104 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



February, 1917 



PLACES NEW SWARM ON THE OLD STAND. 



He hives them in a new hive placed on 

 the old stand and puts the old colony on 

 one side. The surplus-honey supers are 

 transferred to the new swarm on the old 

 stand, which will receive all the working 

 force. In one week he moves the old colony 

 to the other side of the new swarm, to 

 give more of the workers to it. Very 

 seldom do second or after swarms issue 

 from the old hives unless he lets them 

 stay too long without moving. He does not 

 have to open old colonies nor bother about 

 queen-cells, as they are so weakened that the 

 first queen hatched is allowed to kill the 

 rest. 



GETTING RID OF DRONE COMB. 



Sometimes he hives the new swarms on 

 brood-frames hatching foundation starters, 

 altho he prefers full sheets of foundation 

 and one or two drawn-out combs. When 

 starters are used, and if some drone comb is 

 built in the frame, it can be cut out with a 

 can-edge cutter, and worker comb cut in 

 the same way fitted in to replace it. 



NO QUEEN-EXCLUDING HONEY-BOARDS USED. 



Large heavy swarms are given double 

 brood-chambers in very hot weather, which 

 are left two or three days; then supers are 

 put on and one brood-chamber taken away. 

 Plenty of ventilation and room are given 

 the first few days. He has never used the 

 queen-excluding honeyboard, and has had 

 no serious trouble with pollen or brood- 

 rearing in sections. 



YARD IN FOREST-CLEARING DOES BEST. 



Mr. James' outyard, two miles from his 

 home, is located in a small clearing in a 

 forest of small trees, and within sight of 

 a dwelling. This place is warmer and more 

 sheltered from the wind than the home 

 apiary. Here the bees flv out earlier in the 

 spring and later in the fall with safety. 

 A hundred yards away, below it ard under 

 a steep bank, sloping to the south, is a 

 small brook to which (lie bees lia\e easy 

 access. In spring they are found lined up 

 by the hundreds at one time, taking water, 

 and they fly back and forth thru the trees 

 out of reach of cold and wind. They al- 

 ways come out in spring in better condition 

 than tlie home apiary, which is on a bleak 

 liill. 



IMPORTANCE OF NEAR-BY WATER SUPPLY 

 IN SPRING. 



The importance of having wnler within 

 safe distance at that time is realized by 

 Mr. James' remark that his home apiary, 

 at that season, takes a gallon a day from 

 a water-fountain placed among the hives. 



The danger of spring dwindling would 

 evidently be much greater if they had to 

 fly half a mile or more, exposed to chilly 

 winds to get water. He has fed gi'ound 

 wheat out in the open in early spring as 

 a substitute for the natural pollen, and 

 favors it. 



SOURCES OF SURPLUS HONEY. 



His first surplus is secured from locust 

 blossom,, which commences about May 15, 

 or about two weeks after apple blooms. 

 The bloom from the tulip or pojalar tree 

 follows, or blooms about the same time. 

 White clover commences to bloom about 

 May 25, and lasts thi'u June and into July, 

 altho none is stored in sections in July. 

 Considerable honey is gathered from daisy 

 blossoms; but the yellow-daisy pollen 

 brought in with it colors the finished white- 

 clover sections unless they are removed 

 promptly. 



A CORNSTALK WINDBREAK. 



The home apiary is on a slope some- 

 what under the hill, and sheltered on the 

 north by a thick wood. A rail fence on 

 the edge of the wood and around one 

 corner of the yard on the west has been 

 made to serve as a windbreak by standing 

 up bundles of cornstalks thickly against 

 this fence. As Mr. James observed, this 

 was not much for loolfs, but *' handsome 

 is that handsome does." Here the hives are 

 five or six feet apart, and the rows about 

 eight feet from each other. 



TAR-PAPER COVERING FOR WINTER. 



When colonies succumb in the winter 

 here they have been those furthest from the 

 forest and windbreak. Those in this part 

 of the yard have, besides the half -story of 

 chaff on top, a covering of tar paper tied 

 around with a cord. This protection has 

 given very good results in the past on a 

 few hives, and will be tested out this win- 

 ter on a larger number. 



KEEPING A LARGER NUMBER- 



I asked Mr. James why he did not have 

 more colonies. He replied that he gets 

 about enough to do, without help, with 

 what he has, and wants to change off on 

 other work. He is about exhausted at the 

 end of the honey season. 



I asked if he could not rave the time 

 taken watching for swarms, and avoid 

 climbing trees for them, by clipping all 

 queens and making all swarms artificially 

 by shaking or brushing, thus leaving them 

 in about the same condition as after natural 

 swarming, and in this way save work and 

 time, and then take care of more colonies. 

 He has never tried this but intends to on 

 an outyard next season. Asked if he con- 



Continued on page 150. 



