1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



313 



KARLY SWAKMS. 



Question.— I am desirous of securing early 

 swarms. Would there be again or loss along 

 this line by putting on surplus cases of sections? 



Ansiocr.—lt might be safe to say that, tak- 

 ing early swarms into consideration, there 

 would be a disadvantage or tendency toward a 

 few days' delay, if the surplus arrangement is 

 put upon the hive before the bees swarm. Heat 

 is one of the elements in forcing early swarms; 

 hence, by putting on the surplus arrangement 

 before the hive is crowded with bees, much 

 of the heat from the colony will be distributed 

 up among the sections, which would retard 

 swarming, as it also does brood-rearing. If 

 early swarms are what we must have, even if 

 we have to sacrifice other values, then it is best 

 to keep the top of the hive as close as possible, 

 and stimulate the bees by feeding them or 

 otherwise. Later on, when the hive becomes 

 crowded with bees, and preparations for 

 swarming begun, the placing-on of sections 

 may not delay it. But if we count surplus 

 honey a gain, then I can conceive where there 

 would be a gain in putting on sections as soon 

 as our main honey-harvest opened, as it is often 

 the case that, with all our crowding and de- 

 siring early swarms, the bees will obstinately 

 refuse to swarm, when we not only fail to ac- 

 complish what we are after, but lose a part or 

 all of the honey crop we might have had if we 

 had put on the sections at the proper time. I 

 verily believe, that, during the past, when con- 

 ducting experiments along Ibis line, I have sus- 

 tained more loss by trying to force swarms by 

 crowding the bees than by giving them too 

 much room. Hence my advice of late years 

 has been to place the section'* on the hives at 

 the proper time, no matter whether swarming 

 is desired or otherwise, resting assured that, 

 with the majority of bee-keepers, moi'e swarms 

 will issue, when doing our best to secure a good 

 crop of section honey, than we could expect 

 under any conditions, and fully enough to sat 

 isfy any reasonable person. 



WHEN TO PUT ON SECTIONS. 



Qiiestion.~\Yhen is the proper time to put on 

 sections for surplus ? 



Ansioer. — Xo set time as to month or day can 

 be given for putting on sections in any locality, 

 as all depends on the strength of colony and the 

 time of the opening of the blossoms which give 

 us our main honey crop, both of which are ad- 

 vanced or retarded in accord with the earliness 

 or lateness of the season. Some say, put on all 

 surplus arrangements as soon as the first buds 

 giving our surplus honey are about bursting 

 open, no matter about the strength of the colo- 



nies. Others tell us to put on sections as soon 

 as the colonies are strong enough, without any 

 reference to the time of the blooming of the 

 flowers, they saying, " It is a mistake to put off 

 putting on sections till the honey harvest is 

 upon the bees, as they will sometimes waste 

 time looking through the surplus apartment 

 before going to work." I can not agree with 

 either of the above, as it savors too much of 

 the old " luck in bee-keeping " we used to hear 

 so much about, and does not give credit to any 

 apiarist of managing his business intelligently. 

 After years of experimenting, to know just 

 when the sections should be placed upon the 

 hive, I have arrived at this: Wait about put- 

 ting the sections on till the hive becomes popu- 

 lous with bees and the combs well filled with 

 brood, and till the bees are securing enough 

 honey from the fields to begin to lengthen the 

 cells along the tops of the combs next the top- 

 bars of the frames, or build little bits of comb 

 here and there about the hive. When we see 

 this it is time to put on th"e sections; for if we 

 delay longer we are sure to lose in time and 

 honey; while if we place sections on the hive, 

 no matter how populous with bees it may be, 

 before any honey is coming in from the fields, 

 we shall lose by the bees gnawing or tearing 

 down more or less of the foundation placed in 

 the sections. If we use only starters of natural 

 comb in our sections, then they can be placed 

 on the hive as soon as the colonies are strong in 

 bees and brood, if we so desire; but even then 1 

 can see nothing gained over the other, unless 

 we are liable to be crowded for time at the 

 right time for putting them on. If my memory 

 serves me rightly. Dr. Miller has put forth the 

 claim that it is only after the honey season is 

 over that the bees gnaw holes in and tear down 

 foundation, which may be correct with him in 

 his locality; but with me bees always mutilate 

 foundation in the sections, more or less, at any 

 time of the year when an abundance of num- 

 bers, or hot weather, crowds them into the sec- 

 tions at a time when there is no honey coming 

 in. I had scores of sections one season in 

 which all the upper half of the foundation 

 was gnawed away but a little strip or neck 

 about i^^ to }i of an inch in width; and when 

 honey began to come in. and the foundation 

 was woiked out. it twisted and turned to such 

 an extent that it was attached to the separa- 

 tors on either side, thus spoiling such sections 

 for market when they came to be removed, as 

 the honey would be set to running in getting 

 the combs loose from the sections 



WHEN TO PUT ON SECTIONS ON NEW SWARMS. 



Question. — When is it best to put on sections 

 on a hive having a new swarm? 



Answer. — That will depend somewhat on 

 how you work. If your swarm is large, and 

 you have full sheets of foundation in the brood- 

 frames, it is well to place a case of sections 

 (and they should also be filled with foundation) 



