GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



OCTOBKK, 1922 



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TALKS TO 



Geo. S. 



TH ROUGH- 

 OUT t h e 



northern por- 

 tion of the coun- 

 try the bees will 

 cease brood rear- 

 ing early this 

 month, if they 

 have not already 

 done so. In the 



southern part of the country brood-rearing 

 is continued a few weeks longer, but even 

 there brood-rearing is entirely suspended 

 usually some time during October. If all 

 goes well with the colony, brood-rearing may 

 not again be resumed until March in the 

 North. If the bees are compelled to be un- 

 usually active because their stores are not 

 good, because they are not sufficiently pro- 

 tected, or because the cluster is too small to 

 keep up the heat of the colony without un- 

 due effort, brood-rearing may be begun ear- 

 lier, sometimes in February or even in Janu- 

 ary. In the South where the bees fly fre- 

 quently brood-rearing is usually begun ear- 

 lier because of the stimulus from early- 

 gathered nectar and pollen. As a rule, the 

 better the bees are wintering, the longer they 

 will postpone the beginning of brood-rearing 

 in the spring. 



Size of Cluster Needed for Winter. 

 One of the first things for the beginner to 

 learn is that the bees must be in good condi- 

 tion in the fall in order to winter well. If 

 the colonies are too small, or if they are 

 made up largely of old bees that will die of 

 old age before brood-rearing can be resumed 

 in the spring, good wintering cannot be ex- 

 pected. Now that it is too late to rear any 

 more young bees especially in the North, the 

 only thing that can be done in the case of 

 weak colonies is to unite two or more of 

 them in order to make one strong colony for 

 winter. A good colony will occupy at least 

 five or six spaces between the combs on cool 

 mornings when the temperature outside is 

 near freezing. If the hive is double-walled, 

 and therefore warmer inside, the cluster will 

 be larger, so that in a well-packed hive a 

 good colony will occupy most^of the spaces 

 in a ten-frame standard hive, and the cluster 

 on cool mornings will touch both sides of 

 the hive. Colonies that occupy less than five 

 spaces between the combs, as a rule, should 

 be united with another small colony; but, in 

 estimating the strength of the colonies, it is 

 well to remember that a small colony of 

 young bees may have greater vitality than 

 a, large colony of old bees. 



In the North it is now rather late to unite 

 weak colonies by the newspaper plan as de- 

 scribed in last issue, but if any have neg- 

 lected to unite their weak colonies in Sep- 

 tember as there advised, it can still be done 

 in another way. After brood -rearing has 

 censed and the weather is cool enough to 

 cause the bees to form a compact cluster, 

 they can be united by simply transferring 

 tlH> coiiihs of l)ees directly from oiic hi\c to 



BEGINNERS 



Demuth 



another. To 

 unite two colo- 

 nies in this wa}', 

 take out all of 

 the combs not 

 occujjied by bees 

 from each hive. 

 Then take out 

 one of the out- 

 side combs which 

 contains only a few bees from each colony 

 and brush these back into the hive of the 

 stronger colony. This will leave a comb in 

 each hive on the outside that has a large 

 circle of bees on it. Now take out the 

 combs from the weaker of the two colonies 

 €n masse, if the frames can be handled in 

 this wa.y, and set this group of frames down 

 into the other hive in such a manner that 

 the two clusters shall come in contact. If 

 the weather is cool enough at the time of 

 uniting, colonies united in this way do not 

 fight. No attention need be paid to the 

 queen. In fact, it would be difficult to find 

 her after the bees have ceased brood-rearing 

 and have formed a cluster. 



To Make the Hive Fit the Cluster. 

 If any of the combs at the sides of the 

 hive are empty and not occupied by the bees 

 on cool mornings, it is well to take out these 

 empty combs to reduce the size of the brood- 

 chamber to fit the cluster. The space made 

 vacant by taking out these combs should be 

 filled either with chaff division boards or by 

 tight-fitting division-boards ■with packing 

 material, such as dry forest leaves or planer 

 shavings, packed in the spaces between tlic 

 division-boards and the sides of the hive. 

 Some beekeepers reduce their colonies to 

 seven frames or even less during the win- 

 ter, placing a chaff division-board at each 

 side to fill up the space. If, however, the 

 combs at the sides are filled with honey it 

 will not be advisable to remove them, but 

 the bees should be packed so well for win- 

 ter that the cluster will reach nearly across 

 the hive from side to side. Usually it is not 

 necessary either to unite colonies in the fall 

 or to reduce the winter chamber in this waj' 

 unless the bees have swarmed excessivelj^ or 

 the beekeeper has made too much increase 

 by dividing his colonies. 



Winter Stores. 

 In addition to having enough vigorous 

 young bees to form a good-sized winter clus- 

 ter, each colony should have not less than 

 25 or 30 pounds of stores for winter. The 

 amount of hone.y in each hive can be de- 

 termined approximately by weighing the 

 hive as it stands and then deducting the 

 weight of tlie hive, combs and bees. A stan- 

 dard ten-frame hive, with a metal cover and 

 an inner cover but Avith empty combs, weiglis 

 about 34 pounds. To this should be added 

 about five pounils for the bees and a little 

 pollen in tlie combs, making the total weight 

 of the hive and bees without honey about 

 30 to 40 pounds. Hives made of lumber 

 lie.'ivicr tliriii pine will weigh nioi'o tliiiii this, 



