JuLV. 1920 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



405 



PRODUCING A GOOD CROP 



Some Suggestions as to How to Get Good Results 

 in the Apiary 



My first swarm came to me in 1885. I 

 was at work in the field when my wife sent 

 out a luncheon by my daughter. She saw 

 something unusual on a big weed and when 

 she arrived told me she had seen a big 

 bunch of flies in crossing a slough and was 

 afraid for some time to pass by. On in- 

 vestigating, I came into possession of my 

 first swarm. In three years they increased 

 to 11 colonies, and noticing in Gleanings, 

 Mr. Hutchinson 's advice, ' ' If you want to 

 succeed, keep more bees," I accordingly 

 continued to increase the number. My limit 

 seems to be from 60 to 100 colonies. I raise 

 my own queens and sell quite a lot. I have 

 tried all races and their crosses, but for 10 

 years or more have had Italians only. 



My colonies are set out in a half-diamond. 

 The corner of the diamond comes close up 

 to the north side of my house, the base- 

 ment of which I use as my storage place 

 for supplies. In this way all the rows 

 come close to the base of supplies, saving 

 many steps. One of my colonies filled foiir- 

 teen 10-frame supers, nine frames to the 

 super. 



I have always run for comb honey until 

 the war, then I changed to extracted, and 

 now having over one thousand combs don't 

 like to change back. The way I get results 

 is to have all colonies ready in September 

 the previous year, with lots of young bees 

 and stores and also young queens. When 

 putting them in the cellar, every hive is 

 weighed and numbered, and a record is 

 kept of the weight and of the weather at 

 the time of putting in and at the time of 

 taking out of the cellar. I also make note 

 of queens that have any superior traits. 



This keeps me posted as to what to expect 

 from different colonies the coming year. 



I never looseia the cover until some warm 

 day when all are busy flying, and then only 

 examine to see that none are queenless. All 

 having plenty of stores, I never have to 

 move combs for this purpose. Just before 

 fruit bloom I choose a good day and feed in 

 the open, sometimes one day, sometimes 

 three days. This feeding is not to supply 

 stores, but to stimulate brood-rearing. Next 

 I give every one an empty body of combs 

 underneath, leaving the brood above where 

 it will keep warm. Then I let the colonies 

 alone until the dandelions are yielding well. 

 At this time practically every colony will 

 need more room. I give either a full- 

 depth or shallow super, according to how 

 many young bees are on the combs. Before 

 the dandelions are over some are three 

 stories high, and after the flow is over they 

 need more room. This I give by removing 

 the body that I put underneath and placing 

 it on top, my object being to keep brood- 

 rearing going all the time. I try to have 

 all the bees possible in each hive ready for 

 the clover. Oftimes I have to add a super 

 of frames, as the young bees become so 

 numerous that even the three stories don't 

 give them enough clustering space. 



As soon as I see the first blossom on white 

 clover, every colony gets a thoro overhaul- 

 ing. The body where I find the queen is 

 attended to first. The two outside combs 

 are not moved. The frame on w^hich is the 

 queen is put in the center. The other spaces 

 are filled with empty combs. Above this 

 body is placed an excluder and above this 

 a super containing the combs having the 

 most sealed brood. Those having honey are 

 placed in the third super on top. At the 

 same time I clip all the queens and then 

 wait for the clover to begin. If the flow 

 starts slowly the bees ' inclination is to 



One of A. A. Clark's apiaries at LeMars, la. Looks like a good crop. 



