F80 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1 



articles for a popular magazine. All such 

 articles do much to bring honey more gen- 

 erally into use, and the knowledge of how 

 it is produced in such quantities does much 

 to inspire confidence in the purity and 

 wholesomeness of the comb and extracted 

 honey that is oifered for sale. — Ed.] 



Mr. Editor, let us see how far we can 

 agree about the matter of putting the emp- 

 ty super under or over, and having only two 

 or more than two supers on at a time. If 

 the second super is put below the first, and 

 no other super added till the first is finish- 

 ed, the finishing of that first super will be 

 hastened, and the sections will be sealed 

 clear out to the wood better than if the super 

 had been finished on top, because the bees 

 are so loath to jump over that vacuum and be- 

 gin work in the sections above that they 

 will work away at the lower super till 

 actually crowded oxat. That crowding will 

 also have the effect of increasing the ten- 

 dency to swarm, and it will increase the 

 amount of wax used in brace and burr 

 combs. Thus far, I think, we agree. You 

 may also agree, at least partly, in my 

 further belief, which is this: That that 

 crowding is for a time somewhat as if only 

 one super were present, and there being so 

 little surface on which to work, some of the 

 bees are occupied secreting wax and put- 

 ting it where not needed; whereas, if an 

 empty super were given under, those bees 

 would at once be at more profitable work. 

 Many colonies are strong enough to fill the 

 hive and three or more &upeTs/ull with bees. 

 The limiting such a colony to less space 

 than it can fill must have some effect in 

 limiting the amount of work it can and 

 will do. This is a very practical matter, 

 and I hope with you that before the year is 

 out we shall have light from practical 

 honey- producers. If I can make more mon- 

 ey by it, I am anxious to be convinced that 

 the best way is never to have more than 

 two supers on a colony, the empty super al- 

 ways being given on top. It would make 

 less work, and if it also makes more money 

 I would be foolish to continue any other 

 plan. [Either you did not say what you 

 mean again, or else I do not understand 

 you. You say, "If the second super is put 

 below the first" the finishing of that first 

 super will be hastened. Don't you mean, 

 instead of below, ' ' above ' ' in the quotation 

 just given? If you do, then I think I could 

 agree with you all through. — Ed.] 



The importance of the matter is my 

 apology for continuing the discussion of 

 that vacuum you speak about, Mr. Editor, 

 p. 528. You say, "When an empty super is 

 put on top, no work has begun, and there 

 is no vacuum to bridge over." That would 

 be so if the work were begun at the bottom 

 of the section, and the bees worked grad- 

 ually up. But the work is not begun at the 

 bottom. The bees cluster at the top, and 

 the upper part of the section is first sealed. 

 You may say the bees begin all over at 

 once. Certainly nearly that In some cases. 



Let us suppose they commence all over at 

 once. Now let us take two colonies exactly 

 alike, each having a super well advanced, 

 and to one we give a super on top, and to 

 the other a super under. Tell me whether 

 there is not exactly the same vacuum for 

 the bees to start on in each case. Talking 

 about nature, is it natural to force them to 

 begin in a vacuum above. Is it not more 

 natural to have them make a start belozu 

 the partially filled super above? If the 

 colony is strong and there is a good flow of 

 honey, the bees will commence at once in 

 the empty super beneath, and the bees will 

 be working in the two supers for at least a 

 little time before the other colony begins in 

 the empty super above. We talk a good 

 deal, and properly, about the advantage of 

 having foundation so the bees can commence 

 work on a larger surface. Now don't you 

 think there must be a gain in a full flow to 

 have the bees working in two supers in- 

 stead of one ? For it must be remembered 

 that whatever of advantage is gained by 

 having the empty super over (and I have 

 no desire to dispute the advantages), that 

 advantage is gained by the fact that the 

 bees are forced for a time to work in a 

 smaller space. [This is a very important 

 matter, and we invite discussion from our 

 subscribers. Yes, there is a vacuum in 

 both cases, but the conditions surrounding 

 one are quite different from the conditions 

 surrounding the other. In the one case the 

 bees are induced to finish up the work al- 

 ready begun; in the other case they begin 

 another job before finishing the first with 

 the possibilitj' that neither will be finished 

 as it should. — Ed.] 



^yromOuf- 



During the past year much has been said 

 in this journal relative to bee-keepers writ- 

 ing more for the general press and less for 

 a class who need no further enlightenment 

 on the subject of hone}'. The writer is a 

 pioneer in this movement, having written a 

 series of illustrated articles for the Amer- 

 ican Grocer in the summer of 1890, the re- 

 sult of which was very gratifying to him. 

 Some two years ago Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson, 

 of the Review, did the same thing in the 

 Cosmopolitan, on a much more extended 

 scale, reaching a larger audience probably 

 than is enjo3'ed by all the bee- journals copi- 

 bined. But the masterpiece of Mr. Hutch- 

 inson appears in the June issue of Country 

 Life in America, published in Harrisburg, 

 Pa. He gives an interesting summing-up 

 of bee culture, illustrated in the highest 



