GI. EANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



•TuKE, 1921 



stimulate lioney-gathcring and increase the 

 crop. The new brood-chamber twice given in 

 the early part of the season increases brood- 

 rearing at the most important time. Every 

 time we look over the brood-combs to see 

 whether our swarm-prevention methods are 

 successful we have a chance to detect disease 

 on the start, and we study the behavior of 

 each queen so as to replace her when she 

 begins to fail. This seems more satisfactory 

 than to attempt a wholesale requeening of 

 every colony at a certain time whether it 

 needs it or not. 



It would be an idea-l condition if all the 

 colonies in an apiary were as uniform as the 

 hives. Then the expert could go to an apiary, 

 examine one hive and instruct his helpers 

 to give certain treatment to them all. If all 

 the queens were of the same age and parent- 

 age and the colonies came thru the winter of 

 uniform strength, this might be wisely done. 

 Such uniformity is something to strive for, 

 but until it can be obtained we find it profit- 

 able to consider each colony a separate pa- 

 tient, and the expert, the physician to diag- 

 nose and prescribe. Even leaving a colony 

 without a queen for a week or so is injurious, 

 but we do not think it does so much harm as 

 some of the ripping-up methods advised for 

 every colony whether it needs them or not. 

 When by care most of the colonies can be 

 brought thru the season with no more seri- 

 ous "operation" than a change of queens, 

 without any queenless period, the increased 

 profit more than pays for any extra trouble. 

 The Building of Combs. 



I think it was Arthur Miller who said in 

 The American Bee Journal with reference to 

 numerous methods of wiring frames, "It's 

 too bad, boys, to spoil all your fun, but just 

 use heavier wire." I would add to that, use 

 heavier foundation. Where we have the wax 

 to use, we have it made six or seven sheets 

 to the pound instead of the regulation eight. 

 We do not fasten it to the top-bar. An extra 

 horizontal wire one-quarter inch below the 

 top-bar, supported in the middle by a staple, 

 holds up the top edge until the hcc-s fasten 

 it. That is the first thing thev do, if the 



frame of foundation is given them under 

 right conditions, and they can do it while we 

 are doing something else. 



We never put foundation in a brood- 

 chamber — that is, where you get it cut away 

 from the bottom-bar. It should almost touch 

 the ends of frames and come so near the 

 bottom-bar that it will be built fast, yet not 

 close enough to buckle out and spoil the 

 lower part of the comb. If sheets of founda- 

 tion properly fitting the frames and well 

 fastened to the wires by proper imbedding 

 are given to colonies under right conditions, 

 good combs will result. 



Our supering works out about like this: 

 First, the extra brood-chamber of worker 

 combs; next, a set of number-two combs. 

 These are combs built on foundation but 

 spoiled for brood-rearing by stretching or 

 buckling. After combs of all descriptions, 

 built on foundation, have been used, supers 

 of foundation are put on next. Sometimes 

 we put down a few partly filled combs into 

 the super, which is going on, to help make a 

 connection between the brood-chamber and 

 the super work — that is, when it is empty 

 combs going on. When colonies are rousing 

 strong and the flow is good we do not con- 

 sider this of much importance, and seldom 

 mix combs with foundation. They bulge the 

 combs over against the foundation to the 

 disadvantage of both. When a colony, hav- 

 ing three or four Langstroth supers of 

 combs nearly full of green honey, is given a 

 super of foundation between them and the 

 brood-chamber, it fills up almost as rapidly 

 as tho it were of drawn combs, provided 

 the flow is still strong. If. not, the founda- 

 tion will be drawn out at least enough to 

 pass for comb next season, and the ripen- 

 ing of the honey above will be hastened. 

 So, with combs enough to hold two-thirds 

 of the crop and tide the colonies over the 

 most critical time for the swarming im- 

 pulse, supers of foundation for the rest of 

 the honey flow are rather an advantage all 

 around. We like to reserve all drone combs 

 to give room when taking otf the crop. 



Georgetown, Out. 



Opp of Morley Pettit's out-apiaries well piolected from prevailing winds. 



