No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 38U 



all our hvvti with such tongues we might get the many tons of red- 

 clover honey that now go to waste. 



Whether you do any measuring of tongues or not, you can keep 

 account of the amount of surplus honey you take from each colony, 

 and set it down at the time of taking from the hive, at least the 

 approximate amount. The next year you can select the best for 

 your queeu breeder, and a certain number of the next best for drone- 

 rearing. One thing, however, must be taken into consideration, and 

 tliat is whether there has been no change of queens in any of these 

 colonies. The colony that gave you the largest amount of surplus 

 last year may have snperseded its queen last fall or this spring, 

 and the young queen may have met a drone of poor stock, and from 

 this 3'ou do not wish to breed. You can count only on those colonies 

 that have made a good record and still have the same queen with 

 which they began the season last year. You must also take into 

 account any special advantages or disadvantages. If from colony 

 No. 1 you took two frames of brood in the spring to give to No. 2, 

 and you then found that No. 2 stored just a little more surplus than 

 No. 1, it would not be fair to rate No. 2 as better than No. 1. The 

 matter of swarming also comes in. A colony that has cast no swarm 

 throughout the season ought to be expected to store more surplus 

 than either the swarm or the mother colony that has swarmed — 

 generally more than both together. Nearly alw'ays, however, it 

 will be found that the bees that do the most w^ork are the least given 

 to swarming; so the swarming of a colony counts against it in making 

 out its character. 



In the ordinary course of management, where bees are left to their 

 own way, and all the increase is through natural swarming, there 

 will, of course, be the most increase from the colonies most given to 

 swarming, w^hich means that the general character of the apiary will 

 run toward swarming rather than storing. 



AN EASY WAY TO IMPROVE STOCK. 



We want, however, to have the tendency the other wav. There 

 is a way in which a good deal can be" done in the way of improve- 

 ment, even by those most unskilled in the management of bees, 

 whether the bees are in movable-frame hives or box hives. Having 

 decided which one or two or three are the best colonies you have, 

 w'atch for the first one that swarms. Suppose Nos. 1, 2 and 3 are 

 your best, and that No. 4 is the strongest of the rest, and the rest 

 follow in the order of their strength, 5, 6, etc. Suppose No. 2 

 swarms. Hive the swarm and put it on the stand of No. 2. At 

 the same time put No. 2 in place of No. 4, and put No. 4 in a new place. 

 All the field bees that were in No. 2 will join the swarm, making it 



