Oct. S, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



627 



Sugg-estions on Fall Work in the Apiary. 



BY F. A. SNELL. 



WITH favorable weather a fall crop of honey is gener- 

 ally secured in most sections of our country. With 

 us, the fall honey crop varies much, some years we 

 have a g-ood one, others only a moderate or light crop. The 

 apiarist should make due preparation for a fair honey-flow, 

 and if it comes he is in shape to reap the harvest. This 

 flow varies as to time of opening, some years the bees will, 

 with us, begin storing .^ome the latter part of August. 



I aim to have a lot of cases in readiness to put on the 

 hives by the ISth of the month. The unfinisht boxes left 

 over from the summer are all used, either in filling, or par- 

 tially, each case. In using or about half filling with the 

 built combs from summer, the remaining space is filled 

 with boxes having foundation in each, and the latter are 

 placed at each side of the cases. A few cases should be at 

 first placed on the stronger colonies, and these watcht to 

 see if honey is yet abundant enough for storing surplus, 

 which can be readily seen thru the observation glass. If 

 the yield is sufficient, the combs will be drawn or built out, 

 and honey stored in them. The comb foundation in the 

 side boxes will be built out, and the central combs given 

 such will be pusht toward completion. 



I seldom at this time of year give any colony over two 

 ca.ses at one time. When the honey-flow is moderate, one 

 surplus case will suffice. The amount of room given, or 

 rather needed, can be determined by experience, and must 

 be governed by the honey-yield at the time. As the cases 

 are completed they should be removed from the hives so the 

 capping will not be darkened by the bees traveling over 

 them, or coating with propolis or darker wax. The bees 

 should be given new cases if needed, and such all ready to 

 put on should be made ready in advance. 



As the fall flow draws to a close, the surplus-room 

 should not at this time be more than one case, for at the 

 close of the summer flow it is desirable to get all the com- 

 plete combs we can for sale or use. 



As the honey in the fields becomes less, the bees are 

 inclined to rob, and no honey should be left exposed, for 

 this reason. 



At the close of the fall yield all boxes should be re- 

 moved from the hives and stored in the honey-room. The 

 fall honey should be kept entirely separate from that 

 secured in summer, and rackt up the same. 



The next work of most importance to be done is the 

 sorting and crating of the honey. Two grades of fall honey 

 are generally harvested, and should be crated as such, as a 

 rule. After the honey is all crated it should be marketed 

 as rapidly as one can do so. The honey not .sold by Oct. 10 

 would better be kept warm by artificial heat, so it will not 

 assimilate moisture. 



The partially-filled combs should be emptied of honey 

 by means of the honey-extractor, and all boxes and supers 

 cleaned of propolis. The supers should be filled with boxes 

 loosely so bees can pass between them, and on warm days 

 placed out, so that all honey may be gleaned by the bees. 

 Not a drop should remain in the combs. After all have 

 been thus cleaned, they should be stored for winter and 

 next season's use. 



All colonies short of honey should be lookt after early 

 in September, and supplied with enough honey to last until 

 spring ; nuclei united or used vcith queenless colonies early 

 in the fall. This kind of work shoujld at all times be done 

 early, if possible. 



Where a part of the apiary is run for extracted honey it 

 .should also be removed from the hives at the close of the 

 honej'-flow, and thrown from the combs, and the supers 

 stored away for the season. 



Not later than Oct. 1 every colonj" should be in good 

 shape for winter. The cappings secured from extracting 

 after draining should be soakt and rinst in water, and the 

 latter put into a barrel to be made into vinegar. The cap- 

 pings should be made into wax or put away until next sum- 

 mer, if to be made into wax by the solar extractor. 



The apiarist vyho produces considerable honey should 

 see that his home market is at all times well supplied with 

 honey, when he is able to do it. He should also seek custo- 

 mers in all directions, and open up new points for sales of 

 his honey. This requires quite a good deal of time, and is 

 really a part of his fall work. The fall months, like those 

 of summer, are busy ones for the extensive bee-keeper. 



The bees to be wintered out-of-doors should be packt 

 during the latter part of October or early in November. 

 The bees to be wintered in the cellar should be made ready to 

 place there early in November, so that when rough weather 



comes the bees may be promptly put in. It is very desira- 

 able that the bees have a good flight just before their re- 

 moval to the cellar, and as soon as the weather is cooler 

 place them in for winter. This done, and the honey mostly 

 disposed of, the season's work is about completed. 



The author, teacher, and most successful honey-pro- 

 ducer of hisday — Moses Quinby— said, " Bee-keepingmeans 

 work," and this is as much a fact to-day as when uttered 

 many years ago by Mr. Ouinby. No apiarist can do much 

 at the business who will not work earnestly and faithfully. 

 We must work to win. Carroll Co., 111. 



Report of the Proceedings of the 30th Annual 

 Convention of the United States Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association. Held at Philadelphia, 

 Pa.. Sept. 5. 6 and 7, 1899. 



BY DR. A. B. MASON, SEC. 



[Contiuued from pag-e 5'>8.1 



The following paper by Mr. W. W. Somerford, at pres- 

 ent froin Texas, was read next : 



Possibilities and Difficulties of Bee-Keeping in Cuba and 



Porto Rico, and the Effect of Our New Relations 



Witti these Islands on Our Honey Market. 



Possibilities and difficulties — the subjects assigned my- 

 self and Mr. Craycraft to discuss — are subjects that we both 

 have had experience in, especialU' the difficulties. The 

 main one encountered so far is a very serious difficulty, one 

 that but few of Cuba's modern bee-keepers have escaped. 

 So plentiful and so scattered is that terrible difficulty that 

 we have nearly all had a sight and a whiff of it. It is foul 

 brood, scattered broadcast over the land, Cuba's fair and 

 fertile land, " the bee-keepers' paradise," except for foul 

 brood. 



The disease is one that some writers seem to think 

 amounts to but little, yet I have known over $100,000 worth 

 of bees to dwindle out of existence from its ravages in 

 Havana Province a/oHC ,■ and I still know of hundreds of 

 colonies on the same road to sure and certain death, as none 

 so far have escaped after contamination ; and the afflicted 

 ones have been sold and hauled hither and thither until the 

 question is with the knowing ones. Where can I locate and 

 be safe and secure? Where, oh, where? The wisest bee- 

 keeper on the island of Cuba would not dare to answer the 

 question with any certainty or assurance, for, if he did, he 

 might " get left " as the most of us have. Yes, left without 

 bees, with onlj' infected hives and experience as future 

 capital — and books (foul brood books) that tell all about how 

 it can be cured so easily in the hands of the careful and 

 studious ; but, then, I liave known men of culture, educated 

 in the languages, graduates of our best universities, all to 

 fail. Even common, practical men fail ; men who have 

 given the better part of their lives to bee-keeping fail. Fail 

 when it comes to curing foul brood, where there is eternal 

 sunshine and summer and big apiaries. All have failed so 

 far in Cuba to cure the disease ; and I consider it the only 

 great "difficulty " that a bee-keeper has to contend with, or 

 may have to encounter. 



Mr. Craycraft wrote me a few days ago that the leading 

 bee-keepers of the island had a move on foot, and were 

 whooping it up, to establish a foul brood law, with an in- 

 spector to inspect and condemn all infected apiaries. The 

 "leading bee-keepers," I will add. that are in the move, are 

 the ones that foul brood has led out of the business. So the 

 law, if past, is sure to be effectual, as I understand one of 

 their number is to be inspector, and will pass the death 

 sentence where the disease is found. Then, Mr. Craycraft 

 says, a bee-keeper can keep bees with a certainty of success, 

 but not until then. 



As to possibilities, they are great when it comes to bee- 

 keeping and honey-producing in Cuba. It will take time to 

 tell the story as to what can be accomplisht. I knew a bee- 

 keeper to claim 40,000 pounds of fine white honey from ICO 



