324 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



W"'^ 



I 



TALKS TO 



Geo.'S 



THAT atten- 

 tion do the 

 bees need 

 during the mouth 

 of May? That 

 depends. In some 

 parts of the 

 country the 

 greater portion 

 of the season's 



honey crop will be gathered this month, in 

 these favored spots the beekeepers are now 

 busy putting on empty supers as the bees 

 need more room, taking oft' the supers filled 

 with honey and, no doubt, struggling with 

 the problem of swarm control. In other re- 

 gions the honey harvest is still a month m 

 the future, and in some cases even two 

 months or more. 



While one might expect the honey harvest 

 to begin early in the South and move north- 

 ward as the season advances, just as the 

 wheat-harvest time sweeps northward from 

 Oklahoma to North Dakota, such is not the 

 case. True, there is a sweeping northward 

 of the springtime development of the colo- 

 nies of bees and the blooming of the first 

 nectar and pollen-bearing plants of the sea- 

 son, but the honey harvest does not come 

 until the bloom period of the plant or plants 

 that furnish the main honey flow for the 

 locality. In many localities the entire crop 

 of surplus honey is gathered within a few 

 weeks during the blooming period of some 

 important nectar-bearing plant, the other 

 nectar-bearing plants of the region being 

 but minor sources. If one were to attempt 

 to follow the honey harvest northward as 

 the harvest hands of the Great Plains fol- 

 low the wheat harvest, there would be a 

 surprising amount of dodging about, some- 

 times north and sometimes south, as the sea- 

 son advances. One of the first things the 

 beginner should learn, if possible, about 

 his location is when to expect the main 

 honey flow or honey flows of the season. 

 This can usually be learned from some es- 

 tablished beekeeper in the locality. In gen- 

 eral, the bulk of the honey is gathered in 

 April and May in the South, May and June 

 in the middle latitudes; June, July, and in 

 some places in August and September in the 

 far North. It may come in March and April 

 from orange blossoms in California, mesquite 

 in Texas or tujielo in Florida; in April and 

 May from gallberry in the South Atlantic 

 states, the tulip tree in Virginia and Mary- 

 land, mountain sage in California or saw 

 palmetto in Florida; in June and July from 

 wild raspberry in New York, Michigan and 

 Ontario, white and alsike clover in the great 

 clover region of northeastern United States 

 and eastern Canada, sourwood in the Caro- 

 linas, basswood in the North, sweet clover 

 in the great sweet clover belt of the Mis- 

 souri River region, alfalfa and sweet clover 

 in the irrigated portions of the West or 

 cotton in the South; in August from willow- 

 herb or fireweed in Canada and a few of the 



BEGINNERS 



, Demuth 



1 



May, 1922 



adjacent border 

 states, buck- 

 wheat in New 

 York and Penn- 

 sylvania; and in 

 August and Sep- 

 tember from fall 

 flowers in wide- 

 ly scattered lo- 

 calities. These 

 are only a few of the important sources of 

 nectar. 



The Building-up Period. 

 Whatever the source of the main honey 

 flow the amount of surplus that can be 

 stored depends upon the amount of brood 

 reared during the preceding six or eight 

 weeks, since, other things being equal, the 

 amount of surplus is proportional to the 

 number of workers on tlie job during the 

 honey flow. Weak colonies usually are not 

 able to store much if any surplus. 



Throughout the greater part of the 

 United States and Canada, this month is the 

 most important part of the building-up 

 period. Wherever the honey flow comes on 

 in June, the most important thing this 

 month is extensive brood-rearing. If any 

 thing happens to hinder brood-rearing in 

 any way now, the possible number of young 

 workers for June and July will be propor- 

 tionately reduced. Many beginners and even 

 some professional beekeepers fail to secure 

 good crops of honey because of some error 

 in the management this month. 



Greatest Danger from Lack of Stores. 

 Often the bees curtail brood-rearing be- 

 cause their supply of honey runs low. In 

 order to rear the great horde of workers 

 necessary for best results when the honey 

 flow comes it is necessary that the bees be 

 able to gather plenty of nectar and pollen 

 from early spring flowers; that they have a 

 large supply of honey stored in the hives or 

 that they be fed about a quart of sugar 

 syrup, made of equal parts of sugar and 

 water, either daily or larger amounts of 

 thicker syrup at longer intervals. In most 

 localities the bees are able to gather all the 

 pollen they need for spring brood-rearing, 

 though in a few places brood-rearing is hin- 

 dered from lack of pollen. 



The safest condition for this important 

 building-up period, so far as food is con- 

 cerned, is an abundance of honey in the 

 hives. Then, when a cold or rainy spell or 

 a dearth of nectar comes, the bees can go 

 ahead full speed with their brood-rearing. It 

 is surprising how much honey is used for the 

 heavy brood-rearing of spring. Sometimes 

 frames filled with honey will be emptied 

 within a few days and tlie combs filled with 

 brood. Apparently it requires nearly a frame 

 of honey to make a frame of brood, and, 

 since strong colonies should have from eight 

 to twelve frames fairly well filled with 

 brood before the honey flow begins, the im- 

 portance of an abundance of stores at this 

 time can be appreciated. 



