 

 Landing, Fla., took twenty-four hours. Up- 

 on arrival at Randlett's Landing I had a 



crew of five men in readiness. The boat's 

 crew carried the hives ashore, and my men 

 placed them ui>on their stands. The bees 

 were then released and given a flight after 

 thirteen days of confinement. Upon exam- 

 ination next day I found three colonies 

 dead, making a loss of one per cent. Ac- 

 companying these bees there was a carload 

 cf supplies. During the past six weeks 1 

 have been very busy in nailing frames, 

 £esembling hives, and painting them. In 

 regard to stimulating, I now have 200 

 Boardman feeders in use. 



To-day, Jan. 8, I saw a few drones flying, 

 and the bees are gathering an abundance of 

 pollen. Examination shows brood in all 

 stages in advance of the season. 



In conclusion I would say tliat, if any 

 beekeeper thinks this trip was all pleasure, 

 I extend him a cordial invitation to accom- 

 pany me on my return trip. 



BEES WORK MORE READILY ON BROOD FOUNDATION THAN ON THIN 

 SUPER, EITHER IN THE BROOD-FRAMES OR SUPER 



DY GEOI.Gi': T. WHITTEX 



Last spring, when fitting up one of my 

 observatory hives, I was short of medium 

 brood foundation to fill two frames. I filled 

 three of the center frames with half medium 

 brood and half thin section foundation — 

 that is, a strip of" each covering half the 

 width of the frames. As the strips of sec- 

 tion foundation were about two inches too 

 short to fill the space, they were placed 

 down within half an inch of the bottom of 

 the frame, and a piece of brood foundation 

 filled in the space at the top. The three 

 frames were i^laced in the center of the hive. 

 The bees were put into the hive, and at once 

 began to draw out the brood foundation, 

 leaving the thin section. They continued 

 drawing out and filling it with brood and 

 lioney until the outside frames were nearlv 

 filled. 



When I found they would not work on 

 the thin foundation if there was any thing 

 else, I took the frames out, melted some wax, 

 and painted them Avith a thin coat ; Init they 

 still refused to work on them. T then cut 

 these portions out and put in medium brood 

 foundation. The bees then went to work on 

 them, drew them out. and filled them the 

 same as the others. They would draw the 

 brood foundation out, and fill and cap it, 

 up to the very last cell where the two came 

 togetlier. 



I observed that, while they were working 

 on the foundation early in the season, when 

 there was not much honey coming in. they 

 worked the foundation out very thin ; but as 



the floAv increases they do not work it out 

 much but build on to it. 



This experience led me to think that one 

 reason bees hesitate to work in sections is 

 the tlun foundation used in them. 



I filled some sections Avith a strip of medi- 

 um brood foundation % of an inch wide, 

 all the way around the edges, and some with 

 thin super, full sheets, and placed them 

 alternately in an observatory super, and I 

 found that the bses worked on the brood 

 foundation first in every case, and filled the 

 sections out to the edges well. 



I intend to give this a more thorough trial 

 this coming season. Whether tliis has any 

 effect on the swarming problem I do not 

 know, for I have not had a natural swarm 

 in four years, and only three in seven years. 



Hartford, Ct. " 



[Your experience is quite in line with 

 that of others. There can be no question 

 but that bees prefer brood to thin super 

 foundation. This preference is so marked 

 that some large producers have been using 

 brood foundation in their sections in place 

 of thin super. The bees will enter supers 

 Avith heaA'ier foundation much more readily 

 than supers with ordinary thin. 



This may and probably does have a beai'- 

 ing on the swarming question. The princi- 

 pal reason Avhy thin snper should be used — 

 and tliat may be an important one — is that 

 it leaves less midrib in the comb honey ; bi;t 



