July, 1919 



G T, K A N T N a R T N B K K CULTURE 



439 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



ing bees will leave for the fields to gather 

 honey and will enter the new hive on which 

 the supers were placed. When the young 

 queen einerges there will be no Hying bees 

 in the hive and so she will be unable to 

 take out a swarm. The remaining queen- 

 cells will be destroyed without any assist- 

 ance on the part of the beekeeper. 



The other' plan is for the beekeeper who 

 does not open his hives, or at least does not 

 want to look for a queen. When the prime 

 swarm issues remove the old hive from its 

 stand and in its place put another hive, as 

 in the plan just given. But instead of us- 

 ing frames containing sheets of foundation 

 or starters, fill the hive with drawn combs 



A swarm worth while. 



and then place the supers on top as in the 

 other plan. Hive the swarm in the new 

 hive which is now on the old stand. Then 

 set the old hive to one side of the new hive 

 and manipulate it exactly as in the other 

 plan. Some members of the committee pre- 

 fer full sheets of foundation in the brood- 

 chamber, no matter which plan is followed. 

 The individual beekeeper will be able to 

 work out variations to suit himself. For in- 



stance, the above method may give him more 

 increase than he desires. In that case he 

 can move the old hive from one side of the 

 new hive to the other side every seven days 

 until the brood is all hatched out and then 

 shake the remaining bees in front of the 

 new hive. Other variations will suggest 

 themselves to the thoughtful beekeeper. In 

 order to delay swarming as long as possible 

 the first super should be put on early, Dr. 

 C. C. Miller says, ' ' about ten days after the 

 xevy first white-clover blossom has been 

 seen." Tliis super should contain sections 

 with full sheets of foundation and one or 

 more bait sectioiiiS. Use nothing less than 

 full sheets of foundation in the sections, and 

 it is better to use also bottom starters. 

 Minneapolis, Minn. Chas. D. Blaker. 



INEXPENSIVE WAY TO START 



Stocks of Bees Secured from Bee-Trees Along with 

 Experience 



When I was a small boy I disliked the 

 lioneybee for a very simple reason. One 

 of our neighbors kept about 12 or 15 

 colonies of bees, which came for water that 

 was spilled around the cistern in my 

 father's back porch. I often stepped on 

 them with my bare feet and got stung. I 

 had but little idea of their mission to man, 

 so T made a paddle and often sat and 

 watched for the bees, killing all I could. 

 Soon one of my older brothers began cut- 

 ting bee-trees. My father usually helped 

 him, and I was sometimes allowed to go 

 along. This I thought was great fun; but, 

 being afraid, I was careful to stay at a safe 

 distance, often getting behind a stump or 

 tree, begging them to bring me a piece of 

 honey. My brother laughed at my fear; and 

 as I grew older I resolved to act bravely 

 regardless of the stings. Soon fear vanish- 

 ed, to be supplanted by interest which re- 

 sulted in a desire to have bees of my own. 



I placed a box hive in a tree, hoping to 

 catch a swarm, and began hunting bee-trees. 

 Failing in this I gave it up until the year 

 1915, when I found a swarm hanging on a 

 small walnut tree. It was a late swarm, but 

 T decided to hive it nevertheless; and, hav- 

 ing no hive on hand, I used a nail-keg. 



The next spring I bought four good hives 

 and supers, and began hunting bee-trees in 

 my spare time. I succeeded in getting a 

 colony for each hive. By giving super room 

 and cutting out queen-cells I managed to 

 get along fairly well. Altho I did not se- 

 cure much surplus I learned a great deal, 

 and also derived much pleasure from the 

 undertaking. I am now looking forward in 

 the hope of some time joining the ranks of 

 successful beekeepers. 



Medina, 0. B. B. Alexander. 



