344 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



October 



"And they make fruit on trees, 

 too," added Narcissus. "Maybe they'll 

 make us some nuts." 



But their parent was one not easily 

 diverted. "Never mind the bees ; 

 didn't you hear your grandmother 

 calling you?" 



Each flower hung its head and dug 

 its toes into the fresh earth. 



"Come along with Daddy, or he'll 

 have to spank all of you!" After 

 which ultimatum, my neighbor mar- 

 shaled them out of the danger zone. 



But my relief was of short dura- 

 tion. Each succeeding day brought 

 fresh anxieties. They knew no fear 

 and their curiosity kept pace with 

 the growth of the almonds that had 

 set in large numbers on the branches 

 of the tree. At last, just as we were 

 about finally to classify the kinder- 

 garten as a nuisance, my neighbor 

 bodily transported it in his touring 

 car to the beach for the summer. 

 My, but we missed 'em! 



The almonds hung ripe in the tree 

 and our bees had long since sought 

 other pastures, when my neighbor 

 returned and opened up the big, 

 silent house. It was Sunday morn- 

 ing. Sturdy and sunburned, the 

 kindergarten again congregated un- 

 der the almond tree. "Daddy" was 

 there, too, shaking down the nuts, 

 which they were putting into bas- 

 Iccts. 



I hailed him from the dividing wall. 

 "How's the crop?" 



"Bully! Never had a hatful before 

 this year." 



"How do you account for it?" I 

 called back. 



"I know!" cried Black-Eyed Susan, 

 upsetting a basket of alrnonds in her 

 eagerness; "the bees did it. Daddy." 



Los Gatos, Calif. 



"THE BEES DID IT." 

 ONE BRANCH OF A WELL-SET ALMOND TREE. 



A CALIFUKNIA ALMuNL) TREE IN FEBRUARY. 



Increase With Little Cost 



By Frank C. Pellett. 



THE usual methods of artificial in- 

 crease, such as division, or 

 forming of nuclei to be built 

 up, are made at the expense of weak- 

 ening the colony to a considerable 

 extent. Should the season prove un- 

 favorable after nuclei are formed it 

 may be necessary to feed them for a 

 long period or unite them again with 

 the parent colony. I have been ex- 

 perimenting in a limited way with a 

 plan which takes nothing from the 

 parent colony, except such honey as, 

 is necessary to rear the brood com- 

 posing the new colony. There is no 

 risk, since the old colony is not 

 weakened by removing part of the 

 field force and the division is not 

 made until the new colony is strong 

 enough to shift for itself under al- 

 most any conditions. This may seem 

 like a strong claim, but having been 

 uniformly successful with the plan 

 in an experimental way for several 

 years I now feel justified in present- 

 ing the details. 



The plan is the outgrowth of a sys- 

 tem of swarm control in the produc- 

 tion of extracted honey as described 

 in Productive Beekeeping. If the 

 extracted honey producer can keep 

 his colony together during the sea- 

 son he should be able to get maxi- 



