532 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Aug-. 22, 1901. 



I Contributed Articles. 



Making Swarms— How It is Done. 



BY DR. E. GALLUP. 



ON page 478, is au extract on " Close Imitation of Nat- 

 ural Swarming-," by G. M. Doolittle. A Langstroth- 

 Simplicity hive makes a very convenient box with the 

 entrance closed, and a board nailed on the bottom, for a 

 clustering-box. You can set up the box open side outward, 

 as he says, and shake the bees from the combs directly into 

 the box, instead of waiting for them to run in, as in hiving. 

 They will begin to cluster at the top end of the box at once. 

 If you have two or more swarms come out at one time and 

 cluster together, or you have after or second swarms with 

 more queens than one, and you wish to separate them, shake 

 them into the clustering-box and let them stav for half or 

 three-quarters of an hour, and the bees will ball the surplus 

 queens, and roll down to the lower edge of the box, and you 

 can cage them and then measure out the bees with a tin 

 dipper, pour them down in front of the hives, and let them 

 run in, the same as hiving a natural swarm. 



I once caged eight virgin queens from one after-swarm, 

 and saved them all. They are naturally reared, and usually 

 good ones. In that case the bees hunt out the surplus 

 queens for you. Sometimes they ball every queen, but not 

 usually. It is an easy matter to tell whether every division 

 you make has a queen, by the actions of the bees. Bees in 

 a clustering-box, or hived on empty frames without a queen, 

 will very soon manifest uneasiness, and begin to run about, 

 etc. But if they have a queen they remain quiet. They 

 will accept any strange queen — even virgins will be 

 accepted, or a queen-cell, or a frame of brood containing 

 eggs and unsealed larvs. 



Four years ago I had an observation hive in the wood- 

 house, and the bees were passingout and in through a knot- 

 hole. One of the boys wanted to see bees flying out and in 

 through that knot-hole, so I went to work. I set up my 

 clustering-box in the shade, went to a populous colony, 

 carefully took out a frame of brood and adhering bees, 

 shook the bees into the clustering-box, and as the bees were 

 gathering nectar rapidly there was enough shaken on the 

 bees and in the box to cause them to gorge themselves com- 

 pletely. I placed the comb back in the hive and closed it ; 

 I had not disturbed the old colony, either with smoke or 

 drumming, so they went right along with their labor as 

 usual. I went to four different colonies and took the bees 

 from one comb, each in the same manner. I had my smoker 

 on hand in case I needed it, but I did not have to use it. I 

 was careful not to get ttie queen from any hive. I took a 

 frame of brood from twodifferent hives, inserting an empty 

 frame in their places. It was in the middle of the day, so 

 the old bees were nearly all in the field. 



I placed the two combs with the adhering bees in a hive, 

 and hived the cluster, and placed them in the wood-house, 

 and now the boys have the satisfaction of seeing how the 

 loaded bees throw themselves into that knot-hole instead of 

 alighting on the outside and crawling in. as one would nat- 

 urally suppose they would. The two boys take a great in- 

 terest in the bees, so I am giving them lessons by actual 

 demonstration. 



One can make nuclei for queen-fertilizing or introduc- 

 ing at any time, in the above manner. If there is no un- 

 sealed nectar to shake out with the bees, sprinkle them with 

 diluted honey or melted sugar of the right consistency, so 

 the)' will fill themselves. Be careful not to excite rotibers 

 at any time when the bees are not gathering freel)'. If 

 there is danger, go through the operation just at night. I 

 learned all those kinks of making swarms, nuclei, introduc- 

 ing queens, etc., in old box-hive times, from my old friend 

 Wellhausen, years ago. It takes all the fight out of a bee 

 when gorged with sweet, and shaking them into a cluster- 

 ing-box and letting them stand awhile. They can then be 

 hived and placed where we want them. They are to all in- 

 tents like a natural swarm. One can take a pint of bees, 

 more or less, from a populous colony, and. for that matter, 

 from a dozen colonies, mix them all up in a clustering-box. 

 and make a good swarm without perceptibly weakening the 

 old colonies, and you get bees of all ages, the same as in 

 natural swarming; and I have always thought that it makes 

 them work with an extra vim. 



I have occasionally received a queen from some friend, 

 and have no colony that I wanted to introduce her to. So I 

 would make a swarm for her from several different colonies. 

 As soon as the bees manifest their queenlessness, hive them 

 and let the queen run in with them, and the job is done. 



In introducing a virgin, hive them on empty frames, 

 and let them stand for a few hours, say over night, before 

 giving them a frame of brood and honey. For I always 

 like to " set them up in housekeeping," as sometimes they 

 are not satisfied and will start queen-cells if given eggs and 

 larva? at once. When we hive a swarm, sometimes the 

 weather turns bad for a few days, and then they need honey 

 in the hive, or ought to be fed. 



I have moved my bees at times from one position to 

 another by shaking and brushing them from their combs 

 into a clustering-box, moved the hive to the new stand, and 

 then after letting them stand awhile run them into the hive, 

 and they are moved. Orange Co., Calif. 



Itaiianiilng Coienies of Biacii Bees. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A CORRESPONDENT writes thus: "I am a beginner in bee-keep- 

 ing and wish to know how I can best raanag-e to Italianize ten or 

 twelve colonies of black bees, with the view of being least liable 

 to go wrong. I am taking the American Bee Journal and am so 

 captivated with it that I read each number over and over before I file 

 it away for binding. And so I should like to have you answer through 

 that paper, and then I shall have your answer where it will not get lost." 



Well, your last thought is one not often hinted at, and 

 I must confess it is a good one, where bee-papers are prop- 

 erly filed away for future reference. I have mine so filed, 

 and there are few things in the back volumes of these 

 papers, which are of practical value to the apiarist, but 

 what I can turn to them in a very short time. If more of our 

 bee-keeper^ realized the value of the back numbers of the 

 bee-paper they are taking, there would be more wisdom in 

 our ranks than is often manifested, and less bee-papers 

 found among the bundles the " paper-rags-buyer " carries 

 off after visiting their homes. 



But to the question : The Italianizing of your apiary 

 depends upon whether you are desirous of doing all the 

 work yourself, and thus learning all the little kinks of 

 queen-rearing, or whether you simply wish to have all of 

 your bees of the Italian variety as speedily as possible, 

 with no further attention being paid to the matter. If the 

 latter, then I would advise buying untested queens of some 

 reliable dealer ; learn through him how to introduce them 

 safely, and when introduced successfully you will have 

 solved the matter. 



If, on the other hand, you would like to know some- 

 thing of queen-rearing yourself, (and no bee-keeper is fully 

 a competent bee-keeper until he is perfectly familiar with 

 this part of the work), then buy a queen of tvro different 

 queen-breeders, each one being good enough to stock an 

 apiary with, and rear queens from one and drones from the 

 other. Keep down all black drones by using only worker- 

 combs in the brood-chambers of the black colonies, except 

 a little piece three or four inches square in one comb, keep- 

 ing that comb in a certain position in each hive, so that 

 once every three weeks you can take these combs from the 

 hives and shave the heads from the nearly mature drones. 



Then if you paint that portion of the top-bar red, right 

 over where the drone-comb is, you can at once tell where 

 this comb is, should the frame get misplaced, from any 

 reason, and if you have this comb near the top-bar to the 

 frame, and keep the frame next to the side of the hive, you 

 will rarely have to decapitate the drones more than twice 

 any season, for it is natural for the bees to store honey at 

 the top of the outside frames, and as soon as honey is 

 stored in the comb, that ends the drones for'that year. In 

 this way VOK will have no black drones, and if your neigh- 

 bors do not keep bees, and there are no colonies of black 

 bees in the timber in any woods not nearer than four miles 

 of you, you will have little difficulty in having the major- 

 ity of your queens purely mated, after which your apiary 

 will keep Italian, no matter whether you increase to 1,000 

 colonies, or allow them to remain at their present number. 



But should there be black and hybrid drones in your 

 neighborhood, do not become discouraged, for your young 

 queens would give, practically speaking, pure Italian 

 drones, so that the next year the most of your queens will 

 mate with these, when, by selection after you have seen 

 the progeny, you can soon have tlie apiary stocked with 

 none but Italians. 



By adopting this plan of rearing your own queens you 



