G[>EANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



that have cast a swarm. Tliis applies 

 with double force to those colonies that 

 are allowed to cast an after-swarm. Per- 

 haps here I can best illustrate my point 

 by telling some actual occurrences. The 

 first was in an out-apiary in one of the 

 central States. The apiary had an attack 

 of the swarming fever, with the result that 

 every strong colonj^ had cast at least one 

 swarm. Along the latter end of July I went 

 over the brood-nests of some 40 colonies 

 that had swarmed. From those 40 brood- 

 nests, if I remember correctly, I removed 30 

 gallons of honey. This was the salvation of 

 those colonies. Had the brood-nests been 

 left in the condition in which I found them, 

 the queens would never have been able to 

 build up the colonies in shape to go into 

 winter quarters properly. It is just as es- 

 sential to proper wintering that there be 

 plenty of young bees as that there be plen- 

 ty of stores. Another instance occurred 

 in one of the Eocky Mountain States. There 

 a yard which contained some 40. colonies, 

 spring count, was run only for increase, 

 the idea being only to make as many colo- 

 nies as possible. This yard was extracted 

 twice during the summer, the extracting be- 

 ing done out of doors. The two extractings 

 totaled 150 gallons. This, of course, was 

 not all taken immediately from the brood- 

 nests, for the reason that, as there was a 

 sufficiency of empty combs, whenever a 

 frame became filled with honey it was re- 

 moved and placed in a super and an empty 

 frame j^laced down in the brood-nest. Here 

 honey was only incidental. The idea never 

 was to produce honey, only increase ; but in 

 spite of that fact the bees stored 150 gal- 

 lons of surplus. In connection Avitli this 

 there is another thing that it ofttimes pays 

 to practice in a small way, which, while it is 

 known to most of the old-timers, may be 

 new to some of the younger generation. 

 That is, to take the frame of honey and 

 uncap it, or at least mash the cajipings with 

 the hive-tool, and place this uncapped 

 frame in the center of the brood-nest, with 

 the result that the bees will, under the right 

 conditions, take a good proportion of this 

 uncapped honey and store it above, and 

 then utilize the comb for brood. 



Another matter that goes with extracting 

 brood-nests is that of spreading brood. 

 Whenever conditions are such that the bees 

 store the honey in the brood-nest, when the 

 apiarist desires brood the spreading of 

 brood should be practiced. In spreading 

 brood, the great danger is in spreading it 

 too much. A colony of bees is something 

 like a sitting hen, as each can cover only a 

 certain amount of brood, and with either it 

 is very easy to give them too much to cover. 



In spreading brood tliere is one hard-and- 

 fast rule — that is, never separate one frame, 

 of brood otf by itself. Always work them 

 in pairs. For example, if there are but four 

 frames of brood in a brood-nest, separate 

 them in pairs, and place the empty comb 

 between the pairs. If there are six frames 

 and plenty of bees, the six can be separated 

 into three pairs, and two empty combs be 

 Ijlaced between them. This matter of ex- 

 tracting the brood-nest and spreading brood 

 is a matter Avhich beekeepers in each local- 

 ity will have to work out for themselves. 

 There is no hard-and-fast rule that will 

 apply everywhei'e. It is necessary to under- 

 stand thoroughly the season as well as the 

 bees, and to consider what the future con- 

 tains, and then act accordingly. 

 San Diego, Cal. 



[If a comb-honey producer does not have 

 a surplus of empty combs that he can draw 

 on when the queen becomes honey-bound, he 

 surely ought to have an extractor; and there 

 are some seasoriS that are too poor to pro- 

 duce comb honey. The same may be said 

 of some colonies in good seasons. A com- 

 paratively light colony will produce con- 

 siderable extracted honey when it cannot 

 be made to produce comb. In the same way 

 a good colony in a poor season will i^roduce 

 some extracted but no comb. A comb-honey 

 producer, however, does not need a large 

 four, six, or eight frame extractor. A small 

 two-frame machine will sui^ply his needs. 



In the matter of spreading brood, there 

 is a good deal of science to it. An expe- 

 rienced man can very often build iip his 

 colonies just as our correspondent points 

 out, and thus be better able to catch a flow 

 of honey later on. Many and many a be- 

 ginner, and some expert beekeepers who are 

 short of help will allow their queens to" be- 

 come " honey-bound " at just that season of 

 the year when they can ill afford it. An 

 early fruit-bloom in some localities will 

 sometimes absolutely shut out a queen. If 

 three-fourths of the egg-laying room, is 

 occupied with honey there will be little like- 

 lihood that there will be a sufficient force of 

 bees to gather a clover crop later on. 



The " Outlaw," so called, is an old corres- 

 pondent who has written for Gleanings for 

 years, and from different parts of the 

 country. While he is now a practicing 

 attorney we are glad to note he has not lost 

 his interest in bees. The very qualities that 

 made him a student of law will also make 

 him a better beekeeper. His article above 

 may, therefore, be read with unusual caie 

 l^ecause it relates to some very imporfa't 

 considerations for this time of tlie year. — 

 Ed.I 



