798 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Dec. ir. 



swarm control is a success. Whether it will 

 continue to show up .as well in the hands of 

 others, remains to be proven. The illustra- 

 tions are a fair sample of the hives in the 

 yard manipulated on that plan. The taller 

 of the pair of hives in each case is the one 

 that has received a shift of flying bees and 

 the supers from the shorter one. The latter 

 in the mean time has been put into an im- 

 poverished condition to cause it to destroy 

 its cells and hatch out its brood. When 

 this hatched brood is of flying age it is shift- 

 ed to the other hive. If, however, the tall 

 hive is preparing to swarm, its force of field- 

 ers is shifted into the hive of the newly 

 hatched brood. The two forces of bees are 

 then ready to do business in the supers that 

 have been again transferred over. 



Mr. Hand felt that he had solved the prob- 

 lem of swarm control, and, as an evidence, 

 he pointed to the stacked-up supers on top 

 of colonies that had never swarmed. They 

 had nothing to do but fill super after super 

 with fancy comb honey. 



Some years ago, as our older readers will 

 remember, the writer tried what was known 

 as the Sibbald method of swarm control at 

 one of our outyards. This plan had the 

 same basic principle, but was not as conven- 

 ient to work. The Sibbald scheme involved 

 the idea of having the colonies arranged in 

 pairs, one very much stronger than the oth- 

 er. When the stronger colony began to 

 show evidence of its intention to swarm, it 

 was shifted over to the place occupied by 

 the weaker one, and the weaker placed on its 

 stand. The supers on the strong colony were 

 then given to the weak one. Theoretically, 

 all of the flying bees would go to the old 

 stand; the cells that were built 'n the colo- 

 ny preparing to swarm would be destroyed 

 because it would be robbed of all its flying 

 bees. But the scheme worked only partial- 

 ly. Some strains of bees would go back to 

 their old stand in spite of the change of po- 

 sition. Right here Mr. Hand makes a de- 

 cided improvement in the fact that in the 

 switch-lever bottom-board he makes this 

 absolutely impossible. After the shift of the 

 switch lever the bees go back to precisely 

 the same alighting-board that they did be- 

 fore, but they are cotnpeUed by the gate or 

 valve arrangement, so to speak, to go into 

 the other hive, whether they will or not. 

 Here they find that there are no cells start- 

 ed, very little of brood, and, as they will not 

 be likely to swarm without conditions being 

 favorable to swarming in the way of swarm- 

 ing-cells and a congested brood-nest, they 

 will go on storing in the supers. 



A feature of the arrangement is that it 

 allows the bee-keeper to use his old hives 

 and equipment, the only change necessary 

 being the switch bottom-board, which, we 

 understand, is being made the subject of a 

 patent. 



In two of the illustrations, one particular- 

 ly. Fig. •! (p. 796) , will be noticed a sliding- 

 drawer arrangement under one of the hives. 

 This is nothing more nor less than a feeder. 

 It is pulled out for the purpose of filling with 



syrup, and when once filled it is pushed back 

 as shown in Fig. 3, p. 795. The feeding- 

 trough is fitted into a shallow rim that restf> 

 under the brood-nest proper. In feeding 

 back, Mr. Hand has used this kind of feed- 

 er, because, he says, he finds it much more 

 satisfactory to place the feed beneath the 

 brood-nest rather than on top. 



It will be noticed, also, that our friend is 

 using shallow brood-chambers. While he 

 preferred these with his old system, he now 

 says that with his new system full-depth 

 bodies or Langstroth depth will give as good 

 results as the shallow brood-chambers. 



AIKEN'S HONEY-WAGON. 



BY R. C. AIKEN. 



If you do not have what you want, just 

 make it. It often takes some thinking to 

 devise short cuts; but if one never tries he 

 is not likely to find them out unless some 

 one tells him. I am decidedly in favor of 

 independent thinking, but not the kind 

 that makes one think there is nothing good 

 except what he himself devises. 



I have used my bee-wagon for a number 

 of years, and have long intended to write 

 something about it; therefore I can not be 

 accused of rushing a new and untried appa- 

 ratus before the public. It was built origi- 

 nally in 1896; but I rebuilt it a few years 

 ago, and then made an entirely new wagon 

 this past year, the box being 12 ft. long and 

 4 wide. In a bee and honey wagon it is 

 necessary to have as wide a box as will go 

 between the wheels in order to get all the 

 possible room on the floor, and this means 

 that the rear wheels must be high and the 

 front ones low, or else some other provision 

 made so that the wagon can be turned 

 around in a small space. It is very impor- 

 tant to have the box low for ease in loading 

 and unloading, and also in order that the 

 roof will not be so high above the wheels as- 

 to make the affair top heavy if enough space 

 is allow ed for a man to walk under it. 



Fig. 1 shows the floor plan of the wagon, 

 especially the circular part in front, which 

 allows the wagon to turn around in almost 

 as small a !=pace as a dray, even though it is 

 long-coupled. The wagon is equipped with 

 full i)latform si)rings with no reach or cou- 

 l)ling-pole, the springs and gear all being 

 fastened to the box as in all ordinary full- 

 platform-style spring wagons. The double- 

 tree is attached to the gear, and the pole is a 

 slip style, so that, by drawing a bolt, it can 

 be quickly removed, leaving the doubletree 

 always with the gear. This is a convenient 

 arrangement, for, when the wagon is hous- 

 ed, the pole can be removed and put in it or 

 under it. 



Fig. 2 is a front and side view showing 

 that the box is made square and full width 

 in front, though still allowing the front 

 wheels to turn under it. This cut-under 

 plan is the peculiar feature that attracts at- 

 tention everywhere I go. The curved part 



1 



