1918 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



269 



that make up the colony at the be- 

 ginning of the broodless period must 

 be young and vigorous either in the 

 sense of their age in days or in the 

 amount of energy they have already 

 expended, or in both. 



The central idea, therefore, of this 

 first course in the construction of the 

 foundation for next season's honey 

 crop is the production of bees whose 

 lives are to span the winter broodless 

 period. 



2nd. Conservation ov Energy — 

 During the broodless period, the 

 length of life of the worker bees 

 must be greatly prolonged if the 

 colony survives. Instead of the ac- 

 cepted six weeks' normal span of life 

 under active conditions, the energy 

 of the bees must be conserved that 

 they will live six months or more. 

 The existence of the colony during 

 the winter in the North, therefore, is 

 dependent upon conditions enabling 

 the bees to live slowly enough to last 

 until more favorable weather condi- 

 tions permit their replacement with 

 young. The so-called spring loss or 

 spring dwindling is usually, properly 

 speaking, a winter loss, and the 

 weakened condition in the spring of 

 colonies that were normal in strength 

 the previous fall must be charged to 

 winter loss. The central idea in that 

 which we call wintering is the con- 

 servation of the energy of the bees. 



3d. Increase in Population — Some 

 time in the spring, while still anxious 

 that bee energy shall not be wasted, 

 the beekeeper desires that it shall be 

 spent judiciously in brood-rearing. 

 Here, as during the previous period, 

 the instincts of the bees are in har- 

 mony with the desire of the bee- 

 keeper. From this time until the be- 

 ginning of the honey-flow, the pri- 

 mary purpose of the beekeeper is a 

 tremendous increase in the popula- 

 tion of each colony, so that it shall 

 reach the possible maximum about 

 the time the honey-flow begins. If 

 there is sufficient time previous to 

 the honey-flow, as in localities where 

 buckwheat furnishes the main crop, 

 he may even increase the number of 

 colonies, thus producing more work- 

 ers for the harvest. This being the 

 final lap in the preparation for the 

 honey-flow, failures here are more 

 noticeable, but not less destructive^ to 

 profits, than are the failures during 

 the other two periods. 



Three Fundamental Requirements 

 During each of these periods num- 

 erous environmental factors, such as 

 weather conditions or presence or 

 absence of minor honey-flows, exert 

 influences favorable or unfavorable 

 to the ultimate purpose of the bee- 

 keeper. In their battle against the 

 many unfavorable conditions, there 

 are but three fundamental require- 

 ments on the part of the bees — food, 

 protection and room for expansion 

 during periods of greater activity. In 

 other words, if a normal colony of 

 bees is never permitted to run short 

 of stores, if it is at all times well pro- 

 tected, especially against extremes of 

 temperature, and if brood-rearing is 

 not at any time checked (when brood 



is desirable) by a lack of room, such 



a colony, barring accidents, will be 



prepared for the honey-flow in time 

 to take advantage of it. Aside from 

 providing and improving his equip- 

 ment or controlling disease, the work 

 of the beekeeper consists only in sup- 

 plying any deficiency that may occur 

 in food, protection and room. These 

 are but primitive facts in beekeeping, 

 but they are basic and are exactly 

 the factors to the neglect of which 

 may be traced most of the failure to 

 have colonies at the beginning of in- 

 stead at the close of the honey-flow. 

 All the details of work, not con- 

 cerned with equipment or disease, 

 during this entire period, are con- 

 cerned only with stores, protection 

 or room for expansion of colony ac- 

 tivity. 



During the three periods into 

 which the entire period of prepara- 

 tion is naturally divided, the empha- 

 sis on these fundamental require- 

 ments changes. Food, of course, is 

 prominent as a requirement during 

 each of the periods, with additional 

 emphasis on quality during the win- 

 ter; protection has its greatest em- 

 phasis during the winter and early 

 spring, and room for the expansion 

 of the brood-nest is primarily a 

 spring requirement. 



(To be concluded n September number) 



Small Helps to Canning Effi- 

 ciency 



By Mary G. Phillips 



DOES your back ache, and are 

 you tired all over after can- 

 ning today? Then sit down in 

 the most comfortable chair on the 

 porch and cool off, while you review 

 the situation, and reflect on the num- 

 bers of tired women, more than ever 

 before in our history, who, like you, 

 sit down at the end of the day with 

 a sigh of relief that one more batch 

 of jars is filled and put away. Every- 

 where, north, east, south, west, they 

 pull the shoes from their weary feet 

 at night and drop into bed spent, 

 but happy. The wives of farmers 

 have the longest and hardest days, 

 probably, for in addition to doing the 

 regular housework, they generally 

 have several extra men to feed, help 

 with the milking or feeding of chick- 

 ens and stock, and are frequently 

 handicapped by inconveniences like 

 having to pump all the water, keep 

 fire going in a wood stove, and in 

 addition — the canning. 



But it is not only the farmers' 

 wives whose daily strength used in 

 canning is adding to the military 

 strength of our cause. There are the 

 women of suburban towns who have 

 been used to having a man for the 

 heavier part of gardening, and a 

 maid for the heavier housework. 

 Now that men for day's work at 

 gardening have virtually disappeared, 

 and husbands are too busy with their 

 part of the war work to be available, 

 these women have spaded and planted 

 the gardens themselves. With the 

 kitchen help problem likewise acute, 

 they are also doing their own house- 

 work and laundering. To women un- 

 used to these tasks the burden is 

 heavy, but with the same grit as the 



farmers' wives are showing, and with 

 the determination not to be outdone 

 by the noble French and English 

 women, they have made themselves 

 equal to the task, and besides, add 

 canning to the day's work. As for 

 the women of the city, most of them 

 who can leave home for even part of 

 the day, are engaged in filling the 

 vacant places left by men in business. 

 But when their day at the office is 

 done and the apartment is cleaned, 

 and meals are over, these business 

 women, like the rest of us, can 1 



Now, nine out of ten of the can- 

 ning army have plunged into the ex- 

 tra work eagerly and willingly, but 

 without first planning for it ade- 

 quately. The cherries were ripe be- 

 fore you knew it, so, although you 

 meant to have every bit of equip- 

 ment necessary this year, when time 

 is such a precious commodity, you 

 did expect to finish housecleaning 

 first, and get winter clothes packed 

 away, and make yourself a couple of 

 new morning dresses, but — the cher- 

 ries hung red upon the trees and you 

 dropped everything else in order not 

 to lose one of them to the robins. 

 It was nip and tuck, but with the 

 children's help in picking and pitting 

 (you did mean to buy a stoner this 

 year), and by keeping at it day after 

 day, you managed to salvage fifty 

 quarts of potential pies, now safely 

 placed on your top shelf. Then you 

 turned again to finish the cleaning 

 and the half-made dress, but— peas 

 came on, and then you knew you 

 were in for it, and the rest of the 

 summer would see you with some 

 canning to be done every day. 



Well, it is too late now to go back 

 to the beginning of the season, but 

 there are still many vegetables and 

 fruits to be preserved for winter, so 

 let me ask you as you rest for a few 

 minutes, to think of your equipment 

 and the arrangement of your kitchen. 

 "Disorganization is the main diffi- 

 culty with housework," says one ob- 

 serving man, and he is partly right. 

 We do not plan, systematize and 

 simplify sufficiently. It is too late to 

 reorganize your entire kitchen this 

 season, but there may be many little 

 steps toward kitchen efficiency which 

 you could make tomorrow morning 

 which will make your day's work 

 shorter and lighter. 



For instance, while canning, one is 

 constantly washing her hands. 

 Where does your hand towel hang- 

 close beside the sink, or behind the 

 door at the other side of the kitchen, 

 so that you have to take a dozen 

 steps to wipe your hands, and a 

 dozen steps back to your work? 



Have you but one sharp paring 

 knife, generally referred to as "the" 

 knife, which Johnny persists in bor- 

 rowing to cut string, so that when 

 you miss the knife just as you are 

 about to prepare your vegetables, 

 you have first to find Johnny in or- 

 der to locate it? Two or three such 

 small knives, involving an outlay of 

 about 75 cents, save much wear and 

 tear. 



Again— have you a lifter tor hot 

 jars, or do you burn your fingers and 

 lose your temper trying to lift the 

 jars from scalding water with a 

 spoon or cloth or what not? Such a 



