180 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Mar. 23, 1899. 



yield well some years, where in others, with apparently the 

 same climatic and atmospheric conditions, it would be an 

 entire failure. But while basswood often fails, it may be 

 of interest to state that there was never a failure from all 

 sources known in this section. The late Mr. B. Taylor, 

 who was eng-aged in bee-keeping- in the southern part of 

 this State for over 25 years, reported, I believe, that about 

 SO pounds per colony was the smallest crop of comb honey 

 he ever had. I have not done as well as this myself, but I 

 have never failed to g-et each season from some source what 

 might be called a paying- crop. 



An incident somewhat curious in this connection oc- 

 curred a few years ago. That season, if I remember 

 rightly, the yield from both clover and basswood was light, 

 but later a large amount of light surplus honey was secured 

 from a species of sunflower. This plant was described and 

 illustrated some time ago in Gleanings in connection with 

 a description of a visit the editor made to Wisconsin. 



The season I have mentioned, this plant blossomed here 

 in great profusion, and seemed to yield nearly equal to bass- 

 -wood, but altho it blooms here more or less each season, I 

 never knew it to yield much in the way of surplus before or 

 since. 



Of the 10 colonies which composed lot No. 1, and in 

 which the queens were confined to one storj-, 7 swarmed ; 

 of the 10 comprising lot No. 2, in which the queens were 

 allowed two stories. 6 swarmed ; and in lot No. 3. where the 

 queens had unlimited room, there was no swarming. Noth- 

 ing to prevent .swarming was done with any of them, ex- 

 cept in the way of ventilation and shade, and all were 

 treated about equally in this respect. 



From lot No. 1 about 500 pounds of white clover and 

 basswood honey was extracted. About the time of the last 

 extracting the indications were that there would be no fall 

 honey, so in order to avoid feeding, if this was the case, as 

 it turned out to be, enough honey was left in the frames of 

 each colony in all three lots to carry them over to the fol- 

 lowing spring. 



From lot No. 2 about 175 pounds was obtained. Those 

 in lot No. 3 were only able to spare about 150 pounds, all 

 told. No increase was allowed, for the working-force of all 

 colonies that swarmed was kept together, and the two finally 

 merged into one ag-ain ; and in lots Nos. 1 and 2, in which 

 swarming occurred, there was a small amount in the way of 

 wax to be added in their favor ; aside from this it will be 

 noticed that the colonies that had their queens confined to 

 one storv yielded considerable over three times as much 

 surplus per colony as did those whose queens had unlimited 

 room. The matter is explained by the fact that eight 

 frames were about all the queens, on an average, could keep 

 full of brood and eggs in time for them to develop 

 into field-bees for the main-flow. Later an immense force of 

 bees was reared by those colonies that had more room, and 

 these thousands of extra bees per colony were reared from, 

 and had mostly to live upon, what the lesser force were able 

 to gather during the flow. 



Here I would like to say that I have never said, or at 

 least never intended what I have written to mean, as some 

 have since claimed, that the average of queens could not 

 keep more than eight frames filled. What I did say, or in- 

 tended, was at the right time ; and by this I mean so that 

 the brood and eggs will develop into bees J:hat will be of 

 service in securing the main harvest. A force of bees 

 reared out of season to be of value as field-bees, in ex- 

 cess of what is required for the welfare of the colony, are a 

 large factor in reducing the amount of surplus ; and in 

 mj' opinion this matter is not given the consideration its 

 great importance should insure it. But it is no more than 

 fair for me to say that it is very seldom that the conditions 

 of a season here would be as favorable to, and allow, such an 

 immense advantage to be shown in favor of a single brood 

 story, for we had a great drouth here the latter part of the 

 season, and nothing- much was secured after basswood. 

 While it is no uncommon thing not to get any surplus fall 

 honey, I never before remember when at least some was 

 not stored in the brood-nests, and if this had been the case 

 last season more white honey could have been taken from 

 lots Nos. 2 and 3. 



Another thing that perhaps I should say is, that on ac- 

 count of the colonies comprising these two lots being 

 stronger in bees, I considered it necessary to leave, on an 

 average, probablj' seven pounds more per colony than in lot 

 No. 1. 



In giving the difi^erent amounts of surplus from each 

 lot, I have said " about " instead of giving^ the exact 

 amount. This is for the reason that it was measured in- 



stead of being weighed ; but the amounts would vary but a 

 few pounds either way from the figures given. 



Before closing, it may be better to mention for the 

 benefit of beginners, that it would not have been a difficult 

 matter to handle the swarms from lots Nos. 1 and 2 in such 

 a way that the results would have been as much in favor of 

 lot No. 3 as it is against it. As I have said, with the colo- 

 nies that swarmed, the entire working' force was kept to- 

 gether. If they had been allowed to divide up and increase, 

 the results would of course have been altogether different. 

 While this swarming made extra work with two lots in 

 which it occurred, it was but little more than that of hand- 

 ling and looking for surplus honey in two or three stories 

 containing more or less brood, and the other work that this 

 entailed. I would like to explain just how those swarm& 

 were treated, but the space I am allowed forbids. 



Southern Minnesota. 



The Spring Management of Bees, Etc. 



BY C. P. D.^DANT. 

 [Continued from pag-e 165.] 



In the previous article I called the attention of the 

 reader to the necessity of great caution in feeding. It is 

 worthy of notice that the excitement, which I have men- 

 tioned, does not continue as intense if feeding is practiced 

 regularly with certain colonies. The bee is a very sagacious, 

 insect, and very soon discovers in what manner the food 

 comes. Fed for a few days in succession in a certain spot, 

 a colony of bees will thereafter expect the food in the same 

 manner, at the same hour, and in the same spot. The ex- 

 citement diminishes and the danger likewise. 



Now as to the efi^ect : Bees fed with combs of sealed 

 honej' will use this honey sparingly, just as if it had been 

 their own crop. But when fed with liquid food, especially" 

 warm food, the effect is the same as that of a honey crop. 

 It entices them to breed. Each bee, as it carries its load 

 from the feeder to the cell, seems to impart the news to all 

 it meets. The honey-sacs are all more or less loaded with 

 the welcome sweet, and the queen is ofi^ered more food than 

 otherwise. So her laying propensity is increast just as. 

 much, and in the same way, as that of the barnyard hen 

 when the winter's i-nanure is thawing out. 



If too much food is given, the bees will store it in the- 

 cells, and fill them up unduly. So this also must be guarded 

 against. We are feeding only for breeding, and must leave 

 the room for brood. All we need is to make the bees feel 

 that they have a sufficient supply to encourage them to con- 

 tinue their breeding. If the hive is well sheltered, and the 

 space is adequate to the present needs, there is no need of 

 fear of chilled brood. 



The feed given must not be as thick as the winter food, 

 and if honey is used it is advisable to add a small quantity 

 of water. We all know that the bees need more water when- 

 feeding brood on old honey than on fresh nectar ; and I be- 

 lieve that thin food, if not unreasonably thin, will induce 

 more rapid breeding and require less trips for water. The 

 water-hunting, in my opinion, is responsible for more 

 spring losses than any other item, unless it be actual want 

 of food. 



As our colony grows and becomes more populous, the 

 queen will enlarge her circle and more combs will have to 

 be added to the room of each weak colony. Here, again, 

 discernment must be used. If too many combs are given 

 at one time, and if some of them are placed between the 

 brood-combs, some risk may be run of chilling the brood. 

 This is the most dangerous practice, and I believe more ob- 

 jections have been raised against the spring forcing- of bees 

 from this practice than from anj' other. Yet, if the weather 

 is good, and the thing is not overdone, I know that some- 

 thing may be gained by placing empty combs between 

 combs of brood. The outside combs usually contain pollen 

 and honey, and act as a partition-wall when dry combs are 

 placed beyond. If the queen goes to these empty combs, 

 her brood is practically divided in two, and she will often 

 be compelled to delay her laying in those combs, owing to 

 this objection. But if the last comb of honey and pollen is 

 drawn outward, and the empty comb placed between two 

 combs of brood, she will readily fill it with eggs. The api- 

 arist is thus called upon to judge, by the strength of the 

 colony, the number of bees, and the age of the brood, 

 whether he may safely increase the space. 



If things are carefully done and a vigilant eye kept over 

 the hives, this method is by far the most .successful. The 

 populous hives themselves may be made much more service- 



