210 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



the chances are, none of the cells the 

 hunter is in quest of. So far as a 

 peep-hole is concerned, I cannot see 

 that what is hoped to be seen through 

 it will be within sight. 



It occurs to me, too, that F. H. 

 Cyrenius, of New York, has no small 

 job on hand if he is going- to hook one 

 or two supers on to a brood chamber, 

 and tilt the whole thing sufficiently to 

 enable him to hunt for and destroy all 

 the queen cells. With parting the 

 cases of the Heddon hive, as that 

 "prominent Canadian" does, there is 

 a great chance of the bulk of the queen 

 cells being exposed, but, in either case, 

 neither of these gentlemen can leave 

 the hive feeling assured that all the 

 cells have been destroyed, although 

 such no doubt was their intention. I 

 might just say, that it is not every hive 

 that will admit of tilting; as some use 

 frames with top bars short enough to 

 allow a bee-space at each end, and, in 

 such cases, the frames would slip to 

 the lower end, thereby killing many 

 bees, and they could not be got in 

 place again without opening the hive 

 from the top. 



I remember trying Mr. Cyreniu's 

 plan in 1904, on a hive of combs which 

 could not be lifted from thkir place; 

 yes, tried it more than once, when a 

 swarm had just issued from it, and 

 didn't find all of the queen cells, as 

 they swarmed and swarmed until sat- 

 isfied. 



But why all this fuss hunting for and 

 destroying queen cells when there is a 

 possibility of managing the bees so as 

 to have them do that job themselves, 

 and, if that can be accomplished, it 

 will be done far more efficiently than 

 by the hand of man, for, occasionally, 

 we overlook a queen cell even when 

 examining each comb separately. 



In the year 1903 I was short of comb 

 foundation, and, as a result, a couple 

 of colonies built their combs across the 

 frames, and couldn't be handled any 

 more than bees in an old-time box-hive. 



I purposed getting them out of those 

 hives in 1904, but didn't get my inten- 

 tion carried out; however, my plan was 

 put into execution this past summer, 

 and worked admirably, so much so 

 that it led me to do some experiment- 

 ing along the line of swarm controlling, 

 going about it in this fashion: The 

 honey boards were removed from those 

 to be treated, and a hive containing old 

 brood combs set on each of them which 

 was an inducement for a queen to lay. 

 In a couple of days I found the queen, 

 in both instances, in the upper case. 

 The comb on which the queen was 

 found was set aside until the upper 

 hive could be lifted off the one with the 

 crooked combs, the comb having the 

 queen was then replaced, a queen ex- 

 cluder placed on top of the hive and 

 said hive set on the crooked combed 

 hive stand, the latter then set on top of 

 the one containing the queen and her 

 fresh start; or, in other words, the 

 position of the two brood chambers 

 was exchanged. 



In the course of a week or ten daj's 

 this hive of crooked combs was lifted a 

 story higher, and a hive of empty ex- 

 tracting combs placed in its stead. At 

 the end of three weeks from the time 

 the queen went upstairs, the hive of 

 crooked comb was removed, the brood 

 then haying had ample time for ma- 

 turity. 



My scheme worked successfully in 

 both of those instances, and I went on 

 putting other strong colonies through 

 the same ordeal, colonies that oould be 

 opened and their condition ascv rtained. 

 It was a success on colonies which had 

 queen cells within two days >■• ng 



sealed over. As surely as the queen 

 starts to laying in the new brood 

 chamber, just so surely' will the bees 

 destroy all the queen cells regardless 

 of the ige of their larvae. 



I almost needless for me to dic- 



tat< intelligent bee:keepers .is to 



"hat jest to be done with the hive of 



r ig brood, as when once it takes 



