130 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



and no supers put on until the hive was fill- 

 ed. If they ivere put on they would not be 

 occupied until the lower hive was filled, and 

 by the time this was accomplished it often 

 happened that the white honey harvest had 

 passed. If the old colony did not swarm 

 again (usually it did), some returns might 

 be expected from that, unless the season 

 was nearly over. 



In most of our Northern states the crop of 

 white honey is gathered within six weeks, 

 often within a month. If a colony is in con- 

 dition to begin work in the supers at 

 the opening of the white honey harvest, 

 and continues faithfully at work without 

 swarming, no contraction is needed ; but, 

 suppose the harvest half over, the bees 

 working nicely in the supers, there may be 

 one case of sections almost ready to come 

 off, another two-thirds finished, and a third 

 in which work has only nicely commenced, 

 now the colony swarms, what shall be done ? 

 By hiving the swarm in a contracted brood 

 nest, upon the old stand, transferring the 

 supers to the newly hived swarm, and prac- 

 ticing the Heddon method of preventing 

 after-swarming, work will be resumed and 

 continued in the supers without interruption, 

 and the crop of surplus will l>e nearly as 

 great as though no swarming had taken place. 

 Is there a better plan than this ? If so, the 

 Review will be grateful for the informa- 

 tion. If no increase is desired, then, at the 

 seventh day, the bees may be shaken from 

 the combs of the old colony and the brood 

 given to some other colony, a la Tinker. 



We believe, however, that our querist did 

 not ask for a defense of " contraction," but 

 how to furnish the bees with sufficient stores 

 for winter, when contraction is practiced, 

 without resorting to feeding. When there is 

 a fall flow of honey, of course, no feeding 

 will be needed. But, supposing there is no 

 fall harvest, what shall be done ? If nearly 

 all of the white honey has been forced into 

 the supers, and no more honey can be gath- 

 ered, of course, stores must be furnished. 

 But, how ? That's the next question. At 

 the time when we wrote our little book : ''The 

 Production of Co)nb Iloney,^' we advocated 

 the feeding of granulated sugar, in the fall, 

 to any colonies lacking in stores. We still 

 prefer sugar as a winter food for bees, but 

 its higher price combined with the lower 

 price of honey has compelled us to take our 

 chances with natural stores. In our little 

 book, on page 81, is the following : — 



"Those who for any reason do not wish 

 to use sugar, may still take advantage of 

 this system by putting the unfinished sec- 

 tions back on the hives in time for the honey 

 to be carried down and stored in the brood 

 nest for winter. Any sealed honey in the 

 unfinished sections must be uncapped be- 

 fore placing them on the hives. As some 

 may ask what is to be gained by this man- 

 agement, I will explain that the number of 

 finished sections is increased thereby ; in 

 other words, it enables us to virtually ex- 

 change the honey in our unfinished sections 

 for nearly its weight in finished sections, 

 leaving us the combs to give the bees a good 

 ' send off ' in the spring ; and, in my experi- 

 ence, sections filled with coml> are nearly as 

 valuable in the spring as sections filled with 

 honey." 



Another plan is that of putting a set of 

 combs on over the supers as the harvest 

 draws to a close. In other words, instead of 

 putting on another case of sections, when 

 the harvest is past its height, put on a set of 

 brood combs, and let them be filled. This 

 will practically do away with unfinished sec- 

 tions, and, in the fall, the combs of honey 

 can be given the bees in exchange for their 

 empty combs. 



In his reply to the query, Mr. G. W. Dem- 

 aree says that, if sugar is fed for winter 

 stores, a part of it will be carried from the 

 brood nest into the seetions the next spring. 

 Mr. Demaree is mistaken. Sugar fed in 

 the fall is used up in brood rearing long be- 

 fore sections are put on. Not only this, but 

 the honey gathered from fruit bloom, maple 

 and dandelion is put to the same use. Sec- 

 tions are not put on until the yield begins 

 from white clover, and, in our experience, 

 honey then stored in the hive below never 

 finds its way into the sections. We have 

 often wintered bees on buckwheat honey, 

 but never knew any of it to be carried into 

 the sections the next pear. 



PUTTING UP HONEY FOB MAKKET. 



In i)utting comb honey upon the market, 

 there seems to be but little difference of 

 opinion in regard to its preparation and 

 shipment. Pound sections, well cleaned of 

 propolis, packed in small cases, and the cases 

 packed in crates, unless there is a large 

 shipment that can be securely packed in a 

 car, seems to sum up the whole matter. 



In regard to the shape in which extracted 

 honey shall be put upon the market, there 

 is quite a diversity of opinion ; both as re- 

 gards the honey itself and the package in 

 which it is put up. We know that it is less 

 trouble to put extracted honey on the market 



