1909 



GI.EANlNCiS IN BEE CULTURE. 



195 



General 

 Correspondence 



THE 



WILLIAMS SYSTEM OF MAN- 

 AGEMENT. 



More Concerning the Plan of Shaking 

 Bees at Various Times to Give them the 

 Energy of a Newly Hived Swarm. 



BY GEO. \V. WILLIAMS. 



[On page 48, Jan. 15, we commented on the article by Mr. 

 Williams in the December issue of Tht Bte-ketpers' Rrview. In 

 the followineaiticle the same writer gives some additional points 

 on this very interesting subjectof shaking energy into bees. — Ed.] 



I have been experimenting for years, looking 

 forward to perfecting a system adapted to the 

 management of a series of outyards for comb 

 honey, so that 1 could keep enough colonies to 

 make a specialty of the business, and to allow me 

 to use ordinary unskilled help. 



We meet, in practice, some moods and con- 

 trary notions in the bees that must be overcome 

 before we can obtain a good crop of honey; but 

 we sometimes find, on the other hand, a mental 

 condition that overcomes all these, and would 

 insure a full crop if we could continue it through- 

 out the season. I have reference to the condition 

 of intense and energetic activity shown by nor- 

 mal colonies at the sudden opening of a heavy 

 flow, and also shown by a newly hived natural 

 swarm. 



Immediately after a natural swarm enters the 

 hive, work begins in all departments with great 

 vigor. Combs are built, eggs deposited, and 

 honey gathered as if life depended on the issue. 

 This mad scramble to "do things" lasts quite a 

 while, usually, but abates with the progress of 

 the work accomplished. If this desirable mental 

 condition which induces this strenuous work 

 were permanent, bee-keeping would be a sinecure; 

 but we know it does not; and in the degree that 

 it fails, in that degree do we miss the possible 

 profits. 



Now, the question naturally arises, 



WHY DO BEES WORK SO DILIGENTLY AFTER THE 

 ACT OF SWARMING.' 



Is it a psychological condition that is caused 

 by the desire for natural increase, or is it a pure- 

 ly physical condition capable of being reproduc- 

 ed by mechanical means.- Most if not all writers 

 I have followed attribute the intense activity of 

 this period to the maternal instinct; but 1 have 

 believed for years that, while the act of swarming 

 itself is, of course, due to the desire for the per- 

 petuation of the species, the resulting activity is 

 the result of the physical conditions attendent on 

 the act, and 1 have found that these desirable 

 conditions may be reproduced at the will of the 

 operator, and last summer's work has shown to 

 me the pecuniary possibilities of the idea. 



The one factor upon which the effectiveness of 

 a system built around the idea of "' shaking " de- 

 pends is the nearness which a " shook " swarm 

 coriies to resembling a natural one in the intense 

 activity and other desirable (jual ities. That they 



are practically identical is, 1 believe, accepted by 

 most of our observers, and I have demonstrated 

 it to my own satisfaction by hiving natural and 

 "shook" swarms alternately and noting results. 

 I find in my experiments that the psychological 

 results are nearly alike in each, and vary in de- 

 gree only as the shaking is more or less thorough. 

 And the principal value of this idea lies in the 

 fact that this " shook " condition can be so easily 

 and quickly produced by skilled or unskilled la- 

 bor. 



SHAKING FOR STIMULATIVE PURPOSES. 



It was while experimenting with "shook" 

 swarming, and noting the resulting conditions, 

 that this idea suggested itself to me. Why not 

 apply this simple process to induce the bees to 

 go to work in the sections — accept a new queen 

 — stimulate brood-rearing, quit loafing, or, in 

 short, induce them to do any of the many things 

 that a newly hived swarm will do as a matter of 

 course. The idea was so simple and obvious 

 that I supposed surely some one had advanced it 

 before; but I have never found where it has been 

 advocated. 



Then I went to work and built up a system 

 around this idea, and tested it last season, in a 

 small way to be sure, but thoroughly and prac- 

 tically. I find that I can care for more bees with 

 less help with this system than with any other. 

 It seems to be adapted to long-range work, and 

 especially to outyards. The weak point so far 

 observable is that it stimulates brood-raising, and 

 promotes swarming to some extent. 



Take, for instance, stimulative feeding. We 

 have had many different plans offered; viz., out- 

 door feeding, in-the-hive feeding, uncapping the 

 honey, and others, all requiring time and uten- 

 sils, and endangering robbing. Now, by my 

 system, at the proper date, I " dump " the bees 

 in the proper manner, and the thing is done. Five 

 minutes finishes the job, or less if I am in a hur- 

 ry. It is not necessary for me to explain the 

 philosophy of the proceedings. The bees are put 

 in the condition of a swarm, and therefore " stim- 

 ulated " in the best possible manner. Of course, 

 this contemplates a sufficient store of honey for 

 their use, otherwise the feeding required is not 

 "stimulative" but "life-preserving." A proper 

 " stimulating " means, in a good season, a bump- 

 er crop, and in any season an increase. 



I am aware that beekeepers usually "go 

 through " their hives about this time, and thereby 

 stir up the bees more or less thoroughly, and usual- 

 ly " spread the brood " or something else equally 

 silly, and attribute the results to the wrong cause. 

 I have found by actual experience that the colony 

 that is simply stirred up really does better than 

 the one that has the brood spread and fully as 

 much as the one that is fed to stimulate it. 



This season I worked six colonies on this plan, 

 and I found it increased their efficiency about 

 38 per cent over colonies worked differently. 



I wished to increase this yard as much as pos- 

 sible, and worked to that end and made honey a 

 side issue, although I secured a good crop. I 

 did not feed any, and the results are entirely the 

 results of their own efforts. In summing up this 

 fall, I put 21 fine colonies into winter quarters, 

 each with 30 or more pounds of winter stores, 

 and secured 1368 sections of honey, besides about 

 80 extra combs and 100 lbs. of chunk honey. 1 



