Page 72                  WISCONSIN BEEKEEPING                  September,
1932 
 
 
the beginning of the honey flow. A 
colony of this strength will secure a 
maximum crop of honey for any sea- 
son. To sCcure prime colonies, it is 
necessary for the beekeeper to begin 
preparing his colony for the next year 
immediately after the honey flow. All 
colonies should be requeened at least 
every  other year from     strong  and 
vigorous stock. 
   An abundance of stores should be 
left with the bees during September, 
so that they can rear young bees dur- 
ing September and the early part of 
October.    Many    of our beekeepers 
make a serious mistake by taking away 
all of the stores after the honcy flow, 
so that the bees do not have food for 
raising young bees in September and 
October.   When honey is not avail- 
able for fall stores, sugar syrup should 
be provided, and is best made by add- 
ing 1 part of water to 2 parts of sugar, 
by weight.    Heat the mixture until 
the water just begins to boil.   If the 
stores are being useed for winter, add 
a tablespoonful of tartaric acid to each 
five gallons, to prevent crystallization 
in the combs. For proper wintering, 
each colony of bees should have from 
30 to 50 pounds of good stores. 
   In 1932, it will be found worth- 
while to feed each colony ten to fif- 
teen pounds of sugar syrup about the 
first of November. Honeydew is ex- 
tremely bad this year, and serious win- 
ter losses are bound to occur if the 
bees are not taken care of. 
   Heavy winter packing is unneces- 
sary, and if the bees are to be left 
packed in the spring, four inches of 
packing is much more desirable than 
6 to 10 inch:s. Hives that are heav- 
ily insulated with from 6 to 10 inches 
of packing during the spring brood 
rearing period tend to act as refriger- 
ators  and   may   materially  prevent 
rapid brood rearing. 
   A practice that has been found very 
desirable in the University Apiary is 
 
 
that of feeding every colony of bees 
water during the spring period.       It 
will be found that each colony will 
take down from 2 to 6 gallons of 
water between April 1 and May 30. 
Observations in the University      Bee 
Yard also show that colonies that do 
not have water in the hive send out 
a greater number of bees than those 
that are provided with water, and the 
spring losses of field bees may be re- 
duced by feeding    water within    the 
hive.   An ordinary friction top pail 
with a few small holes in the lid will 
serve as a feeder, and can be set over 
the center opening on a honey board. 
    A good wind break is the most de- 
 sirable protection for bees packed out 
 of doors during the winter, for all col- 
 nies, whether packed    or not, after 
 they are set out in the spring. 
    In addition  to  an  abundance   of 
 stores, room, or space for brood rear- 
 ing, is cssential. Where colonies of 
 bees are packed out of doors in two 
 'hive bodies, this amount of space will 
 usually be sufficient until the first of 
 June. But packing during the month 
 of May is not desirable, as it has the 
 effect of  keeping   the  colony   too 
 warm, and is likely to cause swarm- 
 ing.  For those bees that are packed 
 in the bee cellar in one hive body, an 
 additional hive body containing some 
 stores, if possible, should be added 
 about the first of May or whenever a 
 colony of bees contains six frames of 
 brood.   It is not necessary that every 
 frame be full of brood, but if six 
..frames contain any amount of brood, 
the extra hive body should be added. 
If the bees are properly attended in the 
spring, this will usually happen about 
the first of May. This is the most im- 
portant detail for the prevention of 
swarming, and    no   beekeeper should 
ever permit his bees to swarm if he 
can help it, even though h. may wish 
to   secure additional colonies.  It is 
much better to keep    the bees from 
 
 
Page 72 
 
 
WISCONSIN BEEKEEPING, 
 
 
September, 1932