28. Placing Foundation in Sections

Secure a board half the thickness of a section. Cut pieces of the board the size to fit loosely in a section.

Having secured a wide hoard, lay on it a section holder from a section super with all four sections in the section holder see that the section holder is square. Now nail the pieces to fit the sections to the board inside the sections. Cut the foundation to fit the sections. Some beekeepers use a bottom starter not more than 1/2 inch long and a top piece that reaches within inch of the bottom piece. Others use only one piece of foundation reaching to within 1/8 inch of the bottom of the section.

Multiplex Foundation-Fastener.

Invented by G. S. Demuth.

The edge of the foundation is melted by a heated blade and quickly pressed against the top side of the section. If the sections are in the section holder when the foundation is fastened, the foundation will hang true when the section holder is placed in the super. Blades for fastening foundation can he purchased from bee-supply houses. Sections come in the flat and the corners should he dampened by pouring some hot water on them before they are taken from the crate. This prevents breaking them when they are folded. Devices for folding sections can be purchased from bee-supply houses.

29. Importance of excellent queens

Success with bees depends largely on having young, prolific queens. Obtain the best stock possible. It pays to have a young queen of excellent stock in the colony the first of August. The importance of this cannot be over emphasized. Young queens will keep the colony strong in bees in the fall whereas old queens will often fail. The hive needs an abundance of late-hatched bees to carry the colony through the winter, and to rear brood in the spring. Without these young bees, the colony dwindles away in the spring. Given young prolific queens, and plenty of honey to winter and rear brood in the early spring, and adequate winter protection, the bees will be ready to build up strong colonies in the spring. Keep a record of your queens and introduce better queens where needed. The size of the honey crop is largely determined by the queen. See that the brood-chamber is not honey-bound-cells all filled with honey-in the fall but has plenty of empty cells in which the queen may lay to produce late hatched bees.

30. Uniting Bees

One may wish to unite bees and reduce the number of colonies. The simplest way is to take the cover off a hive and place on it a single thickness of newspaper. Punch a few lead pencil holes through the paper. Lift the one to be united from its bottom-board and set it on the newspaper. The bees will gradually unite peaceably. In hot weather, the hive must have adequate shade or the bees will suffocate. Kill an inferior queen before uniting. If there is no difference, the bees will kill one. Late in the fall the bees may be united without the newspaper.

31. Importance of Studying and Knowing the Location

For the greatest success with bees, the importance of knowing the sources of nectar and the time of the year and the length of time the plants or trees yield nectar cannot be too strongly emphasized. It is essential to know how and when to prepare the bees for the nectar flow and how intelligently to supply them with supers to have honey in the supers finished. Some locations have both a spring and fall nectar flow. Some locations can be considerably improved by sowing sweet clover seed in waste places or by encouraging farmers to raise alsike or sweet clover. Often a crop of honey can be secured by moving bees a few miles to a better location.

The common astor, which blossoms in September in the northern tier of states.

(Gleanings, Sept. 1935, p. 556).

32. Climatic Conditions Affecting Nectar Flow

The climatic conditions at or just before the time for the nectar flow largely determines the size of the crop of honey. If there is a drouth, the white clover may not grow or blossom, and if the ground is dry, the blossoms will contain little or no nectar. Too much rain washes the nectar from the blossoms. Some springs are too cold for the bees to work when the maples and fruit trees bloom. Bees usually do well in locations with plenty of low ground where there is usually moisture in the soil and nectar in the blossoms. With plenty of moisture in the ground and with sultry nights, the bees may produce a "bumper crop."