144 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1 



in the air by means of a spray of water from 

 a suitable pump is recommended. 

 ' In the chapter on "Commercial Queen- 

 Rearing," various late methods are describ- 

 ed — notably the Pridgen, the Stanley, the 

 Laws, and the Swarthmore. As Mr. Hutch- 

 inson is an old queen- breeder, he is at home 

 on this subject, and the chapter is well 

 worthy of a careful reading. 



On the subject of "Introducing Queens" 

 Mr. Hutchinson is equally at home. He de- 

 scribes conditions favorable to introducing; 

 and particularly does he mention the impor- 

 tance of having the queen behave properly 

 when placed among her new subjects. The 

 Simmins method of direct introduction is 

 commended. But queens that come from a 

 distance must be handled diiferently from 

 those just taken out of the hive. When one 

 •comes, however, in a jaded condition he 

 would put her in a wire- cloth cage that is 

 open on one side, and press the cage against 

 some brood and unsealed honey. The tobac- 

 co method as well as the young- hatching- 

 brood methods both receive favorable con- 

 sideration. 



The chapter entitled "Feeding Bees " will 

 be considered orthodox from the standpoint 

 of most bee-keepers. The author is some- 

 what doubtful of the value of feeding to 

 stimulate in the spring, although he thinks 

 it is advisable to give syrup when there is a 

 dearth of honey shortly before the honey- 

 flow. He mentions Mr. Boardman and Mr. 

 Alexander, who not only feed to keep brood- 

 rearing in progress, but to fill the brood-nest 

 with sealed stores so the surplus honey, 

 when it does come in, will be forced into the 

 supers. 



Feeding back to complete unfinished sec- 

 tions may at times be very profitable, in the 

 opinion of the author. He has fed back 

 thousands of pounds of extracted honey, and 

 his method, briefly described, is as follows: 



The unfinished sections are divided off into 

 three grades— the best-filled, the next best, 

 and the poorest, each grade being put into 

 separate supers by itself. He prefers, first, 

 black bees; next, hybrids. The colonies 

 must be strong, and have young queens. 

 Having selected the colonies, he puts on 

 first a super of the best-filled sections, then 

 on this another super of the second-best fill- 

 ed; on top of all, a Heddon feeder. This is 

 filled with the best grade of extracted, 

 which has been thinned down with hot water 

 to the proportion of one quart of water to 

 ten pounds of honey. The feeding should 

 be done at dusk, for any feeding puts the 

 bees in an excited state, and when there can 

 be no flying there can be no uproar. The sec- 

 ond-best filled sections, being on top next to 

 the feeder, will get the most feed, so that 

 both upper and lower sets of sections will 

 be filled about the same time. After the 

 combs are drawn out to full length, and fill- 

 ed with honey, he feeds no more for two or 

 three days. This is for the purpose of mak- 

 ing the bees cap the sections over in the 

 mean time, instead of drawing out the comb 

 to hold more honey. If there is any time 



when separators are needed it is in feeding 

 back. 



The author admits that there are two ob- 

 jections to feeding back. One is, that the 

 fed honey has a slightly different or "off" 

 taste from that stored directly from the 

 flowers. The other objection is, that "fed 

 honey " will candy quicker than other honey. 



Taking one year with another, he has st - 

 cured about 2 lbs. of comb honey for every 

 3 lbs. of extracted fed. With the right kind 

 of weather and colonies he has done much 

 better, sometimes going as high as 4 lbs. for 

 every 5 lbs. fed. 



In closing this chapter he urges bee-keep- 

 ers to be sure that honey to be fed to 

 bees for any purpose contains no germs of 

 foul brood. To buy honey in the open mar- 

 ket and fetd it to the bees would be a most 

 risky proceeding. For stimulating feeding 

 and for winter stores he strongly urges su- 

 gar syrup, because, he says, it is cheaper 

 and safer as well as better. 



In the chapter entitled "Production of 

 Comb Honey " our author attaches great 

 importance to strong colonies overflowing 

 with bees; the brood nest should be crowded 

 with bees and brood at the opening of the 

 harvest. Unless there is a crowded brood- 

 nest bees are inclined to store below, and 

 loaf; when the hive is jammed full of bees 

 it results in a "pressure," so to speak, that 

 forces bees and honey into supers. 



While he considers unfinished sections or 

 " bait combs " as an advantage to induce 

 the bees up into the supers, he seems to fa- 

 vor the giving first a super of half- depth 

 extracting-combs. When the bees get well 

 started in these they are taken off and sec- 

 tion supers are put in their stead. Toward 

 the close of the season these extracting 

 combs may be put on again to catch the ta- 

 pering flow. 



In the matter of tiering up, he has not 

 found it profitable to go more than three 

 supers high at a time. 



The chapter entitled " Extracted Honey " 

 is an extra good one. One reason, he says, 

 why comb honey in so many instances is 

 found to be more delicious than extracted is 

 because the former is more thoroughly ripen- 

 ed. Seldom does he find extracted honey 

 equal to that dripping from and surrounding 

 a section of honey. 



While he admits that the dark and off 

 grades of honey may be extracted, perhaps 

 before they are fully ripe, because this hon- 

 ey is sold for manufacturing purposes, the 

 real fancy table article he thinks should be 

 left on the hive until it is entirely capped 

 over and ripened. By having an extra sup- 

 ply of combs they may be left on the hive 

 until the bees have been permitted to put 

 on the finishing touches in the matter of fla- 

 vor. He would leave the honey on the hive 

 a few weeks after it is sealed, because all 

 such honey seems to acquire an added rich- 

 ness. Of course, it may be difficult to ex- 

 tract, but supers containing such combs be- 

 fore extracting should be stacked up in a 

 warm room. 



