1919 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



19.1 



putting out a first-class article. At 

 the same time, it would protect him 

 against the careless beekeeper who 

 puts up his honey in a slovenly way. 



can in turn give reliable information 



to all of our readers. 



Honey Market Reports 



The attention of the beekeeper is 

 called to our honey market report. 

 In spite of the fact that last fall we 

 predicted a clean market, there seems 

 to be considerable more extracted 

 honey left on hand than anyone had 

 anticipated. This is largely due to 

 the fact that many manufacturers 

 who used honey instead of sugar in 

 large quantities turned back to sugar 

 as soon as sugar was released. Many 

 of them are holding their honey for 

 the same price that they paid for it, 

 which was around 25 cents per pound 

 in carload lots. 



While there is some extracted 

 honey still in the hands of the pro- 

 ducers, this amount does not appear 

 as large as in an ordinary season. 

 However, it is bound to have consid- 

 erable effect on the price for the 

 coming year unless something is done 

 to move this honey before the new 

 crop is harvested. 



In sharp contrast to the extracted 

 honey market is the condition of 

 the comb-honey market. There ap- 

 pears to be scarcely any comb honey 

 at all offered and, in fact, it seems to 

 be difficult to secure. The price is 

 high, with little if any sign of weak- 

 ening. Although the Dadants have 

 been advocates of extracted honey 

 for a great many years, it is their 

 opinion this year that those who 

 have comb honey equipment should, 

 as much as possible, produce that ar- 

 ticle. Of course, something may hap- 

 pen which will relieve the extracted 

 honey situation, but there is no 

 doubt there is going to be a good 

 demand for comb honey anyway, 

 even though extracted honey should 

 be plentiful. 



A few beekeepers have made the 

 remark that our market page was 

 somewhat prejudiced because the 

 Dadants were honey dealers. Let us 

 state here that the amount of honey 

 bought the past season did not 

 amount to as much as what our crops 

 very often total during a single sea- 

 son. In other words, we are not 

 honey dealers in the true sense of 

 the word, as we simply buy enough 

 honey from beekeepers to supply our 

 trade when we do not have sufficient 

 crop of our own. We have no axe to 

 grind and we ask the beekeepers to 

 keep this in mind and make their re- 

 ports just as true as possible, so we 



Increase With Large Hives 



Question. Taking much interest in 

 your articles about large hives, and 

 large frames, I would like to know 

 which method you use the most ex- 

 tensively and consider the best to 

 make increase. We use the Dadant 

 hive here, a so-called Jumbo hive, 

 holding 12 frames, which make a 

 brood-chamber that is none too big 

 for the egg-laying capacity of some 

 queens. RENE SAQUET, 



Nantes, France. 



Answer. In consideration of the 

 fact that it is the strong colonies 

 which yield the crop, we divide our 

 apiaries into three classes : very 

 strong colonies at the time of the 

 crop, colonies that will become strong 

 during the crop, and, lastly, colonies 

 that will just hold their own. 



The first class are the ones from 

 which the crop will come. The third 

 class are not to be depended upon 

 at all, and if the fault is with the 

 queen she should be removed and re- 

 placed by a better one. There are 

 however cases, in most apiaries, 

 where a little shortage of food, or a 

 little neglect on the part of the api- 

 arist, will cause a colony containing 

 a good queen to be useless for that 

 season, owing to the lateness of its 

 building up. Usually those colonies 

 of the third class are not numerous. 

 They may be equalized at the ex- 

 expense of the others, but it is a 

 question whether this is profitable. 



It is from the colonies of the sec- 

 ond class that we aim to take our ar- 

 tificial increase, because they do not 

 become strong until the crop is ad- 

 vanced and many of their bees will 

 help consume the crop instead of 

 helping to produce it. 



We begin by either buying queens 

 or rearing some of our own. We will 

 not go into the detail of this matter. 

 Suffice it to say that if we rear our 

 own queens, we breed them from the 

 very best colonies we have. When 

 the cells are built and ready to hatch, 

 on the ninth day from the rendering 

 a colony queenless, we divide each of 

 our middling or second class colonies. 

 On the tenth day we give each of the 

 queenless halves a queen-cell, or a 

 queen. 



How to divide each of these colo- 

 nies is probably what the reader will 

 ask next. This must depend on the 

 number of colonies wanted, the 

 strength of those we have, the 

 weather, the conditions of the crop. 



If we want many colonies of in- 

 crease, we may divide each colony 

 in 2 or 3 parts, taking note of the 

 queenright one. If we want only a 

 few, we may just divide the colonies 

 exactly in halves. If we need still 

 less, we may make a swarm from 2 

 colonies, by taking the brood from 

 one and the bees from another, put- 

 ting the brood-combs with adhering 

 young bees in a new hive on the 

 stand of another colony, which we 

 move to a new spot. 



Divisions made of only 3 combs, 

 during a good crop, may build up for 



winter, depending upon the weather 

 or the honey yield. If they do not. 

 we may be able to help them from 

 the stronger ones, or even, at the end 

 of the honey crop, from the very 

 strong colonies that have given us 

 the surplus. 



Our plan in all this is to use the 

 bees that hatch too late for honey 

 in making swarms and retaining in 

 full strength the honey-producing 

 colonies, till the end of the harvest. 

 This method has always given us the 

 best results. 



In carrying on a division plan of 

 this kind — or of any kind — there are 

 a few fundamentals to remember: 



A queenless colony should not be 

 allowed to build comb, as it would 

 build mainly drone-comb. 



A queenright colony, or that part 

 of a divided colony will thrive most 

 if it has a few young bees with the 

 queen and plenty of field workers. 



A queenless colony on a new spot 

 will be the slowest to build up, unless 

 it has some brood ready to hatch. 



A queenless colony placed on the 

 spot occupied by a full colony (re- 

 moving the latter to a new spot) will, 

 be in danger of swarming when its 

 queen-cells hatch. ' 



A queenright colony from which 

 nothing is taken but its field bees will 

 recuperate soon, if there is any honey 

 at all in the fields. 



No colony with brood should be 

 left so weak that its brood is likely to 

 be chilled in cool nights. 



If we supply all our divisions with 

 full sheets of foundation or empty 

 combs they will recuperate more 

 promptly. 



There are many other "ifs" which 

 must be left to the judgment of the 

 apiarist. — C. P. D. 



Information Concerning 

 Crops and Markets 



Our old friend, Mr. P. H. Elwood, 

 sends us some complimentary re- 

 marks concerning our "Crop and 

 Market Reports" and reminds the 

 editor of the organization, in 1888, of 

 the United States Honey Producers 

 Exchange, an association for prompt 

 and reliable information concerning 

 the honey crop throughout the Unit- 

 ed States. Each month a report was 

 sent by the Secretary to all the mem- 

 bers, concerning the condition of the 

 bees, the prospects, the crop, the 

 markets, etc. 



These statistics, gathered from re- 

 ports sent in by the beekeepers 

 themselves, were very useful, and the 

 "Exchange" at first met with great 

 favor among beekeepers. It was 

 originally organized under the 

 auspices of the New York State As- 

 sociation. Mr. Elwood was its Presi- 

 dent and G. H. Knickerbocker its 

 Secretary. Many leading beekeep- 

 ers were interested in it. But it 

 lived only a few years, as its mem- 

 bers neglected it. 



