Arizona republican., 1918-10-08
HINTS TO BEE-kEEPERS By B. A. HadseI of Buckeye

Now is the time to prepare for next years crop of honey. The United States and her allies can utilize more honey than we can produce. Honey has a great medicinal value, being very nourishing and a splendid health re- storative. It is fine substitute for codliver oil, being so prepared by the bees that it is ready for absorption without the process of digestion.
 Every producer of the nation should realize the responsibility which rests with him. Food must be conserved and the extensive production of honey is no small item because of its nutri- tive value. We bee-keepers can do our part toward food conservation by ear nest study of the prevailing conditions of our industry.
 Although an extensive bee-keeper, my season crop promises to be rather limited this year. Several of my spe- cies have not yet been extracted and may need beeding for the winter. Some of Ae hives are already beginning to swarm. The mesquite has been fairly good this year but mesquite localities are not yet yielding any honey, the past~month. I shall be able to supply only Arizona trade this season.
 The apiaries located in the alfalfa section are especially discouraging, many thousands of acres having been ploWed up for grain and cotton. While cotton is said to yield some honey in certain sections of the country, it does not yield any here. The alfalfa that is yielding is baled as soon as it las bloomed, or fed to the dairy herds. So the bees have little material with which to work. We cannot raise queens under such conditions.
 I know of no professional bee e-keeper in Arizona who raises queens to sell. We must either raise them ourselves or send long distance for them by mail. 1t is very unsatisfactory to send for them during the summer months. lost 90 per cent of those I received by mail during July and August, due to the excessive heat of the mail sacks. But now, since the weather is cooler. have had good luck with those I have imported. I give about S75 per hun dred which is a paying investment While a queen can live four years, she is on the decline after the second year this hot climate being particularly wearing for queens. Here they breed almost continually, while in the north they are idle for about six months dur ing the winter. It also takes more honey to winter bees when flying than when they are confined by cold in the north. If not given young queens tC make them productive they double up the poor ones killing the poorest queens. Save all your good work combs | by giving them to stray colonies tC protect from moths. If placed in a tight room and sulphur burned underneath the hives it will kill the moths but not the eggs, therefore this method for de- stroylng the motha must be continued about twice a month. Formaldehydt 1 is better disinfectant as it kills the eggs also. When formaldehyde is useC 1t is placed on top and the fumes trave downward. Saving the combs is ( problem, as too many given a colony makes too much air space to keeI warm, therefore it takes more honey tC winter them.
 Don't be tempted to use all youi honey. Leave a sufficient amount to keep the bees from starving. Do no extract the honey too closely, as tn. bees may not gather any more this iall There are more bees starved here 1T the United States than die from an, other causes.
 Begin to plan for winter now Kee,
 
 melt the combs. Keep the grass, weed and brush cleaned away from tn, sheds, as bees wax and dry sheds burr very easily.
 When buying your bees, buy them il shape to produce. I have purchased several non- productive yards. findin, many of them queenless. Some of tn lids were blown off, and standing il the sun thus exposed, they had beel robbed
 Keep a lookout for foul broods. l you see doubtful case report it to r N. Benson of Palo Verde, Arizona, wh is state apiary inspector. Should thes foul broods spread into the mountain region, it would be almost impossibl to control them. This defective hone was primarily caused by a can of in tected honey being thrown in the gar bage can, by a party who had brough the honey from another state. A near by apiary got a taste of the honey am it was carried to a number of colonie before discovered. Sixteen colonle were finally burned to prevent the in lection from spreading, saving the in tdustry- from a heavy loss,