10 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



mistake supeseding for swarming-, [tell 

 us how to avoid tiiis mistake — Ed. Rk- 

 viEw] because if you shake such a 

 colony, it is sure to swarm again, and 

 you will condemn the plan and say it 

 does not prevent swarming. 



Don't shake any colonies where the 

 per cent, of hatching brood is not in 

 the right proportion to the eggs and 

 larvae; remember that many colonies 

 swarm nxturally when ihey ought not to, 

 and this is where many lose so much 

 brood that they condemn the system. 

 It is possible to have a hive full of 

 brood in which there will be very few 

 hatching bees for the next 12 to 24 hours. 

 Better cut out all cells and cups in 

 such colonies, and defer shaking until 

 the next visit. 



All colonies that are determined to 

 swarm, and in condition, are now 

 shaken into a new hive provided with 

 starters (which I much prefer to full 

 combs when working for comb honey) 

 and placed on the old stand. I hang 

 in one comb, taking care to remove 

 any queen cells that might be on it, 

 and choosing one with brood in all 

 stages, and with all its honey sealed, 

 so there will be no bulging of combs 

 during comb building. I gi"e this one 

 comb, not that I prefer to, but to estab- 

 lish a brood nest below, as comb build- 

 ing is well under way in the super, and 

 the queen might commence lajing 

 above. 



Now this young swarm is in perfect 

 condition for comb honey, and for comb 

 building, as it has all the wax workers 

 and honey gatherers of the old colony; 

 and it won't swarm, in fact, it cannot 

 leave the yard, as the queen is clipped, 

 and we need not remove the brood at 

 any other time, simply forget it, but 

 just notice what splendid work it has 

 done by the next visit ! 



WHAT TO DO WITH THK BKOOD. 



Now carry the brood to a new stand, 

 and shake another swarm the same as 

 before, and carry the brood and place 

 it on top of the other brood, not as one 



colony, but as two, and allow no queen 

 to develop in the top hive, and in 20 

 days shake the bees from the top hive 

 in witii the lower one. These twelve 

 to fifteen combs of brood will also make 

 a colony that will give a good account 

 of itself through July and August. 

 FIVE VISITS SUFFICIENT DDRING SWARM- 

 ING-TIME. 



I find it necessary in my locality to 

 make at least five visits in order to 

 cover the swarming period. I do not 

 claim that this does not take work and 

 lots of it, but three of us find it possible 

 to travel one hundred miles each week 

 and control the swarming in l(jOO col- 

 onies, and I ha^e not lost two percent, 

 from swarming-out from old colonies, 

 nor absconding from shook-swarms, 

 in the past five years. 



Of course, this plan is possible with 

 so many bees only in a climate like 

 this. 



I find by following this plan, that I 

 have from 10 to 15 per cent, increase, 

 or a little more than enough to make up 

 winter losses. Again, all colonies are 

 strong, and I don't come up to the close 

 of the season with a lot of weak col- 

 onies. Then, too, ever\' colony that is 

 in condition to make surplus honey has 

 a laying queen, and that is a decided 

 advantage over the dequeening plan; 

 as ail}' one who practices dequeening 

 while working for comb honey, must be 

 satisfied with less hone\', for no colony 

 worked for comb honey will do the 

 work that a colony will that alvva3's 

 has a laying queen. 



HURRAH FOR THE HOFFMAN FRAME ! 



And now, before I close this article 

 friend Hutchinson, I am going to give 

 you a rub; don't get mad, for / ain't, 

 and I want to say that the only way I 

 can accomplish so much bee work is 

 by having- uniformity of fixtures and 

 Hotl'man frjimes, and I defy you or 

 any one else, to come along side of m; 

 aud go thro igh as man3^ colonies, and 

 ha.ndle as many combs, as I do, with 



