50 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Jan. 26. 1S99. 



varieties I ever tried. But as they were so vicious that no 

 one could tolerate them, the leng'th of life was not of suffi- 

 cient importance to cause them to become a favorite with 

 the apiculturists of the United States. 



The length of life of any bee depends upon the season 

 of the year when the trial is made, and the condition of the 

 colon}'. If in the smnmer or working season, 45 days will 

 be about the length of life the worker-bee will enjoy : while 

 if during- the fall and winter months, the time will be found 

 to be from six to eight months. 



For instance, if we take away a black or German queen 

 about the middle of June, and introduce an Italian queen in 

 her place, we shall have Italian bees hatching. 21 days 

 thereafter, which date we are to mark on the hive, as the 

 time we are to count from, as there will be no black bees 

 emerging from the cells after this. At the end of 40 days 

 the black bees will be found to be very few in numbers, 

 while at the end of 45 days not a black bee will be found in 

 the hive. 



If the colony is made queenless at the end of 20 days 

 after the Italian queen was introduced, then the length of 

 life to the workers will be prolonged on account of their not 

 laboring so hard, for queenless bees never have the energy 

 -shown by those which have their mother with them ; and it 

 is the amount of labor done which has to do with the length 

 of life given to our pets. 



Again, if the change of queens is made during^ the fall 

 months we shall find plenty of black bees the latter part of 

 spring, altho they soon disappear after the active labor of 

 honey-gathering comes on. 



This length of life has much to do with spring dwind- 

 ling, with preparations for winter, making new colonies, 

 our surplus crop of honey, etc., and therefore should be un- 

 derstood by all. It is impossible to secure a good crop of 

 honey where the most of the bees are nearly worn out with 

 age just as the harvest is commencing ; and where bees be- 

 come uneasy in winter, and wear themselves out with 

 worry, spring dwindling is sure to occur. So, all old bees 

 in the fall will result in empty hives the next spring- : and a 

 divided colony, so made that one part contains all old bees 

 results in no profit from that part. It is well to be practi- 

 cal along these lines, as well as all others pertaining to bee- 

 culture. 



ROBBIXG DURING THE HONEY SEASON. 



Another bee-keeper wishes me to tell him through the 

 columns of the American Bee Journal, whether bees are 

 subject to robbing during a flow of honey, when the same 

 stops for a day or two, writing thus : 



" I see it recommended in a certain book that we should 

 not try to remove the surplus honey from the hive imme- 

 diately after a shower, in the honey season, for fear of rob- 

 bing, thereby causing the bees to become very cross; the 

 reason therefore being given that the shower had washt the 

 honey from the flowers, hence the bees are eager to rob. Do 

 you find this so ? With me the bees do not offer to rob till 

 a day or two has elapst after the bees have been g-athering 

 honey plentifully." 



I would say that all my experience goes to prove that 

 bees are not liable to rob during a honey-flow, for at times 

 of plenty of hone}' they are the least liable to rob of any 

 time of the year when they can fly. If the honey-flow has 

 been only a very meager one, then bees mav be inclined to 

 rob after the stopping of that meager flow, but if the yield 

 has been abundant then the case is dift'erent. During a 

 heavy yield of honey which has lasted a week or more, the 

 bees seem almost g-lad of a rest for at least 24 hours, espe- 

 cially if the weather is dull. I have taken oft" hone}- hun- 

 dreds of times immediately after a shower where there had 

 been an abundant yield before, without being bothered in 

 the least by bees trying- to rob. At such times each bee is 

 .so full of nectar that, if squeezed a little, it will throw the 

 honey out on its proboscis ; and if jammed a little too hard 

 the honey-sac, filled with honey, would burst through the 

 sides of the abdomen. 



When bees secure honey rapidly, each bee takes all it 

 can into its honey-sac, then throws it out again, and so on 

 to evaporate the watery part of it ; for all nectar when 

 gathered is ,so thin that it needs much reducing before it is 

 of the right consistency to be stored in the cells and sealed 

 over. After all the thin nectar has been evaporated, then 

 the bees begin to look around for more, and if the flowers 

 fail to secrete any, robbing is the result, where honey is 

 left exposed; and all wise persons will avoid leaving honev 

 exposed at such times, or, in fact, at any other time. 



Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



The Best Size of Hive Considered. 



BY C. DAVENPORT. 



FROM what has since been said by some, I believe that 

 my position in the discussion that took place .sometime 



ago in regard to the best size of hive was somewhat 

 misunderstood ; on this account, perhaps, I may be allowed 

 to say a few more words on the subject in this discussion. 



I advocated the 10-frame hive as the best for the ma- 

 jority, or, in other words, for those who did not have the 

 time or inclination to feed, which is more often neces.sary 

 with 8 frames than 10 ; but I prefer, and use, a hive con- _ 

 taining only 8 standard-size frames, and with them I can 

 obtain more honey per frame, work, feed, and capital in- 

 vested considered, than I can by using larger hives. But I 

 have no doubt 10-frame hives, taking- a series of years, 

 would give better results to the average bee-keeper, for. as 

 a rule, it requires a much closer attention to details when 

 using 8-frame hives, but many years' experience with hun- 

 dreds of colonies, and with hives of various sizes, has con- 

 vinced me that a 10-frame hive is better than a larger one 

 for the production of comb honey in the Northern States, 

 and I will briefly explain why. 



In the first place, here we have at the first but a short 

 season. From the time the weather is favorable for brood- 

 rearing there is what might be called but a short time until 

 the white honey harvest commences, and I have found but 

 very few queens that would keep more than 10 frames filled 

 eariy enough so that the eggs would develop into field-bees 

 in time to gather this white flow, for the fact should be 

 borne in mind that it takes about 35 days for an egg to 

 develop into a field-bee. Later, tho. a large percent of 

 queens mig-ht require more than 10 frames if they were 

 given the opportunity to develop there full laying- capacity, 

 but in this locality it is not only not profitable, but is a loss 

 to have an immense force of bees reared at this time, for 

 before they come into action as field-bees the white honey 

 harvest is over ; and while we .sometimes get a fall crop- 

 here, many of the.se bees will be too old to be of much ser- 

 vice in gathering a fall flow. But if otherwise, the dark 

 honey they would be able to gather in the fall would not be 

 worth the white honey which it has taken to produce, and 

 which they have cfonsumed. But, again, even if it was, it 

 would be no plea for allowing them to be reared, for in the 

 natural cour.se of events, even with 8-frame hives, there 

 will be a force of field-bees larg-e enough to secure anything- 

 in the nature of a fall crop, which is likely to occur in thi.s 

 locality. 



Some who have arg-ued in favor of larg-e hives have 

 practically admitted all I have just said to be true, with the 

 exception that it is still profitable to rear a large force of 

 bees toward the latter part of the sea.son, for in that case it 

 is claimed colonies will go into winter quarters stronger, 

 and have a much larger force of bees when brood-rearing is 

 commenced in the spring ; and that because this extra force 

 of bees is present they will breed up and develop much more 

 rapidly. 



But the fact of this matter is, that in this locality at 

 least, it is by no means the rule that these extra-larg-e colo- 

 nies will be any strong-er by the first of next May or June 

 than are medium-sized colonies of the previou-^ fall. But I 

 can understand that in some localities, where the conditions 

 of the season are dift'erent from what they are here, they 

 might be. Let me explain why they are not, as a rule, here. 



In the first place, my present belief is that the most 

 practical way to winter bees in this State is in soi-ne reposi- 

 tory under ground. This means confinement of from four 

 to five months, and bees reared the previous. season and con- 

 fined for this length of time live but a short time after thev 

 are put out in the spring — but a few days, comparatively 

 speaking', of active work and they are gone. Of cour.se, 

 they last longer some seasons than they do in others, ac- 

 cording as the seasons vary. 



Here, in the spring, owing to reasons that I do not fully 

 understand, extra-strong colonies in large hives seem to 

 lose a larg-er percent of old bees sooner than do medium- 

 .strong colonies. One of the principal rea.sons for this is, I 

 believe, owing to the fact that in the spring we have many 

 cold, sunshiny days, when it requires all the force of a 

 medium-sized colony to keep their brood warm. Extra- 

 strong- colonies having a larger force than is required for 

 this purpose, more of them fly out and wear themselves out 

 ■sooner in the chill air, roaming barren fields ; and when a 

 strong colony in a large hive becomes reduced to normal 

 size in the spring, it is at a disadvantage .so far as the size 

 of hive is concerned. 



Now, I do not wish it to be inferred that I am in favor 



