GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April, 1919 



A B C and X Y Z of Bee Culture.—' 'fur- 

 nish bees water on the atmospheric princi- 

 ple. " * * * " When bees are compelled 

 to go a distance for water they wear them- 

 selves out unnecessarily, and during chilly 

 weather in the spring, they never get 

 back." 



Contraction of Brood-chambers. 



Langstroth - Dadant. — ' ' When such de- 

 sertion is feared," * * * "the capacity 

 of the hives" * * * "should be reduc- 

 ed to suit the size of the swarm, and in- 

 creased cautiously, from time to time, when 

 the bees seem to be crowded. ' ' 



Dr. JE. F. Phillips. — "The brood-chamber 

 may also be reduced to conserve the heat of 

 the cluster. ' ' 



M.' Quinby. — "Set aside such combs as 

 are not occupied by the bees, leaving those 

 that contain honey." 



A B C and X Y Z of Bpe Culture.— "Un- 

 less the colony is very weak, take out the 

 surplus of combs that it does not occupy or 

 use, and crowd the little cluster on as few 

 frames as it can occupy. ' ' 



Uniting Weak or Queenless Colonies. 



Dr. C. C. Miller. — ' ' very weak colonies in 



the spring. 



HUTCHI.XSON. 



it seems no use to 

 unite them, for I have 

 united five into one, and 

 the united colony seemed 

 to be no better than one 

 loft separate. About all 

 tliat I try to do is to keep 

 the queen alive until I 

 find some queenless colo- 

 ny with which to unite 

 them." * * "A safe 

 way is to place one hive 

 over the other with a 

 common sheet of newspa- 

 per between." 

 Dr. E. r. Phillips. — "It is often advisable 

 to unite the weak colonies with the medium 

 or strong colonies, " * * * "a simple 

 method of uniting consists in making the 

 weak colony queenless and setting it over 

 the colony with which it is to be united, 

 with a single thickness of newspaper, slight- 

 ly perforated in the center, between the 

 two. " 



M. Quinby. — ' ' If colonies are found to 

 be queenless, or possessing deficient queens, 

 unite them with others having queens. It 

 will often be judicious to unite weak colo- 

 nies. ' ' 



E. W. Alexander. — ' ' After the weak colo- 

 nies have a little uncapped brood, set them 

 on top of a strong colony with a queen- 

 excluding honey-board between, aird close 

 all entrances except what they have thru 

 the excluder. This we do about five days 

 after they are taken from the cellar. ' ' 

 * * * "This is, without exception, the 

 best and most practical way of caring for 

 those little weak colonies in early spring 

 that has ever been made public." 



ABC and X Y Z of Bee Culture.— 

 * ' Where colonies are very weak it may be 



advisable to unite; but this uniting, if the 

 bees are in the cellar, should take place be- 

 fore they are set out. " * * * " Never 

 unite two weak ones, but add a weak one 

 to a medium, and thus make it strong. ' ' 

 ** * * "moving the weak colony over to 

 the strong one. ' ' 



Equalizing the Colonies. 



L. L. Langstroth - Dadant. — ' ' The api- 

 arist will learn which colonies require aid, 

 and which can lend a helping hand to oth- 

 ers.' ' 



Dr. C. C. Miller.—' ' Shall I take frames of 

 brood from the strong colonies to give to 

 the weak ones? Not I. For the damage to 

 the strong colonies will more than over- 

 balance the benefit to the weak ones. If any 

 taking from one colony to give to another is 

 done in the spring, it will be to take from 

 the weak to give to those not so weak. ' ' 



* * * "Not until a colony has six or eight 

 frames of brood is it desirable to draw from 

 it brood for weaker colonies, and there 's no 

 hurry about it then. ' ' 



Dr. E. F. Phillips. — "If some hives con- 

 tain more brood than the average, colonies 

 may be equalized by taking combs of emerg- 

 ing brood with the adhering workers away 

 from those abundantly supplied, giving 

 them to weaker colonies, care being exercis- 

 ed not to transfer the queen. The weakest 

 colonies in the apiary should be assisted in 

 this way only after all the others are equal- 

 ized;" * * » "Another method of 

 equalizing is to shake the bees from the 

 frames of a strong colony in front of the 

 entrances of those to be helped." 



M. Quinby. — ' ' When one hive has an over- 

 supply of bees, and another a very fair, the 

 next day after being set out, I change the 

 weak one to the stand of the strong one, ' ' 



* * * " cards of brood may often be 

 taken from the best stocks and used to 

 strengthen weaker ones to advantage. ' ' 



W. Z. Hutchinson. — "If the weak colony 

 is to be strengthened by drawing upon the 

 resources of the strong, I would prefer the 

 plan given in Gleanings by J. L. Byer. " 

 The plan referred to was to shake bees from 

 a strong colony in front of the weak one. 

 He also mentions changing places with weak 

 and strong colonies. 



E~W.~Alexander. — "We also give them" 

 (colonies with two-year-old queen) "frames 

 of brood from other colonies. ' ' 



ABC and X Y Z of Bee Culture.— " The 

 latter will be too strong and the weak too 

 weak. Some have practiced exchanging 

 places with the two colonies." * » * 

 ' ' Colonies that are very strong in the spring 

 will build up faster, relatively, than the 

 weaker ones;, and these can sometimes sup- 

 ply frames of hatching brood and bees to 

 the stocks that are below par." 



CHpping Queens. 



L. L. Langstroth - Dadant. — "This meth- 

 od will do, provided the apiary ground is 

 bare, so that the queen runs no risk of get- 

 ting lost in the grass. We abandoned it, 



