850 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



been raised — that the new honey will shake 

 out. In my opinion, swarms should never 

 be shaken unless the new honey does shake 

 out ; and the more so, the better I consider 

 the conditions are for this plan of artificial 

 swarming-. When the honey flies out badly 

 I shake them directly on to the top-bars of 

 the new hive, dousing the bees with as 

 much honey as flies out. Remember, the 

 new swarm receives all the flying bees of 

 the old colony. They will soon cluster and 

 clean themselves up, and be in that plethor- 

 ic and fat condition so necessary to the se- 

 cretion of wax — a condition they must soon 

 get into if they are driven on to starters 

 only as I do here when running for comb 

 honey. 



This plan I consider the most sensible one 

 for transferring from box hives or crooked 

 combs, only we are compelled to drive in- 

 stead of shake, and the onlj^ plan by which 

 we can successfully cope with foul brood. 



If this plan is diligently followed through 

 the honey season with all colonies that show 

 even one cell of foul brood, we do not come 

 up to winter with a lot of colonies that 

 must be burned to prevent the spread of the 

 disease. A colony that develops the disease 

 in the fall after the honey season is past 

 will live until the beginning of the next 

 honey season in fair condition, when it can 

 be shaken, hence the great loss from foul 

 brood is found only among careless bee- 

 keepers. 



Now, when it comes to shaking swarms 

 for "revenue only" I will say, as I have 

 said before, I take Josh Billings' advice 

 about setting hens : He says, "Never set 

 your hen till she wants to set; "so if my 

 bees are contented to go on storing honey I 

 never shake a swarm till " she wants to 

 shake," and then I shake her with a ven- 

 geance, so there will be no second swarm- 

 ing. 



With me this plan works admirably in 

 running out-apiaries. If no increase is de- 

 sired, two can be shaken together, and the 

 brood from two united, thus securing pow- 

 erful colonies. 



With regard to the value of a "shook" 

 swarm as compared with a natural one, I 

 will say that, if you have followed Josh's 

 advice, you have a swarm almost identical 

 to the natural one, only it receives all the 

 'flying bees instead of part. 



In practicing this plan in out-apiaries I 

 examine every six days, and shake every 

 colony that has eggs in the cell cups. Of 

 course, this makes some swarms a little pre- 

 mature, say from four to six days before 

 the swarm would emerge by the natural 

 plan; and unfavorable weather conditions 

 sometimes make you wish you hadn't; but 

 it also makes the natural swarm wish they 

 hadn't. 



This is the only time I do any clipping of 

 queens, and I always clip them when I 

 make a "shook" swarm, for I think they 

 are a little more prone to abscond if they 

 meet with bad weather than are natural 

 swarms, so I fix them so they will be com- 



pelled to go " on foot ' ' if they go at all. 

 On the other hand, if the weather is fine 

 and the honey- flow good I think they are 

 less liable to abscond than are the excited, 

 uneasy, natural swarms. 



I have generalized, perhaps, too much in 

 this article, but can give the tnodus opej'andi 

 if you desire. M. A. Gill. 



Longmont, Colo., Sept. 10. 



"shook-swarm " method valuable for 



out-apiaries; a plan to unite bees 



automatically; some important 



points to be observed. 



The expression "shook" swarm is so ex- 

 pressive, so catchy, and so popular, that it 

 is here to stay, in spite of grammatical 

 rules, and Dr. Miller too. Here's what I 

 know about them: 



The method is peculiarly adapted to the 

 production of comb honey in out-apiaries, 

 with no one present to hive swarms. When 

 the first flow begins we drive to the out- 

 j'ards and quickly inspect all colonies for 

 indications of swarming. Our hives are 

 mostly in pairs, side by side. Here is a 

 colony that has queen-cells started. We 

 will call it hive A, while the one at its side 

 we will call hive B. Hive A contains a vei y 

 strong colony. We move it to one side and 

 put in its place a hive containing a frame 

 of brood and 7 frames with half-inch start- 

 ers. On this a queen-excluder, and above 

 this one or two supers containing several 

 bait-combs, or, better, a super, bees and 

 all, from some colony alreadjf at work in 

 the sections. Now, the bees are swiftly 

 shaken from the brood-combs of hive A, in 

 front of the new hive; lastly, dump all the 

 bees from the old hive to make sure of hav- 

 ing the queen in the new colony. Now re- 

 move hive B to a new stand, placing on it 

 the brood-combs taken from hive A. This 

 throws the working force of both colonies 

 into the shook swarm, which will do good 

 work for some time. Seven days later, hive 

 B, having a double quantity of hatching 

 brood, will be very strong. Shake about 

 half of the bees into the shook swarm. If 

 the flow continues, repeat this seven days 

 later. Hive B will give a good crop of ex- 

 tracted honey, or a shook swarm may be 

 made from two such colonies, if the continu- 

 ance of the flow makes it desirable. 



I am now experimenting with a plan to 

 unite automatically the bees hatching from 

 the old brood-combs with the shook swarm. 

 Here is a plan used in Colorado, advocated 

 in the Rocky Mountain Revieiv: 



A super-cover, similar to the Porter es- 

 cape-board, is placed over the super con- 

 taining bait combs. In. the front end I cut 

 out a slot three inches long and one inch 

 wide. A piece of wire cloth is tacked over 

 the under side of the slot. This is to give 

 ventilation to the story containing the re- 

 mainder of the brood and bees which is now 

 set over the super-cover, and also to furnish 

 an exit for the bees, as fast as they hatch, 

 to pass out of where they enter a chute 



