344 



T-mm mvmmmicMm ^ki©) jQ'\j'mmmi^. 



About June 20, there was a line flow 

 of lioney from tlie basswood blossoms, 

 which grow abundautly on the banks 

 of the Missouri river, and all along 

 our water-courses. This flow lasted 

 two or three weeks, when it ceased, 

 leaving the bees with well-filled hives 

 and a fair surplus stored in the sec- 

 tions. The balance of the season 

 furnished the bees only enough to 

 keep them in good condition, and keep 

 brood-rearing under good headway. 



The present condition of bees in 

 general is very good, with the excep- 

 tion of late swarms, which will stai've 

 long before spring. My bees, which 

 ai'e being wintered on the summer 

 stands, began the winter with all the 

 conditions favorable, the colonies be- 

 ing strong in nnmljers, and having an 

 abundance of well-ripened honey. 



During 13 years' experience in api- 

 culture, I have always practiced out- 

 door wintering. By actual test and 

 experience in this matter, I long ago 

 arrived at the conclusion that bees 

 wintered on the summer stands suc- 

 cessfully, must have protection against 

 the extremes of temperatures of the 

 cold winters of Nebraska. The bees 

 wintered with proper packing, in- 

 variablj' come through the winter 

 stronger in numbers, build up more 

 quickly in the spring with less dwind- 

 ling, and are in better condition to 

 receive the harvest than those in single- 

 walled hives standing side by side. 



The inventory of my apiary at this 

 date (Dec. 31) shows that 73 colonies 

 out of 96 are packed in chatt" on the 

 summer stands, and if mj' experience 

 is anything like it has been heretofore, 

 I do not expect to meet with any 

 unusual losses in wintering. 



making Increase by DlTislon. 



While dividing colonies for increase 

 is preferred throughout the country by 

 a large majority of bee-keepers, I prac- 

 tice and prefer in my own apiary, 

 " natural swarming," from the fact 

 that apiculture is mj' sole occupation 

 for a livelihcicid, and 1 work the busi- 

 ness for all that is in it. 



If the bee-keeper has plenty of time 

 and extra combs, with which to supply 

 his divided colonies, he will without a 

 doubt succeed with this method. I 

 will say this in behalf of dividing colo- 

 nics, from tile fact that I do not wish 

 to be understood to say that lice-kcep- 

 ing cannot be made success financially 

 without it, viz : 



If increase is the bee-keeper's oljject, 

 and he has plenty of comb foundation 

 already drawn out, and plenty of 

 money in his jiocket, by all means use 

 the dividing-method of incrc-ase. On 

 the other hand, my experience has en- 

 abled me In arrive at the conclusion 

 that nntiiriil swdi-minri pays best, if 



dollars and cents is the object to be 

 sought. 



The question might be asked, how 

 do j'ou control swarming ? I do not 

 always do it, l)ut then to a certain ex- 

 tent I do. Just as soon as the bees 

 begin to .show symptoms of swarming. 

 I put on the sections, and keep the 

 bees supplied with plenty of room, 

 never allowing them to be idle if there 

 is honey in the fields. In a few days 

 after the first swarm issues,' 1 open the 

 hive from whence the swarm came, 

 and remove all queen-cells but one, if 

 there seems to be no newly-hati'hed 

 queen present. 



Some apiarists may claim that bees 

 will swarm too much, Ijut my experi- 

 ments in that direction have proven to 

 the contraiy. From 76 colonies, 

 spring count, I obtained only about 30 

 swarms altogether, for the season of 

 1887 ; and in summing up all my re- 

 ports from year to year, I cannot find 

 one instance whatever, of doubling my 

 number of colonies by natural swarm- 

 ing. 



Dividing colonies is a safe way to 

 increase, and can be carried to almost 

 any extent ; and while I have said so 

 much against it, I could not well dis- 

 pense with this new improvement in 

 bee-culture ; for it is by this means 

 that all my nuclei colonies are formed, 

 and queens reared. 



Comb and Extracted Honey. 



Now a few words as to m}' method 

 of obtaining comb and extracted 

 honey : The apiary is woi'ked for both 

 comb and extracted honey, from the 

 fact that there is to be found in any 

 apiary a number of colonies that do 

 not feel disposed to work in surplus 

 sections ; whenever colonies of this 

 kind are found, they are supplied with 

 an extra set of combs, and by this 

 means they can be induced to store a 

 fair surplus of honey to be extracted. 

 In this way a portion of my apiarj' is 

 " rigged up " with two sets of combs, 

 for extracting purposes. When honey 

 begins to come in fast, these combs 

 are placed in the extractor about once 

 a week (or just as often as necessary), 

 and the honej' taken out. I seldom 

 disturb the lower story in extracting. 



The rest of the apiary, being com- 

 posed of all strong colonies, is supplied 

 with sections whenever necessary. 

 When one case is partly full, it is 

 raised and an empty one placed under 

 it. My favorite section for obtaining 

 comb honey is the 4^x4} inches. 1 use 

 two widths, namely, the IJ-inch and 

 the 2-inch. Which width is the best, I 

 am not prcjiared to say. 



Mj- market demands a section that 

 holds a pounds of honey ; sometimes I 

 get this pound in the IJ-inch section, 

 and oftimes in the 2-inch section. My 

 judgment, based upon experience is, 



that a section which will hold as nearly 

 as practicable one pound of honey, is 

 what the trade and market demand. 



In conclusion I will state that the 

 season's work for 1887, summed up in 

 a nut-shell, is not an encouraging re- 

 port by any means. After uniting a 

 few late swarms in October, I began 

 the winter with 96 colonies, having 

 had 76 colonies with which to com- 

 mence the season's work. My sales of 

 comb and extracted honey amounted 

 to upwards of 1,700 pounds, about 

 1,500 pounds of which was produced 

 during the last summer. The comb 

 honej' was disposed of at a good price. 

 Extracted honey has had only a fair 

 sale, but I am glad to say that the de- 

 mand is increasing. 



Rock Blufls, Nebr. 



QUEEN-REARING. 



Ifletliods for Rearing Crood 

 tjueens. 



Written for the American Bee Jov/mal 



BT S. A. SHUCK. 



On page 297, concerning this sub- 

 ject Mr. J. E. Pond says: "Much 

 that Is written in regard to good 

 queens is misleading to the beginner." 

 Has not Mr. P. committed a greater 

 error than those he endeavors to 

 correct. 



He also says : "I have further 

 found that by the misnamed ' artificial 

 method' of rearing cjueens, there is far 

 less risk of producing from 10 to 13 

 da}' queens, than under the swarming 

 fever." Here Mr. Pond conveys the 

 idea that the production of 10-day 

 queens under the swarming impulse is 

 a common occurrence ; also that 13- 

 day queens are inferior. 



If Mr. Pond has been troubled with 

 lO-daj' queens under the swarming 

 impulse, it is an exception that I have 

 not met with in 12 years' experience 

 with bees. 



I am confident that the beginner, 

 who secures his queens from his best 

 colonies, under the swarming impulse, 

 will not be wanting for good queens ; 

 and the results will be much more 

 satisfactory than if he were to depend 

 upon his own eli'ort to secure them by 

 the so-called " artificial method." 



As I have no queens that are more 

 than 13 days from the hatching of the 

 egg, will Mr. Pond please tell why 13- 

 day queens are not as good as anj', 

 provided that all other conditions are 

 favorable ? 



How to Rear Good Queens. 



To the beginner who would like to 

 rear a few good queens for his own 

 use, I ofter the following method of 

 securing them : 



