374 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 11, 1903. 



house— I hayen't done it— but I hear from others that they 

 don't get very good returns. 



Dr. Miller — I believe in England that a stock company 

 plan was tried. It didn't work first-rate. Perhaps the 

 "locality" wasn't suited for it ! It is possible, I think, in one 

 of the West India Islands doing something of that kind, 

 and, perhaps, making a better success of it. 



Pres. York — I think those in the honey-business in 

 Chicago are willing to go into it. You can get rid of York 

 all right, if you want to. 



Mr. Niver — I can say on that point, that the Honey 

 Exchange would sell its honey to Mr. York. He would be 

 the second man, not the first, and we would want to sell our 

 honey to him. He has a method of working, and he has 

 got to be paid for his work. He is practically a retailer — he 

 is selling in smaller quantities than the Exchange would 

 care to sell, and he won't be a competitor, but a customer, 

 so that we would all get the same price for our honey. Here 

 is the reply to that : You can't do it. There are four sec- 

 tions of honey. If honey was all alike, like pig-iron, you 

 could get the same price, and there is the greatest difficulty. 

 If we can teach the bee-keepers to get all fine honey, and 

 make the bees and honey-flow to come at the same time, 

 and get all one kind of honey— Mr. Baldridge said was it 

 white or was it dark, he didn't care whether half filled or 

 bulged out, if it was white. That's the only point he cared 

 anything about. That's the only point Western people see 

 or know. It isn't so in the East, but if we can get our sup- 

 plies so we can produce honey practically alike in shape, 

 then we can commence to talk about color. There is the 

 greatest difficulty. We can't all of us get honey in shape 

 as fine as some others, because we haven't the locality to do 

 it in— the flowers that produce the same quality of honey — 

 and then we are not all of us just as good as some others. 

 There is Mr. Crane's honey, just flush with the edge of the 

 section. This section here comes always bulged to the edge. 

 Unless these sections are handled very carefully they will 

 be broken, and there is going to be our greatest difficulty in 

 our Exchange. If we have a Central Exchange, and every- 

 body that belongs to it ships their honey there, one man 

 with a fine lot of honey will put it through and he will get 

 a cent or two a pound more than his neighbor in the same 

 Exchange. He won't like that. What can we do about 

 that ? This honey is worth that much more because it is in 

 that much finer shape. I think that is the thing that we 

 are going to stumble on more than any other one thing. 



Mr. Clarke— I think we could obviate that by the mark 

 of the bee-keeper on the case, even though not on the boxes, 

 and I think the Association would, of course, naturally have 

 a better demand for those bee-keepers' honey who did at- 

 tend to their business, case their honey properly, put it up 

 uniformly, and I think that would obviate that one trouble. 

 The man who is shipping in his honey in an improper way, 

 both in casing and mixing, naturally his honey would stay 

 on the market longer, and it would naturally cause a de- 

 mand for the best honey, and the Association and buyers 

 would prefer his honey to that of the man who didn't at- 

 tend to his business. 



(Continuec^ next week.) 





Contributed Articles 



Forced or Artificial Swarming. 



BY C. DAVBNPORT. 



I NOTICE that of late there is considerable interest in 

 shook, brushed, or what is in my opinion, more properly 



speaking, artificial swarming. I think it was 8 or 9 years 

 ago that I stated in this journal how I practiced artificial 

 swarming by removing all the brood ; and that this was the 

 only method that would stop natural swarming, if the 

 swarming fever had been contracted ; or in other words, if 

 a colony had started queen-cells with the intention of 

 swarming. In such cases I found that if a single comb of 

 brood was left, that they would often swarm just as soon as 

 they could construct or start new cells. 



I had practiced artificial swarming for some years be- 

 fore mentioning the matter in print, and, each year since, I 

 have artificially " swarmed " from one to two hundred colo- 



nies. I state this simply that it will be known that I have 

 had a good deal of experience in the matter, and this 

 method, that I have practiced so many years, is practical 

 and identically the same so far as results are concerned as 

 the brushed or shook method that is attracting attention of 

 late. For, of course, it can make no difference, so far as 

 results are concerned, whether the bees are shook, brushed 

 or jarred off the combs. There are, however, a good many 

 things about this method, and perhaps I should say about 

 any method, of artificial swarming that do make a very big 

 difference in results so far as the crop is concerned, and if 

 there is anything about our pursuit that requires skill and 

 judgment, as well as a thorough understanding of one's 

 locality in respect to the time and length of its honey-flow, 

 it is artificial swarming practiced in such a way that as 

 good a crop will be secured as would be had if natural 

 swarming were allowed. 



One that practices artificial swarming should thoroughly 

 understand queen-rearing, for, with artificial swarming 

 artificial queen-rearing must be practiced; and unless good 

 queens are reared, the apiary will very soon degenerate. I 

 know that as many have described the method in print the 

 whole matter of artificial swarming is so simple that it may 

 be successfully practiced by a novice. But one who has had 

 a large, actual and long-extended experience in the matter 

 can see by reading between the lines of much that has been 

 written on this subject, that the writers have had but 

 limited experience in the matter. In saying this I do not 

 wish to be understood as questioning the veracity of any 

 one who has written about this. What I mean is, that they 

 might practice the same method the next season with en- 

 tirely different results. 



I am also aware of the fact that many who have had a 

 large experience in the matter have given us much that is 

 of great value on the subject. I would like, though, to call 

 attention to the very important fact that in this matter of 

 artificial swarming, locality is one of, if not the most impor- 

 tant, things to be considered. For instance, one prominent 

 writer, some time ago, in one of our journals (I do not re- 

 member which) advocated giving the artificial swarms full 

 sets of drawn combs instead of empty frames. Now, let me 

 briefly describe how that works in my locality : 



The first surplus flow here is from white clover. This 

 usually commences to yield about the first of June, but, of 

 course, more or less according to the season. Very few 

 colonies swarm naturally or are strong enough to swarm 

 artifically until the flow from clover commences. Now, 

 from a great deal of experience in this matter, I know that 

 if a swarm, either natural or artificial, is hived on a full set 

 of drawn combs, that from 25 to 40 pounds of this white 

 clover honey will be stored in these same combs, when, if 

 frames with only starters are used, most of it would be in 

 sections. 



Another thing, a swarm that is hived on drawn combs 

 will often swarm again when these combs are full, instead 

 of going to work in sections. But if empty frames are used, 

 and they get started to work in the supers soon after being 

 hived, they seldom attempt to swarm again. 



When supers are placed over drawn comb it is perhaps 

 needless for me to say that no work will be done in the sec- 

 tions until the comb below is filled with either honey or 

 brood. 



One thing I might say against drawn comb for swarms 

 is, that here at least, a swarm, natural or artificial, is more 

 apt to desert when hived on them than when empty frames 

 are used. There is, though, one great disadvantage about 

 using empty frames, and this is the matter of drone-comb. 

 In this locality a good deal of drone-comb, that a swarm 

 either natural or artificial, builds will be used to rear at 

 least one generation of drones in, that sattit' season ; and a 

 swarm that has an old or failing queen will build a good 

 deal more drone-comb than one with a good queen, for this 

 reason. 



It is very important, when hiving on empty frames, to 

 have strong, vigorous queens. I have found that here it 

 doesn't pay artificially to swarm a colony until they make 

 preparation to swarm naturally, no matter how strong they 

 may be. But if they are to be swarmed artificially, the 

 sooner it is done after they begin to construct cells the bet- 

 ter. If they are not swarmed until they are about ready to 

 swarm naturally, especially if they have one or more sealed 

 cells, they are, after being swarmed, almost certain to 

 swarm out or desert the hive the next day, even if a frame 

 of brood is left them. On the other hand, if they are 

 swarmed before they begin to start cells, it seems to discour- 

 age them, or at least they do not work with as much vigor 

 as they would if swarmed later. 



