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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



Germany and other European countries. It 

 may be prejudice (I think not) because I 

 was born in Germany; but in such a matter 

 I value German opinion. They are a people 

 who have distinguished themselves in re- 

 search work in almost every line of agricul- 

 ture. In apiarian discoveries they stand 

 pre-eminent. They have discovered princi- 

 ples which have been developed and improv- 

 ed on this continent. They get down to 

 close observation and investigation, spend- 

 ing, if need be, a lifetime upon the solution 

 of a question, for which we have not the 



Eatience, and we think we have not the time, 

 ut which is, nevertheless, essential in the 

 work of investigation, be that work carried 

 on in Germany, England, Washington, Otta- 

 wa, or Guelph. 

 With a proper hive properly protected, 



Flenty of stores, and the right kind of bees, 

 have found stimulative feeding a good 

 thing when the bees, owing to the season, 

 are not naturally stimulated. Open-air feed- 

 ing is good with proper weather (mild) be- 

 tween natural flows. Bees must not get 

 enough to store surplus. They must clean 

 the feed up before the cool of the day. It 

 must be sufficiently distributed, and acces- 

 sible so they will not fight for it. It should 

 be half water, half syrup, for they want di- 

 luted feed at that time, and it should never 

 be honey or partly honey. Bruising honey on 

 the hive-combs every few days is an excel- 

 lent way to stimulate; but one trouble is that 

 it can not be done when most needed. This 

 is also true of outdoor feeding. When cold 

 weather follows warm, and when the bees 

 have eggs and young larvae, is when I want 

 to feed. 



In connection with my queen-cell detector 

 I have a small feeder to slip in the place of 

 the detector. The feeder is filled through 

 the end opening of the hive, and can be fill- 

 ed in the coldest weather. It brings food 

 directly into the cluster of bees. The orig- 

 inality of this device will readily be seen 

 when I say a patent on this was granted to 

 me in the United States and in Canada in 

 connection with my hive. This feeding 

 must not be done when bees are almost fly- 

 ing. In cold weather it will not drive the 

 bees out looking for more. Ordinarily the 

 best time to feed is at the close of day. 

 Let us remember that bees, during the brok- 

 en weather, rarely if ever store much sur- 

 plus; and if they do, it is only strong colo- 

 nies that can ripen and protect it. Very 

 weak colonies I would not feed to stimulate 

 —only fair to strong, and in proportion to 

 their strength. What is the difference next 

 day between a colony which has, owing to a 

 fine day, gathered naturally, and one which 

 is fed toward evening of the same day? I 

 can see none and find none. One is no more 

 likely to leave the hive and hunt for honey 

 than the other. 



FEED THE HIVES YOUNG BEES. 



Weak stocks I was determined to save. 

 I would contract, spread the combs a little 

 so more bees could cluster between the 

 combs and keep themselves and brood warm, 



and then give them, from strong colonies, 

 young hatching bees. See the queen is not 

 on the comb; shake the comb moderately so 

 as to dislodge the old bees; put a smooth 

 board in front of the weak stock, and shake 

 the remaining young bees a foot or more in 

 front, seeing that they walk into the hive 

 for which they were intended. 



Many a weak and dwindling stock careful- 

 ly nursed by the bee-keeper is, however, 

 not worth "house room;" is often robbed 

 out, and leads to others being robbed, and 

 would better be destroyed, the increase being 

 better secured by the nucleus system and a 

 laying queen later. When the brood- cham- 

 ber, twelve combs, is full of brood, honey, 

 and bees, then from these I take combs of 

 hatching bees and give it to the next fullest 

 colonies, retaining the bees in the ranks of 

 surplus honey-gatherers. If I gave them to 

 the weakest colonies the brood might be 

 chilled, and their stocks might not be ready 

 for the first surplus, and the bees be largely 

 lost to me. So I go on getting a larger 

 number of full colonies rapidly. In these 

 strong colonies the empty combs are at once 

 filled with brood, and more field-bees secur- 

 ed for any flow five weeks or more hence, or 

 hive bees three or more weeks hence. The 

 weakest colonies are occasionally reinforced 

 by young bees from strong stocks, as here- 

 tofore described. In this way stocks are 

 greatly equalized, and yet the bees are al- 

 most altogether kept in the working ranks. 



It must be seen that the bees, in seasons 

 favorable for honey gathering, are not allow- 

 ed to clog the brood-chamber with honey. If 

 this is allowed, the strongest colonies may, 

 for lack of brood-chamber room, actually 

 fall behind stocks which, to begin with, were 

 second class. Any stock which has eight 

 frames of brood or more has a division- board 

 put in it, and is supered when the flow be- 

 gins, and the brood-chamber is enlarged on- 

 ly as they show symptoms of preparing to 

 swarm, or other stocks do so, and it is nec- 

 essary to take brood from these latter. By 

 this sj stem I get the fewest blank hives for 

 the honey-flow, and have the best crop. 



Brantford, Canada. 



SOME RECENT STATEMENTS DISCUSSED. 



The Importance of Shutting off the Light from 

 Bees that are being Hauled. 



BY A. E. WHITE. 



In Gleanings for Sept. 1, 1905, is an ar- 

 ticle by W. L. Porter on moving bees with- 

 out closing the entrance. He says, after 

 loading cover them with canvas. For many 

 years I have covered my load of bees while 

 moving. My wagon-box is tight, and has 

 high sides, holding two tiers, of twelve 

 each, of single hives. I cover them with 

 blankets so as to exclude the light. In this 

 way they will go safe with less ventilation, 

 and they will also stand more than when not 

 covered. If they find an outlet they will 

 quietly cluster on the outside of the hive. 



