MAY 1, 1916 



361 



up for maiket at once with safety. All 

 combs that are not capjied are sorted out, 

 anil kepi until last, to be extracted by them- 

 selves. This unripe honey is put into our 

 smaller galvanized tanks and left to ripen. 



My bees are all moved home from the 

 outyards in the fall, and wintered in our 

 liouse cellar. In the spring they are all set 

 out in the home yard, where they remain 

 until about the middle of May, when two 

 hundred or thereabout are moved to the 

 outyards. All weak or diseased colonics are 

 left at the home yard, where they can be 

 watched and taken care of much better than 

 at the outyard. 



About July 20 or just as the buckwheat 

 is coming into bloom, we again move all 

 our bees, including the home yard, to the 

 mountains for the buclavheat flow, there 

 being no buckwheat to speak of raised in 

 the valleys below. 



It is a beautiful sight to stand upon some 

 peak in the Helderberg Mountains where 

 j-ou can look from three to eight miles in 

 every direction upon hundreds of acres of 

 buckwheat in full bloom. I have inspected 

 fields of buckwheat located less than a mile 

 from my 300 colonies, and found only now 

 and then a bee, showing that, when there 

 is plenty of pasture, they do not go far 

 from home in pursuit of nectar. 



Last season I had one freak colony that 

 would not work on buckwheat, but stored 

 all their honey from late sweet clover. 

 When we took this honey off we were sur- 

 pi'ised to see all nicely capped combs of 

 white honey with occasionally a cell of 

 buckwheat near the outside. This colony 

 was given all empty combs after being 

 moved to the buckwheat location, just the 

 same as the rest. 



In locating an out-apiary there are several 

 things to take into consideration. There 

 should be a stream or pond of water near 

 by — the closer the better, as it will save the 

 bees valuable time. I try to keep my bees 

 busy every minute that it is possible for 

 them to work, by locating them close to the 

 flora and water. A southern exposure and 

 jirotection from high winds is advisable on 

 the noi'th and west if possible; and the yard 

 should be located where the bees will not be 

 a nui.sance to neighbors who may be work- 



ing on land adjacent to the ajiiary. T have 

 always tried to locate my outyards near a 

 liouse, as 1 do not liiink the bees are as 

 likely to be molested as when they are off in 

 some out-of-the-way place. Then, too, it is 

 very nice if you can locate this apiary close 

 to the highway ; but this can seldom be 

 done. 



One of my yards is located within twenty 

 yards of the highway, but is separated from 

 it by a hedge of brush ten feet high, and the 

 rfiad is five or six feet below the ground 

 where the bees stand. On the north there is 

 a bank twenty feet high, and on the west 

 there is a wood; on the south a creek with 

 large trees on either side. Taking every- 

 thing into consideration, it is an ideal spot 

 for an outyard. 



I believe that most beekeepers set their 

 hives too close together, and in too system- 

 atic rows. It all looks very pretty, but it 

 causes a lot of drifting and mixing, and I 

 fully believe that it is the main reason why 

 it is so difficult to exterminate bee diseases, 

 mainly foul brood. On account of lack of 

 space I set my bees in rows and in pairs 

 generally ; and for several years I have no- 

 ticed that, where a colony had foul brood, 

 and was not treated at once, generally the 

 next colony to it on one side or both would 

 develop the disease some time duiing the 

 season. Last season I had one colony that 

 was slightly affected with foul brood, on 

 the end of the last row in my home yard. 

 I thought they would clean up of their own 

 accord when the honey-flow started, so I did 

 not treat them until I found that the five 

 colonies next in the row were infected. I 

 have found that the surest way to extermi- 

 nate foul brood is to shake the bees as soon 

 as the disease is discovered. 



About one hundred colonies is all that 

 can be successfully operated in one loca- 

 tion in this locality. I am acquainted with 

 beekeepers wlw insist on overstocking their 

 locality by keeping several hundred colonies 

 in one apiaiy, and consequently get a veiy 

 small average per colony; whereas if they 

 would divide them into several yards of 

 about one hundred each they would realize 

 a handsome profit for the extra work that 

 would be required to manipulate them. 



Clarksville, N. Y. 



PREVENTING SWARMING BY PUTTING BROOD ABOVE AN EXCLUDER 



BY DANIEL DANIELSEN 



I run five outyards for extracted honey, 

 and I prevent swarming by raising brood 

 over queen-excluders and leaving the queen 

 below on empty combs as often as she gets 



the hive full of brood. Of cour.se tlie bees 

 raise cells above the excluders; but that 

 seems to make no difference so far as 

 swarming is concerned. 



