756 



AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL, 



Nov. 30, 1899. 



worthy of the name, that there are a g-reat many require- 

 ments that must be met for the greatest possible advance- 

 ment in brood-rearing, apart from keeping up the food sup- 

 ply. But I have a tirm conviction that there are a great 

 number of honey-producers who could so vastly improve on 

 their spring' manag'ement in this direction, that the differ- 

 ence in results when the main honey harvest arrives would 

 be obviously apparent to even the most skeptical. 



I would, then, not only advocate the uncapping of 

 honey that may be in the brood-chamber, but I would go 

 further, and say that any bee-keeper who is alive to his own 

 interest, and that of his bees, should always be in such a 

 position that he could at any time supply his colonies with 

 combs of sealed honey (outside of a division-board) after 

 brood-rearing has once commenced, and the sealed honey 

 has been exhausted, or when the bees are prevented from any 

 cause whatever from bringing in a sufficient supply from 

 the fields for the encouragement of the extension of the 

 brood-nest. 



Yes, I am persuaded to go still further, and say that in 

 my opinion I would consider it prudence on the part of 

 the honey-producers if they would so manage as to have the 

 dark and inferior honey (a certain amount of which most 

 localities furnish before the white flow sets in) stored in 

 frames of such a size that they could be inserted in the 

 brood-chamber early in the spring of the following year 

 (first uncapping them), for the encouragement of brood- 

 rearing-. By this management we not only keep an article 

 off the market which will always have a tendenc}' to injure 

 the reputation of g^ood honey, but we utilize it ourselves, 

 and actually trade it off for bees early in the season, the 

 great advantage of which I am sure no one will for a mo- 

 ment question. By this method we are also able to keep a 

 considerable number of partly worn-out workers in the 

 hive, where they are of immense value in keeping'- up the 

 required temperature during unpropitious weather, when 

 their lives would be endangered by wandering out, and yet 

 brood-rearing goes on apace. 



There is one important point that I wish to refer to, and 

 it is this : Any manipulation in the hive that has for its 

 object the moving of honey by the bees will likely carry 

 with it the spreading- of brood to some extent — an operation 

 which the novice will always do. well to fig-ht shy of, and 

 one which even the expert will only attempt with caution 

 and the exercise of good judgment ; but if it is discreetly 

 entered into, and judiciously carried out, it will result in a 

 manifest advantage to the colony, and the ultimate fatten- 

 ing- of the purse of the operator. D. W. Heise. 



Mr. Abbott — There is one idea that Mr. Heise did not 

 emphasize very much, and that is, that an abundance of 

 honey in the hive does not indicate success. A good way 

 to encourage breeding in the spring is to uncap some of the 

 sealed honey in the hive. In some localities it would be 

 disastrous to do so. Even the robins sometimes make mis- 

 takes. You see that our Canadian friend has been watch- 

 ing these things. Bees can uncap hone.v, but it is more 

 difficult than many suppose. They will not work readily 

 on honey that is not uncapt. They will go to work outside 

 first. It shows that they have a dislike to doing it, or it is 

 hard work for them to do it. I believe it paj-s in the West 

 to see that the bees have plenty of honey. If a horse has 

 plenty of feed upstairs, but has no one to give it to him, 

 what good does it do him ? This idea struck me very 

 forcibly. 



Mr. Niver — We would like to hear from Mr. Howe, from 

 the buckwheat country. Uncapping honey is too slow for 

 me. 



Mr. Howe — We have no trouble with uncapping honey. 

 In the spring: we set out hives with honey that is capt, and 

 the bees take care of it. Of course, in a spring like last 

 spring, it was a little difficult. Ordinarily, we have not so 

 much work. 



G. W. Bell — When honey is fed in this way, the stronger 

 colonies get the most. 



Mr. Abbott — Do you have no flow at all in the early 

 spring ? 



Mr. Bell — Ask Mr. Howe if his neighbors' bees get any 

 of the honey so fed ? 



Mr. Niver — I presume they do. 



Dr. Mason — I believe Mr. Abbott is right in his idea 

 about the bees uncapping honey, and Mr. Howe is right, too. 

 We do not want to spare honey for the neighbors' bees. 



Mr. Niver — We have another practice. Instead of put- 

 ting- honey in the hive we use supers, and put the honey we 

 wish to feed in them. 



Mr. Hershiser — I like Mr. Niver's method of stimulat- 

 ing bees better than Mr. Howe's. I don't like to have bees 

 get into the habit of carrying honey away from hives. It 

 teaches them a bad habit. 



Mr. Howe — As to teaching bees a bad habit, I think it 

 teaches them a good habit. 



Pres. Whitcomb — Do you think the worker-bees ever 

 go to work gathering nectar from flowers after they have 

 learned to rob ? I find that they are just like other 

 thieves. They don't do anything else but steal. We have 

 to set a trap and catch them off. 



Mr. Howe — I have never had a bit of trouble. We leave 

 a hive standing there, and when they see that it is empty, 

 they go away satisfied. 



Pres. Whitcomb — I have no record of a bee reforming- 

 after learning to steal. 



Mr. Bell — I got a queen from Ohio, and her colony did 

 nothing else but rob as long as the queen lived. When she 

 died I was glad of it. 



Mr. Abbott — Let me give an illustration. These large 

 bee-keepers find it hard to know what they lose and what 

 thev gain. Thev don't miss it. So it is with Western corn- 

 growers. That is, there are large and small agencies. A 

 little while before I came away a colony got to robbing. My 

 wife said, " What is the matter?" I went out and found 

 we had accidentally left a comb of honey out. I found what 

 the matter was. 



G. B. Hurley — I would be afraid of work like that. I 

 lost a colony of bees just in that way. 



Mr. Coggshall — How, much more is a frame of brood 

 worth than a frame of honey ? 



Mr. Hershiser — What do you do with brood ? 



Mr. Hutchinson — He wants to trade honey for brood. 



Pres. Whitcomb — I fail to see the advantages in teach- 

 ing bees to rob. 



Mr. Hutchinson — Won't it have a stimulating effect, 

 going out and bringing in honey ? 



Pres. Whitcomb — No. 



Dr. Mason — I believe it will have a stimulating effect. 



Mr. Hershiser — How do you know a robber-bee ? 



Pres. Whitcomb — By it's sleek appearance. It has worn 

 off the hairs. 



J. H. M. Cook — It seems to me that we make a sort of 

 mistake. When we put a comb of honey in the hive it does 

 not teach bees to rob, and it is not robbing. When we feed 

 them they get it in thelegitinrate way. If there were a few 

 bees in there then they might fight, and be taught to fig-ht 

 and rob. I think it is far better to take out the comb. I 

 would rather have a large increase of brood than to have 

 pounds of unused honey in the hive in the spring. 



Pres. Whitcomb — But when they take the honey they 

 will go to work and tear the comb down. 



Mr. Howe — About separating brood, suppose you sep- 

 arate brood and it comes a cold night. With our method a 

 cold night does not affect it. 



Dr. Mason — It does not follow that bees will tear comb 

 down when they take the honey. If the combs of honey 

 are in a hive so closed that but a few bees can go in and out 

 at a time, the combs will not be torn, but if they have free 

 access to them, thej' are quite sure to injure them badly. 



Mr. Hershiser — I think it is a very unwise plan to un- 

 cap the comb and set it on the outside. 



Dr. Mason — I suppose every intelligent bee-keeper 

 would agree with you there. 



Mr. Cook — You should use judgment. 



Mr. Danzenbaker — I have listened to the remarks with 

 a great deal of interest. I think the young man is right, 

 and Mr. Coggshall is right. About uncapping, the bees in 

 the neighborhood smell the honey. I merely take a knife 

 and press it on the comb. Such honey is like capital in a 

 bank. In this altitude queens do not begin laying until the 

 middle of March. In feeding bees in the spring, feed un- 

 sealed stores. If they have honey in the hive they will use 

 it. I succeeded in having the first swarms in this neighbor- 

 hood. Mr. Todd had 100 colonies, and fed back honey and 

 lost 90 of them. I don't want to feed bees until plums 

 bloom. I alwaj'S want a warm day to feed in. 



Mr. Wander — How can you do it -vfhen the hive is 

 crowded ? 



Mr. Doolittle — I want to say just a word about putting 

 honey in such a hive. DotiH do it. Don't do anything; 

 that colony is good enough. My good brother from Kansas 

 is in a starving condition. These two are sleek and fat. I 

 want to help that brother. These that are sleek and fat 

 don't need the help. It teaches them bad habits. But 

 about putting that frame of honey in the certer of the brood 

 — I don't care how cold it is if it doesn't la.st over 48 hours. 



