1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTIKE. 



435 



COMB-HONEY PRODUCTION. 



Mow to Obtain the Best Results Both as to Qual= 



tty and Quantity; Wlien and How to Uet tlie 



Bees Ready for the Harvest. Part 2. 



BY OREL L. HERSHISER. 



Continued from last issue. 



While very strong- colonies are most desir- 

 able in the production of fancj' comb honey, 

 it is also of great importance to prepare 

 them properly for work in the sections, and 

 to manag;e them through the honej' harvest 

 in such manner as to make the entire work- 

 ing force effectual. To that end we should 

 keep the field workers together and not al- 

 low that portion of the colony which is ca- 

 pable of honey-g-athering to become divided, 

 and one part thereof separated from the 

 other, by inattention to natural swarms or 

 haphazard forced swarming-. 



The colon J' may be prepared for comb- 

 honej' supers according- to one of the sever- 

 al systems which have been found to be 

 good, the method emplo3'ed depending upon 

 the requirements of the apiarist, whether he 

 desires to produce all comb honey or wheth- 

 er he wishes also to produce extracted hon- 

 ey; whether he desires to add to his number 

 of colonies, and, if he does, whether he pre- 

 fers to do so by natural or by forced swarms. 

 The varieties of honey-producing flowers, 

 their extent, and the number of separate 

 honey harvests through the season should 

 also be carefully' considered. If the main 

 surplus season comes early, and there is no 

 fall flow, the energies of the apiarist must 

 be devoted to getting his bees in the best 

 possible condition for this one harvest. If 

 it comes late, or is continued over a good 

 portion of the season, more time may be 

 gi\ei in preparation, and stronger colonies 

 built up in expectation of the long season's 

 work, alwajs bearing in mind this general 

 rule: to breed the colony up to the greatest 

 possible strength in field workers, in ex- 

 pectation of the main honey harvest, and, 

 on the other hand, to avoid, as far as possi- 

 b"e, the rearing of bees which will not reach 

 the field-working age till the honey harvest 

 is past, and which will, therefore, be waste- 

 ful consumers. A thorough knowledge of 

 the honey- producing flora within range of 

 the bees is necessary to an intelligent ap- 

 plication of these rules. 



NATURAL SWARMS. 



If the colony is allowed to cast a natural 

 swarm it should be hived on the stand of 

 the colony from which it issued, substitut- 

 ing the hive with the swarm for the parent 

 hive, removing the latter to a new stand, 

 thus making a strong swarm and keeping 

 the field workers together. A coiony that 

 has swarmed, if treated in this manner, is 

 unlikely to cast an after-swarm. 



It frequently occurs that the super of sec- 

 tions on the hive which swarms is left un- 

 finished. This unfinished super should be 

 placed as the first one on the hive contain- 

 ing the swarm immediately after it is hived 

 or at the time of hiving. 



If the parent hive be placed as close as 

 possible to the side of the hive with the 

 swarm, the latter being on the parent stand, 

 the entrance facing in the same direction, 

 leaving it in this position a week, and then 

 removing it to a stand ten or more feet from 

 the parent stand, the bees from the parent 

 hive, which have become old enough to fly 

 during that time, will return to the hive with 

 the swarm, adding greatl}' to its strength 

 in field workers. If there is a good fall 

 flow of honey the parent colonj' will gather 

 ample winter stores, and may yield a little 

 surplus honey ; but, having been so thor- 

 oughly depleted of field workers, it will be 

 slow in acquiring the necessary strength 

 for surplus- honey gathering. 



The brood-frames of the hive containing 

 the swarm should be provided with founda- 

 tion starters, not more than two inches in 

 width, and a queen- excluding honey-board 

 should be used to keep the queen out of the 

 super. If a shallow brood-body is used, no 

 contraction of the brood-space will be nec- 

 essarj'. Brood- bodies with deep frames 

 should be contracted to a space equivalent 

 to six or eight Langstroth frames. To pre- 

 vent possible confusion and scattering of 

 the bees, among other colonies in the apiary, 

 when returning- from the fields to their ac- 

 customed stand and home, the appearance 

 of the front and entrance to the hive for the 

 swarm should be, as nearly as possible, 

 like that of the parent hive. It is a great 

 advantage and convenience to have hives of 

 uniform pattern. 



DEOUEENED AND REOUEENED COLONIES. 



An eft'ectual non-swarming method con- 

 sists in selecting the best frames of brood 

 from both bodies of the double brood-cham- 

 ber, using a sufficient number to fill one 

 body, on the same stand, depriving the col- 

 on}' of its queen. In eight days the colony 

 thus prepared should be examined, and all 

 queen-cells removed, making it hopelessly 

 queenless, after which no swarm will issue 

 if queen-cells have not been overlooked. 

 The other body, and the combs of brood not 

 used in the hive prepared for comb-honey 

 supers, may be employed in building up 

 some weak colony; or colonies too weak for 

 comb-honey production may be divided into 

 nuclei and built up with the frames of brood, 

 thus providing a means of preserving the 

 queen from the colony just prepared for the 

 comb- honey super; or the combs of brood 

 may be used to strengthen a colony which 

 is almost in condition for comb-honey su- 

 pers; or the body, with the combs, may be 

 used as an extracting-super on a colony run 

 for extracted honey; or they and the queen 

 may be disposed of in some other way as 

 suggested by the requirements of the apia- 

 rist. A colony- run in this manner requires 

 no honey-board. The colony should be re- 

 queened at the close of the swarming sea- 

 son. 



EORCED SWARMS MADE BY DIVIDING. 



These strong colonies in double brood- 

 bodies may also be treated as follows: 



