872 



GLEANINGS IN BEK CULTURE 



Queens Whose Colonies are Weak in the Fall 

 Not Worth Saving. 



That we bad no loss last winter may be 

 attributed to our belief in fall uniting. Not 

 a fall passes that we do not have colonies 

 lacking, both in stores and strength, to win- 

 ter perfectly otherwise. 



So much regarding the poor wintering 

 qualities of goldens has been said in ' ' Glean- 

 ings" that we were somewhat surprised to 

 find our yellowest stock surpassing all last 

 spring. While we have had a few yellow 

 colonies winter poorly, the cause, more prob- 

 ably, was from the queens having gone thru 

 shipment than from degeneracy. 



Within recent years we have done practi- 

 cally no feeding. Tho not always, colonies 

 short of stores in fall are quite generally de- 

 ficient also in other respects, and not up to 

 standard. The queens of such colonies 

 should not be kept, but removed in uniting. 

 Tho it is true that open winters call for an 

 increased amount of winter stores, the rule 

 applies only to a given locality. While in 

 the north from 25 to 30 lbs. is necessarj^, 

 half that amount will run a colony thru our 

 short winters. 



Each winter we have a few days of snow 

 and ice, but not to such an extent as to de- 

 mand other jjrotection than is afforded by 

 the single-walled hive. For mutual protec- 

 tion, however, against raw winds our hives 

 are crowded into a long compact row. Sep- 

 aration will become advisable only when 

 young queens begin mating, and the row will 

 be scattered widely in forming increase and 

 nuclei. 



Ft. Smith, Ark. Lee Ellis Kerr. 



I have a spacing device that I have used 

 with much satisfaction for spacing the 

 frames. I take two pieces of spruce or other 

 light tough wood, % x 2 x 19 inches, and 

 bevel off one edge of each piece. Then be- 

 tween the two I insert 1-3 pieces of the same 



A Frame-spacing Tool. 



I have been much interested in the articles 

 which have appeared from time to time re- 

 garding the merits of self-sj^acing fratnes. 

 While the Hoffman frame seems to be the 

 established favorite, yet there are many, 

 like myself, who prefer the plain old-fash- 

 ioned % frame, firstly, because any one of 

 them can be easily removed from the hive 

 by pressing over its immediate neighbors 

 slightly; secondly, there are no awkward 

 projections in the way at extractilig time; 

 and, lastly, they are easily and cheaply made 

 at home by any one who possesses a saw- 

 table and a small circular saw. 



As to the rabbet-spacing plan, the bees of 

 this locality are so liberal in their use of 

 propolis that I have never considered that 

 as very practicable. 



I have a little device which I have used 

 in my own apiary for six or seven years 

 with much satisfaction, and which is neither 

 of the hive nor of the frame. My hives 

 contain 12 Langstroth frames, % x % top- 

 bar. The rabbets are plain wood, with bee 

 space below the frames. The hives are 18 

 inches wide inside — that is, permitting ly^- 

 inch spacing. One will infer from this that 

 in my early beekeeping days I read "Lang- 

 stroth on the Honeybee," and was an ar- 

 dent disciple of Hadant. 



wood, % x I/O X 4, as teeth, leaving space be- 

 tween to slip loosely over a top-bar. The 

 projecting part of the teeth are rounded off 

 and tapered to a blunt point. After exam- 

 ining a hive and replacing the frames I take 

 this spacer from my wheelbarrow (which I 

 use almost continuously in my apiary work), 

 and by pressing it down at each end of the 

 frames they are all sjjaced exactly. By 

 having the edges beveled, and using a puff 

 of smoke, it is seldom that a bee is crushed. 

 Fred E. Smith. 

 Craigvale, Ont., Can., April 24. 



What is a Stand of Bees Worth? 



To one who keeps bees this is a question 

 that is frequently asked, and is probably the 

 most difficult to answer correctly. To those 

 who know nothing about bees it appears 

 that they ought to sell at a standard market 

 price, the same as corn or wheat; but, in- 

 stead, bees sell more like skilled labor, ac- 

 cording to their ability to deliver the goods. 



I have seen colonies that could not be 

 bought for $15 at the beginning of the 

 honey-flow, and others that stood alongside 

 of them that would not sell for the price of 

 the new hive they were put in only two sea- 

 sons before. 



If a man should walk out to my yard and 

 point out a single hive and ask what it is 

 worth 1 could give the questioner a fairly 

 intelligent answer; for, knowing the condi- 

 tion of the interior of each hive in the yard, 

 I would be prepared to make a fairly correct 

 answer. To show some of the possibilities 

 1 will show what I have done this season. 

 Last spring I had six colonies which I win- 

 tered thru in good condition. Each colony 

 had a young Italian queen which had been 

 introduced as soon as the honey-flow stopped 

 in the fall of 1915. I bought queens this 

 spring as soon as I could secure them from 

 the South, and divided until I had 18 stands. 

 These went along until the swarming season 

 opened up. I caught two stray early swarms, 

 making 20. 



I held the bees under control till the first 

 of July. By cutting queen-cells, six of the 



