SKI'TKMBKK 15, 1914 



successt'ul ill mating- queens to special 

 drones, but under exceptional conditions. 

 Ry keeping' the queens in the mating-hives 

 witli a piece of excluder metal until 5 P. M., 

 ;iii(l then stimulating tlie hives containing 

 (ho drones with a little Avarm syrup, I have 

 h'-eii quite successful in getting them into the 

 air together at a time wlien no other drones 

 were flying. Ry adopting this method 1 

 have mated Italian queens to Cyprian 

 (h'ones, although 1 liad only half a dozen of 

 the latter in tlie yard, I was exceptionally 

 well situated to prove that mating could 

 b? controlled under these circumstances; but 



although I was isolated from all other yel- 

 low bees I was not from black ones. If I 

 wanted to rear any very choice queens, and 

 wished to be absolutely sure of what they 

 mated with, I kept the drones in a queen- 

 less hive until all the other drones were 

 gone ; and by rearing; queens thus late in the 

 season I got them mated to those drones 

 because there were no others. If, then, it 

 is possible to govern the mating of queens 

 as well as this, where is the need of mating- 

 stations*? 



South Woodburn, N. S. W., Aus., Feb. 2. 



STORES IN HIVES 



BY R. V. HOLTERMANN 



On page 407. June 1, P. C. Chadwick has 

 some very valuable material in connection 

 with the relationsliip between the strength 

 of colonies and the amount of stores they 

 have. There are, jjerhaps, many sijecialists 

 in beekeeping to whom it is not necessary to 

 ])oint out that, if the bees and queen are to 

 do the maximum of brood-rearing, they 

 must be unstinted in stores. It is not only 

 necessary that the colony have sufficient 

 stores for their immediate requirements, but 

 tliey must have more. This is particularly 

 true of Italian and black bees. For some 

 years I have seen that the best spring stimu- 

 lative feeding the bees can get is ample 

 stores in the autumn previous, and then the 

 bees, in all our northern country, packed 

 until the clover flow. The stores and the 

 warm hive, warm every day and every 

 night, will keep the bees rearing brood to 

 an extent realized only by contrasting them 

 with unpacked colonies meagerly supplied 

 witli stores. 



Where there are i^lenty of stores and 

 warm brood-chambers the only thing desir- 

 able to stimulate brood-rearing is to bruise 

 a patch of honey when the bees are not 

 gathering from natural sources. 



I remember an incident of some fifteen 

 years ago where a man had some bees in 

 eight-frame Langstroth hives which he had 

 managed according to some of the best 

 methods, which meant getting all the honey 

 in the supers, and leaving the brood-cham- 

 ber fairly bare of honey at the close, and 

 with comparatively little pollen, the result 

 of a ([ueen laying eggs, and tlie pollen in 

 the average locality pretty well confined 

 to a narrow circle about the brood-chamber. 

 Then the colony was fed sugar syrup for 

 winter in the quantity generally prescribed 

 at that time. The following spring was one 

 uiifavoralile for tlie bees. There were many 

 cold days, and tlie l>ees did nol have much 



opportunity for gathering pollen or nectar, 

 and Ave should only expect, with unpacked 

 hives added, tliat these colonies did not build 

 up very raj^idly. 



The same man had decided to test a 

 liouse-apiary, and, to equip it with bees, 

 bought some ten or more colonies in what 

 we in Canada know as the twelve-frame 

 Jones hive. It was a frame about 15 inches 

 deep ; and, owing to a let-alone policy, or 

 owing to the size of the frame and brood- 

 chamber, it had plenty of stores. The result 

 Avas that the bees in the house-apiary ga^'e 

 results away ahead of those outside; but in 

 my estimation this proved nothing in favor 

 of running bees in a house-apiary. 



Probably Mr. Chadwick is correct about 

 colonies Avith ample stores responding to 

 stimulatiA'e feeding. Honey should never be 

 fed back, for fear of foul brood. Sugar 

 syrup is not the best food for brood-rearing, 

 and by the latter feeding the best results 

 cannot be obtained. As Mr. ChadAvick says, 

 " Much honey is required to produce young 

 bees, and this should be figured on every 

 year Avhen leaving the supply of stores for 

 the following season may or may not give 

 sufficient stores. I liave had some pretty 

 expensive lessons in providing stores from 

 bees, and pursued the penny-wise-and- 

 pound-foolish policy Avhich many have ad- 

 vocated in the past, of estimating hoAv feAv 

 stores Avonld bring the bees through Avintcr. 



PASTING LABELS. 



One more comment upon the June 1st 

 issue — Frank Pease, in connection Avitli put- 

 ting paste on labels. I kiioAV of no better 

 way of doing this tlian to take a metal sheet, 

 brush the paste over the surface, then drop 

 the labels on it, and as you pick them off, 

 the liibcl should have enough paste to stick 

 it. 



P)rnn(f(M(l, ( 'aiindn. 



