Beekeeping in Kansas. 9 



of the beekeeper to see that the bees have plenty of stores. By plenty of 

 stores is not meant only sufficient food to carry them through until the elms 

 and maples bloom in the spring, but enough to last until the honey flow be- 

 g.ns. This means, for Kansas, about forty pounds of honey to each colony. 

 It may be objected here that it is too late now to do these things. This 

 is very true, but now is a very good time to call attention to the fact that 

 the spring care of bees would have been much simplified had these things 

 been attended to last year, and in planning next year's work these things 

 should be done. 



Those who have not followed the above suggestions should examine their 

 colonies on the first warm day, with two purposes in mind : first, to see if they 

 are queenless; and second, to ascertain the amount of stores in the hive. If 

 the colony is queenless it would be better to unite it with a queen-right 

 colony, because, although it is possible to purchase queens from the South 

 at this time of the year, their delivery is apt to be delayed, and the colony 

 grow weaker while you are waiting for the queens. If the stores are found 

 to be insufficient, then a thick syrup made of two parts of sugar to one part 

 of water, by measure, should be fed to the bees. 



Great quantities of food are necessary during brood rearing, and not only 

 food, but water; therefore, watering places should be provided near every bee 

 yard. These are of many patterns, the chief requisite being that the bees get 

 water from them without drowning. A tub or vessel filled with water, with 

 a lot of chips or pieces of broken cork floating on the surface will make a 

 suitable drinking place. 



If some of the colonies are found to be weak, even though they may have 

 a queen, it will be best to unite the weak colonies, but always combine a 

 weak one with a stronger one. It is practically impossible for the weak 

 colony to become strong in time to materially assist in the gathering of the 

 honey crop. However, if the weak colony is added to the strong colony it 

 will increase the honey-gathering force of the latter that it may increase the 

 surplus yield. Later, after the honey flow is over, the colonies may be 

 divided if you wish to keep the same number of colonies that you had in 

 the spring. Those who have had plenty of stores in their hives and were 

 sure that their queens were good in the fall, and have their bees packed well 

 for the winter, need be in no hurry to remove the packing, provided they 

 have left sufficient room for spring brood rearing, because the packing ma- 

 terial will protect the colonies during the cold nights which are apt to come 

 between now and the beginning of the honey flow. 



THE' NECESSITY OF WINTER PROTECTION FOR BEES. 



In order to obtain large crops of honey it is necessary to have large colonies 

 ready to go to the field at the beginning of the nectar flow. It is essential 

 in order to secure those large colonies that they pass through the winter with 

 as little loss in their working force as possible. Bees, like storage batteries; 

 have a certain amount of energy, which when once expended means the death 

 of the bees. In order to have a large working force in the spring all pre- 

 cautions should be taken that will enable the bees to pass through the winter 

 with a minimum expenditure of energy. This energy is used by the bees in 

 the winter in maintaining the proper temperature in the hive'. As bees are 



