1904 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



143 



This is a Puzzle. 



Two years ago I took off a few su- 

 pers of honey and set them in a dark 

 room. The bees would not leave one 

 of the supers. I thought the queen 

 must be with them, so about dark I 

 took the holders out and brushed them 

 carefully l)ack into the hive. The 

 next morning there was nearly two 

 quarts of dead bees piled out hi front 

 of the hive. Others tell me I must 

 have returned them to the wrong hive, 

 but I know they were not. Now, I 

 would like to know why they killed 

 those bees. W. Ji. F. 



BEES ON THE FARM. 



To Beginners: We will give .$1.00 

 cash for the most plausible solu- 

 tion received before July 15. — Editor. 



Maple Grove, N. Y., May !«. 1904. 

 Editor Bee-Keeper: 



I became the owner of my first col- 

 ony of bees in 1902, and I want to 

 caution beginners about carelessly 

 handling new combs. After hiving 

 my first swarm, and it had filled the 

 hive with new combs, I had to move 

 it about a half-mile. After hauling it 

 in a two-wheeled cart to the new loca- 

 tion, I attempted to carry it to the 

 stand, but stumbled, and bees, hive 

 and all lay in a pile on the ground. I 

 managed to get things together again, 

 but the combs are so crooked that I 

 am unable to handle them. That is 

 why I want to caution beginners 

 never to try to carry a hive without 

 someone to help, for the combs are 

 so tender and brittle that a slight acci- 

 dent may spoil the whole thing. 

 Yours truly, 



R. T. Crandall. 



Our correspondent seems to have 

 overlooked the fact that when two, in- 

 stead of one are carrying the hive, 

 the chances of stumbling are two-fold 

 greater than when but one person is 

 handling it. A single story hive is 

 more easily and safely handled under 

 all circumstances by one person. 

 "Stumbling," however, is an exercise 

 which should not be indulged in at 

 such a time. It is better to wait until 

 one is through with his bee work, if 

 he must stumble, and repair, empty- 

 handed, to an open field to do his 

 stumbling. It is allowable to think 

 about stumbling when can-ying a hive 

 of bees, but the act itself must be de- 

 ferred. — Editor. 



There is no reason why farmers 

 should not handle their bees on profi- 

 table methods even if they have but a 

 few colonies. Bees as kept on the 

 farm, a few colonies here and ther?', 

 scattered in difEerent localities, ordi- 

 narily do the best business, for they 

 are not overstocked as they are fre- 

 quently in large apiaries. Almost 

 double the amount of honey can be ob- 

 tained from the colony thus situated 

 and bee-keeping, as a rule, is much 

 more profitableif the bees are in prop- 

 er shape to do good work. The great- 

 est mistake farmers usually make, ac- 

 cording to one versed in bee culture, is 

 that of limiting the surplus boxes, 

 thus not furnishing the bees with 

 enough surplus capacity. The bees fill 

 this limited space with honey in a few 

 days at the beginning of the honey 

 season and afterwards turn their :it- 

 tention to swarming, and several 

 swarms will be the result instead of a 

 large honey yield. Farmers, in con- 

 nection with their other work, might 

 as well reap hundreds of pounds of thi 

 finest honey instead of obtaining but a 

 few pounds if they would only give the 

 bees plenty of storage room, and 

 promptly take the honey away as soon 

 as completed. The rule among small 

 bee-keepers is to give but a small sur- 

 plus capacity in tbe spring, and let 

 this remain all summer to be taken 

 off in the fall, supposing that it is an 

 all summer's job for the bees to do^ 

 when in most cases this space is filled 

 in a week or twofi and allowed +o re- 

 main in the hive all summer which re- 

 duces it to a poor rade of honey as 

 well as a small amount. Hundreds ">f 

 pounds of first-class honey might have 

 been obtained by giving a large capac- 

 ity, and removing the honey as fast 

 it is stored and completed. Some lo- 

 calities are better than others, and 

 some seasons are better than other 

 seasons, but it is never a mistake any 

 season to thus provide for the most 

 at all times and under all conditions. 

 By little forethought and work on 

 the part of the average Southern Cali- 

 fornia farmer or fruit grower he could 

 secure all the honey necessaiy for his 

 own use. — Rural Calif omian. 



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