JA^•UARV, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



21 



dation. We do just the opposite, altho I 

 am not saying that our phiii is any better. 

 We fasten our foundatit)n by dipping the 

 edge of the starter in melted wax and 

 rosin. To support the pan of wax and 

 rosin over tlie lamp we make use of a box 

 about two feet in height with the front 

 open. In the top we cut a hole about 

 eight inches in diameter and over this tack 

 a piece of tin with a hole in the center of 

 it just right to receive the tin basin or pan 

 used to hold the wax and rosin. This box 

 is suppoi'ted so that the top holding the 

 pan will be flush with the top of the bench. 

 Inside the box we place an oil-lamp with 

 the chimney on. A No. 3 burner is best, as 

 it takes considerable heat. 



We use two parts of rosin to one of wax. 

 A little rosin shows on the edge of the sec- 

 tions; but of all the honey we have sold 

 we have never had complaint on ihis ac- 

 count. 



We take 100 sections, fold one, touch the 

 edge of the starter to the rosin and wax, in- 

 sert it in the center of the .section, and the 

 job is done. One man can dampen, fold, 

 and starter 2000 sections in a day, and 

 the starter will actually tear apart before it 

 will drop out. Strenglh is a necessity 

 where the supers have to be hauled to 

 out-yards. 



We pile up the sections having the start- 

 ers in, and super-covers, no queen-excluders. 

 When we have 3000 or 4000 ready we com- 

 mence cleaning supers and racks and in- 

 serting the sections. 



We nearly always put 4 to 10 bait sec- 

 tions in the center uf half or two-thirds of 

 the supers, the idea being that these are 

 to be placed on the hives first. 



As yet the bees have not been looked at 

 since they were packed in November. Dur- 

 ing the warm days which usually come dur- 

 ing the latter part of March we go over 

 each of the yards and see that the entrances 

 are clear. If each colony had plenty of 

 honey the fall previous we do not make an 

 examination as to stores on this visit. 



APRIL 



After the bees have had several cleans- 

 ing flights we make a trip over the yard, 

 lifting o& the cover and tray, then raising 

 the super-cover and blowing a little smoke 

 under. If the colony is strong, and if 

 there is plenty of honey to last until May, 

 we leave it alone. If it is weak we con- 

 tract the entrance. If we notice a queen- 

 less "hum" we investigate: and if we dis- 

 cover that the colony is really queenless we 

 unite some other weak colony with the 

 queenless colony. If any colonies are short 

 of stores we supply a comb or Iavo of seal- 



ed honey. If any colonies are extremely 

 weak, but still contain good queen.<, we re- 

 serve such queens for replacing poor queens 

 in other colonies. 



In April we plan to paint all the new 

 hives and supers, also to repaint the hives 

 at one out-apiary every year. We usually 

 paint the hives white, but now and then we 

 use red, yellow, blue, etc. I like the con- 

 trast, and I think it helps the bees in locat- 

 ing their own hive. During this month we 

 also nail our shipping-cases, and make the 

 carriers if we have time. 



MAY 



From May until November is our busiest 

 time. We aim to do four things during 

 May: Clip the queens, spread brood, sup- 

 l^ly necessary honey, and look for possible 

 disease. We usually get our six yards 

 looked over three different times during this 

 month. 



On our first trip we find the queen in 

 every colony, see that she is clipped, and 

 mai'k her age on the hive. We also make 

 sure that there is plenty of honey. A nor- 

 mal colony will usually have brood in four 

 or five combs at this time, and we slip an 

 outside comb of brood or both outside 

 combs into the middle, thus spreading the 

 brood. In case of colonies that are weak 

 we give a comb of hatching brood and 

 young bees taken from some strong colony. 



The second time around we look after the 

 supply of honey again. This time we put a 

 comb of honey, fix'st breaking the capping, 

 in the center of the brood-nest. 



On the last round if we run out of 

 combs of honey saved over from the pre- 

 vious fall we feed sugar. We have never 

 done very much feeding of sugai', however. 

 If any colony shows disease we mark it for 

 treatment in June. At this time Ave again 

 spread the brood with one or possibly two 

 combs in the center, and supply weak col- 

 onies with more brood from the strong ones. 

 In spreading brood there is no general rule 

 that can be followed. Some colonies will 

 not stand any sjDreading, while others will 

 need more than the average. 



JUNE 



In this locality the clover-honey flow usu- 

 ally commences about the middle of June. 

 However, in the fore part of the month we 

 begin putting on supers. We put two 

 supers, each containing bait sections, on 

 the strong colonies, and one on the weaker 

 colonies. At the home j'ard a few are run 

 for extracted honey. These, of course, re- 

 ceive extracting - supers. During the 

 SAvai'ming season we plan to go over the 

 yards every eight or ten days. 



During the fore part of June we kill all 



