SKPTEitBEK 1. 19 If) 



It seems as if (lifv uiiglit have a runniuii' 

 founlain. 



In 1914 ami 1915 the crop was almost 

 a complete failure in this section, cansinji' a 

 loss of about half of all colonies in this 

 section, due to starvation. 



After banking' hours are over my spare 

 honi's fire spent witli the bees. For jtiotil 



and jdeasure 1 tind tliere is nothing better. 

 My two observation hives, as shown in 

 Gleanings, June 15, 1914, 1 keej) al my 

 home. They are my greatest j)els. Kven 

 my baby loves them. Every beekeeper 

 should have one or moi'e observation liives. 

 Ten times the worth of mine would not l)uy 

 Ihem. 



FavetleAiUc, Tenn. 



WHAT I DO ON MY ROUNDS OF THE OUTYARDS 



nv iiir.TON c. BEnRv 



Twenty-five years ago 1 joined the bee- 

 keepers' fraternity by annexing to my small 

 lot of boyhood poSvSessions two old gums of 

 Idack bees bought from a neighbor who 

 ke))t a few bees in the old-style way. After 

 having" carefully closed up the hives with 

 old sacks, very securely fastening all the 

 little fellows inside, I moved them to my 

 liorae near by. Gradually I acquired nec- 

 essary tools such as a smoker, and later, 

 after purchasing some dovetailed hives, i 

 added a hive-tool, m.y father's old sereAV- 

 d liver. After this the two hives were care- 

 fully guardeil. Swarms came, and the two 

 old gums — the nucleus of a future large 

 liusiness — began their increase. 



During" the day, when not busy witli the 

 bees, I was thinking of them, and, when 

 asleep. I remembered them in my dreams. 

 ] looked forward to the future when my 

 two old gums of blacks should become a 

 tliousand or more beautiful Italians in up- 

 to-date, modern hives. ^\'ell do I remember 

 my mother saying" fondly, " My boy, you 

 certainly must have a bee in your bonnet.'" 

 The mother is gone now, l)iit my ))oyhood 

 dreams have come true for 1 now ha\e over 

 a tliousand colonies of virtually ]iure tliree- 

 banded Italians. 



These thousand colonies, ffjrmiiig' nine 

 separate yards, are located Avithin a radius 

 of twenty miles around my liome town, 

 Haynevilie, Alabama. Eight of them T term 

 *' out "' yards, and what I wivsh to tell my 

 brother beekeepers is how I manage these 

 yai'ds ,so as to enable me to make from one 

 to two solid cars of honey annually, and at 

 the same time to ship thousands of pounds 

 of bees. 



Til each of these yards I have from tifty 

 to two hundred colonies of bees, depending 

 upon liow many each location or territory 

 will support. 1 learn the right number by 

 ohservation and also by tc^t. phicing a few 

 colonies in a given location, and gradually 

 increasing" until 1 find just how many such 

 ("rritory will support. It is (|uite possible 

 to !iave a territory which will siip|)ort a 



douI)le number just during the main sweet- 

 clover honey-t;ow, but one has always to 

 figure on tlie spring and fall Avhen there is 

 a slow flow from other sources, and not a 

 great quantity at tliat. If the locations 

 were given all of the colonies Avhich they 

 would at times support, then during" the 

 spring- and summer one would be compelled 

 to feed large cjuantities of sugar syrup. 

 Therefore I deem it expedient to locate at 

 these different yards only as many colonies 

 as can be supported tlie year around Avith 

 a small cost of feeding. At all of these 

 yards Avhicli I am running for honey pro- 

 duction there are good houses equipped. 

 Avitli extractors, smokers, hive-tools, etc. In 

 fact, on arrival at one of these yards all 

 tliat I have to do is to unlock the house, 

 light the smoker, and get busy. 



THE SPRTNG MANAGEMENT. 



Either the last of February or the first of 

 March I begin my first round, as Ave call it, 

 .going" to each yard, examining- all hi\-es. and 

 thus determining" as to stores. If any seem 

 to be light, and thus short of honey I take 

 from those Avhich haA'e an abundance and 

 some to spare, and give to their less fortu- 

 nate relatives. In fact, the main object of 

 this first round is to equalize stores, or 

 feed th.e colonies short of stoics. Tlie next 

 round is made about two Aveeks later. I'his 

 time, if the Aveather is Avarm, and it usually 

 is by March 15, 1 remove covers, scrape fops 

 of frames, and, Avitli a file bent to form a 

 hook, I remove all burr-combs between the 

 frames. This tool is made very easily from 

 any old Avorn-out file by bending the handle 

 so as to form a hook, which can be run 

 down betAveen the frames very nicely, and 

 then draAvn from front to back. The hook 

 not only removes the bui"r combs, l)ut also 

 holds the Avax so that it can l)e removed 

 and placed in a box, and thus saved. Ry 

 saving these small partides of wax al tin- 

 end of the second round I ( t'teii have froni 

 seventy-five to one hiirdrcd pounds of wax 

 wlieii these st-rapings are i-endered. 



