1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



797 



Avill be about fifty sections; in a poor year, 

 nothing: in a first-class season, one hun- 

 dred or even more. The writer started out 

 in a poor year, got two swarms and fourteen 

 sections of honey. In the spring of the 

 isecond year his three colonies were safe and 

 sound, and by a little knowledge and luck 

 he managed to avoid swarming; then he 

 was fortunate enough to pick up a stray 

 swarm that somebody had failed to keep 

 track of. The season was said to be below 

 the average, and he got from the three orig- 

 inal hives 45 lbs. of chunk honey and 267 

 sections, worth locally over ?60.00. There 

 was thus returned all the cash that had 

 been invested, and four hives were still in 

 existence. 



So far for the rosy side of the shield; and 

 now it is but fair to show the obverse. In 

 a new locality the writer bought 9 hives; in- 

 creased to 21, getting 75 lbs. of honey. It 

 was a poor season; but the winter was 

 worse, the average apiary in the locality 

 losing 60 per cent of the colonies, the 

 writer's included. The summer following 

 was a complete failure. This happened in 

 a region where, up to that date, a honey- 

 iiearih had been unknown for over a dozen 

 years. This is why it is advisable for a be- 

 ginner to limit his first season's investment 

 to about ?20.00, and make all future expan- 

 sion out of income — of course crediting the 

 bees with all honey consumed at home at 

 regular market i:)rices. 



The location of the bees in the yard is im- 

 l)ortant. First see that it is sheltered from 

 cold winds in the spring months; hence in 

 most regions it should be shielded on the 

 north by a fence, clump of shrubs, or house 

 or barn. On the other hand, in the sum- 

 mer months there must be a free circulation 

 of air all around, therefore the hive must be 

 at least six feet from the fence or building. 

 The jio.sition of the entrance is not really im- 

 portant, but it generally faces the south so 

 that the sun's rays in spring will send warm 

 air into the entrance; while as the end of the 

 hive warms up, the heat will circulate be- 

 tween the frames. When the doorway 

 faces east or west the noonday sun heats up 

 a side, warming up the comb next to it, but 

 not affecting in any way the middle frames 

 on which the bees are apt to be clustered. 



The hive must not rest on the ground, as 

 the moisture will rot the bottom-board. A 

 stand in the form of a table a foot or so high 

 looks rather well; but a couple of pieces of 

 2x4 lumber, or 4x4, laid flat on the ground, 

 will be just as good so far as utility is con- 

 cerned. 



Victoria, B. C. 



J. E. HAND'S SYSTEM OF SWARM CONTROL. 



The "Proof of the Pudding." 



BY E. R. ROOT. 



On pages 679, 692, 693, 719, and 755, the J. 

 E. Hand system of swarm control by means 

 of a switch lever and a double bottom-board 



was illustrated and described. To refresh 

 the memory of the readers we may say that 

 the scheme consists of a double- width bot- 

 tom-board large enough to take two hives 

 side by side. There is an entrance on all 

 four sides of this double bottom that can be 

 manipulated in such a way as to throw the 

 working force preparing to swarm from one 

 hive on one side of the board, to the hive 

 opposite. This trick is accomplished by the 

 simple manipulation of a switch lever or gate. 



When Mr. Hand first presented his scheme 

 to us, a year ago, it looked good. We said, 

 however, that we would like to see it in ac- 

 tual operation, and, accordin>;ly, last sum- 

 mer we availed ourselves of the opjiortunity 

 to visit his apiary at Birmingham, Ohio. 

 On the day of our call we drove over, stop- 

 ping on the way at Mr. P^'owls' apiary, pick- 

 ed up Miss Fowls, who, after our description, 

 was anxious to see the plan in actual opera- 

 tion. We tried to get a picture of her stand- 

 ing before one of the stacked-up hives, but 

 succeeded only in catching her with her 

 back to us. She had not forgotten that, a 

 couple of years ago -when we showed her 

 picture in Gleanings, a number of single 

 bee-keepers desired to correspond with her. 

 The other members of her family have been 

 "having the laugh on her" ever since. It 

 will be noticed in two of the views, pp. 795, '6, 

 that she is discussing with Mr. Hand this 

 system. She was, in fact, entirely ignorant 

 of what the camera was doing. Fortunate- 

 ly, we caught both of them in animated 

 discussion over the new system. Mr. Hand's 

 face shows plainly enough. If any of our 

 subscribers desire to "correspond" with 

 him they have our permission. 



In brief, the plan of swarm control is this: 

 When No. 1 on one side of the bottom-board 

 arrives at a swarming pitch, the upper story 

 with its extracting-combs is placed on the 

 other side of the bottom-board hereafter 

 designated as No. 2. The supers of No. 1 

 are then placed on top of No. 2 with a queen- 

 excluder between it and the extracting or 

 brood combs beneath. The switch lever is 

 shifted over, forcing all the flying bees of 

 No. 1 preparing to swarm into No. 2 in which 

 there is very little brood, a lot of honey in 

 the brood-nest, which must be carried above 

 to make room for the queen to lay in. The 

 flying bees immediately go on storing in 

 the same set of supers on which they work- 

 ed in the other hive. When this flying-bee 

 colony or No. 2 arrives somewhere near the 

 swarming-pitch, its flying bees and its su- 

 pers are switched back to the first hive; but 

 usually one shift, says Mr. Hand, is suffi- 

 cient to break up the swarming fever for the 

 entire season. The auxiliary entrances on 

 each end of the bottom-board (see page 692, 

 Nov. 1, and pages 795 and 796, this issue), 

 are used only when both of the switch- 

 lever entrances are closed against the one 

 colony. Without the auxiliary entrances 

 there would be no chance for the fresh in- 

 fusion of hatching bees to be transferred 

 over to the colony that is storing honey. 



So far Mr. Hand feels that his plan of 



