ADVANCED BEE-CULTURE. 



57 



when the next season rolled around, and 

 the close of the linden honey harvest 

 found me with perhaps 2,000 unfinished 

 sections on hand, and I sat down and 

 figured up how much they would be 

 worth when completed, I felt, as Dr. 

 Miller once expressed it at a Chicago 

 convention, that it might pay to feed to 

 secure the completion of unfinished sec- 

 tions, even though the feeding of four 

 or five pounds of honey increased the 

 weight of the sections only one pound. 



Did I not consider the use of drawn 

 combs of considerable value in getting 

 the bees started in the supers in the 

 spring, I should unhesitatingly pro- 

 nounce in favor of feeding back to secure 

 the completion of unfinished sections. 

 That is, that would be my decision so far 

 as the management of my own apiary is 

 concerned; but it does not follow that 

 this would be the proper one at which all 

 bee-keepers should arrive; although it 

 would seem that there is one class that 

 would be glad to so decide, and that is 

 the one that finds the use of drawn combs 

 in sections so very objectionable. 



So much by way of introduction; and 

 now, for the benefit of those who, for any 

 reason, may wish to practice feeding back, 

 I will tell what I have learned in the feed- 

 ing back of those 13,000 pounds of honey. 

 Perhaps the best way will be to tell ex- 

 actly how I would conduct the operation; 

 but first allow me to say that the feeding 

 of honey, for the purpose of having it 

 stored in the sections; is a distinct branch 

 of bee-keeping — as much so as the rais- 

 ing of queens for market — and there are 

 many things that can be learned only by 

 experience. 



In this locality the basswood harvest 

 closes about July 20, and for the next 

 month, or six weeks, until the flow from 

 .buckwheat begins, no honey is gathered, 

 and, usually, the weather is hot — ^just the 

 conditions needed for successful feeding 

 back. As soon as I see that the basswood 

 harvest is drawing to a close, I remove 

 all the sections from the hives, look 

 them over, take out the finished ones, 

 and sort the remainder into three grades, 



viz., almost finished, half done, and just 

 commenced. The cases containing the 

 first two grades are then placed upon the 

 hives, one case upon a hive, and allowed 

 to remain until the bees have taken pos- 

 session of them. Then comes the task 

 of selecting the colonies to do the work; 

 and, by the way, this is the most impor- 

 tant point, as success is largely depend- 

 ent upon a proper selection. First, the 

 colonies must be strong; next, they must 

 possess young queens, preferably those of 

 the current year, although this is not 

 imperative; and last, but not least, simon 

 pure blacks are given the first choice. 

 Hybrids are the next best, while, as a rule, 

 Italians do very poor work in this line. 

 Keeping in view these points, I select 

 one-half as many colonies as I have cases 

 of unfinished sections upon the hives, 

 and to these colonies I transfer the cases 

 — sections, bees and all — putting two cases 

 upon each hive. I have never experi- 

 enced the least trouble, in any respect, 

 from thus mixing up the bees, while 

 populous colonies are secured thereby. 



If the brood nests are not already con- 

 tracted, I contract them. The greater 

 the contraction, the more satisfactory 

 will be the results, so far as work in the 

 sections is concerned, but, if carried too 

 far, it will materially weaken the colo- 

 nies by curtailing the production of brood. 

 I have sometimes contracted the brood 

 nest to only three Lanafstroth combs, 

 and these three combs, when I was 

 through feeding, were three solid sheets 

 of brood; but, all things considered, I 

 prefer to contract the brood nest to about 

 the capacity of five Langstroth combs. 

 There is also another point that must not 

 be neglected, and that is the brood combs 

 must not be old and black, otherwise the 

 combs in the sections will become travel- 

 stained unless removed very promptly 

 upon their completion. The newer the 

 combs in the brood nest the better. 



When honey is Drought in from the 

 fields it is carried up into the sections; 

 that is, the supply, as regards the sec- 

 tions, comes from below; when a feeder is 

 placed above the sections, then the sup- 



