I^e See-|\eepeps' |\e\^ie(_u, 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL 



Devoted to tl^e Iqterests of Hoqey Producers. 



$1,00 A YEAR. 



W .Z. HIJTCHIflSOfl, HditoP & Pfop. K^ ^^ 



VOL, V, 



FLINT, MICHIGAN, MAY 10, 1892. 



NO. 5. 



How to Get Plenty of Bees and Make Them 



Work in the Sections Without 



Swarming. 



E. O. AIKIN. 



T HAVE previous- 

 1 ly told you how 

 to get the bees; now 

 the question is how 

 to get them down 

 to business and 

 o Id them there. 

 If we have Vjeen 

 -nccessful in gat- 

 ing the bees, some 

 lonies will be so 

 ill of workers 

 iliat they can't all 

 find loafing room inside, and have to " camp 

 out." Some will begin to prepare for 

 swarming, perhaps. Such strong colonies 

 should have more room : so I put an empty 

 brood chamber underneath the old one. 

 This is to keep the bees cool, and discourage 

 any notion of swarming. 



The time now is about June 5 or 10, I 

 watch the honey flow, and anticipate as 

 nearly as possible when the flow will begin ; 

 but / keep gettinq bees, and if possible have 

 every comb in each colony full of brood; 

 when full of brood, certainly but little honey 

 is there. It is the calm just preceeding the 

 storm. Much care is now needed, care that 



no colony comes to starvation. If one does* 

 it will never fully recover. At the end of the 

 season, its credit column will be less than 

 one that was its inferior a few days before. 

 Care, that the swarming fever does not at- 

 tack them. Care, that in some other way 

 the bees do not get the start of their keeper. 



If the flow is expected to begin June 15, 

 about June 8 or 10, I put a super on each 

 colony. They loaf in it, and get used to it 

 as a part of their home. I now have every- 

 thing ready, supers are fitted up ready to 

 set in the hives. The hives are overflowing 

 with bees, and the combs full of brood. 



Just a word now about the internal ar- 

 rangement of supers. If I have any un- 

 finished sections carried over, they should 

 have been extracted and dried last fall. If 

 I have such, I put a few in each super, of the 

 supers first put oil, say two in each corner ; 

 8 in all. There may be more or less, accord- 

 ing to the supply. They should always be 

 so arranged that a section with foundation 

 or starters does not join them, without a 

 separator between. 



As for separators, I use two in each super 

 of 28 sections arranged as follows: First, 

 two rows of sections, then a s eparator, then 

 three rows of sections, next a separator then 

 two rows of sections. Thus the central row 

 has no separator next to it, but 24 of the 

 28 sections have one straight side. 



As to whether starters or full sheets 

 should be used in sections, I am undecided. 



