16 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1 



the frames. If plenty is seen they are all 

 right till they are to be carefully looked aft- 

 er three weeks later. If little or none is 

 seen, they must be fed; for if we are to reap 

 good results from our bees they must have 

 plenty of stores at this time of the year to 

 encourage brood-rearing. ' ' 



' ' That is a new way to tell about the stores' 

 to me, and it appears simple and easy. But 

 suppose you have to feed— what then?" 



' ' For feed at this time, I prefer combs of 

 sealed honey set in next to the cluster. If 

 none such can be had we must feed sugar 

 syrup, or liquid honey if we have it; but the 

 latter tends to promote excessive robbing." 



' ' I have the combs of honey, so I will be 

 all right here. What about the three weeks 

 later looking after, which you spoke about?" 



' ' Three weeks after setting out, the hives 

 are to be opened generally, for the first 

 time, as no good can come in making a gen- 

 eral opening when the weather is cold. At 

 this opening we look after the queen, clip 

 her wing, ascertain the amount of stores on 

 hand, and reverse the brood-nest by placing 

 the two center frames of brood on the out- 

 side, and the outside ones in the center. ' ' 



" Do you think this pays?" 



' ' I certainly do or I would not do it. A 

 great gain is made by so doing, as all the 

 older brood is in the central combs, which 

 are generally filled to the outside of the 

 frames, while only small patches of eggs and 

 larvae are in the outer ones. This reversion 

 causes the now inside frames to be filled en- 

 tirely with brood in the shortest space of 

 time, while there is little danger of chilling 

 the brood in this way." 



' ' Well, I shall be tempted to try this on a 

 few this next season, and see how near right 

 you are." 



' ' That is right. Go slow on any thing new 

 to you, and in thus going you always go sure. 

 At this time I also see to it that each colony 

 has plenty of stores to last two or three 

 weeks; for at no time should the bees feel 

 that they must economize in stores, if brood- 

 rearing is to go on rapidly, which it now 

 must if we are to secure a good harvest of 

 white honey from the clover bloom. ' ' 



' ' I am well aware that a large amount of 

 brood at the right time before the honey 

 harvest insures a good surplus, and the se- 

 curing of this brood at the right time has 

 been one of the puzzling parts of apiculture 

 to me. I think this talk will help me much. 

 Tell me what further you do. ' ' 



' ' In about ten days take one of your frames 

 of honey which you say you have on hand, 

 and, after breaking the sealing of the cells, 

 insert it in the center of the brood-nest. In 

 the removing of the honey from this comb 

 the bees are greatly stimulated, and brood- 

 rearing accelerated. In a few days more 

 the brood-nest is again reversed; when, if all 

 has worked well, there will be brood in all 

 but the two outside combs, right along, and 

 in these also in a few days more, owing to 

 the full sheets of brood coming next to them. ' ' 



' ' I had supposed from what I read that 

 the spreading of brood was an awful job; but 



as you tell it there seems no more work to 

 it than the feeding, equalizing, etc., given 

 by others." 



' ' When you get used to this way of work- 

 ing you will fall in love with it, if you are 

 any thing hke me. When the hive is full of 

 brood the surplus arrangement is to be put 

 on, and this generally brings us to the time 

 of the honey-flow from white clover, and 

 covers the ground you wanted covered. ' ' 



' ' Thank you. I shall try something of 

 what you have told me." 



The Root Co.'s new moving-picture outfit 

 showing bee-keeping operations in actual 

 progress on the screen, together with a new 

 set of stereopticon slides, will be exhibited 

 at the various bee institutes and conventions 

 in York State. See Convention Notices. 



APICULTURE RECOGNIZED BY UNCLE SAM. 



The reader's attention is directed espe- 

 cially to " Sidelights from the St. Louis 

 Convention, ' ' p. 16. The experimental work 

 that is already begun by the United States 

 and by Texas, as well as some other States, 

 is certainly a cause for rejoicing. The fact 

 that Mr. Benton has been in the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture some thirteen years 

 has led some to wonder that we have not 

 heard more from him than we have. When 

 it is understood that a good part of the time 

 his labors were confined to general entomo- 

 logical work, we can understand why he 

 could not devote more attention to our fa- 

 vorite pursuit, apiculture. But now that 

 Uncle Sam has given it a distinct recogni- 

 tion by an appropriation of $5000, establish- 

 ed an experimental apiary, and has four 

 salaried employees who will devote their 

 time exclusively to investigations and ex- 

 perimental work on bees, a new era has 

 opened, and I think we may expect some 

 important results. 



sidelights from the ST. LOUIS conven- 

 tion; TEXAS AS A bee COUNTRY. 



Following the address of General Man- 

 ager France we listened to one by Mr. Lou- 

 is Scholl, of College Station, Texas, who 

 now occupies the position of Assistant Ento- 

 mologist and Apiculturist at the station, 

 and, naturally enough, he had been in posi- 

 tion to gather facts and data of value to 

 this convention in St. Louis. He said they 

 had a State down there, a great big piece 

 of land, and some of the apiaries were of 

 pretty good size, not only in the number of 

 colonies, but they grow big too. 



From estimates arrived at from sources 



