The American Apiculturist. Vol. III. No. 6, June 15, 1885: A Journal Devoted to Scientific and Practical Beekeeping — John Shaqi
The American Apiculturist. Vol. III. No. 6, June 15, 1885: A Journal Devoted to Scientific and Practical BeekeepingVarious
Science
The American Apiculturist. Vol. III. No. 6, June 15, 1885: A Journal Devoted to Scientific and Practical Beekeeping
Various
Bee culture -- Periodicals
It is a pleasure to examine the nice evenly built and conveniently
spaced rows of cells found in the queen-rearing colonies now under Mr.
Alley’s supervision. It is indeed a most interesting sight and one that
we would be pleased to share with our beekeeping friends to whom we
extend a most cordial invitation to visit us. We shall endeavor to
impart to all our visitors all the information possible regarding
queen-rearing and the general management of the apiary as conducted at
our “bee farm.” At present we have four races of bees from which we are
propagating queens, prominent among which are the orange-yellow
Italians. We confidently assert that we never saw or possessed a more
beautiful or hardy strain of pure Italian bees.
We shall run four separate apiaries situated about three miles apart in
order to keep each race strictly pure.
We have set out one hundred “prickly comfrey” plants, purchased of Mr.
Arthur Todd of Philadelphia, Pa., and shall refer to them again later in
the season. We have also sown one and a half acres of Bokhara clover for
the bees and it will pay our readers to utilize every waste spot (at
least) with either or both of the above. Increase in pasturage means
increase in surplus honey. It is now time to prepare for the coming
honey harvest and indeed in many sections of the country the surplus
boxes have been placed in the hives, or the honey extractor resorted to.
When the colonies that are to be run for section honey become populous
and begin to build white comb along the edges of the top bars, and
perhaps between the combs, it is well to place one set of sections on
the hives but they should have only the amount of surplus room that they
can utilize and other sections should be added as they are needed.
A piece of comb foundation one-half the size of the section, cut in the
shape of a triangle and attached point downward, will be a wonderful
help to the bees and prove a paying investment to the apiarist.
If some colonies seem strong but do not utilize the sections readily,
just exchange their empty sections with partially filled sets (bees and
all) from other colonies. This is a plan practised more than twenty-five
years ago by Mr. Alley and Mr. John J. Gould, formerly of Wenham. Mr. G.
was at one time one of the largest beekeepers in this State.
Mr. Pond, however, credits a beekeeper in Maine with being the
originator of this most excellent plan for inducing the bees to enter
the sections.
There is one disadvantage in connection with this practice that Mr.
Pond and others fail to give.
It often happens that when a colony at work in the sections is
disturbed, the queens will run up into the latter and in the removal may
be lost. To prevent this make as little disturbance in the transferring
as possible and smoke down, into the hive, all the bees that cluster on
the tops of the frames.
The bees removed with the sections will not quarrel with their new
neighbors.
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