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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



June, 1918 



^civeii a comb of eggs and larvae in order to 

 put them into a more normal condition. 

 Feeding Dampened Sugar in an Emergency. 



In case of an emergency, if one has no 

 syrup, candy, nor maple sugar, and needs 

 to feed quickly, light-brown sugar may be 

 dampened and given the bees, altho the bees 

 may waste a small per cent of it. The feed 

 may be placed on the bottom-board at the 

 back of the hive, leaving the hive tilted 

 slightly backward so there can be no chance 

 for the dampened sugar or sweetened water 

 to run from the hive and thus start rob- 

 bing. When feeding in this way it is well 

 not to give the full entrance, as this would 

 afford the robbers too easy an entrance. 

 After the feeding is over the hive should be 

 left with a slight forward tilt and perfectly 

 level from side to side. 



Robbing. 



Before the honey flow, or when honey, on 

 account of unfavorable weather or insuffi- 

 cient nectar, is coming in but slowly, there 

 is great danger of robbing, and during such 

 a time no sweet should ever be left exposed; 

 and hives should be opened only when ab- 

 solutely necessary, and then closed as quick- 

 ly as possible, the entrance-block being in- 

 serted until the colony seems perfectly quiet 

 again. At such times a robber-tent is quite 

 invaluable; but for the small beekeeper, 

 without question, the better plan would be 

 to wait for more favorable conditions before 

 handling. 



Opening of Flow. 



In clover localities one may usually count 

 on the beginning of the flow taking place 

 from seven to ten days after the first few 

 blossoms are discovered. At this time those 

 colonies that have quite a few bees in their 

 first super should be given a second one — • 

 that is, all the best colonies should at this 

 time have the equivalent of one deep super; 

 and until a week or so after the opening of 

 the honey flow we think it a good plan to al- 

 low the queen access to two stories, keeping 

 some brood in each. 



Spacing of Frames in Supers. 



If the supers contain foundation, the 

 frames should be closely spaced until the 

 foundation is drawn out. After that at least 

 one comb should be removed and the extra 

 space evenly divided between the combs. 

 This will give a little more room for storing 

 honey, and will result in combs so nicely 

 bulged that uncapping at extracting time 

 will be a real pleasure. 



Natural Swarming. 



In this article we have explained how to 

 manage the bees in such a way that it would 

 be perfectly feasible to leave them during 

 six days in the week and still feel certain 

 that the bees were well cared for. Some of 

 those, however, who intend to be always 

 within sight and hearing of the apiary may 

 prefer to obtain their increase by means of 

 natural swarming. If so, do not raise brood 

 nor tear down queen-cells, but just allow 

 the first swarm to issue, which they will 

 probably do as soon as the queen-cells are 



sealed. If one happens to be near the hive 

 just before the swarm leaves, he may notice 

 unusual activity of bees running about the 

 front of the hive; and if the hive is opened, 

 there he may find great excitement and a 

 busy rushing of bees here and there in every 

 direction. In a few minutes the bees begin 

 pouring from the hive by thousands until 

 the air is filled with a great cloud of hum- 

 ming bees. Usually they cluster on the 

 branch of a tree not far from their hive, 

 waiting to make certain that the queen is 

 with them before they leave for their new 

 home which has already been chosen by the 

 scouts sent out several days previously. 



If the queen has been clipped, as describ- 

 ed in our May lesson, she will be found 

 climbing helplessly about on the grass out in 

 front of the hive attempting to join the 

 swarm, which, of course, she is prevented 

 from doing on account of her clipped wings. 

 After caging her in a spiral queen-cage, or 

 in a small box punched with holes so that 

 she may have plenty of air, put her in the 

 shaded entrance of the new hive of combs or 

 foundation which has been placed on the old 

 stand facing in the same direction as the 

 original hive. This hive should also contain 

 one comb with young larvae (very important 

 in case of a queen with wings), and above 

 it should be placed the supers removed from 

 the old colony, for the new colony will now 

 go to work with renewed vim, while the old 

 colony will be composed mostly of young 

 bees, and will probably be without a laying 

 queen for a week or more, and will not be in 

 condition to store any surplus for some time. 



In a short time the bees will discover that 

 the queen is not with them, and will, there- 

 fore, return to the hive. After they have 

 begun running in nicely the queen should be 

 liberated and allowed to run in with the 

 rest. In order to prevent after-swarmsl 

 from the old hive, all queen-cells except one 

 may be torn down, and in a week or so the 

 colony examined for eggs. If none are found, 

 it will either mean that the queen has not 

 yet begun laying, or that she was lost in 

 mating, and the colony is queenless. In 

 either case the best thing to do is to give 

 them a frame containing eggs and young 

 larvae. If a queen is in the hive, she will 

 probably begin laying all the sooner because 

 of the presence of the larvae; and if the 

 colony is queenless, they will undoubtedly 

 begin queen-cells, in which case a ripe 

 queen-cell could be given them in a cell- 

 protector or else a good queen be introduced. 



In order to hive a swarm that is accom- 

 panied by a queen with wings, the colony 

 should be shaken into a basket attached to 

 the end of a pole and placed on the ground in 

 front of the entrance. If they do not seem 

 inclined to enter, shaking them on to the 

 ground will usually start them. Generally 

 a few of the bees take wing and return to the 

 clustering place, so that it may be necessary 

 to take them from the tree several times in 

 order to make certain that the queen is also 

 captured. 



