AFTER HARVEST WORK. 
CHAPTER XVII. 
There is no certain limit to the period of the honey-harvest season 
anywhere, and in many places one honey flow succeeds another throughout 
a very long season. Much depends on locality, weather and seasonal 
changes, and some kinds of honey flows are always uncertain. Yet every- 
where in the United States, before the regular cold or cool season of the 
year, there comes an end to the bees’ activities and there follows a winter’s 
rest—shorter or longer. This is when honey from all sources has ceased 
to yield, and the surplus has been removed from the hive. 
It will be a wise beginner, who, from his own observations of the 
plants of his locality, early learns what honey flows may be regularly ex- 
pected, and what irregular and late honey flows may oceur, and learns, too, 
the certain signs that tell when these honey flows are probable and about 
to begin. Lacking personal experience and observations of these matters, 
he will do well to seek this information from those who do know—if pos- 
sible, from some neighboring beekeeper. Having this important knowl- 
edge, he will be prepared to plan best not only for the honey harvest but 
also for its close and the after-harvest work. 
The beginner should understand that all like honey flows require 
similar manipulation of the bees and hives, but that all honey is not 
equally desirable, and so it is often best to take off one honey crop before 
it can be mixed with another. (See page 78.) Also, some honeys are not 
fit for winter stores, if bees are confined to their hives without flight for a 
month or more at a time. (See page 99.) This is often true of late honey 
flows in the northern part of the country—for instance, aster honey. 
A Time of Light Work. 
The days or weeks between the close of the bees’ active work and the 
time for putting them in their winter quarters may be considered the 
vacation season of the beekeeper. There is little more to do than to ob- 
serve the condition of the colonies and be sure that they are normal and all 
right. 
If there are weak colonies that are not likely to build up and be 
strong enough to winter well, these weak colonies should now be united. 
(See page 114, “Newspaper Uniting Plan.”) A colony that is certainly too 
weak to winter well is one that has bees covering less than three or four 
frames and whose brood-rearing is at a standstill. The beginner better not 
attempt to winter any colony that has less than six combs of bees. 
Introducing Queens in Early Fall. 
While the beginner takes greater risk of losing queens when introduc- 
ing them after the harvest than when doing so during the honey flow, yet 
95 
