280 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



cold spell. But in hot weather the bees of a 

 strong colony will never allow a cjueen to be 

 chilled at the entrance. 

 Marengo, 111. 



CONTROLLING SWARMS IN CALI- 

 FORNIA. 



Providing Plenty of Comb Room Before 

 the Bees get tlie Swarming Fever. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Mr. Root: — I have been reading Doolittle's 

 Book, "A Year's Work in the Oat-apiary," and 

 I should like to ask some questions Here in 

 California our surplus-honey flow usually comes 

 in June. Now, some of my bees already have 

 brood in five fiames. There is, of course, some 

 honey coming in all the time from eucalyptus 

 and some other flowers, so they would commence 

 swarming about the middle of March. If I shake 

 them tl ey will still have time to build up and 

 swarm before the first of June, so what would 

 you do? I have hived swarms on foundation and 

 combs, and even then they usually build up and 

 swarm again; in fact, swarming, I could almost 

 say, is the chief end of apiculture; but if, on the 

 other hand, I hive on starters the combs are usu- 

 ally built very uneven, and mostly drone comb. 



Bostonia, Cal, Feb. 17. J. P. R. Hall. 



[This was referred to Mr. Doolittle, who re- 

 plies as follows: — Ed.] 



I think that Mr. Hall fails to "catch on " to 

 the main idea regarding the non-swarming matter 

 as given in the book, " A Year's Work in an 

 Out-apiary," which is the giving of plenty of 

 extra comb room before the bees take the swarm- 

 ing fever. 



Under date of February 17 he tells us that his 

 bees have brood in five frames; but if the condi- 

 tions are with him as with us when we have a col- 

 ony with brood in five frames in the latter part 

 of April, the amount of brood in those five 

 frames would not be more than two and a half 

 frames /«// of brood, were it all compacted to- 

 gether. Now, under ordinary conditions I am 

 free to admit that such a colony might build 

 up to swarm a month later, or by the middle 

 of March, as he puts it; but if, on the 5th of 

 March, he puts on an upper story of ten Lang- 

 stroth frames of comb, he will discourage that 

 swarming impulse for from three weeks to a 

 month, so that the bees will work with a vim in 

 storing eucalyptus honey, which is slowly com- 

 ing in, instead of swarming; and when the time 

 arrives for shaking the bees they will, after shak- 

 ing, carry what has been stored up into the sec- 

 tions, as given in the book. 



But suppose that this one upper story will not 

 be sufficient to control the swarming fever until 

 the time is " ripe " for shaking; then just before 

 there was a likelihood of the fever being contract- 

 ed I would takeoff the upper hiveand the queen- 

 excluder, and put on a hive of empty combs. 

 On top of this I would put the excluder, and the 

 hive which was the top hive before, at the top 

 again. Thus a hive of empty comb would be 

 added in shape so the queen and bees could not 



only spread themselves to their hearts' content as 

 to storing honey, but as to brood-rearing also, 

 and the top hive still be in good condition for 

 the "shook swarming" when the time for doing 

 this arrived. Surely three ten-frame Langstroth 

 hives will keep any colony from swarming, view- 

 ing things from the standpoint of New York 

 State; and if it did not in California, or any oth- 

 er place in the world, then I would, a little later, 

 raise the upper hive of combs and honey, putting 

 another ten-frame hive of empty combs under it. 

 With my experience, not one colony in 500 

 would swarm which had forty L. combs to occu- 

 py, half with brood and half with honey. Of 

 course, this will make more labor than will be 

 needed in most localities; but it will accomplish 

 the object we are seeking. When shaking-time 

 comes, use only the upper hive for the Ijrood- 

 chamber as given in my book; but as many more 

 bees will be the result, a large amount of section 

 room should be given at the time of shaking. 

 Then there will be twice the amount of beeless 

 brood to be cared for by weaker colonies. Of 

 course, one shaking could be made in March, 

 where using only two hives to each strong colo- 

 ny, as given in the book, and then shake again 

 in June before the June or second swarming sea- 

 son comes; but I think more section honey could 

 be obtained, with less labor, by the plan first out- 

 lined above. 



PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR 

 BEGINNERS. 



Preparing for the Honey-flow. 



BY E. D. TOWNSEND. 



Some time previous to the surplus-honey flow, 

 hives and supers should be nailed and painted, 

 sections folded, filled with foundation, and ar- 

 ranged in the supers ready to be put on the hives 

 when the time comes. Every thing should be in 

 readiness, as a little delay in giving room, when 

 it is needed, may be the means of cutting the 

 surplus-honey crop in two. 



NAILING HIVES. 



Hives and supers, as they come from the fac- 

 tory, are provided with nails, etc. , and in putting 

 them together the onlyrtools required are a ham- 

 mer and a square. A 

 carpenter would prob- 

 ably have a wooden 

 mallet to use in driv- 

 ing the dovetailed 

 corners together, but 

 a hammer can be used 

 for this purpose, al- 

 though the planed 

 surface of the wood 

 should never be 

 struck, as it would be 

 marred. A piece of tough wood should be se- 

 cured that will not split easily, and this placed on 

 the corner to take the blow from the hammer. 

 Before nailing the hives they should be squared; 

 for if they are not made square before nailing, 

 they will never keep so afterward. 



HOW TO ASSEMBLE HOFFMAN FRAMES. 



While instructions usually go with each ship- 

 ment of hives, many do not understand putting 



