178 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



March, 1917 



T 



W E N T Y - 



two years ago 



FROM 1 COLONY TO 532 



I started with 

 one eolony and to- 

 day have 532, with 

 honey - houses, 

 sui^iDlies, and a 

 full equipment for 

 their operation. I 



lived in town near the head of a lake, and 

 kept the bees at home for a few years; but 

 in the spring- the bees would spot the neigh- 

 bors' clothes on the line, so I decided to move 

 them about a mile south, where my father 

 owned twenty acres of land. I had ]3revi- 

 ously noticecl that the bees flew southward 

 for their nectar; also that they crossed this 

 lake. This move resulted in a larger crop 

 of honey, due to being closer to the pastur- 

 age and to the saving of many bees that 

 were lost in crossing the lake, in .spite of 

 the fact that it was not very wide. 



I wintered my bees from the start in a 

 long winter case in which the bees were 

 l^laeed and packed. With the long cases 

 which were first used, in which the colo- 

 nies were pla.ced side by side, all facing 

 the same way, I also used the square case 

 containing four colonies, two facing the 

 east and two the west. The long cases were 

 discontinued in favor of the four-colony 

 cases, the latter jDroving the, better ,in 

 every way. I learned that the bees win- 

 tered better when packed for winter 

 early, before the fall rains set in. This 

 necessitated early feeding for winter. Per- 

 haps the early feeding has something to do 

 with the successful wintering. I have al- 

 ways used the Miller feeder, and fed the 

 whole amount required at one feeding. At 

 first I did not have enough feeders to feed 

 all the colonies in one yard. There was 

 some robbing, and I always lost some colo- 

 nies. I tried feeding all colonies at one 

 time. This helped somewhat, but not until 

 several seasons' experimenting did I hit 

 upon the right way to feed to avoid all 

 robbing. By my plan described below, even 

 tho there is no honey coming in at all, the 

 bees will, as a rule, pay no attention to 

 syrup spilled on the covers or ground. 



The entrances are contracted 

 about the time the white honey- 

 flow ceases; the feeders are plac- 

 ed on the colonies to be fed, each 

 hive having been weighed, and 

 the amount to be fed marked up- 

 on the cover. The feeders are 

 left for a day or two if possible, 

 so that the bees become familiar 

 with their presence, the'T several 

 tubs placed at one side of the 



qA Fe-w Methods I have Adopted, 



and Conclusions I have Reached 



After 22 Tears with the Bees 



By Ira D. Bartlett 



apiary are filled 

 with a syrup com- 

 posed of about 

 one i^art of sugar 

 to five of water, 

 t h r o ly stirred. 

 Floaters of thin 

 strips of pine are 

 placed on toD. 

 care being taken to fix these so the bees will 

 not drown. Usually about a day is required 

 to get the bees all working nicely on the 

 syrup, then the feeders are filled with the 

 required amount of syrup for winter. 



The tubs must be filled daily until all the 

 syrup in the feeders has been taken down, 

 when the feeders may be taken off (I use 

 escape-boards in doing it), and the outside 

 feeding discontinued. Everything follow- 

 ing will be absolutely quiet, as tho a big 

 honey-flow had been on. Tliis is one of the 

 best things I have learned. I use this plan 

 even where neighbors have bees close by, 

 for my bees get more benefit than tlie othei's 

 do. 



Weighing-machines of various kinds are 

 of absolutely no value. My plan is to take 

 off the cover, pull the canvas quilt back, 

 quickly judge the number of bees, kind of 

 combs, etc., and then judge the weight by 

 lifting the back of the hive only. I can 

 make a better estimate of the amount to be 

 fed than by placing the eolony on scales; 

 and I can do the work in one-tenth the 

 time. Tlie main thing is to be sure to give 

 a plenty. My average feed per colony, in 

 excels of what they have, one year with the 

 other is 12 lbs. of sugar per colony for win- 

 ter, which makes 18 lbs. of thick syrup. 

 You say that you do not use the canvas 

 quilts. I would not do without them, as 

 they enable me to make easy and speedy ex- 

 aminations. 



I emi^loyed this same method of outside 

 feeding one spring to build up some forty 

 very weak colonies that I liad taken home 

 to the cellar to winter on account of their 

 being so weak, and by the opening of the 

 white flow they were in better condition and 

 gave me more surplus honey than the other 

 colonies that were in good shape to start 

 with in the spring, and therefoi'e 

 received no special care. In this 

 case I used two tubs and reduced 

 the feed to seven parts of water 

 to one of sugar, the bees using 

 it apparently as a watering- 

 place; but the results were sur- 

 prising. 



I produced both comb and ex- 

 tracted honey at first, succeeding 

 well; but wishing to extend my 



