OCTOBER 1, 1916 



in fact, the doctor said I should go to bed. 

 As I was all alone, my son having gone to 

 the north yard where swarming was bad, 

 with four yards of bees to look after right 

 in the rush of the honey-flow, surely things 

 looked rather blue. Two yards are four 

 miles from home, and one eight miles away ; 

 but with the help of the auto, distance did 

 not count much. I could not even lift up 

 full supers to place an empty one under- 

 neath, so I simply piled on the empty su- 

 pers as needed in so far as I was able to 

 do so. Combs that have not been used since 

 1913 were called into use, and today the 

 hives are piled higher than my head, in 

 many cases. Swarming was headed off in 

 most cases so far, but I suppose many will 

 soon go to pieces in spite of all I can do. 

 I am getting back to health again ; but a 

 week's knock-out right in the middle of the 

 flow makes quite a handicap to overcome. 



But the question I had in mind was, 

 " How much were all those drawn combs 

 worth to me under the circum.stances out- 

 lined?" While I do not contend that I 

 sliall get as much honey as would have been 

 the case if we had been able to extract 

 sooner, yet what would have happened if I 

 liad been short of combs? No doubt the 

 greater part of the colonies would have 

 swarmed and left, for I in my poor health 

 at the time could not think of going thru 

 the hives, let alone do any extracting; and 

 as for getting help, any beekeeper knows 

 the impossibility of getting skilled help in 

 our line. As it is, hardly any colonies have 

 yet swarmed, and there is a nice pile of 

 honey tiered up in the four yards. Actu- 

 ally, I think that each set of drawn combs 

 was this year worth at least $-1.00 or more 

 to me. Am I placing the value too higii? 



WEEKLY EXAMINATION'S TOO MUCH FOR ME. 



The editorial on page 775, Sept. 1, re- 

 garding the matter of diagnosing colonies 

 without lifting out frames or taking off 

 supers everj' week is interetsing to me be- 

 cause that is a common practice with us 

 during the honey season. Some time ago 

 friend Iloltermann, in advocating a weekly 

 examination of every colony- during the 

 honey season, asked me what I would sug- 

 gest to do away with this weekly grind (he 

 did not call it by that name), when I stated 

 that, if I had to make an examination of 

 every colony every week I would go out of 

 the business. While 1 have not the time to 

 tell what I would do, or, rather, would not 

 do, I will say thai, during the season just 

 passed, I was entirely alone for four weeks 



following July 1, and had four yards to 

 look after. At the close of the season I had 

 help to extract, but not a helper was in 

 sight so far as keeping back swarming, put- 

 ting on supers, etc., was concerned. After 

 careful examination I found that about half 

 a dozen swarms had left the yards. That 

 was easy; and, aside from the fact that it 

 would have been a physical impossibility 

 for me to lift off all supers and examine 

 every colony each week, the work would 

 never have been paid for even if it had 

 been performed. No; I repeat again that, 

 while weekly examinations sound all right, 

 and look well on paper, if one is alone for 

 a season and lias a lot of bees to look after, 

 he will soon find that something else must 

 be depended upon to help him out. What 

 that is, will have to be worked out by each 

 one to suit his own locality, i^eculiar man- 

 agement, etc. 



While discussing this question I want to 

 make the bold unorthodox assertion that 

 great large entrances do not materially, if 

 at all, help to keep down swarming. As 

 stated on many previous occasions, by rea- 

 son of buying bees in all sorts of hives, and 

 running them for a number of years, I have 

 had abundant proof to satisfy myself on 

 this question. Possibly very few beekeep- 

 ers have less swarming than we do ; and 

 when honey is going we generally get our 

 share with the rest, and assuredly large 

 entrances do not contribute to our low 

 average in swarming, as we have very few 

 entrances indeed that would be called large 

 by the average beekeeper. This year one 

 large powerful colony was left in a pack- 

 ing-case all summer, and by actual measure- 

 ment I find their entrance was 2 inches long 

 by ^4 deep. Not because of the very small 

 entrance, but in spite of it, I su^jpose, that 

 colony about headed the yard, stored over 

 300 pounds of clover honey, and never of- 

 fered to swarm. The strain of bees had 

 nothing to do with the non-swarming, for 

 last season that same colony in a single- 

 walled hive swarmed, and there were only 

 three or four swarms all told, that season in 

 that apiary. The secret of the colony storing 

 so heavj' and not swarming lies in the fact 

 that the bees entei'ed the supers early in the 

 season, and at all times they had abundant 

 super room, over 150 pounds of honey being 

 on the hive at the last extracting. 



Before some one calls me to account for 

 backing up the u.«e of such a ridiculously 

 small entrance as I have mentioned, let me 

 say that I admit lliat it was too small, but 

 at the same time 1 consider the very large 

 (111 ranee, as advocated by many, to be just 

 as ridiculous in the other extreme. 



