having treated all his other apairies to this same cleaning
process. In this week if the weather has been fair th:e bees
may have gathered a little new honey and pollen and be rearing
brood very nicely; but on the other hand, if the week has been
cold or wet some colonies may be holding back from rearing
brood because of scarcity of stores and others may be actually
starving. On his former visit any colonies that were short of
stores were given enough to help them from some colony hav
ing a good supply. Now all except. the exceptionally strong
and well supplied colonies are fed a little syrup made from
granulated sugar and water, or dilute honey. This feeding
has a stimulating effect upon the colony and the queen. The
queen, when honey is coming in, will lay more eggs than in a
dearth of honey. This little feeding effects the queen just as
natural honey from the fields. In addition to feeding at this
second visit, the combs in the hive are so fixed as to give the
queen the greatest opportunity to lay eggs, the bees to keep the
brood warm, and to have access to pollen and honey. In this
manner once each week the bee keeper visits each apiary and
does his best to urge the bees to the greatest working strength
for the honey flow. He knows to the day almost when to ex
pect the main honey flow. To get the honey from this honey
flow all into sections in marketable shape is his great aim.
To do this his colonies must have the greatest possible field force
just when the flow begins. If he has misjudged the flow and
it cdmes before he is ready he has a lot of useless consumers
left on his hands who soon eat up what little honey was gath
ered. If he has his force ready too soon his bees have died
off without doing their work, and his honey flow is lost.
But if our friend calculated well, his colonies are running over
with bees eager for honey to gather. As the flow from which
he expects his honey begins to open,• he puts on his supers,
which have previously been brought from the home shop to the
apiaries. The large flow may last but a few weeks, and often
only a day or two. In this time his supers are filled, and as
each super nears completion it is raised and another empty
one is inserted between it and the brood chamber of the hive,