598 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



atteudance was quite good, aud the 

 interest encouragiug. It may be said 

 to the credit of the association, that 

 through its influence, that is, through 

 the wise management of Messrs. Pop- 

 pleton and Clute in arranging the 

 premium list, the fine show was due. 

 The premiums were liberal. That 

 fact probably accounts for the interest 

 taken by bee-keepers in the Fair, and 

 was probably the cause of the large 

 display. 



The State association is as yet In 

 its infancy, but the benefit to be de- 

 rived from it is already apparent. 

 The advantages wliich such an or- 

 ganization affords by way of ac- 

 quaintance witli co-laborers, the unity 

 of action and purpose which it in- 

 spires, cannot but be beneficial. 



Forest City, 5 Iowa. 



For ttie AmencoQ Bee JouroaL 



Slimmer Maiiapmeiit of Bees, 



W. H. STEWART. 



About the middle of June our 

 strongest colonies are ready for the 

 supers. Those that are ready, and 

 have their work well done in the 

 brood-chamber, will begin to lay out 

 on the aligliting-board in small clus- 

 ters during the heat of the day, and 

 will have plenty of patch-work of 

 new white comb at the top-bars, and 

 attached to the cover board. 



White clover is now in full bloom, 

 and I add a second-story like the one 

 that contains the brood-combs. I 

 bring up from the brood-chamber a 

 frame of hatching brood, fill its place 

 with an empty comb or a frame of 

 foundation, hang this frame of brood 

 in the centre of the super, hang an 

 empty comb each side of the brood, 

 and if I have no more empty combs I 

 fill the balance of the super with full 

 frames of foundation. If frames 

 only partly filled with foundation are 

 hung in the supers, the bees will till 

 the balance of the frame with drone 

 comb. If I have plenty of empty 

 combs I prefer to till the supers with 

 them instead of foundation. Brush 

 down all the bees from this frame of 

 brood that is in the super, to make 

 sure that the queen is not left to 

 deposit eggs above. The same cover- 

 board that was on the brood-chamber 

 covers the super. 



Thus prepared and provided with 

 extra room, tlie bees will go imme- 

 diately to woik and fill the two frames 

 next to the brood in the super ; and 

 if left to have their own way they 

 will soon have all full, if the honey- 

 flow is good. But it the frame of 

 brood is allowed to remain there the 

 queen is apt to deposit eggs in the 

 lower part of the adjoining combs, 

 and tims fill tlie super one-third full 

 of brood. Thus it is better to remove 

 tliis brood after two or three days, 

 and give it to some weaker colony in 

 exchange for an empty comb ; but if 

 no other colony has room for it, then 

 move it over next to the wall of the 

 super, and it will not be likely to in- 

 duce the queen above while the brood 



is hatched out, and then the comb 

 will be filled with honey. 



Now, we have come to the time that 

 calls into action all the brain and 

 muscle that the apiarist possesses. The 

 work in the supers must be closely 

 watched, and as soon as the combs 

 are sufficiently advanced, the honey 

 must be extracted, or the super must 

 be raised up and a third hive (or sec- 

 ond super) filled with empty combs 

 or foundation must be placed between 

 the brood-chamber and this super Ko. 

 1 that is now nearly full. It will not 

 do to let the bees lay idle for a mo- 

 ment at this time, for we have now 

 only a few days in which we are to 

 obtain our harvest, and if everything 

 is not most closely attended to at this 

 crisis, then all that we have done, or 

 may do through the remainder of the 

 year, will avail us nothing. 



If one would wish to obtain the 

 best quality of honey, then it is bet- 

 ter to thus " tier-up " the supers, and 

 allow the honey to remain with the 

 Ijees until it is thoroughly cured. But 

 if it is desired to get the greatest pos- 

 sible amount of honey, and to evap- 

 orate it mechanically, then it is better 

 to extract it as soon as it is capped 

 half way down the comb. If the sec- 

 ond super is not given, and the combs 

 are left after they are capped half 

 way for the bees to complete the cap- 

 ping over the entire combs, it will be 

 found that the last part of this work 

 will advance very slowly. 



It is time now that we begin to ex- 

 pect natural swarming, and it has 

 been calculated that after we have 

 thus prepared our bees for storing 

 surplus, it is better to keep the entire 

 force of the colony at work together, 

 than to allow them to divide their 

 strength by casting a swarm. This 

 fact has often prompted the question, 

 " How can we prevent natural 

 swarming V" Many ways and means 

 have been devised and given, and yet 

 the question is repeated in nearly 

 every convention. I, for one, doubt 

 whether we will ever be able to keep 

 bees in a prosperous condition through 

 the forepart of the summer, and at 

 the same time prevent natural swarm- 

 ing. I have, however, demonstrated 

 the fact that bees, after they are pre- 

 pared as above for " storing surplus," 

 can te allowed to swarm and still re- 

 tain the full working force, or so 

 nearly so, that no practical difference 

 can be perceived. I have given a full 

 explanation of my plan on page 329 of 

 the Bee Journal for 1SS5. This 

 plan may be so carried out as to 

 allow the bees to cast the (irst swarm, 

 and never an after-swarm, and never 

 reduce the working force of the old 

 colony. 



For a few days before a colony 

 casts its first swarm, the hive will be 

 crowded full of bees, and during the 

 heat of the day large clusters will 

 often hang on the outside of the hive 

 and remain idle until the temperature 

 is reduced in the hive. I think that 

 bees beliave thus more for the. fear 

 that their combs will melt, than be- 

 cause of the want of air to breathe. 

 These idle bees could just as well be 

 working combs if it were safe for all 

 to renaain in the hive. When I no- 



tice them thus clustering out, I raise 

 the hive-covers (not enough to allow 

 bees to pass out or in), and slip the 

 point of a small wedge into the open- 

 ing, and the pent heat passes out; 

 thus a healthy current is immediately 

 moving up through the hive, and the 

 cluster outside of the hive seems to 

 be soon made aware of the fact, and- 

 will all enter the hive in a short time, 

 and resume work. This plan works 

 much better than giving extra ven- 

 tilation below aud none above. These 

 wedges must be taken out at sun- 

 down. 

 Orion, pWis. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Tie OMo State CoiTention. 



EARLE CLICKENGER. 



The bee-keepers of Ohio convened 

 at State Fair on Sept. 2, 1886, and the 

 following are a few of the questions 

 answered at that meeting : 



Who has had any experience with 

 Syrian or Cyprian beesV Mr. New- 

 love claimed good results from Cyp- 

 rians, and said that they are good 

 workers but rather vindictive. Dr. 

 Besse argued in favor of Syrians as 

 being productive. 



A. Benedict does not want too much 

 late breeding in the fall. Mrs. Culp 

 does not pay any attention to stimu- 

 lating brood-rearing in the fall. J. 

 Irick gave some good experience in 

 stimulating and wintering bees. Mr. 

 Jones, of Delaware county, claimed 

 that he lets his bees take their nat- 

 ural course. 



Mr. Benedict does not want too 

 many late j'oung bees reared in the 

 fall, and compares them to late, un- 

 feathered chickens, consuming more 

 food in the first three weeks of their 

 lives than afterward. 



Is there any better bee than the 

 Italian V No. 



Would it be a good plan to introduce 

 all the different strains of bees in the 

 same apiary V Yes. 



Is it best to remove old combs ? Dr. 

 Besse replied that old combs were the 

 best to winter bees on, with the 

 honey near the bees. 



Earle Clickenger, of Columbus, said 

 that he extracts his honey when 

 partly capped; places the honey in 

 jars in a warm room at a south win- 

 dow, leaving one cloth down in the 

 honey, and another tied over the top. 

 He finds that the honey will evaporate 

 and thicken as well as when left on 

 the hive, and with less expense and 

 work. 



It was confirmed that the display of 

 honey on exhit)ition was the best ever 

 shown in the State. The following is 

 a list of premiums awarded : A. S. 

 Goodrich, of Worthiugton, on comb 

 honey, 1st premium ; on extracted 

 honey. 1st; on comb and extracted, 

 1st. Earle Clickenger, of Columbus, 

 on comb honey, 2ud premium ; on 

 extracted honey, 2nd ; on comb and 

 extracted, 2nd ; on honey-extractor, 

 1st; on bee-feeder, 2nd; on bee-hive, 

 2nd. Dr. H. Besse, of Delaware.wax- 



