506 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



August, 1922 



mnn sliowing those states which require 

 that the net weight be marked ou houey and 

 those which do not. There is still some con- 

 fusion in some of the states as to whether 

 comb honey is exempt from the net weight 

 law, on the grounds that it is a natural 

 product, the weight not being entirely with- 

 in control of the i^roducer. Where there is 

 any doubt beekeepers should write to the 

 state official who is responsible for the en- 

 forcement of the net weight law. 



BEEKEEPEES in the clover region of the 

 Middle West, especially those located where 



there is con- 

 Weather Conditions siderable 

 and Nectar Secretion, basswood, will 

 not soon for- 

 get the cool dry weather that prevailed dur- 

 ing the latter half of June, which dried up 

 the clover and cut down the secretion of 

 nectar from basswood. 



Those who have access to the daily weath- 

 er maps, published by the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture, will find iu them an inter- 

 esting story of weather conditions for that 

 period, revealing the cause of the cool 

 weather and the drought, which was quite 

 severe in tlie southern portion of the clover 

 region. 



While clover continued to yield, even 

 when it was quite cool, the yield was great 

 ly reduced in the northern x:)ortion of the 

 (dover belt because some days were too cold 

 for the bees to go to the fields, and farther 

 south the clover was dried up by the cold 

 north winds so that in some places it quit 

 yielding soon after the middle of June. 



Bassv,'Ood bloomed more jjrofusely this 

 season than it has for many years. Tn 

 northern Indiana it began yielding on June 

 16, fully 10 days earlier than usual. The 

 da.y was apparently perfect for nectar se- 

 cretion in basswood. There was a liglit 

 breeze of moisture-laden air from the south, 

 and large amounts of nectar could be seen 

 glistening in the blossoms. The roar of the 

 excited bees could be heard quite a distance 

 from the apiaries, and everything indicated 

 an old-time basswood honey flow. The next 

 day a strong northwest wind came spreading 

 a cold dry atmosphere over the land. Rucli 

 weather usually stops nectar secretion in 

 basswood. This season, however, it did not 

 stop it entirely, but of course reduced it 

 greatly. The excitement in the apiary ceased 

 and the bees worked about as they do in an 

 ordinary clover honey flow. The weather 

 map for that day shows the approaching, 

 from the west, of an area of high atmospher- 

 ic pressure which brings the cold dry air 

 from the upper atmosphere down to the 

 earth's surface. 



Usually these high pressure areas jiass by 

 within two or three days and warmer weath- 

 er sets in, but during the latter half of 

 June there was a series of high pressure 

 areas, one fcdlowing another, so that cold 

 dry weather prevailed most of the time. 



When a few days of good "honey weather" 

 did com.e later, the basswood bloom was 

 nearly gone, but the bees certainly took ad- 

 vantage of the few days that were left. Pcr- 

 liaps farther north where basswood was later, 

 there was a flood of basswood honey sucli 

 as we in northern Indiana at one time 

 thouglit we would have. The unusual series 

 of high pressure areas during June undoubt- 

 edly reduced the honey crop in the clover 

 belt by millions of pounds. 



AFTER a month of hard work in his api- 

 aries the Editor returned to his desk early 



in July some- 

 How to Reduce 

 Swarming by 

 Better Wintering. 



what the worse 

 for wear but con- 

 s i d e r a bly en- 

 riched by experi- 

 ence, as well as having the honey room well 

 filled with supers of fine comb honey. 



One of the reasons beekeeping is so fas- 

 cinating is the great variation in the sea- 

 sons, each season throwing some light upon 

 the many problems connected with honey 

 production from a new angle so that there 

 is always an opportunity to learn something 

 new. Favorable weather during the spring, 

 together with good wintering, brought on 

 swarming before the honey flow from clo 

 ver began, but swarming iii May in the clo- 

 ver region is easily prevented by giving 

 additional room in the form of empty combs. 



Since the Editor does not make the first 

 visit to his apiaries until the beginning of 

 the honey flow from white and alsike clo- 

 ver, the bees are operated on the two-story 

 ])lan, being reduced to a single story only 

 while the comb-honey supers are on the 

 hives. This extra story is usually sufficient 

 to hold down swarming until the beginning 

 of the honey flow, but this season a third 

 story should have been given in May. For 

 the first time during the 10 years that this 

 plan has been used, there was some loss from 

 swarming previous to the honey flow, be- 

 cause the bees were so badly crowded. 



But the swarming season had practically 

 passed by when the clover began to yield, 

 and only a few colonies attempted to swarm 

 during the honey flow. What a pleasure it 

 is to produce comb honey when the bees do 

 not attempt to swarm! Tlic brood-chambers 

 Avere examined but once to look for queen- 

 cells, after which it became apparent that 

 there would be no further swarming. A 

 similar condition prevailed last year in that 

 locality, so the Editor has enjoyed two sea- 

 sons without having to fight swarming. 



Both seasons the bees had gone past their 

 peak of spring brood-rearing previous to 

 the honey flow, instead of reaching their 

 peak during the honey flow, so that when 

 the honey flow began the vast army of young 

 bees were old enough io work in the fields 

 instead of staying in the hive. Both sea- 

 sons the weather was such that the bcea 

 could work in the fields every dav. When 

 thg honey flow began most of thcbt^es were 



