G'A 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Oct. 15 



Mr. Holmes' exhibit was well displayed, 

 and attracted much attention. 



The facilities for displaying the compara- 

 tive exhibits, on the contrary, were poor. 

 For instance, the comb honey was found in 

 a Lclass ice-chest, which stood in a dark cor- 

 ner of the hall. It was utterly impossible 

 lor visitors to gain any idea of the quality 

 of the honey shown. The fact that the 

 lii inagement does not provide better space 

 and more liberal premiums or a larger sched- 

 ule is declared to be preventing the bee- 

 keepers from entering their products. Yet 

 those who were ambitious enough to make 

 exhibits are to be congratulated. 



Three premiums were offered in each of 

 three classes. There were several competi- 

 tors in each of the honey classes, and but 

 one in the class calling for a " colony of bees 

 in 8 or 10 frame hive." Premiums were 

 awarded as follows: Comb honey, 10 sec- 

 tions, 1st prize, $2.00, Harry G. Sheppard, 

 Globe Village, Mass. Second prize, $1.50, 

 J. Sidney Whittermore, I^eicester, Mass. 

 Third prize, 50 cts., Harry S. Granger, West 

 Auburn, Mass. 



Extracted honey, 10 pounds in glass, first 

 prize, $2.00, Harry S. Sheppard, Globe Vil- 

 lage, Mass. Second prize, $1.00, J. Sidney 

 Whittermore, Leicester, Mass. Third prize, 

 50 cts., Harry S. Granger, West Auburn, 

 Mass. 



Colony of bees, first prize, $3.00, Harry S. 

 Granger, West Auburn, Mass. Second 

 prize, $2.00, no award. Third prize, $1.00, 

 no award. 



College Park, Md. 



SWARMING. 



Its Absolute Control, Together with the Pro- 

 duction of a Large Amount of Surplus. 



BY F. H. CYRENIUS. 



Most bee-keepers will probably agree with 

 me tliat the production of a frame of brood 

 requires a frame of honey about the same 

 thickness as the brood. Now, there are 

 times when the frame of brood seems more 

 valuable than the frame of honey, for the 

 bees from the frame of brood may bring in 

 two or more frames of honey. 



In my plan for swarm control, as in all 

 other plans, the colony is made as strong as 

 £)ossible before the harvest, usually an up- 

 per story having been added at fruit-bloom. 

 About one week before clover blooms, the 

 •queen is confined in a very shallow cham- 

 ber, :'>^4 inches high, holding frames in 

 which the combs are but 2% inches deep, 

 one sheet of Lang.'Stroth foundation just fill- 

 ing three such frames. 



When the honey-flow starts in at its 

 heiglit the queen is caged in this very shal- 

 low body, the upper stories, all the brood, 

 etc., b( ing taken away, leaving noihing but 

 this very shallow body with its caged queen. 

 Upon this body, surplus apartments enough 

 to accommodate all the bees are placed. 



The colony now has brood and a queen, 

 and is, therefore, in a normal condition. 

 From seven to ten days after caging the 

 queen, observe if cells have been started, 

 and, if the queen is to be kept, destroy such 

 cells. If a large colony were hived or 

 shaken in such a shallow brood-chamber 

 without any brood, swarming would be 

 the rule; therefore, when the brood is taken 

 away the queen should be caged and the 

 supers put on, the object of confining the 

 queen in the shallow chamber beforehand 

 being to get enough brood started to hold 

 the colony in a normal condition. 



The situation is now mastered. The 

 queen should be kept caged from two to 

 three weeks, and then allowed her liberty 

 on the shallow combs. By the time the 

 colony would be ready to swarm, the season 

 is over. If not, the queen may be caged a 

 second time, locality deciding as to the ad- 

 visibility of this. 



If the colony is run for comb honey, the 

 force will be directed to the sections. If run 

 for extracted honey, simply leave the su- 

 pers on, as many as are needed, and at ex- 

 tracting time not a cell of brood will be 

 found in the extracting-combs, and there 

 will be no danger of losing the queen. 



During the time that the queen is not 

 caged in the shallow chamber she should 

 be confined with an excluder, which should 

 be removed again when the queen is to oc- 

 cupy the original combs for the purpose of 

 filling with eggs for the subsequent flow. 

 I find it a decided advantage in my locality 

 to check egg-laying at this time. 



There is another decided advantage in 

 this system in renewing the queen. Simply 

 place a selected cell in the shallow chamber, 

 and the time required for the queen to 

 emerge and become fertilized will be just 

 about right to accomplish the best results. 

 I try to get just as many laying queens by 

 the first days of July as possible, so that 

 the hives willj be crowded with bees by Au- 

 gust 15 for our fall honey, at which time I 

 destroy all inferior queens, placing their 

 brood-combs in ui)per bodies for the surplus. 

 Just suppose there are two strong colonies 

 side by side. Destroy the poorer queen of 

 the two, and give the remaining queen the 

 brood, etc., of the colony in which the queen 

 was destroyed. 



To summarize my plan, I get my colonies 

 as strong as possible for the clover harvest, 

 then relieve them of brood-rearing, to a great 

 extent, while the bees are hard at work 

 bringing in the honey. Then I plan to get 

 as many queens laying as possible by July 

 1, and unite again for the fall harvest, leav- 

 ing the colonies in fine shape for this fall 

 flow and for the winter. This very shallow 

 chamber forms a favorable adjunct to the 

 brood-chamber if j^laced on top, and the 

 bees allowed to fill it with honey, so that it 

 forms part of the hive. Especially is this 

 true for outdoor wintering, the space under 

 the shallow frames forming the best kind 

 of passageway. 



Oswego, N. Y. 



