VOU LXV
INDIANAPOLIS, APRIL 28, 1910.
NO. 17
HOW   TO  BUILD   UP  TIIE   Illl-   IN
SPRING.
Bdltora  Indiana  Farmer:
At no time of the year does skillful
treatment and care of the beos yield so
great a reward as during the
spring months. A       great     mistake
is often made ln taking the bees
out of the cellar too early in the spring,
as the weather is unsettled at this time,
and a cold snap of a few days will be
very apt to cause the colony to dwindle
to almost nothing, if it does not entirely succumb. We would advocate setting them out about the time soft maples and elm trees begin to bloom. If
there are only a few hives they can all
be set out at once. Select a pleasant
day so the bees can enjoy a cleansing
flight. Bees often become badly mixed up if a great number of hives are
set out at one time, some hives getting
too many bees and others not enough.
If the bees are dUpoased to dysentery
before setting out time has actually arrived, they may, with proflt, be set out
some pleasant day for a flight and then
be placed back in the cellar towards
evening, when they will be able to endure a much longer period of confinement.
As asoon as warm weather approaches,
we go over the entire apiary and examine each hive to ascertain the condition of bees. We usually find a few
colonies where the bees are all right
but the queen is absent. This is quickly noticed by the disconcerted action ot
the bees themselves, and then, looking
further, we notice tnat no brood Is
present. Such hives we place under
other hives with free access between
them. The queenless bees will readily
unite with the colony over them and
the empty combs will be taken care of
until we have further use for them.
Usually some of them are yet well filled
with honey, which we give to colonies
that lack stores. The bottom boards
are then cUaned of the refuse, cap-
pings and dead bees, which accumulate
during the winter, and the hives art
sweetened up in general to give the
bees every opportunity of building up
strong colonies.
If you are not certain that your bees
have enough stores to last them thru,
go to the hive the first warm day that
the bees are flying, and look for sealed
honey along the top of the combs. If
you find it there, you need not look
further; but if no sealed honey is in
sight you would better lift out a comb,
and if they have not plenty, give them
a comb taken from a stronger colony
last fall, or some of those partly filled
sections that were not good enough for
market. If you cannot giw them
honey, feed a syrup made from granulated sugar. Bees cannot thrive upon scant supplies. Be sure that they
never lack stores for when stores run
low the queen will stop laying, giving
you a weak colony later on when it
should be strong. To get all colonies
in this prime condition, the beekeeper
in most years will be forced to resort
to feeding. Naturally this brings forth
the question of whether feeding is profitable or not. It pays all the time to
feed beeg to keep them from starving,
and if it pays to keep them alive, it will
pay more to keep them in good condition. For the dolony that goes thru
the season in poor condition will more
than likely prove to be a failure, as far
a* gathering honey is concerned.      To
make a proflt on every colony of bees
fed should be the object sought for.
To do this, the beekeeper will have to
exercise considerable Judgment and
will have to take into consideration the
condition of each colony. All colonies
should be fed separately by the use of
feeders, or some method suitable for
feeding within the hive. For only ln
this way can we be sure that the feed
will be placed exactly where it is needed. In this way I find feeding profitable;
therefore, I always feed when necessary. If we would achieve the best
success, we must keep the workers active, even before gathering commences,
and to do this we must feed sparingly
before the advent of bloom in the
spring. The result invariably is a
substantial increase of brood in the
hives where the colonies are fed, and,
of course, more bees and more honey
as the season advances. I am sure
that the wise apiarist will not neglect
this among the other details, the regular and faithful performance of which
means success. ^
If the colonies are weak, the best
thing to do is to unite these queenless
colonies with those having queens. To
do this uniting, I would at this time of
the year, and, as far as possible unite
with the queenless colonies and the
weaker ones having queens. The plan
I would use in this: Select a time
just after the bees have had a flight
and become quiet, if the weather is
cool, or wait till near evening, if the
weather is warm, and then carry the
colony having the queen to the stand of
the queenless one, and shake the bees
from the latter off their combs and
from ,their hive ln front of
the hive having the queen
now on their own stand.
Previous to shaking the queenless bees
off their combs, blow some smoke in at
the entrance of the one having the
queen, till they set up a loud humming,
which shows that the guards are conquered, when the hum will be interpreted as a call by the queenless bees,
which will run in immediately, and no
fighting  will  result.
Meadow View Apiary, Leonia, N.  J.
COMET'S  TAIL   WHjL  NOT  HURT.
Even if the tail of Halley's comet
should wrap itself completely around
the earth during the next few weeks,
none of the dire results predicted
seems at all plausible according to Professor George C. Comstock, director of
the Washburn Observatory at the University of Wisconsin.
"The gases which form a part of the
so-called tail are too attenuated to affect the atmosphere of the earth in
any way, and will probably not be perceived at all," says Prof. Comstock.
"The particles composing the tail are
probably too small to furnish visible
meteors.
"It now seems improbable that there
will be any method whatever of knowing that the earth is actually passing
through the tail, save by computing
afterwards that it must have done so."
C. M. L.. Frankfort. It would be
very dangerous to your bees to spi a.,
your trees with Paris green while in
bloom. The time to spray is just after
the blossoms fall, then it is well to
spray again a week or so later, and a
third and fourth spraying in July are
a great help in securing the fruit
against the curcullo.
MIXING CONCRETE.
In making concrete the mixture
should be so proportioned that each
grain of sand and gravel or stone is
covered with a thin film of cement,
and so that there is enough Band to fill
all pore space between the particles of
gravel making a solid mass. Sometimes too much cement is used to
make the strongest possible concrete,
but to a certain limit the more cement
used the stronger will be the concrete.
The materials to be used should be
free from all soil, organic matter or
other foreign matter. It will always
pay-to use the best quality of finely
ground cement. Sand, altho It may
appear clean, may often contain
enough soil to weaken the strength of
the concrete enough to make the job
worthless. This is often the case in
making concrete posts. Bank sand
and gravel generally does not contain
loam but this material washed in banks
should be tested before it is used. One
method of testing is to mix up a sample of concrete, allow it to dry, then
pound it with a hammer to test its
strength. A rough test is to gather a
double handful of wet sand and let it
run out slowly between the hands. Repeat this several times then rub the
hands gently together to remove the
sand, and then see if the hands are
sticky. If they are the sand should
not be used without washing, because
vegetable matter is present.
One method to wash sand is to place
a screen at a slope of about 30 to 45
degrees. One man shovels the sand at
the top of the screen while another
pours water on it and washes it down
to the bottom. The loam is washed
out with the water which falls thru the
screen.
There are four general mixtures.
There is a rich mixture, 1-1 %-3, that
is it contains one part cement, one and
one-half parts sand and three parts
"aggregate". Aggregate consists of
gravel, cinders, broken stone, etc. This
is used for water tight tanks and in
structures where the stress is great.
The standard mixture, 1-2-4 is the general proportion in use about the farm.
It is used in reinforced fence posts,
tanks, silos, side walks, arches,
etc. The medium mixture, 1-2%-5
used for walls, foundations, walks,
sewers and ordinary floors.
The lean mixture, 1-3-6, is used for
heavy walls or foundations and other
heavy     work. Concrete     should   be
mixed on a roomy, smooth, water-tight
platform. This platform becomes better if properly cared for, the longer it
is used. A strip should be nailed
around the edge to keep the dry material from rolling off. The material may
be measured by the use of a bottomless tray which contains any unit of
space. This tray may be filled level
full of sand, then removed, the sand
leveled, and the tray placed on top and
again filled, until the required number
of units of this material is reached.
When the materials are measured
out they should be mixed well, at least
three or four times by shoveling or
hoeing from place to place on the
platform.
The amount of water depends somewhat upon taste, or the job. A mixture about as thick as cream is best for
most purposes. In placing the concrete in forms at this thickness there is
less trouble getting it properly packed.
In any case it should be packed or
tamped well and plenty of time given
for it to dry before removing the forms.
It may be set in cold weather but
should not be mixed in such weather.
Forms should be made of green wood
to prevent warping. Pine, flr and spruce
are good woods to use. If the wood
is not green It should be soaked for a
day or two previous to using. Much
care should be taken in making the
forms solid or flrm, because the
weight of the concrete in setting may
break them and the result may be a
worthless Job. Forms may be held
together by twisting a double wire between the two sides. If the concrete
is to be plastered the forms should not
be greased, otherwise they should; in
the former case the forms should be
wet just before the concrete is put in.
Circular forms are made by laying
boards in a hexagon shape, nailing
them firmly together and then sawing
the frame out in a circular shape. Not
much skill is required in making most
forms required for general farm work,
but on large jobs experienced men
should be employed, not only to make
the forms but to properly mix the concrete. What has been said in regard
to forms may apply to covers also.
More skill is required in keeping the
covers from slipping or being forced
out of place, however. Forms as nearly water tight as possible are best.
REPLANNING    A    FARM    FOR
PROFIT.
In replanning the farm, help may be
obtained from visits to successful
farms, from farm literature, agricultural papers, state experiment stations,
the agricultural colleges, the United
States Department of Agriculture, and
from agricultural experts. The income
from the same farm can often be doubled or trebled without increased expense by adopting a system of farming
suited to the land, the locality, and
the owner.
The farm can be as successfully
planned as other businesses are, provided the plans are made to cover average conditions for a period of years.
Profitable farming results from good
farm plans comprehending every feature of the farm carefully co-ordinated
and effectually carried out.
It a nut shell, a good farm plan provides:
First. A reasonable reward for the
capital  and  labor  invested;
Second. The maintenance or Increase of soil fertility, and
Third. It must be within the comprehension and ability of the owner to
carry out.
The Department of Agriculture recently issued a bulletin on the subject
of replanning a farm for profit (Farmers' Bulletin 370) which suggests six
different farming systems for a rundown 80-acre farm in central Illinois,
with the estimated expenditures and
returns of each type. The total income of the whole farm in 1908, estimating crops at average prices, was
less than $450 per year, whereas the
estimated groass incomes from the different types of farming proposed, after deducting the cost of fertilizers or
feeding stuffs, range from $862 to $2,-
334 per year.
Is not the game worth the candle?