May, 1917 



GfLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



541 



trance. Crate staples hold the bottom, and 

 two 2-i)onny nails fasten the inner cover. 

 About one day is required to move. 



Prom fruit bloom to clover there is little 

 yard work except supplying second hive- 

 bodies as super's when the colonies become 

 sufliciently strong, and seeing that every 

 hive is abundantly supplied with stores. 

 During this time, also, comb-honey supers 

 are prepared, since foundation can be 

 handled better at this time than when the 

 weather is cold. 



About the first week in June, just before 

 the clover flow starts, all hives are examined 

 in regular order. In all colonies sufficiently 

 strong the empty or nearly empty combs 

 from the upper story are put in place of 

 the brood-combs below, with the exception 

 of one comb of brood and bees containing 

 the queen. If we expect to run for extract- 

 ed honey we put a super with extracting 

 ■combs between the two hive-bodies but 

 above the queen-excluder. This increases 

 the distance betAveen the laying queen be- 

 low and the brood, which now forms the 

 third story. Forty or fifty colonies is the 

 number usually gone over in a day. It is 

 possible to work more rapidly, but careful 

 and accurate manipulation is important at 

 this time. It is necessary also at this and 

 subsequent operations to open and examine 

 each hive in regular order, so that none be 

 missed. There are beekeepers who say they 

 are able to know the condition within the 

 hive by looking at the outside; but I am 

 not yet that far along, and I find the time 

 well spent in taking a peep either from be- 

 low or by lifting out a comb or two. 



If the colonies being examined are to be 

 run for comb honey, the combs or founda- 

 tion from the upper story are placed below 

 with one frame of brood with the queen, 

 the remainder of the brood being used to 

 build up nuclei or weak colonies, all or 

 nearly all of the bees having been shaken 

 off to form a strong force of workers for 

 the comb-honey colony. Two comb-honey 

 supers are then put on, the lower one con- 

 taining bait sections. This plan is similar 

 to that advocated by Mr. Doolittle in his 

 book on out-apiaries. Mr. Doolittle claims, 

 however, that honey in combs from the up- 

 per story placed below will be carried up by 

 the bees and used in building section honey. 

 It does not seem to work that way here, for 

 the bees will swarm rather than carry up 

 much honey, especially if it is necessary to 

 build new combs in which to store it. More- 

 over, even if empty drawn combs are used 

 and a sudden flow comes on, the new honey 

 will be stoi'ed in the combs instead of being- 

 built into the sections above, thus clogging 

 the brood-chamber and inducing swarming. 



In my opinion it is better to use one drawn 

 comb next to the frame of brood in order 

 lo keep the queen busy for a time, and 

 then fill the remaining space with frames 

 containing full sheets of foundation. Colo- 

 nies so treated will normally need no fur- 

 ther attention during the honey season, ex- 

 cept to see that they are supplied with 

 plenty of super room. 



In eight or ten days we again go thru 

 in regular order all hives run for extracted 

 honey. Cells are removed from upper 

 stories, those of the best stock together with 

 the brood and adhering bees being used to 

 form two-frame nucleji. The brood mot 

 needed for this purpose is left on the hive, 

 and the upper story then becomes an ex- 

 tracting-super with only eight frames in- 

 stead of ten. By spacing wide we dispense 

 with about one-fourth the labor in ex- 

 ti-acting. 



Colonies not heretofore treated are now 

 likewise treated for swarm prevention, and 

 later the brood is used to build up nuclei 

 into full colonies. It will be observed that 

 no time has been spent in hunting queen- 

 cells in the brood-chamber; and as only a 

 small percentage swarm, very little time is 

 ever spent in climbing trees. In this sys- 

 tem of management it must be remembered 

 that the manipulation, to be successful, must 

 be attended to before, not after, the bees 

 get the swarming fever. 



There are exceptions; but as a rule no 

 further handling of the brood-chambei'S is 

 necessary in the production of the season's 

 crop. The work henceforth is chiefly to 

 supply the necessary room and remove and 

 care for the surplus. In taking honey from 

 the hives we have found that the work can 

 be carried on more rapidly by using bee- 

 escapes than by brushing the bees from the 

 combs, tho there are times (weather and 

 other conditions being favorable) when the 

 latter method is preferable. To avoid much 

 lifting when heavy supers are taken off, a 

 wheelbarrow is placed about twelve inches 

 back of the hive, and with a swinging mo- 

 tion the sui>er is slid aci'oss. When loaded, 

 the wheelbarrow is run directly into the 

 honey-house and the supei*s are again slid 

 across to the pile with as little lifting as 

 possible. This is the time of the year when 

 I find it advisable to save my own back by 

 employing a helper to do the " work." 

 Gravity carries the honey from the extractor 

 thru an opening in the floor to a tank in the 

 basement where it is later drawn into 60-lb. 

 cans. These are hauled home in the auto 

 with a truck body, a load being taken each 

 trip. We have not found it of any advan- 

 tage to heat the honey at the time of ex- 

 tracting. We heat it only as it is market- 



