1919 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



271 



cle of wax or paraffine containing 

 about one-third grease or tallow, or 

 enough to make it malleable. This 

 trick saves a large amount of work 

 in handling cans of honey. — Editor. 



The China Tree or China Berry 



THE wild China tree (Sapindus 

 Drummondi), is also known as 

 China berry, soap berry or um- 

 brella tree. It is a very common 

 shade tree in the southeastern States 

 and is also found in the southwestern 

 States to some extent. In Alabama it 

 is a conspicuous feature of the 

 grounds about the homes of rich and 

 poor alike, quantities of the berries 

 hanging after the leaves have fallen. 

 It is cultivated to a less extent in. 

 Texas and California as an ornamen- 

 tal. The illustration shows blossoms 

 and leaves. It is frequently men- 

 tioned as a honey-plant in the south- 

 ern States, but is probably not suf- 

 ficiently common in many places to be 

 important. — F. C. P. 



Are Colonies Weighing Two Pounds 

 On April 15 Profitable? 



By G. C. Greiner 



AT our annual beekeepers' con- 

 vention in Buffalo, January 10- 

 11, 1918, the above subject was 

 brought up for discussion. Mr. De- 

 muth, of Washington, D. C, said that 

 a colony weighing less than 2% 

 pounds April 15, might better be set 

 aside as useless; it would not pay to 

 spend any time with it. On the other 

 side, Mr. Hershiser claimed that very 

 few colonies weighed over 2 pounds at 

 that time in this locality, and yet gave 

 big returns of surplus honey. An- 

 other well-known beekeeper of this 

 State made the remark that he con- 

 sidered a two-pound colony April 15 

 a gold mine. This may be a little 

 strong, but I know trom many years 

 of experience that such a colony, un- 

 der favorable conditions, is a mine of 

 greenbacks. 



The difference of opinion depends 



altogether on locality. My whole crop 

 comes from colonies of that descrip- 

 tion; they either weigh naturally two 

 pounds or less, or they are made so 

 artificially. 



It is not surprising, in fact nothing 

 else can be expected, that beekeepers 

 living in different latitudes do not al- 

 ways agree on all points of bee man- 

 agement. They have to adapt them- 

 selves to the conditions of their own 

 localities, honey flora and climatic 

 conditions being the main features. 

 Even in the same localities and under 

 the same conditions, all beekeepers do 

 not see things just alike, but follow 

 different plans and methods to suit 

 their own ideas. It is the general be- 

 lief that a hive full of bees in the 

 spring will give better results in the 

 line of surplus honey than one of 

 these two-pound nuclei. I believe the 

 same, but divide them. 



Some time ago, at a social bee-talk 

 with a prominent neighboring bee- 

 keeper, our conversation drifted to 

 spring management. He objected to 

 my method on the ground that his un- 

 divided colonies had more bees when 

 the honeyflow came than my divided 

 ones. Of course I agreed with him, 

 but he was no little surprised when I 

 explained that that was what I was 

 trying to prevent. A large percent- 

 age of his bees are old, wornout field- 

 workers that have outlived their use- 

 fulness as honey gatherers and exert- 

 ing their last vitality with making 

 preparations for swarming, while my 

 bees, although fewer in number, are 

 nearly all young, energetic workers, 

 doing their level best at storing 

 hoivey. It is the old stock that is bent 

 on swarming; young worker-bees, the 

 same as young queens, are less in- 

 clined that way. Consequently, I 

 have practically no swarming, while 

 he has to spend his time taking care 

 of young swarms. 



All beekeepers, especially comb- 

 honey producers, know full well what 

 a discouraging sight presents itself 

 when a colony with one or more su- 

 pers of partially finished sections on 

 the hive sends out a swarm. Hive 

 and supers are deserted by their 

 working forces and all business is at 

 a standstill. Treat them as we may; 

 cut out the queen-cells and return the 

 young swarm, hive them on the Hed- 

 don plan, or hive them on starters, 

 foundation or empty combs, it is all 

 the same; a certain time will elapse 

 before they are sufficiently organized 

 again to take up their super work, 

 and by that time the best of the 

 honeyflow may have passed. 



The most convincing proof that col- 

 onies weighing considerably less than 

 two pounds even as late as May 25, 

 can be made profitable, is plainly 

 demonstrated by the experience I had 

 last spring. Early in the season I or- 

 dered, as a trial experiment, two 2- 

 pound packages of bees with Italian 

 queens, from the South, to be mailed 

 May 10. But the breeders were 

 crowded with orders and could not 

 ship the bees until the 21st, arriving 

 at my place May 25. About one-half 

 of the bees in one package and one- 

 third in the other were dead. The 

 queen of the former proved to be all 



