THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



109 



the best queens possible, for the oldest 

 cells were started under normal con- 

 ditions, while tlie younger cells are 

 abnormal; possibly, to the extent that 

 the3' mig-ht be built over the oldest 

 larvae and given but little ro.yal food. 

 One other writer has recently said 

 that a queen was no good for the rest 

 of the season after bringing a colony up 

 to the swarming point. In this I know 

 his queens are different from mine; 

 and feel sure the3' are different from 

 those kept by the m:'.sses. 



THK TRUTH IS ALWAYS THE TRUTH. 



Now, there is certainly a proper 

 place to put the old queen when shak- 

 ing a swarm; and when tlie truth has 

 been established \\.s alivays X\\& truth, 

 and becomes one of those inexorable 

 laws in Nature that cannot be reversed. 



The only way that shook-swarming 

 can be successfully followed in hand- 

 ling bees on a large scale is to adop' 

 the right plans, and then follovv them 

 with the same "fixity of purpose" that 

 the Japanese followed in their attack 

 upon Port Arthur. 



Friend Aikin writes such a readable 

 article that one is apt to be carried 

 over errors witliout seeing them; but 

 he is surely mistaken wlien he advises 

 us to provide ourselve>* with extra hives 

 so as to run our colonies two stories 

 high, except during tlie honey season. 

 I am speaking of thi.'< countrN'^ where 

 bees are kept Vjy the tiiousands of col- 

 onies, and where, after the proper 

 equalization of lnoud, not live per cent, 

 of the colonies will come up to June 



)©iiirfte More I 



lOth with more bees and brood than 

 can be contained in an eight-frame 

 hive with one super. I am always 

 highly pleased if I can arrive at the 

 above date with my eight-frame hives 

 "chock full" of bees and brood; for 

 then I know I can get results if there 

 is any honey to be had. 



I feel certain that friend Aikin has 

 not put into practice, to much extent, 

 the plans he advises in the Review, 

 American Bee Journal and Irrigation; 

 and 1 also feel certain that he has 

 not practiced shook-swarming as ex- 

 tensively as I have in the past, and 

 this is why, I cannot let his advice, as 

 to where to put the old queen, go un- 

 challenged. He admits that much 

 drone comb will be built in the brood 

 nest, but that the young queen will not 

 use it, that she will skip around to the 

 worker comb, and suggests that this 

 drone comb honey can be cut out and 

 sold as chunk honey. While all this 

 is true, I claim that more honey could 

 be sold in sections if the brood nest 

 were worker comb, and filled with 

 worker brood, as it would be with a 

 young queen. 



And where is the progressive j'oung 

 producer who has time or patience to 

 prod around a brood nest hunting 

 chunk honey. ? 



While friend Aikin's articles are 

 valuable along other lines, he has yet 

 to learn the great value of uniformity, 

 "thorough system," and the best 

 methods to practice in shook-swarm- 

 ing. 



LoNGMONT, Colo., Mar. 19, 1906. 





m 



)teiipSnii^ Ouatl°i%plairn! 



MRS. F. WILBUR FREY. 



R. HUTCHINSON, I am interested 

 i-i, < .vv voi!'- experiments 



M'*-,: 



with bees in the north will lead you a 

 race in surprises. 



