The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-04-05
|5 arlt1 and 6arde1lA

! If colony be weak in May, il may be
weak all summer. and not strong or
quit up to normal condition until fall.
such colony is of no use Except to
Ief1,l-Ze howers) until next season.
f--St open every colony as early as
the middle of March. when the tempera-
ture IS not so low that the brood will be
chilled. and find the queen. If a colony
nave no queen, unite the colony with one
th2t has p queen. This must be done
Tor no queens are obtainable in March.
Assured that all colonies have queens,
give each colony every day a pound of
making warm syrup. Feed warm. but
not hot, and feed every colony, even if
strong.
The object of feeding is not to provide
food (unless the bees need it, but to
stimulate the queen. When the bees be-
gin to take honey Tor sugar and water)
from feeder (placed over the frames.
but under the maD the effect on the
queen is the same as bringing honey into
the hive from the fields. Immediately the
queen feels the impulse as it is called
ana increases her laying. This is the
object sought, for this reason: AS all
ready stated. unless the colonies are
strong in April or in early spring. and
make good harvest as soon as fruit
trees are in bloom they may lag behind
all summer. not catching up until the
season IS nearly over
Therefore. the object of every bee
keeper should be to fill his hives with
for early spring harvest. Now if the
queen begins her increased laying, in
consequence of the feeding. on the 18th
OF March, her eggs will produce perfect
bees. or produce what become perfect
bees. on April Is. as the time of growth
from the egg to the bee is q days. The
eggs laid on the 26th day of March will
produce the bees that come to maturity
on TIE 18th of April; and thus on. so
that by the time the trees are in bloom
each colony is crowded with bees, and
there is a large force to begin the work
of gathering the early honey.
II the bees do not have much pollen,
place rye-meal where they can get it.
Place the meal in a sheltered place, or
tie wind will scatter it; and lay sticks
thickl,r across the meal or the bees will
get so clogged with it they cannot fly.
When you open the hives to pour the
syrup into the feeders, don't be all day
about it. Do it quickly. and without any
jerky or convulsive movements, other
wise the bees may object and draw their
swords.
The bee is almost human in some re-
spects. and knows, I believe. when he is
treated well or abused. and this leads me
at this time of the year to preach a lit
tie lay sermon on interfering with
Bees l have visited apiaries where the
bees We're so interfered with that they
could accomplish very little. The be-
ginner. the novice, always does this, and
some bee-keeDers who are not novices
learn very slowly, apparently. that there
attention. No wonder that bees sting;
no wonder that the beekeeper who is
continually fussing with bees has an
eye closed occasionally. The bees stand
to frenzy by the interfering hand of their
master. send their daggers home. They
cannot be blamed-rather commended
After reading several bee books. the
novice begins his experiments, and the
bees begin TO puncture him. He pulls the
colonies apart continually in order TO
appear professional in the presence of
visitors and 10 get ideas. 1t is a good
thing to get ideas. if they are good for
anything, but there is no sense in dis
turbing whole apiary again and again
to see how the queen looks. 1t is a
good plan to have one colony to practice
on, but wrong every time TO go from hive
to hive and keep all colonies stirred up.
It Is a great mistake to suppose that
bees need constant attention. There is
nothing on the farm that requires so |
little attention as bees. When a visitor !
comes to the farm and wants to see the |
horses, COWS, sheep. swine and poultry |
he can see all without disturbing them or
interfering with their growth. but when /
the visitor asks to see a queen bee, that /
IS another matter. Tell him that the /
queen is busy laying 1900 eggs in "a
hours. and has no time to entertain yisi- !
tors.
Bees must not be neglected, but when /
z colony begins the season right, let /
that colony alone. Do as little to it as /
rue that every colony may need looking /
1t several times during the season. Give
the bees all the help they need. but do /
lot fuss over them. If you were conduct
ng factory and the machinery stopped !
every time the door was opened. you
?:ould keep the door shut. The beehive /
S a factory, and every time it is opened |
and the light let in. the machinery stops. T
The experienced beekeeper does not [
need always to open hive TO make sure !
hat all is well within. AS the beekeeper |
walks in front of the hives he can tell |
by the actions of the bees in /
and around the entrance whether the col !
1ny is in normal condition or not. If he !
sees workers falling upon the alighting-
BOARD as fast as raindrOps. bringing pol
en- and honey; if he sees the young bees
rolicking and playing tag around the
and the drones baskng in the
sunshine or buzzing lazily around-if he
sees this. the beekeeper may pass on to
he next hive. All that colony wants is
o be let alone.-George Appleton in Farm
md Fireside.