“All the combs containing brood are removed from the brood chamber,
except one that contains but a small amount of unsealed brood and eggs.
This is left in the brood chamber with the queen on it. If she is not
found on it she must be hunted up and put upon this comb. The brood
chamber is now filled out with empty combs and a queen excluder is
placed on its top. The combs containing brood are adjusted in a super or
hive body, and if they do not fill it, it is filled out with empty
combs. It now goes on top of the brood chamber with the queen excluder
between. We now have all the brood above the excluder, except what is in
the comb with the queen on it below the excluder. You now have nothing
to do but to “turn up” to suit the season. Treating all colonies in this
way the season will have to be more than usually extended if there is a
single swarm. Colonies treated in this way are the strongest colonies I
ever handled, and I never seen a season so barren of nectar that they
fail to fill the combs above the excluder by the time all the brood they
contain are hatched out, and if the season is a good one they will
surprise the natives and make you uneasy about the safety of your honey
floor, like mine did me the past season, though the season was but an
average one.”
Next month I will give my experiments with two colonies the past season
managed on a plan similar to to Brother Demaree’s, as given above.
Remember, beginner, that if you don’t manage your bees intelligently you
had better never go into the business for you will have no “luck” and
the business will be a failure with you; and you might as well try to
raise corn without seed as to try to raise honey without a scientific
work on bee culture and one or more of the many excellent bee journals.
_Concord Church, W. Va._
(_Concluded next month._)
[Illustration: OUR CORRESPONDENTS]
ED. AM. BEE-KEEPER, Dear Sir: I inclose herewith 50 cents for renewal to
the BEE-KEEPER, and in a month or so you will receive a little order for
supplies from me, but I wish to find out first what I need. There is a
lot of reading in the AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER for beginners, but there are
so many different ideas given that the beginner must have a big head
indeed to remember them. I will take the liberty to tell you how I
began. It was a year ago about Christ Christmas when I resolved to keep
bees. I wrote to the _New York Volkszeitung_, a German newspaper, for
the address of a good bee paper, and I received your address. The same
day I sent 50 cents and received in time the _American Bee-Keeper_, in
which I found the address of Mr. Knickerbocker of Pine Plains, N. Y., to
whom I wrote for a catalogue and price list for bees and queens. The
price of a good colony of Italians was $8.00, and I sent him $16.00 and
got two colonies of bees about the 20th of May, which was after all
fruit trees had blossomed. The bees commenced to work, and the 15th of
July I took out of each hive the surplus case of 28 sections well filled
with white honey. I replaced them with new surplus cases, and about the
12th of October both the hives were as full of honey as they could be
again. I left the hives in this condition for winter so the bees can
consume as much as they please, and if there should be any honey left
this spring it is just as good for me as if I took it out in the fall. I
left them on the summer stands packed up good and warm and will leave
them alone until spring. I do not think much of looking into the hives
every little while. I may be wrong, but I think this would make the bees
swarm earlier next season.
I cannot find any one around here who knows anything about bee-keeping.
I sold 40 sections of honey and 16 I kept for myself. There is at least
35 pounds in the hive yet, and I think I did very well for the first
year. With regards I remain,
Yours truly, F. TLEGMAN,
_Seymour, Conn., Feb. 10, 1892_.
[FRIEND TLEGMAN: We are glad to hear from you and your success the
first season with bee-keeping. You were unusually fortunate with
your bees and must not be discouraged if the coming season or the
one following, you find your bees doing nothing. Evidently you are
in a good location for keeping bees, and would advise you to go
into it more extensively. We shall be pleased to hear from you
again later in the season.--ED.]
* * * * *
ED. AM. BEE-KEEPER, Dear Sir: As my subscription has expired, I send you
herewith a postal note for 50 cents, as I cannot do without the
BEE-KEEPER. I think it is the best bee paper for new beginners or old
ones. I put seven colonies in my cellar and left the balance on the
summer stands, so far they have all done well; some that were a little
short I fed up. Last season was a poor season for bees here, so those
that came off late did not gather enough to get through the winter.
My way of feeding bees is to get an empty comb and put it on a thin
board, then put it on the top of the hive and put sugar syrup in it. The
bees will fill themselves and carry it and put it in the empty comb
below. Yours truly,