FEBRUARY 15, 1914 



backed up by a loyal fraternity of beekeep- 

 ers and friends. While the laws of the 

 different States may differ somewhat, they 

 are essentially the same so far as I have 

 been able to ascertain. I believe Iowa has 

 as good a foul-brood law as any State, and 

 what we need most is a larger aj^propriation 

 of money from the State to carry the law 

 into effect in a general and educational way. 

 Two other great helps should be men- 

 tioned, and these are the bees and the hives 

 in which they live. Mr. W. D. Wright, of 

 Altamont, New York, has the following to 

 say in an address on the subject : " The 

 Italian Bee as a Factor in the Extermina- 

 tion of European Eoul-brood," delivered at 

 the New England N. S. and Canada bee- 

 inspectors' convention at Amherst, Mass., 



Feb. 7, lfll2. He said he always advised 

 inUoducing I lie Italian bee wherever he in- 

 spected bees. At first the New York bee- 

 keejaers were slow in using tliis method; 

 but after using it a while they became very 

 enthusiastic over the Italians. Some of the 

 men used the dequeening method with Ital- 

 ians this year with good success. For several 

 reasons I believe the Italians are better in 

 fighting American foul brood. In regard 

 to the hives, I will say I much prefer the 

 ten-frame Langstroth hive to any other 

 kind ; but the main thing is to have the bees 

 in movable-frame hives. 



We have mentioned that the beekeeper is 

 the greatest help, and I believe it is equally 

 true that the beekeeper may also be the 

 greatest hindrance. 



EARLY SPRING FEEDING ADVISABLE ONLY TO PREVENT 



STARVATION 



BY J. L. BYER 



During the last three months of the year 

 1913 I received more letters asking for 

 information along certain lines in beekeep- 

 ing than I have ever received in any six 

 months previous. Briefly the questions ask- 

 ed can be summed under three heads: 

 Spring management, controlling swarming 

 when producing extracted honey at out- 

 apiaries, and wintering. These queries were 

 in the main from beginners; yet some who 

 have been in the business for years were 

 inquiring about running out-apiaries, while 

 others are contemplating changing from in- 

 door to outdoor wintering. All replies Avere 

 answered to the best of my ability (which 

 is not saying that the parties got much 

 satisfaction), and I have been thinking it 

 might not be out of place to give the gist of 

 these replies in Gleanings; for, although 

 these subjects are all well worn in some 

 respects, yet they are questions of a vital 

 nature to our industry, and many things in 

 connection with them will bear rei^etition. 



In this article I shall briefly outline my 

 notions as to best methods of spring man- 

 agement ; and while I do not pretend that 

 the ideas presented will meet with the ap- 

 proval of all beekeepers who live in north- 

 ern latitudes, yet they have proved to be the 

 best with me; so, after all, that is the only 

 ground I have to make any claims upon. 

 In fact, no one is justified in debating any 

 thing from the theoretical standpoint alone, 

 as experience is needed to separate the chaff 

 from the wheat in all these debatable ques- 

 tions. 



As we liave often said, the secret of any 

 successful system of spring management is 



in doing the right kind of fall work. Hav- 

 ing young vigorous queens in all the hives 

 is one of the things to do in early fall. 

 Packing the bees good and snug not too late 

 in the season is another matter. But the 

 greatest factor of all, aside from being sure 

 that colonies have queens with vigor enough 

 to build up rapidly in the spring when 

 other conditions are right, is that I want the 

 bees to have abundance of good stores. By 

 " abundance " I mean enough to carry them 

 through till apple-bloom, provided they are 

 not able to get a bit of nectar before that 

 season of the year. Some years, when the 

 weather is favorable, the bees will get 

 enough to keep things going in a way from 

 the time early willows bloom ; but such sea- 

 sons ai'e the exception, in our part of On- 

 tario at least ; and whenever the bees are 

 stinted for stores in the spring the colonies 

 do not build up as they do when they have 

 " millions of honey " as friend Doolittle 

 would say. Wintering outdoors exclusively, 

 the first real work in the early spring is to 

 see that snow is shoveled away from front 

 of hives when weather is warm enough for 

 the first flight. This is generally late in 

 March or early in April, seasons varying a 

 great deal one year with another. While I 

 rather prefer snow around and over the 

 hives previous to this time, yet after the 

 bees have had a flight, if at all possible to 

 do so I want snow kept free from entrances 

 from that time on. After a flight, brood- 

 rearing goes on rapidly ; and with a fall of 

 wet snow, as we are apt to get late in the 

 season, damage is sure to result if hives are 

 covered for any length of time. If at all 



