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G r. 1<: A N I N G S IN R E R C U ], T U R K 



October, 1922 



^W 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



the space of the eutrrince and keep out the 

 air, but air must get in between them, else 

 all inside would perish. 



Now the light gains a little; the mists in 

 the valley begin to lift. The first breath of 

 dawn-wind comes. The bees in the out- 

 cluster act as if stirred imperceptibly. A 

 wing is lifted here and there, an antenna 

 waves, legs move. But the bodies remain 

 quiet. 



The flush of dawn on the eastern hill 

 grows and grows. Suddenly the sun itself 

 peeps over, sending a ray across the inter- 

 vening space. It goes high overhead, but 

 its influence has been felt in the air, for 

 the atmosphere seems a little warmer. The 

 mists, like magic, have gathered, and now 

 clear spaces appear here and there. The 

 ray of the sun grows less and less as a 

 cloud drifts in between it and earth, and 

 then the out-cluster quiets. But as the cloud 

 passes the sun has come up far enough to 

 send its full beams straight into the valley 

 and they strike the hive. And now — presto! 

 From the interior a busy worker, bent upon 

 some early errand — getting water, pollen or 

 something else a new baby bee needs — 

 comes out from between the listless ranks 

 of the out-cluster, shoving the somnolent 

 bees aside unceremoniously. She pitches 

 out into the golden space of the dawn with 

 a determined "zum-m-m-m-m! " as who 

 should say: "Come, laggards; there's work 

 to do. Follow my example." 



Another follows and another. Each, in 

 passing, stirs up the cluster; and now sud- 

 denly a bee, that must have been caught 

 far from home by the early, cloudy night- 

 fall of the day previous and rested all night 

 under a clover bloom or broad blade of 

 grass, comes home with her load. She 

 pitches on to the alighting board, striking 

 the now awakening cluster-bees with a bang, 

 buzzes through them and is gone. 



Many other bees come from the interior 

 of the hive; others begin to arrive from 

 the near-by places to which they have gone 

 for their earliest loads of emergency rations. 

 All tliis passing and pusliing have stirred 

 up the out-cluster. Its members brighten 

 up at oacli jostle, and suddenly one of tliem, 

 taking the fever, perhaps warmed up now 

 by the gaining sun, launches forth. Her 

 nearest neighbor, feeling no longer the 

 touch of the absent one, stirs about inquir- 

 ingly, runs about a little, and then she, too. 

 pitches off the board and is gone. Another 

 and another follow suit and then by twos, 

 threes, fives, tens and finally by the hun- 

 dred, the bees of the out-cluster go to the 

 field, accompanied by the eager myriads 

 that liave been meanwhile issuing from the 

 interior of the populous community. The 

 hive is awake! George Gilbert. 



Port Dickinson, N. Y. 



COLLEGE AND BEES 



How a Student Earns Enough During Summer 

 to Attend College in Winter 



Edmund Daggett, a student at the Uni- 

 versity of Minnesota, is beekeeping his way 

 through college. An apiary of 130 colonies 

 of bees on his father 's farm pays the room 

 rent, laboratory fees and board bills. 



Eight years ago this spring Daggett 

 bought one colony of bees. During the sum- 

 mer he bought two more, and two more were 

 added by swarming. In the fall lie started 

 to school at the State Agricultural College. 



As time went on, Daggett's bills in- 

 creased. But so did the bees. Soon they 

 were paying most of the expenses. During 

 summer vacations Daggett had plenty of 

 time to look after the bees. 



"Beekeeping is a fine way to get through 

 college, ' ' says Daggett, who is now taking 

 a course in the graduate division of the uni- 

 versity. "During the fall, winter and 

 spring when college is in session, there is 

 little work to be done in the beeyard, near- 

 ly all of the work with the bees being con- 

 centrated in the three months of the sum- 

 mer vacation. No other occupation offers 

 such an ideal distribution of work for col- 

 lege students. To be sure, when many colo- 

 nies are kept it is necessary to make oc- 

 casional visits to them over week-ends, es 

 pecially during the spring months." 



When college is out in June the bees have 

 already begun to work in the clover fields, 

 and it is necessary to see that they have 

 plenty of storage room for the honey that 

 is coming in. Swarming is prevented' as 

 mucli as possible, whicli is not difficult when 

 extracted honey is produced. In July and 

 August the honey is prepared for market. It 

 is put up in sixty-pound cans and in five 

 and ten pound pails. In August and Sep- 

 tember the bees are put in condition for 

 winter. Each colony, to winter safely, must 

 be strong, must have plenty of honey of good 

 quality and must be headed by a good queen. 



Tlie bees are put in the cellar in Novem- 

 ber, a trip home being made for that ])ur 

 pose. After that they are left almost en- 

 tirely alone until it is time to put them out- 

 doors again the first of April. During April 

 and May they are visited for a day or two 

 every two or three weeks, in order to buil 1 

 them up strong for the new lioney fiow in 

 June. 



"Go slow and let the bees pay tlieir own 

 way," is Daggett's advice to those who 

 may want to follow his example. "It is 

 best to start with not more than perhaps 

 three colonies, and to buy these in the 

 spring. They will increase by swarming to 

 six or eight the first year, if no swarm- 

 control method is used." 



Narberth, Pa. E. A. Kirkpatrick. 



