THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST AND BEEKEEPER

DURING the last few seasons I have often
been asked about buying bees by the
pound from the South, and I cannot do
better than relate my own experience  In the
spring of 1917, as an experiment, I ordered fifty
2-lb. packages of bees from a southern breeder,
to be delivered May 1st. Owing to unfavorable
conditions in the South that spring, the bees did
not reach me till the latter part of May. Most
of the packages arrived in good condition, but in
some from one-half to one-third of the bees were
dead. Six days after transferring the combs, I
made an examination for queens,. and after
uniting one or two and giving queens from my
own yard to some that were queenless, I had
thirty-four small swarms out of the fifty bought,
which cost me about $6.00 a swarm, as the

An auto that does splendid service in the
apiary. Mr. Eric Hutchinson's car with a four-
wheeled trailer attached with a load of 2,000
ten-lb. pails.
7
shipper did not make good the loss. In 191r
these bees did not produce enough of honey to
winter stores, although the surplus taken from
their supers would about pay for the sugar fed
for winter.    The 1st of September I increased
the number by dividing into fifty-three colonies
of good strength. In the season of 1918, two of
these colonies developed paralysis, not the dis-
appearing disease. After re-queening and giving
some sealed brood to each, the disease dis-
appeared. This yard's location I consider my
best for honey, but last year I was sadly dis-
appointed as to the yield there.; so much so that
I re-queened every colony with queens of my
own rearing, as these southern bees were not
hardy enough to stand up against our cold spring
weather ; and one bad trait that I noticed, they
kept breeding or rearing brood long after the
first severe frosts in the fall, consuming the
honey they should have kept for winter. Judging
from my own experience with southern bees in
packages, I have come to this conclusion : I can
raise bees a good deal cheaper than I can buy
them, and have bees that have already proven
hardy enough for our climate. I believe that,
take it on the average, it is easier, handier and
more profitable to make increase by dividing our
colonies.
This is one plan that I have used successfully,
by good management and using sheltered loca-
tions. I build up the colonies in the spring, and
as soon as they are strong enough I give to those
that are ready a full super of selected worker
combs containing pollen, and about 15 lbs. of
honey. Then I might say that I find it more
profitable to keep over odds and ends of fall
honey and use it in this way in the spring. I
leave this honey at the out-yards, frequently
from 500 to 1,000 lbs at sonie yards. When
taking off the supers in the fall, the best combs
are exchanged for light ones in the brood nest ;
the rest are sorted over. All combs containing
honey are placed in suners and piled seven or

eight high. The dry comb supers are piled one
at each end of the row, and the whole securely
stapled and braced. Then I go over the piles
very carefully to see that all cracks are plugged,
so that no robbing bees will find an entrance.
Honey stored in this way outdoors will keep
in fine condition for early spring feeding, as it
will not granulate, ferment, or sour, and it saves
the trouble of transporting feed over almost
impassable roads in the spring. It is also one of
the easiest and most profitable ways to stimulate
and care for bees that are short of stores at this
season, and it also enables a man to care for
colonies by the hundred.
As soon as these supers of honey and pollen
are given to strong colonies they take possession
at once, re-arranging the honey and form their
extended brood! nest, and I frequently have
colonies with twelve to fifteen frames of brood a
month before clover starts to yield in this
locality. I then give them another super of
drawn combs and honey, if I have any on hand
and if I want increase I prepare it in this way
I fill a super less one comb in the centre, and
give the queen two brood chambers, placing the
super of brood over an. excluder. I then have
the colony in this way : The queen occupies two
brood chambers ; over the excluder are eight
frames of brood in all stages of development in a
nine-frame hive, which leaves one comb space
for a bar or two of grafted cells. These cell
bars are placed in a frame, and given to the bees
for a day to work over. It also gives them time
to realize that thty are queenless in the super.
The next day I do the grafting in the usual way,
except that at this time of *the year I nearly
always graft the first bars without the use of
royal jelly, as about the only place it can be
found is in a superceding colony, and besides it is
not absolutely necessary, as the bees are sure to
accept a good part of the cells, and in four days'
time I have all the jelly I require for further
grafting. In eleven days after grafting the
young queens will be fully developed in-the cells.
The brood in the super will all be sealed over
and ready for making increase. One comb- of
brood with adhering bees and a comb of honey
will make a good start. The increase should
have their hives located in pairs for uniting later.
Should some of the young queens fail to develop
into good layers, or are lost, the queen cells
should be handled carefully and .placed where
the bees are most apt to cluster near the brood,
without any cell protector or wire cloth of any
kind. I have raised thousands of queens and
for several seasons I have dispensed with most of
the paraphernalia advertised in the supply cata-
logues, as they only add to the labor and expense.
If two frames of brood are given each division
and the bees are Italian, all that will be necessary
is to fill out the hive with drawn combs or full
sheets of foundation. In an ordinary season
they will fill their hive with honey and will need
no extra feed for wintering. In a good season I
have had a division so made, give a surplus of
two hundred pounds of clover and basswood
honey, and the parent colony will be stronger
and in better shape for the honey flow than if it
had its brood nest crowded with the early
dandelion and spring honey ; but I would
caution beginners not to divide their colonies till
they are strong enough to cover the combs well.
In a three-storey hive use only brood that is
sealed for making increase, and never weaken
the parent colony lower than eight frames of
brood. Always leave the best pollen combs with
the old queen : see that they have plenty of
honey in their hives, and I am sure you will find
it more profitable to raise your own bees. Another
good plan is briefly as follows : The latter part of
July, when you are extracting your white honey,
as the combs are taken from the extractor, sort
out all combs that are heavy with pollen, and
place them in separate hive bodies. Colonies
at this time that you wish to make increase from

My Experience With Pound Packages
John A. McKinnon, St. Eugene, Ont.

The car can be made to do useful service in
the apiary. Here is a photo of Mr. Hutchin-
son's and Mr. Krouse's car with trailer attached
loaded with honey.
Beekeeping in New Brunswick
By W. R. Reek.
In January, 1918, L. T. Floyd was appointed
Provincial Apiarist. Previously it had been
generally conceded that beekeeping in New
Brunswick was a minor sideline to agri-
culture and was scarcely wortmy of much
attention. A Beekeepers' Association had
been organized but was allowed to drift
until it became useless.
Last spring Mr. Floyd set out to visit
every beekeeper that time would permit.
for instruction purposes and to incidentally
build up the association. No record of the
number of beekeepers was available, con-
sequently they had to be discovered. Up to
the end of September over four hundred
men had been visited and, In many cases,
much assistance   and  instruction  were
given in the simpler worK or caring for
bees.
The Beekeepers' Association now stands
with a membership of over one hundred.
A short course for beekeepers was ar-
ranged during the winter.

1(

March, 1919.

should have all supers taken off. Go into the
brood nest for a frame of brood and place it in
the centre of your hive containing the pollen.
combs, place an excluder over this colony, then
your super with comb of brood and empty or
pollen combs over excluder. Allow it to stand
till next morning, when the bottom hive can be
given a new location and the top box placed on
the old stand, and a young queen given. In a
buckwheat locality both colonies should fill their
hives for winter, otherwise they will need to
be fed.
The Motor Car in the Apiary
At the annual convention of the Ontario Bee-
keepers in Toronto last month, Mr. Bainaird, of
Lambeth spoke on the use of the motor car in the
apiary, and said that nothing could take the
place of the car in the apiary fo; quick service.
The following remarks by Mr. Eric Hutchinson,
of Lambeth, on the use of his car for moving bees
will be of interest to our readers' The pictures
referred to are shown on this page.
"The Ford car and a four-wheeled trailer
with pneumatic tires is about as good a way of
moving bees as one could wish for. This spring.
with the two trailers shown in the pictures, and
two Ford roadsters, we moved 56 colonies of
bees in single packing cases from Arkell to
Mount Forest, a distance of 45 miles, without
loss. It took two all-night trips, though, that
were no.fun. Later we moved about 60 colonies
in single hives a distance of 40 miles without loss.
This fall Mr. Krouse and I, with our cars and
trailers, moved a yard of about 50 colonies in
heavy packing cases from Kitchener to a place
near Guelph, a distance of about 20miles, in day-
light, without loss The weather, of course, was
cool. It is a treat moving bees by motor com-
pared to horse and wagon."

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