Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-04-16
Preparing For Bee
Season Hints and
Helps For Apiaris.s

| One nunuTeu tWcIlty -IiNe peeNcSP
crs Of Marshall county are making
ready for tho bee season. Sugges-
tons concerning the care of bees
and the production of honey are
timely and queries received at the
office Of the county agent relative to
| the industry are numerous. To meet
these repeated calls for informa~
ton the following suggestions are Of
fered and will prove of interest to
the bcekeeper and the man who may
be considering adoption Of the bee
business as side line.
The ten frame Langstroth hive Is
recommended. 1t is the standard
hive in America and can be manipu-
lated. efficiently to secure maximum
crops of honey.
Equippine the Hive.
In an average season % TO so per
cent more extracted honey than
comb honey can be produced per
colony. In a poor season it is pos
sible that no comb honey may be
obtained, whereas a fair crop Of eX-
tracted could have been obtained.
Swarming is more difficult to control
in como honey To obtain the best
results IN comb honey production an
extracting outfit is required.
The equipment necessary for "a
! tracted honey production Is at least
| three deep supers or five shallow SUI
pers per colony spring count, one
complete hive for each colony in
crease during summer. All deep
/ Langstroth frames and all shallow
ones that are to be used in extractor
! should be wired and given full sheets
Of foundation.
Advantages Of Full Sheets.
The advantages of full sheets OF
| foundation are the minimum amount
much time and a much greater
amount of honey stored ESTIMATED
seven twentfeths of pound honey
J required to produce one pound of
comb). f71@."
| If only two or three colonies are
kept a honey extra ctor need not be
purchased. Honey can be produced
in shallow frames fitted up with thin
super foundation 1t is profitable to
purchase a two-frame reversible eX
tractor for five to twenty-five colo
MES. If planning on running large
number of colonies a four frame eX-
tractor should be the smallest size
considered.
Uncappine Knives and Cans.
If plain knife is used it is pref
cradle to have two. These can be
used alternately, one being in boil
ing water while uncapping comb
with the other
For five or six colonies, a clean
hive body with wire cloth tackled on
| its bottom stood over a galvanized
wash boiler to catch the honey as 1t
runs thru cloth, can be used. A strip
OF wood should be laid across the
| hive to support the comb while I'M
Gaping it. For a large number of
colonies a special unca pp'ng can may
have to be used. For 100 or more
colonies many producers use heat
ed can which mclts capp'ngs as the,
drc p on its surface Care IS requir
ed to prevent honey from being dark
ened by too much heat.
Comb Honey Not Recommended.
Comb honey Is not recommended
for a beginner. It requires more
skillful management than extracted
honey production to get best results
The bees do not work nearly so free
~ in sections as they do in frames
For beginners it is preferable to use
shallow frames fitted with thin SUI
per foundations and then cut out the
| finished comb for table purposes.
Comb honey producers can change
comb honey suDers to extracted hon
ey supers with but little loss either
! by fixing two comb honey supers to-
gethcr. with hive staples and usins
deep frames or by taclsing on col
lar of the regular depth to the bot
tom Of each super so that shallow
frames may be used.
Bee Smoker and Fuel.
A good bee smoker Is absolutely
necessary for one or more colonies
Mt almost any time during the year
when bees are being manipulated.
| The smoker should give a dense
cool white smoke. Fuel should be
obtained during the winter. Good fu-
els are gunny sacks cut into strips
and rolled up Just large enough to
AT into fire-box Of smoker; oily
waste; planer shavings; cedar bark
cut into small strips. and rotten
wood. l..
A veil or two should always be on
hand.
A hive tool is very essential for
practically every manipulation made
in an apiary. 1t can be purchased or
made at home. Almost indispensable
to the beekeeper Is the bee brush,
which Is especially useful when re-
moving honey or TRANSFERRING bees.