The Nevada County picayune. (Prescott, Ark.) 190?-current, 1918-12-26
BEES MAKE BIGGER
AND BETTER CROPS
Arkanaas Would Benefit From More
Of the Honey Producers.

by j. v. ormand. special Field Agent
"a Bew Culture. Extension Division,
gaiseasi,y Of Arkansas.
Recent Investigations show that
bees increase the fruit and cotton
crop by carrying the pollen from one
tree to another in the orchards and
cross poiienating the flowers of the
cotton plant This makes full fruit
ing more possible. according to w. J.
Bearg. State Entomologist. with the
College Of Agriculture OF the Uni~er-
sity Of Arkansas.
People throughout the state can well
afford to keep bees for the work they
do in the orchards and fields. but they
should also realize that bee keeping
is the only business in the world in
which the raw material for the manu-
featured product can be obtained with
out cost. Bees collect the nectar from
flowers and make honey, and if given
proper care and attention they will
yield a nice cash income. The outlay
necessary for supplying the proper
equipment and protection is small
Winter Protection Necessary.
Winter protection among other
things is absolutely necessary for the
best results With the ordinary meth
DDS of wintering bees. the colonies are
very much reduced, and the early
spring Is spent in strengthening them.
At the same time, the bees use up
the nectar from the flowers which
would make white honey, and conse-
Quently the surplus which most of the
Arkansas bee keepers get comes from
the later flowers, and this usually pro
duces dark honey. White honey could
easily be produced il the bees were
given proper protection during the
winter. 1t Is true that In Arkansas
bees must have winter protection. and
as a general rule they should be pack
ed before Thanksgiving, but II they
are NOT already packed 1t will pay to
do so before freezing weather. In
packing, the usual method IL to place
four hives back to back on a small
platform, upon which sides and wa
ter proof top can be fastened. Good
dry sawdust four inches underneath,
six inches on the sides and eight
inches on the top Of the hives will fur
nish ample protection.
In order to permit the bees to get in
and out of the hives. two boards nail
ed close together, but giving ample
room for the passage of bee, are
placed from the entrance of the hive
in such a way as to come in contact
with the inside of the protecting box,
thus forming a sort Of tunnel This
gives the bees a passageway through
the sawdust which is beneath and
/ above the tunnel
Openings made by boring holes on
hives enable the bees to pass from
the tunnel to the outside. A number
Of holes are thus bored. and as the
weather becomes colder. pegs are used
tc fill the holes not needed. thus elm
mating the danger of cold air drafts
circulating in the hives.
The kind of protection just describ-
ed. if made at home. will not cost
much, and will more than pay for the
| time and trouble in the increased
amount of surplus honey available
next year
Write for Bulletins on Bee Keeping.
Farmers Bulletin 1015 will give full
directions concerning the best meth
DDS for packing bees. Farmers Bull
| lct!n No. 500 will tell how to build up
strong colonies, and Farmers Bulletin
No. 447 will give directions for trans
ferring bees from the old time boxes
and logs into movable frame hives.
which are necessary if the bees are to
be properly handled.
People interested in bees should
feel free to get in touch with the writ
er at the Extension Office, University
of Arkansas, at Fayetteville.