August, 1917 



G I. E A N T N G S IN B E E CULT U K E 



611 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



G. J. Yoder's Apiary, Meridian, Idalio. 



their deeds are evil." We put a queen-ex- 

 cluder under each stack of supers to keep 

 the mice out and another one on top to 

 furnish shade from the sun. If it rains, 

 additional protection is needed. 



In November we store the supers under 

 shelter for winter. So far we have always 

 had them cleaned out nicely without any 

 trouble from moths. 



FREEING SUPERS OF BEES. 



Years ago when Rambler described his 

 " jouncer " (a small skeleton framework in 

 which a super could be placed for jarring 

 the bees out) we liked it so well that we 

 have been following this method ever since. 

 Last season we accidentally liit on a new 

 way. On our hives we use gable covers. 

 We put one of these covers on the gi'ound 



3U/^P FUL\CRUM BU>1P 



Yoder's way of "bumping" bees out of supers. 



upside down, take off the super, brush the 

 outside bees off, set it down into the cover, 

 then rock the cover from side to side a 

 quarter to half a minute. A little practice 

 determines the time required, also how hard 

 to bump the sides without breaking the 

 combs out of the sections. After lifting 

 the super out, emptying the cover of bees, 

 we can repeat the operation if necessary. 



ENEMIES OF BEES AND HONEY, 



Last season in April, May, and June, 

 the English sparrows invaded our apiary in 

 the morning while it was cool ancl damp. 

 They would get in front of the hives, pick 

 up the bees, and then make for their nests 

 in which were young birds. On examina- 

 tion we found their crops crammed full of 

 bees and grain. In some of the birds fully 

 three-fourths of the contents of the crop 

 was bees. After the weather became warm 

 enough so the bees could fly well, the spar- 

 rows left. 



The yellow-jackets were vei'y numerous 

 last year, carrying away hundreds of pounds 

 of honey. The pesky fellows were so smart 

 that we could not avoid getting some of 

 them into the shipping-cases where no doubt 

 a few lived to the end of the journey. We 

 found a number of their nests, and during 

 the cold weather of November we dug them 

 out of the ground about a foot below the 

 surface. We found thousands of the in- 

 sects, also thousands in the lanal state. 

 They build their comb horizontally, using 

 only the under side for brood. The combs 

 are fibrous like the nests of hornets. 



Meridian, Idaho. G: J. Yodeb. 



