Publisht Weekly at 118 Michigan St. 



George W. York, Editor. 



Jl.OO a Year— Sample Copy Free. 



38tli Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., JUNE 9, 1898. 



No. 23. 



Avoiding Pollen or Bee-Bread in the Sections. 



BY C. DAVENPORT. ^ 



In my last I made mentioo of the fact that the previous 

 season I lost a large amount — large at least for a bee- 

 keeper — by not understanding the business of producing 

 honey better than I do. This loss was caused partly by bee- 

 bread. A number of thousand sections, when finisht, con- 

 tained so much of this that they were unsalable, and the 

 honey In thousands more was so poorly fastened to the wood 

 that it was almost impossible to haul them to the nearest 

 towns without breakage, let alone shipping them. In fact, a 

 great many were broken In handling before they left the api- 

 ary, as a large part of them were but slightly attacht to the 

 wood at the top. 



With but few exceptions, bee-bread or pollen in sections 

 has always caused me some loss each season, and to a less ex- 

 tent sections containing honey imperfectly fastened also, but 

 never before anything like this. The year before, under the 

 same management, there was practically no loss from either 

 cause. The season might, therefore, in some sense, be ac- 

 counted to blame, but a bee-keeper In order to make a success 

 of the business at present must be able, and understand how, 

 to meet the conditions of different seasons, and I have no 

 doubt this loss I have described might have been avoided if 

 one had known how ; and while I will admit that I might not 

 be able to entirely avoid it if the same conditions were to oc- 

 cur again this season, yet I consider what I did learn in re- 

 gard to the matter was of more benflt to me than what was 

 lost ; that Is, that it will, or may, be In the years to come, for 

 I am a young man yet, and expect to continue to follow bee- 

 keeping as a business in the future. 



As I have said, what I learned last year cost me hundreds 

 of dollars, and now It Is to be laid before the reader at a cost 

 to them of but a fraction of a cent. I wonder if many of us 

 appreciate what benefit a first-class journal like this is to Its 

 readers. By this I do not necessarily mean that anything 

 from me may be of value, but there are hundreds of others 

 who each year, through its columns, tell us their experiences, 

 and what is constantly being learned that is of value to our 

 pursuit. There have been in the past, and no doubt there will 

 be in the future, single copies that are worth much more to 

 me than the entire numbers cost for a year. But to return to 

 the matter In band. 



I will first say that pollen in this my immediate locality is 

 very abundant through the entire season, but as this Is used 

 mainly In brood-rearing, the natural instinct of bees causes 

 them, when conditions are so they can, to store it in the brood- 

 chamber, where It will be easily accessible for this purpose. 

 But the plan I follow with swarms, either natural or artificial, 

 and one which I believe Is largely practiced. Is to hive them in 

 a hive with frames containing only starters, when, if the 

 supers from the parent hives, in which work has already com- 

 menced. Is put on in a day or two, work will be resumed In 



them at once, and a good queen will usually lay in a large 

 part of the comb below as fast as it is built, so that most of 

 the honey brought in Is necessarily for sometime stored in the 

 sections. 



I do not believe there is any other method by which as 

 much honey can be secured in sections, and in a good season, 

 or during a good flow, a swarm when first hived will not bring 

 in much pollen for a few days. List year the flow, except 

 during the first few days, was very scant and irregular, and 

 as It was those swarms treated the way I have described 

 that put pollen In the sections, it will be seen that this method 

 should not be practiced during a poor flow in a locality where 

 pollen is as abundant as it is here, for when they cannot 

 secure honey, if pollen is plentiful, they will carry In an ex- 

 cessive amount of it, and must of necessity store it in the 

 sections. 



Now, I have not much doubt that two, or possibly one, 

 frame in each hive containing drawn comb, then waiting until 

 considerable comb was built before putting on the sections, 



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would overcome the dlfificulty, or if no frames containing 

 combs were on hand, a like number filled with foundation 

 would probably prove effective. 



There is so much pollen here that colonies that did not 

 swarm would ofttimes carry It Into the sections ; but years 

 ago I accidentally learned how to almost entirely overcome 

 this by changing the places of combs In the hive. This was 

 done to discourage swarming. 



My practice was, and is largely yet, at the approach of 

 the swarming season to replace the two outside combs with 

 those that contain the most sealed brood, the two from the 

 outside which usually contain a large proportion of what pol- 

 len there Is in the hive are then placed in the center. If done 

 at the right time this has a tendency to check swarming, and 

 I soon noticed sections over colonies so treated hardly ever 

 contained any pollen. Such an abundance of pollen right In 

 the center of the brood-nest may possibly act as a check to 

 their gathering much more for a time. However this may be, 

 there would soon be plenty of room for them to store a large 

 amount again In the two outside combs. 



As to sections containing honey but slightly fastened to 

 the wood, I believe there are means by which this can be 



