April, 1920 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



207, 



tcction. I like the quadruple case packed 

 as for winter. Feed should be given in all 

 cases; honey and pollen in combs, with the 

 cappings bruised, or sugar syrup. The feed 

 may all be given at one time or at inter- 

 vals; but be sure that there is no scarcity 

 at any time till nectar is coming in fast 

 enougli to supply more than their needs. 

 My Experience with Package Bees. 

 About :May 10. 1918, I received 3(X» 

 pounds of bees. Of these I made 60 three- 

 pound colonies and 20 six-pound colonies. 

 These were all treated the same, by giving 

 each colony the combs on which it was ship- 

 ped, one or two frames of honey and pollen, 

 three or four empty combs, and filling the 

 remainder of the hive with full sheets of 

 foundation. Those worked as three-pound 

 colonies produced a surplus of 25 pounds, 

 while those worked as six-pound colonies 

 gave 75 pounds surplus. All these were left 

 with sufficient stores for wintering in one 

 hive body. It will be seen that the six- 

 pound package gave 50 pounds more surjikis 



high for winter, they produced 60 pounds 

 surplus. 



The one-pound package cost me $4.00, 

 which the bees still owe me, besides owing 

 in addition two frames of syrup and the 

 labor of packing and feeding and later the 

 labor of unpacking. 



The six-pound package cost $9.30. At 20c 

 per pound for honey they paid for them- 

 selves, gave me $2.70 additional, and requir- 

 ed less labor and feed. 



My Experience with Bees by Carload. 



For comiiarison, I want to say that last 

 season I handled a carload of bees from 

 Florida. The bees came thru in good condi- 

 tion, and were given splendid pasture. The 

 270 colonies produced 5,015 pounds of sur- 

 plus, or less than 15 pounds per colony. The 

 bees dwindled to about 200 colonies. They 

 had no disease. 



Conclusions. 



For my locality, carload shipments are 

 not profitable. Packages are a success. The 



-V big lot of pound packages just arrived. Such colonies should have immediate attention. 



than the smaller package. This gave me 

 $10.00 additional for an extra investment 

 of $4.00. 



For 1919, as an experiment, I purchased 

 25 one-pound packages which arrived April 

 16 to 20. Also 600 pounds, which arrived 

 about May 15. The one-pound packages 

 were given a frame of honey, and later, two 

 frames of sugar syrup. They were packed 

 as for winter in quadruple cases. These 

 built up to two stories for winter but gave 

 no .surplus. 



The 600 ])ounds, received about the middle 

 of May, were worked six pounds to the 

 colony. They were given the two combs on 

 whi< h they were shipped, and about one full 

 comb of honey. The remainder of the hive 

 was filled with full sheets of foundation. 

 No other feeding was necessary, as nectar 

 at that time was coming in in sufiicient 

 quantities. After leaving them two stories 



large package at the beginning of the clover 

 flow is more profitable than small packages 

 received early. I believe that 9 or 12 pounds 

 of package bees in one colony are worth a 

 trial. I prefer bees to be shipped on combs. 

 The shipper should send 10 per cent extra 

 bees. 



Grover Hill, O. 



[In regard to David Eunning "s experience 

 with package bees, he states: "This experi- 

 ment was made in 1917. The home-wintered 

 bees were much stronger at the beginning 

 of the hone}' flow, but just at that time 

 were struck with the disappearing disease, 

 which weakened them very much. For some 

 reason the package bees were not affected. 

 Had it not been for this disease affecting 

 the home-wintered bees, they would probably 

 have given a greater return than the pack- 

 age bees gave," — Editor.] 



