Skptkmber, 1922 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



597 



Avell provisioned, having not less than the 

 oquiv;ilont of three full combs of honey, 

 there will be less brood, probably the equiv- 

 alent of two combs completely filled. Tf the 

 (jueen is old or the colony has only a few 

 pounds of honey, the amount of brood will 

 l)e considerably less. For the safety of tlic 

 colony there should be*at least the equiva- 

 lent of two full combs of brood in each hive 

 at this time. This brood is of course usu- 

 ally distributed in three to five combs. 

 Colonies that are prosperous and continue 



I to rear brood to the extent of at least the 

 equivalent of two well-filled combs this 

 montli should be in good condition for win- 

 ter; but colonies that are weak, short of 

 stores, have a poor queen or become queen- 

 less during the fall brood-rearing period 



r (August and September) will be in poor 



' condition for winter. The fate of the colo- 

 nies during the next six months, therefore, 

 depends largely upon conditions this month. 

 How to Unite Weak Colonies. 

 Au\' colon}' that is too weak to take care 

 of the equivalent of at least two or three 

 solid combs of brood the first of September, 

 especiallj' in the North, should be united 

 with another weak colony to make up a 

 colony strong enough for winter. To unite 



[ tv.-o weak colonies, remove the cover of one 

 hive and spread a sheet of newspaper over 

 the top, the paper having a few pin holes 

 ])unc]ied through it; then lift the other hive 

 from the bottom and set the now bottom- 

 less hive directly on top of the newspaper, 

 thus making a two-story hive, in which the 

 two colonies are separated only by the 

 sheet of newspaper. If the colonies to be 

 united are some distance apart in the api- 

 ary, the uniting should be done in the even- 

 ing after the bees quit flying, or early in 

 the morning before they begin to work in 

 the fields, so that all of the bees of the col 

 ony that is moved are in the hive at the 

 time of moving. If there is a difference in 

 the strength of the two colonies the weaker 



j- colon;,^ is the one that should be moved and 

 placed on top of the stronger one. The bees 

 in the two colonies thus united will gnaw 

 away the paper, and unite without fighting. 

 If there is a choice between the queens, 

 the inferior one should be hunted out and 

 killed before uniting; but, if the queens are 

 equally good, the job of disposing of one of 

 the queens can be left to the bees. Later 

 all of the brood can be put into one story, 

 and the other cither taken away or left for 

 tlie bees to fill if more room is needed. 

 Colonies Should Have Plenty of Honey. 



Tf any colonies are found to be short of 

 stores early this month, causing brood-rear- 

 ing to be reduced below the danger point, 

 tliey should immediately be supplied with 

 "ombs of honey taken from colonies that 

 •an spare them or they should be fed about 

 15 pounds of granulated sugar dissolved in 

 12 to 15 pints of water. Such thin syrup 

 ran he fed early in September, but it is not 

 suitable for feeding late in the month or 



in October. Syrup for later feeding should 

 be much thicker. 



What To Do With Queenless Colonies. 



It is already rather late to do much witli 

 queenless colonies in the North; but, if such 

 colonies are not too weak and can be given 

 a queen at once, they may still rear enough 

 brood to enable them to pull through the 

 wiiiter. When this can not be done the 

 (|ueenless colony can be united with another 

 colony by the newspaper method described 

 above, placing the queenless colony on top 

 of the other colony. 



It is also rather late in the North to re- 

 place old, failing queens with young ones. 

 Tliis should liave been done before the mid- 

 dle of August for best results, but if attend- 

 ed to at once the young queen will still have 

 several weeks to lay before brood-rearing 

 ceases. The old queen should not be removed 

 until the new one arrives, for the break in 

 brood-rearing incident to requeening should 

 be made as short as possible. Colonies can 

 be requeened, even after brood-rearing has 

 ceased, in order to have young queens in 

 the spring; but, of course, when young 

 queens are introduced so late, they do not 

 benefit the colony for winter. 



Marketing the Surplus Honey. 



Probably most beginners who have pro- 

 duced surplus honey have already sold all 

 they do not care to keep for their own use. 

 If not, it is well to remember that the next 

 three months are the best selling months 

 for honey. Those who have only a few colo- 

 nies can sell more than they can produce to 

 their neighbors or to the local groceries. 

 People apparently like to purchase honey 

 from a local beekeeper, and by putting the 

 honey up in attractive packages, stamp- 

 ing the name on every section of fancy 

 comb honey and putting a neat label on the 

 packages of extracted honey, a local bee- 

 keeper can sell large quantities of honey. 

 As a rule, it is not best to sell large pack- 

 ages of honey to consumers. The packages 

 should be small enough to leave a taste for 

 more. For this reason an ordinary quart 

 fruit jar, which holds three pounds of ex- 

 tracted honey, is plenty large enough for a 

 glass package, and the five-pound pail is a 

 good size for tin. For small families the 

 ten-pound pail is too large; for, strange as 

 it may seem, some will buy a five-pound pail 

 of honey at frequent intervals, while if thev 

 take a ten-pound pail they seem to tire of 

 honey before it is all gone, and quit buyintr. 

 Manv good customers for honey have been 

 lost because an ambitious salesman talked 

 them into buying a sixty-pound can instead 

 of a smaller package. 



Beginners who have a talent for selling: 

 honev will find it profitable to purchase hon- 

 ev in the bulk from other beekeepers or 

 from dealers, to supplv their customers after 

 their own crop has been sold. Those who 

 sell honey locallv should studv carefullv our 

 market pages in establishing their nrices. 

 and shoulfl also read the special articles on 

 marketing in this issue. 



