822 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



nectar, which, to me, seems so thin that it 

 is hardly worth the gathering, owing to the 

 bloom having been kept wet continually for 

 the past sixty hours. While the "scram- 

 ble " for this thin basswood nectar is just as 

 great as was that for clover nectar at my 

 last visit, yet the number of bees going into 

 and out of the entrances to the hives has 

 lessened somewhat, owing to the death by 

 old age of quite a number of the bees which 

 were on the stage of action at the time the 

 colonies were "swarmed," while, as yet, 

 none of the emerging bees are quite old 

 enough to become field workers. 



The first work is to look after these thir- 

 teen colonies, so that, should there be any 

 supers ready to come off, they can be put on 

 escape- boards the first thing, this giving the 

 bees time to leave the sections so these fill- 

 ed supers can be carried home with me. I 

 find that each one of the thirteen has one su- 

 per fully completed, ready to take off; and 

 several of them have a second super nearly 

 so; but as I wish to take off no sections not 

 fully sealed over, at this time in the white- 

 honey harvest, these nearly filled supers are 

 allowed to ijemain on the hive. The taking- 

 off at this time is done thus: 



DOOLITTLE'S SCHEME OF USING A WHEELBARROW TO SAVE 

 lir_-l HEAVY LIFTING. 



I put on the wheelbarrow (every apiary 

 should have a wheelbarrow ready for use at 

 a moment's notice) an empty hive, and be- 

 side it I put an escape-board, and on this es- 

 cape board a super of sections filled with 

 f oundat ion. The wheelbarrow is now brought 

 up close to one of these colonies that has a 

 super ready to come off, when the supers 

 which are not ready are set on top of the 

 super on the wheelbarrow, and the complet- 

 ed super set on the empty hive. By using 

 the wheelbarrow, and working in this way, 

 there is little if any bending of the back 

 when lifting the filled and nearly filled su- 

 pers, so the work is done quite easily — in 



fact, with as little fatigue as is possible, 

 and very much less than will occur when su- 

 pers, hives, etc., are handled from the 

 ground. The supers being now all off the 

 hive and on the wheelbarrow, they are rear- 

 ranged in putting back as follows: 



The one that was at the top, the same be- 

 ing the one which was put on at the last vis- 

 it, if the bees have worked in it at all, as 

 they have in nearly all of them, is set back 

 directly on the brood-chamber, and on top of 

 this is put the one which is nearly complet- 

 ed, and on top of the two I place the empty 

 super, or super of empty sections, just 

 brought on the wheelbarrow. The board 

 having the bee-escape in it is now put on, 

 and on this the completed super is set. Hav- 

 ing things arranged thus, and working in 

 this way, no useless motions are made or 

 lifting done that counts for naught. The 

 cover is now put oh, and another escape- 

 board and super of empty sections gotten, 

 when I go to the next hive, treating that in 

 the same way if it is in the same condition. 

 If I find that any have done less work, then 

 the nearest completed of the two supers^ 

 not as yet fully finished, is set on the brood- 

 chamber, the one little worked in top of 

 that, and the empty one 

 from the wheelbarrow 

 on top of this, with the 

 escape-board and com- 

 pleted super above the 

 three, as before. The 

 thing sought after is to 

 give room in such a man- 

 ner that we shall not 

 have a lot of unfinished 

 sections should the sea- 

 son prove poor from now 

 on, and at the same time 

 provide plenty of room 

 for the largest yield from 

 basswood that is like'y 

 to occur in our locality; 

 or, in the terms of an- 

 cient parlance, have the 

 "pot" right side up, 

 should there be a great 

 ' ' downpour of por- 

 ridge." The old saying 

 is, that "a burnt child 

 dreads the fire;" and 

 having been severely 

 burned several times 

 during the past by put- 

 ting an empty super under a partly filled 

 one, just at this stage in the basswood 

 bloom, which resulted, thr> ugh a poor sea- 

 son afterward, in my having all the sections 

 in both supers worked in. yet none com- 

 pleted in either, I am, perhaps, over-cautious 

 now on this point. However. I think it bet- 

 ter to use great caution at all times about 

 putting an empty super under a partially 

 full one, and especially so after having found 

 that by putting the empty one on top better 

 results can usually be obtained. I next look 

 after the three colonies made by "shook" 

 swarming at the fifth vi^it, exchanging su- 

 pers and adding the third, where needed, 



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