Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-18
FACTS ABOUT KEEPING
BEES IN THE GARDEN

Two colonies of bees will, in a good sea-
son. yield from 80 to $50 pounds of
comb honey, quite enough to supply the
average family. 4 colony of bees costs
about $40 and often will pay for itself
the first summer Neither poultry nor
squads, no. nor cows, will give as large
returns on the same amount of money
as bees. This applies only in small
way. however. Natural conditions, such
as limited pasturage, make 1t impossible
in most sections to keep enough bees to
make the business satisfactorily profitable
from a commercial point of view.
Two or three hives of bees in corner
of the garden will not require five hours
work in the whole season. When the In
sects are purchased they come in the
hives which they are to occupy, as a rule,
though this may not be the case If they
are shipped from distance. They are
provided with queen and are ready for
business at once. They need only be
given a sheltered spot facing the south.
with the hive raised few inches from
the ground on blocks or a cracker box
A modern hive is simple, yet very in
teresting. A box with movable top and
bottom is filled with long frames contain
ing honeycomb. Some hives have ten
frames and some eight; the novice is ad-
yised to order the ten-frame size. Each
frame may be handled alone. and one or
all may be taken from the hive when
covered with bees. This makes 1t an easy
matter to locate the queen, which is
easily identified by her long, slim body.
quite different in appearance from either
the drones or the worker bees. Without
a queen colony of bees dwindles away,
for worker bees live only seven or eight
weeks in summer and unless new beeS
are constantly appearing the population
of sixty or seventy thousand can not long
be maintained. AS d queen becomes less
prolific after two or three years, she
should then be replaced. The colony VIII
rear a new queen in spring or summer
under favorable conditions, but amateurs
often find it an advantage. to buy good
queens from reliable breeders.
1t is not uncommon for a queen TO Ia!
her own weight of eggs day. passing
with great rapidity from one cell 10 an
other. It thus comes about that much OF
the comb is soon filled with eggs brood
and Matching bees, the rest being USED
for storing honey.
The beekeeper does not feel he is en-
titled to any honey until the bees nave
provided for their needs by filling these
combs. When that has been accomplished
he sets another box termed super on
the hive This box is filled with the
square sections seen in the stores hoidinS
the honey i'll the comb. If nectar Is
plentiful, the bees at once swarm up
into the super and fill these sections.
In a good season it may De necessary
to pile one section on another TO pFoVlde
for the honey flow.
Removing the honey is very simple
matter. a board with a bee escape in
the middle is slipped between the hive
body and the super" One by one the
bees go down, but are unable to return.
Within a few hours the super is empty
of the buzzing insects. and may be taken
to the house with it's load of sweets. But
1t must not be placed in room with an
open window, or the bees may come ~
and carry the honey all back TO the hiVe;
When "A hive is crowded the queen ana
most of the old bees vacate 1t ana seek
Il new home leaving the bees Which re-
main to rear a new queen. This swarm
Ing may often be prevented by putting
on the super early and in other ways
beekeepers learn about SWarmlng IS
nothing to get excited about, and there
is no reason for banging OF tin pans and
throwing dirt into the air. The bees seem
to consider swarming lark; they sell
dom sting at that time. Usually tney
allSht on tree close by, anu an
empty hive is placed under them, with
sheet spread in front or the entrance,
they will quietly take up their ABODE IN
the hive after being shaken from the
tree OH to the sheet
People are afraid of bees because they
sting. The Italian bees now In common
use are much gentler than the old-timc
black bees, and if a veil and gloves are
worn and a bee smoker Kept AT mana,
the amateur need have little Tear IN
fact, he viii come to ENJOY WORKING
with the bees.