Do not fail to supersede impotent queens. Between basswood and fall
bloom it may pay to feed sparingly. Give plenty of room for queen and
workers as fall storing commences.
SEPTEMBER.
Remove all surplus boxes and frames as soon as storing ceases, which
usually occurs about the middle of this month; feed sparingly till the
first of October. If robbing occurs, contract the entrance of the hive
robbed. If it is desired to feed honey or sugar for winter, it should
be done the last of this month.
OCTOBER.
Prepare colonies for winter. See that all have at least thirty pounds,
by weight, of good, capped honey, and that all are strong in bees.
Contract the chamber, by using division board, and cover well with the
quilt. Be sure that one or two central frames of comb contain many
empty cells, and that all have a central hole through which the bees
can pass.
NOVEMBER.
Before the cold days come, remove the bees to the cellar or depository,
or pack about those left out on the summer stands.
DECEMBER.
Now is the time to make hives, honey-boxes, &c., for the coming year.
Also labels for hives. These may just contain the name of the colony,
in which case the full record will be kept in a book; or the label may
be made to contain a full register as to time of formation, age of
queen, &c., &c. Slates are also used for the same purpose.
I know from experience that any who heed all of the above may succeed
in bee-keeping,--may win a double success:--Receive pleasure and make
money. I feel sure that many experienced apiarists will find advice
that it may pay to follow. It is probable that errors abound, and
certain that much remains unsaid, for of all apiarists it is true that
what they do not know is greatly in excess of what they do know.
AXIOMS.
The following axioms, given by Mr. Langstroth, are just as true to-day
as they were when written by that noted author:
There are a few _first principles_ in bee-keeping which ought to be as
familiar to the Apiarist as the letters of the alphabet.
First. Bees gorged with honey never volunteer an attack.
Second. Bees may always be made peaceable by inducing them to accept of
liquid sweets.
Third. Bees, when frightened by smoke or by drumming on their hives,
fill themselves with honey and lose all disposition to sting, unless
they are hurt.
Fourth. Bees dislike any _quick_ movements about their hives,
especially any motion which _jars_ their combs.
Fifth. In districts where forage is abundant only for a short period,
the largest yield of honey will be secured by a _very_ moderate
increase of stocks.
Sixth. A moderate increase of colonies in any one season, will, in
the long run, prove to be the easiest, safest, and cheapest mode of
managing bees.
Seventh. Queenless colonies, unless supplied with a queen, will
inevitably dwindle away, or be destroyed by the bee-moth, or by
robber-bees.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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