444 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1 



and weak in bees. An inventory taken aft- 

 er all were out gave 11 good colonies— 5 fair, 

 3 weak, and 2 dead— the dead ones being the 

 queenless colony, and one which was made 

 Dy setting an upper story off late in the sea- 

 son, thinking it had a queen because the bees 

 did not go down through the bee-escape 

 when it was put under to rid the hives of 

 honey from bees. 



After the bees had settled down a little 

 from their first flight, two or three that 

 seemed light in stores when putting them on 

 their stands were fed by exchanging two 

 frames of empty combs for two full combs 

 of honey left over from the year before. 

 The entrances were now adjusted to suit the 

 size of the colonies, 3 inches by § being giv- 

 en the good colonies; 2 by | for the fair, and 

 I by § for the weak. 



ENTRANCES ADJUSTED. 



Next, each hive was looked -after to see 

 that all was as tight as possible about the 

 top, and that every thing was in good condi- 

 tion for leaving till pollen became plentiful 

 from the elm and soft maple, when we start- 

 ed for home. This was what was done on 

 the first visit for the season of 1905. 



A YEARS WORK IN AN OUT APIARY 



CHAPTER II. 



Ten days later, April 24, the elm and soft 

 maples were in full bloom; and as the day 

 was fine I went to the out-apiary again, ar- 

 riving there about nine o'clock. I found the 

 bees were almost rolling over each other, 

 carrying in the yellowish- green pollen from 

 the elm and the greenish- pink from the 

 maples. 



During the season of 1904 some 70 combs 

 of honey in Langstroth frames, averaging 

 about 7 pounds each, had been left for spring 



use, after seeing that all colonies had enough 

 for winter, these being kept, with other 

 combs more or less empty, for a purpose 

 which will be explained further on. Each 

 hive was now opened, beginning at No. 1 on 

 the first row, to see that each had a good 

 queen and honey enough to make them 

 "rich" to a prosperous degree till fruit- 

 trees came into bloom, from three to four 

 weeks later. Any colony that did not have 

 20 pounds of honey was given one, two, or 

 three of the seven- pound combs till it did 

 have that amount; and if any colony had 

 more, none of it was taken away, as there is 

 nothing which gives better results in bees in 

 the spring than to have the colony so rich 

 in stores that it feels no need of retrenching. 



In fact, after trying all other plans for 

 stimulating brood- rearing at the out- apiary 

 I feel to say there is nothing that comes 

 * ' anywhere near in sight ' ' of this plan of 

 "millions of honey at our house." AH talk 

 about daily feeding, as practiced by Mr. 

 Alexander and others, is of no use at the out- 

 apiary, for the apiarist can not be there to 

 attend to it. And, even if he could, results 

 show that the "millions of honey at our 

 house" plan, followed by what is to come 

 hereafter, will outstrip it by far in the race 

 for bees in time for the harvest. 



I have dwelt on this matter, as I consider 

 it one of the most important things when an 

 out- apiary is worked for comb honey. After 

 seeing that all had 20 pounds or more of hon- 

 ey, the entrances were enlarged to about 5 

 inches in length for the best colonies, to 1^ 

 inches for the weaker ones, or enough so 

 the bees would not be crowded till the next 

 visit, which would be nearly a month later, 

 or during fruit- bloom. A careful inspection 

 of the brood showed that all the queens were 

 good, as all brood was in compact form, with 

 eggs on the outside of the outside combs to 

 the brood- nest (not brood-chamber), all the 

 cells within this circle of eggs being occupied 

 with one egg in each. 



I have noticed for years that a poor or 

 failing queen does not lay like this, but 

 ' ' scatters " to a greater or less extent ac- 

 cording to her poorness. Where I find queens 

 that are poor, as I sometimes do at this time 

 of the year, they are killed, and one of the 

 weak colonies, with its good queen, is united 

 with the colony from which the queen has 

 been killed. By attending to this queen 

 matter when taking off the clover or bass- 

 wood honey each year, superseding all queens 

 more than three years old, and those young- 

 er which may show signs of failure, the 

 problem of poor queens in the spring is prac- 

 tically solved. Far better supersede at that 

 time than in the spring. 



This is something well worth ' ' pasting in 

 the hat." A careful look over the yard, the 

 last thing, to see that all was in "applepie" 

 order, and I was soon gliding in the auto 

 over the road toward home at the rate of 

 fifteen miles an hour, which is fast enough, 

 considering the roughness of the roads and 

 our hilly country. The above was what waa 

 done at the second visit. 



