186 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Stimulating^ Bees in Spring. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



I am requested to write an article 

 for ttie Bee Journal on " Stimulat- 

 ing bees, so as to get ttiem ready for 

 the white clover honey harvest." In 

 my opinion tliere is nothing gained by 

 commencing too early, as from six to 

 eight weeks is suliicient time to build 

 np a fair colony in spring, to one suf- 

 liciently strong to store lioney to the 

 best advantage. As clover usually 

 begins to yield honey, in this locality, 

 about June 1-5 or 20, the tirst of JVIay 

 is soon enough to commence to stim- 

 ulate brood-rearing. Some think it 

 does not pay to change the brood 

 combs, byway of reversing them, put- 

 ting combs of honey in the centre of 

 the brood nest, etc., but after years of 

 experimenting, I am satisfied it pays 

 me, whether it does others or not. 



Before telling how I manage, I will 

 describe one experiment. I tried, 

 to see if it paid to try to build the bees 

 up in spring faster than they would 

 naturally do it themselves ; for, on 

 this matter of pay rests nearly all 

 tliere is of bee-keeping, to the average 

 apiarist. One spring, several years 

 ago, I set apart 10 colonies, all of 

 which had plenty of honey, and were 

 as near alike as possible, to obtain 10 

 colonies of bees. After seeing that 

 all were in proper condition, 5 were 

 left to themselves, and the other 5 

 worked according to the plan I shall 

 describe. The 5 let alone were 2 

 weeks behind the others in swsrming, 

 and, upon footing up in the fall, I 

 found they only gave an average of % 

 as much honey as the other .5 which 

 were stimulated. From tliis and 

 many other experiments I have tried, 

 I conclude it pays, and so attest my 

 faith by adhering to that which gives 

 me the greater profit. 



About the first of May I go over the 

 whole yard and examine each hive to 

 see how much brood tliere is, and all 

 colonies which do not have an equiva- 

 lent to 2}4 frames full, are shut up 

 upon the "frames of brood they do 

 have, by means of a division- board; 

 while those which have that amount, 

 or more, are allowed the whole hive. 

 At this time these last-named colonies 

 have their brood nest reversed by put- 

 ting those frames, having the least 

 brood in them, in the centre of the 

 cluster, and those having the most at 

 the outside, thus causing the qneen 

 to fill these centre combs witli eggs as 

 fully, or more so, than those were 

 which were in the centre before ; 

 while the brood in those now outside 

 is not .allowed to decrease at all. 

 Thus quite a gain is made, with little 

 danger of cliilling any brood. In 

 about a week I take a frame having 

 considerable sealed honey in it, and 

 break the sealing to the cells, by pass- 

 ing a knife flatwise over it; then, 



after spreading the frames apart, 

 place this in the centre of the brood 

 nest. The removal of this honey by 

 the bees, causes them to feed the 

 qneen, and stimulates brood-rearing, 

 equally as much (in my opinion) as 

 any other method of feeding. If I 

 did not have the frames of honey I 

 would fill empty combs witli sugar 

 syrup, and use the same as frames of 

 honey. As the honey is removed, the 

 queen fills the cells with eggs, and at 

 the end of another week another 

 frame is added in thfjsame way. The 

 next time over, the brood is removed 

 as at first, while, at the ei^d of the 

 fourth week, two frames instead of 

 one, are placed in the centre of the 

 brood nest, leaving one or two frames 

 of brood between them. This brings 

 us to near the first of June, and if 

 one colony lias brood in four frames 

 at the time of commencing, and we 

 use 9 frames to the hive, we have but 

 one more frame without brood iu it 

 in the hive. The next week this is 

 placed in the centre, and as soon as 

 the bees get any honey, more than to 

 feed tlie brood, the boxes are put on. 



Tliose weaker colonies shut upon 

 the frames, having but little brood, 

 are left so till the frames are well 

 filled with brood, when they are given 

 a frame of honey in the centre, and 

 then manipulated as were the otiiers, 

 till they are in the same condition. 

 If I wish as many colonies as possible, 

 I begin to take brood from those hav- 

 ing their hive full first, and give to 

 the strongest of these weak ones, and 

 later, to tlie next strongest, till all are 

 built up to strong colonies. I formerly 

 gave these frames of brood to the 

 very weakest first, but after losing 

 several frames of brood, I learned that 

 to give a frame of brood to a very 

 weak colony of bees, before settled 

 warm weather, was almost always 

 sure to result in loss. 



If I wish honey instead of increase. 

 I work all the weaker colonies till 

 they have .5 frames of brood each, 

 when 4 frames of brood, bees and all, 

 are carried to anotlier and united witli 

 it, while the frame having the queen 

 upon it, is placed back in the hive 

 again. Tlie o frames in the hive we 

 wish to unite the 4 frames of bees 

 with, are spread apart, and the 4 

 frames placed iu each alternate space, 

 so as to prevent any quarreling, as 

 bees, thus mixed, seldom quarrel or 

 harm a queen. In two weeks this 

 united colony will be as strong as any 

 in tlie yard, while the frame having 

 the queen, can be used for a nucleus, 

 or various other purposes. In tliis 

 time of high prices of comb founda- 

 tion, they could be made very profit- 

 able by setting them to building comb, 

 for they are almost always sure to 

 build nice straight worker comb. 



In places where pollen is scarce, it 

 might be well to feed rye meal, early 

 in the season, but, as long as plenty of 

 pollen remains in the comb, I do not 

 think it pays. To feed, place in a 

 shallow box and drop a few drops of 

 honey on the meal, when you will put 

 a bit of comb on a hot iron to make a 

 smudge, to draw the bees. Use only 

 a tew drops of honey, or you may ex- 

 cite robbing. I would invite all those 



who do not think that the above will 

 pay, who live where a crop of clover 

 honey is to be secured, to try a few 

 colonies, and see if they do not 

 change their minds. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Comb vs. Extracted Honey. 



A. W. STITH. 



There seems to be quite a diversity 

 of opinion in regard to producing 

 comb and extracted honey. I have 

 had some experience iu producing 

 both, and can probably say something 

 that may be a benefit, especially to 

 the amateur. The idea, that honey 

 extracted before being capped by the 

 bees, has all the good qualities of 

 honey that is capped before extract- 

 ing, does not meet my approbation. 

 I am so thoroughly convinced that 

 honey extracted while green, is in- 

 ferior to honey capped before extract- 

 ing, that I do not expect to extract 

 any more green honey, unless in cases 

 of emergency, when bees are gather- 

 ing rapidly and have not sufficient 

 combs to store their precious sweets ; 

 and right here let me say, that a too 

 free use of the extractor is one reason 

 why many bee-keepers complain of 

 not having surplus combs. All apiar- 

 ists know that bees will not tjuild 

 comb, to any great extent, only as in- 

 stinct teaches them it will be used 

 for storing honey, therefore, bee- 

 keepers should not expect their bees 

 to build comb, and at the same time 

 keep the combs they already have 

 empty, by the use of the extractor. 



The judicious use of the extractor 

 is more than merely to learn how fast 

 you can sling the honey, and leave the 

 bees to starve the following winter ! 

 While I am free to admit that the ex- 

 tractor is indispensable in an apiary, 

 I do think that, all things considered, 

 extractors kill as many bees as they 

 help to produce. 



Do not understand me to accuse an 

 experienced bee-keeper of such blun- 

 ders as to kill bees in such a manner, 

 but as there are many persons just 

 embarking in the business, I thought 

 a word of caution would not be out of 

 the way and may be appreciated. 



VVhen we examine an apiary in 

 autumn, worked for extiacted honey, 

 where we use a two -story hive, and 

 when we wish to supply our bees with 

 food for their long winter nap, we 

 find the honey in bad shape for win- 

 ter, the combs in the brood-chamber 

 often being destitute of honey, and 

 contain much pollen, while those in 

 the top story are sure to be full frofn 

 top to bottom, or nearly empty. Such 

 has been my experience. 



I learned, several years ago, to be 

 rather timid with the extractor, and 

 settled down on the following plan : 

 VVhen white clover, which is our main 

 dependence for surplus honey, fairly 

 opens, I select, in the top story (for I 

 seldom bother the brood-chamber for 

 surplus), .5 or 6 Langstroth frames of 

 the best worker combs, if they can be 

 obtained ; if not, a tew drone combs 

 can be used, and mark the letter W 



