14 Kansas State Horticultural Society. 



in these colonies we would never have known why this colony did so poorly. 

 Although in this article I have spoken of one colony, the same fact holds true 

 for the rest of the colonies which became low in stores. 



When the one-story unpacked hive in the windbreak is compared with the 

 one-story unpacked hive in the open, the odds in the number of bees gained 

 and in the amount of brood are largely in favor oi the one protected by a 

 windbreak. Both of these hives had unconsumed stores when the spring 

 weighing was made, but the hive in the windbreak had consumed nine pounds 

 more than the one in the open, which it had used in brood rearing. The one 

 in the windbreak had five frames of brood and gained 10,000 bees, while the 

 one in the open only had 3% frames of brood arid gained 575. The fact that 

 the packed hive in the open gained more than the unpacked hive in the 

 open, both in number of bees and the amount of brood, demonstrated that 

 with other things being equal, packing was of a distinct advantage. Here 

 again was shown the value of a windbreak over no windbreak, and, as in the 

 open, the two-story unpacked hive gained 8,000 more bees than the one-story 

 unpacked hive, the superiority of the large hive over the small one for winter- 

 ing was shown. The superiority of the packed hive over the unpacked hive in 

 the open again showed the value of winter protection. 



Some valuable deductions can be made from these results, some of which 

 are: When a colony has insufficient stores, even though it may apparently 

 winter well, yet the queen will so far slow down in her work as to seriously 

 weaken the colony, far below the strength that it would have been had it 

 been supplied with sufficient stores. Mr. Crane's statement that if bees are 

 supplied with plenty of honey "they can stand almost any cold for a time," 

 and also his contention that without stores winter packing will not save them, 

 are both strikingly borne out by the above-named figures! When considering 

 the question of wintering bees too much emphasis should not be placed on any 

 one feature of wintering. We know that we must have a large number of 

 the young bees, that we must have plenty of winter stores, and also that if 

 we can give our bees the added value of a windbreak and winter protection 

 it will well repay us; but no beekeeper should rely on any one of these factors 

 alone arid expect to get the very best results. They are all necessary. 



REMOVING THE HONEY CROP. 



Honey is ordinarily produced either in the form known as comb honey or 

 extracted honey, and the method to be followed in removing the crop will 

 depend upon which kind of honey is being produced. 



The proper time to remove coriib honey from the hive is when all of the 

 cells are sealed over, or when the honey flow is over for the season. 



As comb honey depends largely upon its fine, appearance, great care should 

 be taken to prepare this honey for the market is as pleasing a manner as 

 possible. First, the propolis and other foreign materials should be scraped 

 from the sections, aftfer which their appearance will -te greatly improved if 

 they are rubbed lightly with sandpaper. After the sections have been 

 thoroughly cleaned they should be graded and packed in the shipping cases 

 for market. The sections may be graded according to the rules adopted 

 either by the National Beekeepers' Association or by the Colorado rules. 

 Whichever system of grading is used, care should be taken to make sure that 



