82 



THE BEE-KEEPER'S REVIEW 



As the flow ended about August 1 1th, 

 with a few days of cool weather, we 

 knew that the bees had not accomplished 

 much after the extracting of July 30th. 

 so no more work was done with them 

 until the week ending- Nov. 6th. 



During that week we again visited this 

 yard, taking with us a Townsend, bolted, 

 take-down, 12x16 foot honey-house, in 

 the flat, with a small stove, a few cans, 

 etc. We set up the house, put up the 

 stove, pried off all supers that were free 

 from bees, wheeled them into the shop, 

 and sorted out the combs containing 

 honey. These last were stacked up by 

 themselves in supers, near the stove, 

 piling them as high as we could reach. 



WARMING HONEY TO EXTRACT IT, 



During the middle of the day we 

 brushed out the bees that were found in 

 mostly small clusters in perhaps ,'2 of the 

 supers, those remaining on the hives, and 

 these supers were taken to the shop and 

 treated as were the others. At night we 

 built a fire in the stove, one of us staying 

 awake half of the night to 'tend the fire, 

 when the other took his place. 



In the morning we began extracting, 

 and it was a revelation, I can assure you. 

 In fact, so hot was the upper part of the 

 room that some combs had to be very 

 carefully handled, and perhaps three or 

 four had broken loose from the wires. 



Owing to the sudden endingof the flov/, 

 about August 1 1th. at this last trip, we 

 only took 800 pounds, besides a lot of 

 partially filled combs for spring breeding, 

 but even this small quantity paid for the 

 shop. 



PROTECTING COLONIES WITH BUILDING 



We spent the remainder of the time in 

 preparing bees for the winter. Perhaps 

 % of the colonies (standing in pairs) were 

 simply moved until the two hives were in 

 actual contact, and tarred paper put on 

 top, back, and sides. A few were papered 

 singly, while most of them were piled in 

 rows, about 12 hives long, two hives high. 



making 24 in a pile, and ends, top and 

 rear of the pile covered with tarred 

 paper. 



After seeing that every entrance was 

 mouse-tight, I took the train for home at 

 noon, Nov. 6th. so as to get home in time 

 to vote, leaving my assistant to drive 

 home — his political convictions being in a 

 somewhat unsettled condition. 



In closing let me say that I find that 

 two good manipulators can inspect 130 

 colonies, and treat them for swarming, 

 adding supers as needed, in about 1 j4 

 days, doing the work with the great 

 thoroughness necessary in a yard that 

 can be visited but seldom. 



1 cannot afford not to clip my queens. 

 1 linow enough to run out-yards without 

 clipped queens, but clipping is insurance 

 against loss, for a few days at least, if 

 one's visit to the yard is delayed for any 

 reason, and in no other easy way can one 

 be sure of the ages of his queens. 



PROFITS OF LONG RANGE BEE-KEEPING. 



Our crop from the distant yard is over 

 1 2,000 pounds, and I think that this com- 

 pares very favorably per colony with any 

 yard in this valley that was under the 

 constant care of its owner. 



We will this year be so fortunate as to 

 receive an average of 7c per pound for 

 this honey, or S840. Leaving out the 

 April visit, this makes $168 gross income 

 per visit, or counting the April visit. SI 40 

 per visit. 



Meridian. Idaho, Dec. 10. 1906. 



i Just a word about warming honey to 

 extract it. As Mr. Atwater intimates, it 

 is an easy matter to get a room so warm 

 that it will melt the combs, or make them 

 so soft that they will drop out of the 

 frames. The best plan is to use a fire of 

 hard coal. The heat is steady and easily 

 controlled. Have a thermometer in the 

 room and don't let the heat go much 

 above 95 degrees; nor below 90 if you 

 wish the best results. The honey will 

 then be warmer than it usually is in the 

 hives. — Editor.] 



