1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1375 



by keeping the strong one back a little, and 

 booming tne medium. 



"Now, by giving this medium colony 

 brood from the stronger, no brood is lost, as 

 tbis medium colony can stretch out enough 

 to hold this brood, no matter how cold the 

 weather may turn; and in the mean time the 

 little colony is gaining somewhat, and, what 

 is still more to our use, with each day the 

 prospect of warmer weather is becoming 

 more assured. When the first of June has 

 arrived we have two colonies with hives well 

 filled with bees and brood, while our weak 

 colony has brood in three or four combs, 

 probably to the amount of two full combs. 

 At this time, a little earlier or later, in ac- 

 cord with the season or the section of coun- 

 try we are in, we take two frames of emerg- 

 ing brood from each of the now strong colo- 

 nies and take them to the weak colony, 

 where they are put in place of the brood the 

 weak colony had, the larger part of which 

 is brood in a very young state. Of course, 

 the bees and queen are all brushed off their 

 own brood and allowed to go back into their 

 own hive on the brood from the strong colo- 

 nies which we have just given them, and the 

 frames from the weak colony put in the 

 strong colonies in place of those taken from 

 them. In a few days this weak colony will 

 have become a medium colony, when four, 

 five, or six more frames of brood can be 

 taken from the two stronger colonies and 

 given to the now medium colony, and the 

 combs from this colony placed in the two 

 strong colonies. In this way all three colo- 

 nies are brought up to full strength at just 

 the time when the extracted clover harvest 

 arrives, without the loss of a single cell of 

 brood, and, what is of much importance, all 

 are on equal footing, and, barring accidents, 

 each will give very nearly the same results 

 in section honey. ' ' 



"Well, now, you have done it, sure. I 

 could not see how it was to be brought about 

 when you started out. But you said some- 

 thing to the effect that this might not be the 

 best way to treat colonies. Have you some- 

 thing better? " 



"Years ago I used to have the same trou- 

 ble you told of when you came. Some of 

 my colonies would give only small yields, 

 and others 100, 200, and 300 pounds, and 1 

 went to work to find out the reason why 

 this was so. I soon found that much de- 

 pended on the queen, which we have not 

 taken into account at all so far." 



"That is true. We simply supposed the 

 queens were equal." 



" I know we did; but we are to know that 

 they are equal, and know this at least eight 

 weeks before the harvest opens." 



" Why that length? " 



"Because it takes about that time to have 

 our colonies become entirely ready for the 

 harvest. If the weather could be perfect for 

 six weeks before the harvest, this amount of 

 time would do; but as we have much bad 

 weather mixed in, the eight weeks is about 

 right. Just use farm sense when working 

 with the bees. It has been a rare thing with 



me during the past twenty years to have one 

 colony give 25 pounds more than another 

 colony. I used to ask over and over again, 

 ' Why does one colony give me a yield of 

 150 pounds while another will not give over 

 10?' But I have no cause for such asking 

 now. Make all colonies alike as to queens, 

 etc., eight weeks before the harvest begins, 

 and you will find yourself wondering why 

 you ever allowed any other mode of proced- 

 ure to exist in your manipulation of the 

 apiary." 



"Yes; but you hinted you had a better 

 way." 



"That better way has been published in 

 Gleanings as a serial, which you can read 

 at your leisure. But it is soon to appear in 

 book form, together with some additions I 

 have seen fit to make." 



NOTL5 



FROM 



CANADA' 



lliiMK 



¥L F, HOLTERMANN 



I never found it more diflicult to keep up 

 with my correspondence. Many who have 

 written to me upon various subjects will 

 have to exercise a little patience until bees 

 are in winter quarters. 



So the Canadian Bee Journal has changed 

 hands for the second time this year. The 

 Hurley Printing Co., Brantford, Ont., has 

 purchased the Journal. Mr. Hurley is a 

 successful printer, and has engaged in bee- 

 keeping as a hobby for a number of years. 

 His first stock of bees was purchased from 

 the writer. May the new venture prove a 

 success. 



R. A. Burnett & Co. state in Gleanings, 

 " if bee-keepers will let their honey ripen be- 

 fore taking it off the hives it will do more 

 than any Taw passed in furthering its con- 

 sumption." This is a much-needed shot. 

 Paste this in your honey extractor, on your 

 smoker, or the cover of each hive; and if you 

 can not act on it, then work it out on a de- 

 sign of comb-building in each frame. 



ONTARIO bee-keepers' CONVENTION. 



The Ontario Convention will be held in 

 Toronto at the York County council cham- 

 bers, 67 Adelaide St., East. The convention 

 begins at 1 p.m., Nov. 13, and closes at noon 

 Nov. 15. An excellent pi'ogram has been 

 prepared. The Palmer House, King St., 

 West, is the only hotel which so far has re- 

 duced its rates to convention members. It 

 is a $3 00 to $2.50 house, and will make its 

 rates to bee-keepers during the convention 

 $1.50. Come and help us. 



