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THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



EDITORIAL CORNER 



We are now hoping that no more 

 freezing will occur as the fruit 

 would suffer, but more serious for 

 the bee-men, the alfalfa would be 

 injured and the surplus materially 

 reduced. We also are anxious for a 

 hot summer, and hot and dry will 

 suit us better than wet and cold. 

 The ideal condition would be a 

 hot summer with one big rain in 

 July and another early in August 

 with hot weather succeeding both 

 rains. — W. F, 



Hives on Scales 



Never before have we been so 

 impressed with the importance of 

 having at least one hive on scales. 

 This year we put Number 2 6 on 

 scales before the flow started. It 

 was not a strong colony, hardly an 

 average colony as the records show. 

 Here is the record: 



Jan. 9, eggs in two frames; Feb. 

 4. four frames brood; Feb. 18, five 

 frames brood, Feb. 22, 6 frames 

 and marked O. K., which means 

 ready for supers, when flow begins. 

 Flow began about Mar. 10th, but no 

 gain in weight till 



It is with special reference to 

 the dates. Mar. 29 to Mar. 31st and 

 Apr. 3rd to Apr. 5th that the value 

 of scales was demonstrated most 

 forcibly. Notice that on the former 

 dates, the colony gained its great- 

 est, from eight to ten pounds daily. 

 Had it not been for the scales, I 

 should not have been prepared to 

 give surplus room rapidly enough 

 and swarming would have got ahead 

 of all possibilities of control; as It 

 was, wnen I saw the great gains 

 being made, I examined ALL col- 

 onies at once, and with the result 

 that added surplus room was rush- 

 ed on all hives, in post haste, sav- 

 ing the day.. The bees did not 

 seem to be working any more rap- 

 idly, but carried apparently more 

 honey; or at least, a more thorough 

 ly ripened honey, resulting in more 

 net gains per day, at least (Has 

 anyone else noticed this peculiar- 

 ity as a honey flow approaches its 

 height?) The second date named 

 was instructive and helpful in this 

 viz., it told me that honey was still 

 coming in at a rate sufficient to 

 endanger the surplus room, if 

 hives were not watched. I had es- 

 timated the end of the flow about 

 that time and was letting up on 

 giving of extra room; had it not 

 been for the scales, I should un- 

 doubtedly have lost much from lack 

 of room on some hives. 



It was interesting to note that 

 the hives lost about 1 pound over 

 night, no matter whether it gained 

 three pounds or eight. I attributed 

 that to the greater amount of wat- 

 er content in the nectar in the 

 earlier stages; after the height of 

 the flow was passed, and the gain 

 daily was less, say two or three 

 pounds, the loss overnight remained 

 about the same as before, that is, 

 one pound. I would have expected a 

 smaller loss. The three days of 

 standstill, Mar. 20th, following 

 were the days of that delightful 

 ( ? ) experience of Winter in the lap 

 of Spring, that our northern friends 

 enjoyed (?) so much! 



E. G. B. 



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