TJJ.il BEE-KJ^EPEHS HEi^lJLW 



Vti 



auU carrius an idea that is inoousisteut with, 

 or at least is uot coutended for iu the article 

 itself. The writer is aware that this subject 

 may be said to be almost threadbare, aud he 

 makes the editor the judge as to whether 

 this paper shall uot be consigned to the waste 

 basket. I am uot a queen breeder, and am 

 not conscious of any oiher wisli than tliat 

 the truth shall be made toappear in regard to 

 this disease, which in my judgment thre t- 

 ens the bee-keepers of the country witli 

 more danger of loss than is generally known 

 or supposed. 



Columbia, Miss. 



April r>, 1895. 



Management Necessary for Securing the 

 Best Bees. 



B. TAYIiOB. 



MORE than thirty 

 years ago 1 be- 

 gan experimenting 

 with different meth- 

 ods of managing 

 bees, with a view to 

 tinding the best 

 method of keeping 

 the stock vigorous 

 and the surplus crop 

 as large as possible. 

 About fifteen years 

 later I organized the 

 method that seemed to give the best results 

 in a more systematic order. I rearranged 

 my yard by making a lot of stands of a 

 proper size to hold two hives. These stands 

 were made by driving four small cedar stakes 

 and nailing narrow boards upon them six 

 inches from the ground. These stands were 

 placed in a circle one hundred and fifty feet 

 in circumference. This circle arrangement 

 worked well, as each stand had an individ- 

 uality of its own liard to attain in any other 

 way. 



Iu the spring one swarm is placed on each 

 of the stands, coveretl up warmly, and care 

 taken that all have plenty of food, then let 

 alone in quiet except that there is constant 

 critical observation of outside appearances 

 to detect any failing colony and give it the 

 necessary attention. 



The first live or six swarms that issue are 

 hived in brood chambers coutracted to 



not more than MCK) inches of comb surface. 

 The supers of sections that had been put on 

 the parent colony some time previous are 

 changed to the new swarm which is then 

 placed on a new stand some distance from 

 the parent colony, which, iu the case of tirst 

 swarms, is left on the old stand. The reason 

 for leaving them there is ihat we want ihem 

 to have plenty of bees to finish aud mature 

 all the queen cells ; for here is the nursery 

 in which new queens are to be raised to sup- 

 ply each old colony with a queen after it has 

 cast a swarm. 



After I have started enough nurseries in 

 this way to supply me with queens, each 

 8Warm is set where the parent colony stood, 

 the supers are moved to it, a queen exclu- 

 ding honey board beiug put under it, and 

 the parent colony moved to the other end of 

 the same stand with its entrance turned iu 

 the opposite direction from ttie new swarm. 

 I want all the field bees iu the new swarm t < 

 keep it strong, for it is from these new 

 swarms that comes eighty per cent, of the 

 white houey crop. 



I can get more white honey by hiving these 

 new swarms in hives with only starters of 

 comb foundation in the brood frames, in 

 theory, 1 do not intend to winter these col- 

 onies, but to work them for all the surplus 

 they can be forced to produce, then unite 

 them in the fall with the parent colonies. 

 Sometimes, however, in spite of all forcing, 

 they are in first-class condition, and I select 

 enough of the best to supply the waste aud 

 loss that comes each winter. 



In a day or two after a swarm issues, the 

 parent colony is examined by taking out 

 each comb carefully aud removing all iiueen 

 cells. (I will say right here that for making 

 these and all other examinations of the 

 brood nest, my full brood chamber, wire-end 

 frame, handy hive by far surpasses all oth- 

 ers with which I am acquainted, tor I can 

 remove and return the combs with an ease 

 and dispatch that is impossible in any other 

 hive I have tried. I have followed after 

 false gods for some years, but will wander 

 no more, as hereafter each swarm will be 

 hived in these hives. Mr. Editor, I give jou 

 my word of honor I do not use this language 

 for any other purpose than because 1 know 

 it to be the truth.) It is very easy to find 

 all cells at this time for there are but few 

 bees, and these young ones that will scarcely 

 try to fly. When the combs are returned I 

 stick in a queen cell, taken from the nursery 



