230 



July, 1913 



American Hee Journal 



the first, in order to catch part of the 

 working force in our new colony. 



We have been able to prevent some 

 swarming by taking out two frames of 

 brood and replacing with drawn combs 

 or full sheets, giving these frames of 

 brood to colonies that have been 

 shaken for foul brood ten days pre- 

 viously. A colony treated for foul 

 breed needs encouragement as soon as 

 it is safe to give assistance, and this is 

 why we did it. 



* • » 



It Should Not Be 



One of the most disheartening things 

 to a bee-keeper is to go through the 

 country and see here and there empty 

 hives piled up ; the most populous api- 

 aries entirely wiped out with foul 

 brood, poor seasons, or poor winter- 



ing. I have known of several very nice 

 outfits of bee-keepers' supplies sold for 

 a song. In several instances as much 

 as half a carload of nice goods, little 

 used, sold at $20 to $.50. While the bee- 

 keeper who buys these outfits makes 

 the profit, this does not do credit to 

 the industry, and it is a condition that 

 need not be. There are a number of 

 localities in Colorado where outfits of 

 this kind can be picked up very cheaply, 

 although there are not so many now as 

 two or three years ago. In some other 

 places in the West bees and bee-sup- 

 plies are needed, and command fair 

 figures. If the bee-men who dispose 

 of their supplies at ridiculously low 

 ligures, would read the bee journals, 

 they would realize that they could 

 easily find a buyer for such supplies as 

 thev cannot use. 



Southern 



Beedom^ 



Conducted by Louis H. Scholl. New Braunfels. Tex. 



Making Rapid Increase 



Ordinarily, bees increase fast enough 

 by natural swarming, even within the 

 limit of one good swarm to each col- 

 ony inclined to swarm, as there are 

 always some colonies that do not 

 swarm. The desire of the experienced 

 bee-keeper is to prevent swarming, 

 rather than to allow the bees to in- 

 crease this way. If increase is desired, 

 it is made artificially, by dividing 

 strong colonies, at a time, usually after 

 the honey-flows are over, when this 

 will not interfere with honey storing. 

 Increase should be made slowly, and it 

 is not wise to more than double the 

 number of colonies in a season. The 

 stronger in bees each division is, the 

 better they will progress. 



The most common method is that of 

 forming small colonies or nuclei, by 

 taking two or more combs of hatching 

 brood, honey and adhering bees, and 

 putting these in a new hive on a new 

 stand. A ripe queen-cell should be 

 given, or, better, a laying queen, as it 

 is not advisable to permit any but very 

 strong colonies to rear queens. Be- 

 sides, the nuclei will progress more 

 rapidly if no time is lost waiting for a 

 new queen to be reared. 



A few bees shaken from three or 

 four combs from a strong colony and 

 placed in a hive supplied with two or 

 three combs of hatching brood and 

 honey, and provided with a queen or 

 ripe queen-cell, will build up to a 

 strong colony, if properly cared for. 

 They should be helped from time to 

 time by adding, to each a comb of 

 hatching brood and honey, or by feed- 

 ing them, if necessary. Properly han- 

 dled, such nuclei will not only be 

 strong enough for the winter, but may 

 gather some honey before the season 

 is over. 



When conditions are favorable and 

 there is ample time in which the colo- 

 nies may be built up for the honey har- 

 vest, all strong colonies may be divided 

 equally, and two colonies made of 

 each one. One-half the combs, bees 



and brood are placed in a new hive. 

 The remaining space is filled with 

 frames containing full sheets of foun- 

 dation. The old hive, with half the 

 combs, bees and queen, is then moved 

 to a new place in the apiary. The new 

 hive is set on the old stand and the 

 bees may rear a queen, or better, have 

 one supplied to save loss of time. 



One of the best forms of increase is 

 secured by shaking or " swarming " 

 the bees artificially. In this way the 

 number of strong colonies can be 

 easily doubled. If only one-third in- 

 crease in number is desired, most of 

 the bees from two colonies standing 

 close together may be shaken in front 

 of a new hive, placed about midway be- 

 tween the two, and the old colonies 

 removed to new stands. 



Bees may be rapidly increased by 

 dividing a strong colony into a num- 

 ber of nuclei. This is accomplished 

 by putting one comb of brood, honey 

 and bees together with a comb taken 

 from some other colony, in each of as 

 many hives as there are such combs to 

 supply them with. If possible, a caged 

 laying queen should be given to each 

 division, except the one having the 

 queen of the original colony. Other- 

 wise ripe queen-cells should be given. 



If such colonies are deprived of their 

 queen a few days previous to the divi- 

 sion, better results will be obtained, as 

 queenless bees will remain, when 

 placed on a new stand, much better. 



One of the best methods for securing 

 these results, and at the same time ex- 

 cellent queen-cells for rapid increase, 

 is to collect eight of the best combs of 

 hatching brood from a number of 

 strong colonies and place them in a lil- 

 frame hive, so that the space will be 

 left in the center of the hive for an- 

 other comb. This comb is supplied 

 from one of the best colonies in the 

 yard, from which queens are to be 

 reared. It is previously prepared by 

 placing it in the hive three days before 

 the increase is to be made, so that it 

 will be well supplied with eggs just 

 ready to hatch, and of the right age, 



when placed in a queen-cell building 



colony. 



The hive thus prepared is placed on 

 a stand of a very strong colony, which 

 latter is removed to a new stand. 

 About a quart of bees from the strong 

 colony is shaken in front of the new 

 hive, care being taken not to shake 

 the queen with them. These and the 

 field bees will make a powerful colony 

 to take care of the brood, and thus 

 supplied with hatching bees, the nu- 

 cleus is in the best condition for the 

 building of a large number of queen- 1 

 cells, in which the larvae are supplied I 

 with an abundance of royal jelly, pro- 

 duced in large quantity by the young 

 nurse-bees. This method is one of the 

 best for producing large and valuable 

 queens. 



Just before the queen-cells are ripe, 

 or ready to hatch, or about ten days 

 from the time the colony was made, as 

 many hives are prepared as there are 

 combs containing honey and brood, 

 and the entire colony is divided into 

 nine nuclei, as already described. One _ 

 of the best queen-cells, carefully cut ■ 

 from the comb containing them, is ? 

 placed on the side of each brood comb, 

 in each nucleus, by pressing a hollow 

 place with the finger and laying the ± 

 queen-cell so that its lower end will I 

 hang downward, or in the natural 

 position, and a bent wire staple is 

 stuck over the cell and through the 

 comb on either side of it to hold it in 

 position. The two combs are then 

 pushed together as closely as possible, 1 

 and the nuclei carefully carried to the ^ 

 stands they are to occupy. Care should 

 be taken to have about an equal share 

 of bees in each of the nuclei, and 

 nearly all the bees from the one re- 

 maining on the old stand may be placed 

 in the nuclei to be taken away, as the 

 bees that return will still leave the 

 strongest nucleus on the old stand. 

 The entrance to each nucleus hive 

 should be tightly filled with green 

 grass or weeds to prevent many of the 

 old bees returning to the former loca- 

 tion, and at the same time to prevent 

 robber-bees from destroying the nu- 

 cleus. 



Another excellent way, especially 

 when shallow supers are used in addi- 

 tion to the brood-nest so brood may 

 be reared above, is to slip a queen-ex- 

 cluder between the super and the 

 brood-nest of each strong colony that 

 has a sufficient amount of brood in 

 the super, taking care that the queen 

 is below. About ten days later, when 

 all the brood is sealed, these supers are 

 lifted off and carried to the new loca- 

 tion in the apiary, where a bottom- 

 board, to receive them, has already 

 been placed on a stand. The entrances 

 are then immediately closed, with green 

 grass or weeds, to prevent the bees 

 from returning to the old hive. .\t the 

 same operation a ripe queen-cell, or, 

 better, a caged laying queen is given to 

 each of these nuclei, and they build up 

 into prosperous colonies. 



The secret of the method is in ex- 

 cluding the queen from the super so 

 that there is mostly hatching brood 

 and no young larvae to starve when the 

 supers are removed. In this way, 

 much increase can be made from time 

 to time throughout the season, with- 

 out materially depriving the old colony 

 of its strength for storing honey. 



