July. 1931. 



G T. E A N I N G S IN BEE C U L T V K E 



441 



S 



TALKS TO 



Geo. S 



T' 

 largo part of 

 the United 

 States, July 

 brings the cloi^e 

 of the ni a i ii 

 honey flow. I ii 

 t h e Northeast 

 w h e r alsiko 

 and white clover 



are the chief source of nectar, the honey 

 flow usually closes early in July, if the 

 weather has been hot and dry, lout sonu^- 

 times it continues thru the month if the 

 weather is wet and cool. Sometimes just as 

 the season appears to be closing, a good 

 rain gives the clovers a new start, which 

 prolongs the honey flow a week or more. 

 In some parts of the clover region there are 

 still enough basswood trees to make a dif- 

 ference in the amount of nectar when these 

 trees begin to bloom, late in June or early 

 in Jnly. In some places there is enough 

 sweet clover to piolong the honey flow for 

 some time after white and alsike clover fail. 

 There is about as much variation in the 

 time of the closing of the honey flow as 

 there is in its beginning, and the beginner 

 should be alert for indications of the closing 

 of the season, for it is important that the 

 management of the colonies shall be in ac- 

 cordance with the tinu' of the ending of the 

 honey flow. 



Sometimes the honey flow closes abruptly, 

 without warning, taking both bees and bee- 

 keeper by surprise and leaving much unfin- 

 ished work in the supers. This is often 

 the ease when basswood furnishes some nec- 

 tar at the close of the clover honey flow. 

 At other times there is a gradual tapering 

 off in the amount of nectar brought in, so 

 that it is difficult to tell definitely when the 

 honey flow ceases, thus giving both bees 

 and beekeeper an opportunity to modify 

 their work accordingly. In this case the 

 bees usually put less honey into the supers, 

 as the amount of nectar diminishes, but 

 crowd it into the brood-chamber as the 

 brood emerges, thus greatly reducing the 

 room for the queen. 

 Indications of the Closing of the Season. 



Sometimes the first indications of the 

 closing of the honey flow noticed by the 

 beekeeper is this tendency of the bees to 

 put more honey into the brood-chamber. An- 

 other indication is the way the workers be- 

 gin to treat the droues. Usually before the 

 the supply of nectar fails entirely, they be- 

 gin to crowd the drones down on the floor 

 of the hive or out at the entrance, and oc- 

 casionally a woiker may be seen struggling 

 with a drone, apparently trying to lead him 

 outside of the hive. In some localities an- 

 other indication of the approaching close of 

 the honey flow is the increased use of pro])- 

 olis about the hive in closing up cracks, 

 and especially a tendency to varnish over 

 the new white capjnng of the honey with 

 propolis. Still another indication of the 



BEGINNERS 



Demuth 



^ 



closing of the 

 honey flow is an 

 increasing teai- 

 dency of t h e 

 bees to sting. 

 Bees Become 

 Cross as Sea- 

 son Closes. 

 T h e beginner 

 should be very 

 careful in handling the bees at this time. He 

 must remember that they are most easily 

 handled during the early part of the honey 

 flow or during a minor honey flow still ear- 

 lier, as from fruit bloom. Most beginners 

 learn this only after a severe stinging. Even 

 the seasoned beekeeper usually has to learn 

 his lesson anew every year, often going 

 ahead handling bees as tho they were al- 

 ways as docile as earlier in the season, until 

 the bees teach him by many stings that it is 

 now time to be more cautious. 



If the honey flow ceases suddenly, the be- 

 ginner who has enjoyed taking a peep into 

 his hives every few days to see what the 

 bees have been doing, will be surprised when 

 he takes his first peep at the close of the 

 season, to find that the docile creatures of 

 a few days ago have suddenly learned to 

 fight with a vengeance. There are times 

 when it is advisable to leave the bees strict- 

 ly alone, unless some attention is really nec- 

 essary. 



Management of Supers Toward Close of 

 Season. 

 As the close of the season approaches, 

 additional supers should not be given as 

 freely as earlier, e.specially for comb hon- 

 ey, and if the honey flow is slowing 

 down, the empty super should l)e placed 

 on top of those already on the hive instead 

 of being placed under them as before. (See 

 pages 346 and .347, June issue.) At this 

 time it is well to wait until the bees have 

 )iearly filled the last super given before giv- 

 ing another, but they should not be crowded 

 for want of su{»er room even now, and the 

 new super should be given before the combs 

 in the last one are completely built out. 



All comb honey supers that are nearly 

 finislied at this time should be taken off. 

 the unfinished sections sorted out, and put 

 back on the hives to be finished. In doing 

 this it is well to put the sections that are 

 most nearly finished in the middle of the 

 super, so they will be finished promptly 

 when returned to the bees. This should be 

 done, if possible, before the close of the 

 honey flow. In this way it is usually pos- 

 sible to reduce the number of supers on each 

 hive to a single one, thus concentrating the 

 work in the su])ers and greatly increasing 

 the chances of having the sections finished. 

 For chunk honey (comb honey produced 

 in shallow extracting frames instead of in 

 sections) the same rule should be followed, 

 but for extracted honey it is not necessary 

 to take off any of it until some time after 

 the close of the honey flow, thus permitting 



