AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



143 



every section in the super is entirely 

 finished. 



Oftener, however, the four corner sec- 

 tions in the super will not be finished 

 until sometime after the others. So I 

 do not wait for them to' be finished, but 

 take off all supers that have only four to 

 six unfinished sections, and when they 

 are taken to the house I fill up a fresh' 

 super with these unfinished sections, 

 and put them back for the bees to finish 

 up- 



Queston — In tiering up, do you place 

 the empty super on top, al a Doolittle, 

 or underneath, a la Root ? 



Answer— Both. If the prospect is very 

 strong that they will surely finish up 

 what they already have, and make a 

 good start in another super, then I put 

 the empty super underneath. But if it 

 is somewhat doubtful, then I put the 

 empty super on top. In the latter case, 

 the bees will not be likely to enter the 

 super unless they need the additional 

 room, and if honey is not coming in very 

 reaidly, the super beneath will be 

 finished up sooner. 



If I were obliged to adhere to one plan 

 or the other throughout the entire sea- 

 soon, I think I would put the empty 

 super on top, for when bees are working 

 well in one super, they are not very slow 

 about entering one above it, providing 

 the flow is good. But if toward the end 

 of the season an empty super is put 

 under, the bees are pretty sure to com- 

 mence in it, even if they are not getting 

 enough to finish up what they already 

 had. 



Question — Ordinarily how high do you 

 tier up ? 



Answer — That depends. There are- 

 colonies and seasons when one super is 

 more than enough. But in a good sea- 

 son a strong colony is likely to need 

 room in two additional supers before 

 it has had time to finish up the first. 

 That would make three supers high. 

 Judgment is needed in this matter, and, 

 no matter how good your judgment, you 

 must do some guessing, for sometimes 

 the season stops short early, and some- 

 times it hangs on a month longer than 

 you expected. I have had as many as 

 five or six supers on at a time on strong 

 colonies when honey is coming in with 

 a rush (that was in good old times when 

 there was such a thing as good crops), 

 and the whole five or six were well oc- 

 cupied ; and then I have taken off from 

 such a colony five or six supers nearly 

 all filled, but hardly a section finished. 

 Better too few than too many. 



Question — When putting on only 12 

 sections in the fall, what becomes of the 

 space occupied by the other twelve ? 



Answer — The space is left vacant, 

 only a little board, 12x4 J^x}^, rests 

 upon the T tins in place of the lacking 

 row of sections. This little board, shut- 

 ting off direct communication from be- 

 low, seems sufficient to prevent the bees 

 starting in the empty space, with rare 

 exceptions. 



WHY DO BEE-KEEPEBS DISAGBEE ? 



Question — Why do leading bee-keepers 

 disagree so widely on so many important 

 matters in bee-culture? 



Answer — Look here. Aren't you get- 

 ting just a bit inquisitive? Well, per- 

 haps the three principal reasons are 

 difference in location or circumstances, 

 prejudice, or ignorance. 



The man whose principal honey-flow 

 is in the fall will differ in his manage- 

 ment from the one whose harvest ends 

 with white clover. 



We are all tinctured with prejudice 

 sufficiently to make us think a little 

 better of plans we are familiar with, 

 just because we are familiar with them. 



And when you remember that modern 

 bee-keeping is only fifty years old, you 

 can readily believe that there is still 

 ignorance on a great many points, and 

 the guesses made on obscure points are 

 not likely to agree. If I could find a 

 man entirely informed on every point 

 connected with bee-keeping, I could 

 keep him busy one while answering 

 questions about things I don't know. — 

 National Stockman. 



Marengo, Ills. 



T&e Season in Minnesota, Etc. 



C. THEILMANN. 



After reading the report of Mr. Pond, 

 of Kasson, Minn., on page 54, 1 want to 

 give mine, to show the great difference 

 in localities which are comparatively 

 near each other. 



Mr. Pond writes that white clover 

 never showed up any better than it does 

 now. Here we have but little white 

 clover this year, and what little there is, 

 yields but little honey. With apparently 

 the most favorable weather for the past 

 week, there is absolutely no honey in 

 any flowers worth mentioning. 



It is almost discouraging for the bees 

 and their keepers, to see the hives full 

 of bees hanging and lying around idle, 

 day after day and week after week, 



