384 



GLEANINGS iN BEE CULTURE 



Junk, 1922 



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Beekeeping as a Side Line 

 lUf 



NE t li i 11 «■ 

 that I have 

 been doing 

 the last two 

 springs more 

 thoronghly than 

 ever before is 

 c 1 a s s i f y i n g 

 combs. Before 

 putting supers . ._, ... 

 on the hives, I look them over comb by 

 comb. Into one quickly scraped super go 

 all the good combs, into another the second 

 grade, and so on. Then I mark them — that's 

 the new part. A little can of red paint sits 

 on the worktable, and when a super is filled 

 with first-grade combs, I paint a straight red 

 line across the middle of the top-bars, thus 

 marking not only the full super but also 

 each comb in ease they should get separated. 

 These are straight, wired combs, with prac- 

 tically all-worker cells, and may be used at 

 any time as part of the brood-chamber. It 

 is particularly important to have only such 

 good combs in the first super put on in the 

 spring, as I usually let it be part of the 

 brood-chamber. The shallow that was on all 

 winter is almost certain to be filled with 

 brood in the early spring. So that one is 

 put above an excluder, and a new one given 

 to the queen, in addition to her full-depth 

 brood-chamber. So I must have only good 

 combs. 



The No. 2 combs, collected into another 

 super, are marked with two red stripes. 

 These are combs that may be used in the 

 brood-chamber if necessary, but not until 

 all the No. 1 's are used. They are not bad, 

 but are not so good as we like. Then those 

 that have too much drone comb to be used 

 for brood are marked with three red lines 

 and ai'e to be used only above the excluder, 

 unless the drone comb is cut out and success- 

 fully replaced with worker comb. Any that 

 get four red marks are to be cut out — later in 

 the season, Avhen there is no chance of their 

 being |)ressed into service through some 

 unexpected rush of nectar. These particu- 

 larly bad combs, I hasten to explain, came 

 into our yard largely — though not entirely 

 — through purchase. 



By leaving, so far as possible, only marked 

 combs on the hives in the fall, one could 

 gradually grade and mark all his combs. 

 Such work, of course, is never really fin- 

 ished, for the season 's use may make a dif- 

 ference with some combs — as we found this 

 spring from moth and mold. But reclassi- 

 fying then will be a small matter. Within 

 another year or tAvo we hope to have all tlie 

 full-depth combs graded likewise; only a 

 small number of them are done so far. The 

 paint marks will gradually wear off, but 

 they Avill have served us through tliis period 

 of weeding out and classifying. Or they cm 

 (NHsily be renewed, if it seems worth while. 



Have you moved your bees? So asks every 

 one who knows th;jt wc have moved our- 

 Holves. Except for taking the few colonics 



1 



Grace Allen 



LJ 



from West Nash- 

 ville out to the 

 country yard, we 

 liave left the 

 bees undisturb- 

 ed. They are 

 fairly conven- 

 ient, scarcely a 

 mile away, and 

 ..,.,, , are well estab- 



lished in the yard we have so much enjoyed 

 for two 3'ears. Perhaps some day we will 

 move them, but for the present they are still 

 there by the cherry orchard, with the hills 

 beyond. 



We were somewhat late getting at our 

 spring Avork this year. On April 15 we 

 started looking through the hives — a Satur- 

 day that closed with a sunset like the jasper 

 and sapphire and flaming jewels visioned 

 from the Isle of Patmos — like uplifted 

 doors through which the very King of Glory 

 might come in. And the next morning was 

 Easter. 



The result of our first examination makes 

 us affirm most emphatically that beekeepers 

 might well modify the dictum at present so 

 popular, that you cannot leave too much 

 honey with the bees in the fall. Possibly 

 not, but you better examine them early the 

 next spring. Because they have plenty of 

 stores, don't think you can take your own 

 time about your spring examination. The 

 fact of having so much mav be the very 

 reason you must not delay. It doesn't hurt 

 the bees to have a lot more than they will 

 need, if they are not cramped for room; but 

 it may be very inconvenient for the bee- 

 keeper, if, for any reason, he is prevented 

 from making an early examination. Par- 

 ticularly when there is an early spring. A 

 lot too much honey on the hives during win- 

 ter calls for an early examination almost as 

 emphatically as not quite enough honey 

 does. (Only perhaps not quite so earlv.) 

 The not-quite-enough may suffice if the 

 spring comes early, but it call<? for prompt 

 Mild conscientious watching if spring is late. 

 The lot-too-much, on the other hand, may 

 be all right if winter hangs on late, but it 

 requires prompt and conscientious watching 

 if spring comes early — lest hives become 

 crowded and queen honey-bound. Most of 

 our own hives Ave found pretty crowdeil 

 Avhen we examined them in mid-April, 

 though they had Avintered, most of them, in 

 story and a half hiA'es, and the rest in tAvo 

 stories. Of course we wanted that brood, 

 but because of so much old sealed honey in 

 the hiA^es, they really needed room a little 

 earlier. Fruit trees had bloomed early, 

 though not Avith particularly favorable 

 Aveather right here. 



But the jrreat surprise of tlie season Avas 

 the iiiiusuallv early and enthusiastic bloom- 

 ing of the black locust. On April 14 Ave 

 saw the first of it, and for the next fcAv 

 daA's more and more generously the beauti- 

 ful white pendant blossoms were flung out 



