. The Bee-keepers' review. Bee culture. THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. iSi It has been urged against contraction that it results in small colonies at the end of the season. If it is carried to too great an extent, or too long continued, it certainly does. If a man wishes to turn bees into honey, contraction will enable him to accomplish his object. If colo- nies are too weak in the fall as the result of severe contraction, they must be united; but the course pursued by nearly all who practice contraction is to enlarge the brood nest again in time for the colony to build up for winter. If the localit
. The Bee-keepers' review. Bee culture. THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. iSi It has been urged against contraction that it results in small colonies at the end of the season. If it is carried to too great an extent, or too long continued, it certainly does. If a man wishes to turn bees into honey, contraction will enable him to accomplish his object. If colo- nies are too weak in the fall as the result of severe contraction, they must be united; but the course pursued by nearly all who practice contraction is to enlarge the brood nest again in time for the colony to build up for winter. If the locality is such there is a contin- uous flow through the whole season, or if the main flow conies in the fall, as is the case in many localities, it will be readily seen that little or nothintj would be gained by contracting the brood chamber of swarms. There would be time in which to fill the brood chamber and be all ready for the fall flow when it came. Bro. Root speaks aI)out the small cr()])s of honey that have been secured, that perhaps 25 or 30 pounds were the average, and that some Michigan bee-keejiers thought that they were doing well if they got 10 pounds to the colony, and he rather intimates that these are the refeults of contraction. He well knows that we have been having some very poor seasons of late, with the exception of the last year or two, and it seems scarcely fair to at- tribute them to contraction of the brood nest. I have been practicing it now for at least fifteen years. One year I got no surplus, and neither did those who did not practice contraction. By the way, I did not practice it that year, as there were no swanns to practice it on. Other years my surplus has varied from ten pounds a colony to over one hundred pounds. Per- haps the average would be about sixty pounds. Both Mr. Heddon and Mr. Taylor have practiced contraction for years; and it does not seem as though bright men like these would continue a practice that they did not find advanta- geous. B
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectbeecult, bookyear1888
