136 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



by a sudden flow of nectar from dande- 

 lion or apple, or other early blooming- 

 flowers, which the bees have stored in 

 the combs, or if we have had a light, 

 steady flow for two weeks or more (just 

 enough to keep the queen laying a good 

 smart clip) we will find six to eight 

 frames of almost solid brood. With either 

 of these two conditions existing there is 

 liable to be something doing- if we should 

 get a sharp flow of clover nectar at this 

 most critical time. 



BREED ALL THE QUEENS POSSIBLE FROM 



MOTHERS THAT SHOW THE LEAST DESIRE 



TO SWARM. 



I do not believe that we will ever see 

 the much sought after non-swarming 

 strain of bees, but I do believe that by 

 careful breeding for this particular trait 

 we can produce wonderful results in this 

 direction. 1 bred last year fifty queens 

 from a mother that has for two seasons 

 showed no desire to cast a swarm, and at 

 the same time produced 150 pounds of 

 comb honey each season, with no help 

 on my part in the way of manipulation, 

 etc. Less than 30 per cent of 85 colonies 

 in my apiary showed any desire to swarm 

 last season, and produced nearly four 

 tons of white honey; and I will here state 

 that the bees are the Carniolan— Italian 

 hybrid, said to be bad swarmers. 



EXTRACTING SUPERS A GREAT BENEFIT AT 

 BEGINNING OF SEASON. 



Herein lies, 1 believe, a solution to the 

 honey clogged brood chamber problem. 

 If our colony happens to be of just suffi- 

 cient strength to gather honey, and not 

 strong enough to build comb, the bees 

 ■will not enter boxes and draw comb on 

 foundation; but put on a super of extract- 

 ing combs, and up goes the honey out of 

 the way of the queen. 



I have known cases where bees abso- 

 lutely refused to go up, (strong colonies, 

 sometimes) that would begin operations 

 in extracting combs in 10 minutes after 

 they were in place. By the time that this 

 first super is nearly full it can be raised 

 up and sections put under if desired. 



BOTTOM VENTILATION ESSENTIAL. 



There is an old adage that 



"It's a poor rule that won't work both 

 ways." 



Let us apply it to the bees: If we can 

 force a colony to swarm by contracting 

 the entrance, why can't we go somewhat 

 in the other direction by enlarging it, and 

 produce an opposite effect ? 



I have always contended that fresh air 

 was beneficial as well as necessary for 

 bees as well as mankind. The ventilator 

 1 use is a wedge-shaped stick which can 

 be shoved under the front of hive more or 

 less as the occasion requires. 



DEQUEENING AS A LAST RESORT. 



Now, after we have exhausted all of 

 the above stunts, or, in other words, done 

 all we can to keep the family together, 

 and we discover that a colony is deter- 

 mined to swarm, there yet remains an- 

 other plan, that of dequeening, or taking 

 away the gueen; which should be done at 

 once, together with a frame of hatching 

 brood, and placed in a hive on a new stand 

 which later in season can be used for 

 mating nuclei; or, if we wish to retain the 

 queen for another season, we can add 

 combs, and build up for winter. In six 

 days we will return to the colony from 

 which we took the queen and either cut 

 out all cells and introduce a virgin queen, 

 or leave one cell and let them raise one. I 

 prefer the latter method; and if the queen 

 is not desirable she can be replaced later 

 in the season by another. 



Dr. Miller, in February, 1909, Review 

 advocated what he called the "put up" 

 plan, that of taking the queen with a 

 frame or two of brood and putting them 

 in an empty hive on top of a colony from 

 which they were taken and either return 

 the queen to said colony in ten days or in- 

 troduce a young- laying- queen. These 

 methods never were a success with m.e as 

 they invariably swarmed out. 



In concluding this article I must try and 

 impress the reader that we bee-keepers 

 in this section of New York state usually 

 get what honey we do get, as a surplus 

 in two or three weeks, and what we do 



