The National tribune., 1892-07-28
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers
HOW TO PROCURE LARGE RETURNS FROM

HOW TO PROCURE LARGE RETURNS FROM
SINGLE COLONIES.
Several years ago I secured $50 pounds Of
honey from one colony of bees. and reported
the same to several different papers especially
those devoted to bee culture. This con-
sidered large yield at that time and is still
so considered by those who have not kept
posted along the lines of large yields since then
yet many of our best beekeepers believe that
it is possible to obtain 1000 pounds from sim
gle colony; in fact. nearly or quite that amount
has been reported by two individuals. while re-
ports of 600 pounds or more nave been quite
frequent. However. some skeptical on
this point of large yields, believing that
they are more fallacious that otherwise,
perhaps q few words in The American Farmer
regarding how it is done will not be amiss
In the Spring of the year above alluded to- /
selected an ordinary colony of bees and set it
apart for extracted honey. This colony was
no better than nethird of my apiary would
average, and was not helped III the least from
any other colony. / built them up "a fast as pos
sible by the plan usually known as Spreading
OF BROOD being very careful that / did not 90
too fast in the very early part of the season.
for at this time there is danger of chilling
much blood by this process, unless much care
is used. By the time apple trees were in bloom,
the queen had brood in II frames, and from
that source extracted 16l pounds. few days
after this. the IL frames, bees and all were set
into hive four feet long, and division board
placed at the rear of the combs. Once week
two more empty combs were inserted in the
center Of the brood nest until the hive cOR-
tanned 20 combs we'll filed with brood As
white clover was now yielding honey the
hive was filled out with frames of empty combs,
which numbered 81. / did not pect that the
queen would occupy any Of these last II combs,
but in this | was mistaken. for before white
clover was through yielding honey, | found
brood in every one of the % combs, which, if
placed compactly together was fully equal to
Is frames full of brood. Each frame gave 100
square inches, and each square inch gives 80
worker bees; hence there were 5000 bees to
hatch out of these frames every 81 days, or
$4,000 from the 10 frames. The average life of
the worker bee, in the working season, is 45
days; hence it will be seen that the queen can
place two and one-seventh generations of bees
on the stage of action, to where one generation
dies off. Two and one-seventlI times 10 900
equals 10000, as the number of bees in that
hive during Eastwood bloom. 1t was sight
worth behoding when they were inst starting
out for the field in the morning, for they wOnld
rush out like an army, and then, later the en-
trance would be one living mass surging to and
fro From clover they gave 156 pounds; from
Eastwood 1911; and from buck wileat 16 pounds,
making 500 in all.
Now, suppOsing that instead of securing this
large amount of bees in one hive had paid no
attention TO them, but had left the bees TO take
care of themselves. as the most of the doubling
ones do, what would | have had2 The queen
would have only laid moderately so that by
the time the white clover had begun to yield
honey they would have had only about from
%. 900 to 10000 bees. At about this time the
bees would have swarmed, thus dividing their
numbers, while there would have been 10 lay
ing queen in the hive from which the swarm
issued to lay eggs for the Eastwood and buck
wheat workers for nearly or quite three weeks.
Besides this, there would, in all probability,
have issued one or more after-swarms, TINS di-
viding the bees still more, and defeating the
prospect OF any honey at all from the old
colony; so that were we to call 10000 bees an
ordinary colony, as kept by the majority of
bee-keepers we would not be far out of the
way. This would give but about II pounds
per colony had my bees been divided up in
that way; SO that, in reality, what would be
considered by many big story, when brought
down in this way to its proportion according to
the number Of bees there were in the hive, is
nothing very great after ali for no one would
call II pounds of extracted honey per colony
In good season an exaggerated report. The
main point that many OF us should learn is,
that it is bees which gather honey, not the
number of hives which we have standing in
the yard. A large colony of bees will do more
in proportion than will a small one and this has
very much to do with our working for strong
colonies. The outside elements do not have
that chilling effect on the hive of a popuous
colony that they do al a hive with few bees
in il. Thus more bees 90 to the field. and all
work to better advantage. The main secret
in securing large yield of honey is to get
plenty of bees just at the right time to take
advantage of the honey harvest. If gotten too
Y fhaU of 1a tOO loft thau
only become consumers instead of producers.
Where any person thoroughly understands
their locality and works so as to have plenty |
of bees at the time the honey producing flowers
open, they will have no cause to complain of
their yield if these flowers secrete honey. On |
this one thing depends our success more largely
than anything else connected with the
apiary.-G. Dr. Dootittle, IN American Farmer.
NOTES.
firm of grain merchants in Chicago sends
out the following:
" Last year Iowa produced over one-sixth of |
the entire crop of 1000, OOOO 900 bushels. Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and |
Nebraska produced OILS 627, 900 bushels 1t is |
estimated that these States will |
not raise over three fourths as much this sea- |
son. The other Nothern States will also fall |
short considerably. but it is believed that the |
Southern States, where the crop is generally |
fine and where q decreased acreage of Is per |
cent. in cotton has largely gone into corn will |
make good the deficiency. The old slave hold |
ing States produced last year 541 ,000, 900 BUSH
els, or more than one-quarter of the crop. |
Kentucky produced more than Michigan, Wis |
consiu. and Minnesota combined so did Ten |
nessee. Each of the States of Virginia, North |
Carolina, Georgia. and Alabama raised more |
than any of the three Northern States men- |
toned. Mississippi produced about the same as
Wisconsin. Arkansas raised one-third more
than Michigan, and Texas raised 60 per cent.
more than Arkansas. This year it is believed |
Texas will raise l25, 600, 900 bushels. Admitting
a reduced yield of one-fourth of the seven
great corn States, and an increase in the South
ern equal to the deficiency in the remaining
Northern States, there would be a crop of
l 73l 900 600 bushels, against an average for the
last 10 yaers of ST. 767 900 600 bushels, or short