334 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



CONVERSATIONS WITH 

 DOOLITTLE 



AT Borodino, New York. 



ARTIFICIAL INCREASE. 



"What have you there in that box, M r. Doo 

 little? Ah! I see — combs of honey. " 



" Yei. Some of the weaker colonies are short 

 of stores during the period of scarcity we always 

 have in this locality between apple-bloom and 

 white clover, so I am looking after these and set- 

 ting in frames of honey where I find those in 

 need. " 



" But I should think that colony had enough. 

 It has as much as five or six pounds, I should 

 say. " 



" Probably it has; but for its best prosperity it 

 should have twice that, so I will set in this frame, 

 which has about six pounds in it." 



" But that will give the colony from twelve to 

 fourteen pounds, I should say. Isn't that too 

 much? Is there no danger of keeping the queen 

 restricted when there is so much honey in the 

 hive? " 



" Not at this time of the year. It will be fully 

 two weeks before clover will give any nectar, 

 and there is no other nectar-producing flora here 

 unless the few trees of black' locust should give 

 the bees a living ten days from now. If you 

 will come over again two weeks hence you will 

 see that the bees in this hive will have all but 

 three or four pounds of that honey turned into 

 brood, and that, together with what they have 

 now, will make a good colony for the clover har- 

 vest; while, did they not have more than the six 

 pounds they had before I gave this frame, they 

 would be slow at brood-rearing for fear of starv- 

 ation, and thus the chance from such a colony 

 would not be the best for a good yield of clover 

 honey. Allow me to say that the turning of 

 honey into bees at this season of the year pays 

 the best of any thing I know of." 



"I presume you are right. But what I wish 

 to talk about is this: I want a moderate increase 

 of bees this year, and at the same time obtain as 

 much section honey as possible. Now, how 

 would you make swarms, or the desired increase, 

 if your business were such that you could not be 

 at home during the hours in which bees natural- 

 ly issue or swarm? " 



"I suppose you have your hives and sections 

 all ready to use? " 



" No. I thought it would be time enough to 

 make them when I knew how many I wanted." 



"Then the first thing for you to do is to get 

 these ready. I do this work during tke winter. " 



" But how do you know you will want any 

 supplies that early?" 



" I expect to keep bees year after year, and so 

 I prepare during the leisure of winter; and if any 

 thing should happen so that I do not come out in 

 spring with as many colonies as I expected, the 

 prepared supplies will be ready when I do need 

 them." 



" Well, I will go at mine as soon as I get home. 

 But what would you do for increase if you were 

 in my place?" 



" The way I would do is this: About the time 

 natural swarms may be expected to issue, a- d the 



hives have become full of btes and brood, a hive 

 is filled with frames of empty combs and placed 

 on the stand of one of the populous colonies we 

 desire to make swarm, and all of the sections are 

 taken off the colony to be so treated and placed 

 on the new hive; then all the bees are shaken and 

 brushed off their combs of brood and honey, in 

 front of this prepared hive, into which they will 

 run as fast as they are shaken and brushed off. " 



" But suppose you had no frames of comb ? " 



"Then I would use frames filled with comb 

 foundation." 



"Would not frames having a'starter of foun- 

 dation work just as well?" 



"No; for in this case too much drone comb 

 would be built, on account of the bees not being 

 prepared for comb-building; and by the time 

 they became fully prepared, the queen, not hav- 

 ing any place for depositing her eggs, would have 

 stopped laying pretty much or entirely, and so 

 comb-bu'lding would go on too rapidly for the 

 queen to catch up, and in such cases mostly drone 

 comb ia built." 



" I see. But how long have you done this ? " 



" Thirty-five years or such a matter, and it has 

 always been a success. You will note that this 

 colony is ready for business as soon as the honey 

 harvest comes, as they have the queen, all of the 

 bees (not a part, as in natural swarming), and the 

 partly filled sections, all in readiness for work." 



"That looks good. But what becomes of the 

 beeless combs of brood? " 



" Previous to this, nuclei have been formed so 

 that I have plenty of laying queens to use as I 

 need them, so I now take all the combs of brood, 

 except one, arranging them in the hive the bees 

 were shaken out of, and carry them to the stand 

 of another colony which is ready to manipulate 

 at this time. I next take the frame of brood 

 which was left out and go to one of the nuclei, 

 taking out the frame having the laying queen 

 upon it, and put the frame of brood in its place. 

 I now take the frame I have removed from the 

 nucleus, bees, queen, and all, and set it in the 

 place left vacant for it when arranging the combs 

 of brood, which is better next to one side of the 

 hive. Now I put on the sections, and, having 

 all complete, I move the colony to a new stand a 

 rod or two away, and set the prepared hive in its 

 place. Thus I have a young laying queen and 

 enough of the bees to protect her, together with 

 a hive filled with combs of brood, and the most 

 of the field bees from the removed colony. In a 

 very few days these colonies will enter the sec- 

 tions, during the very best work at producing 

 section honey." 



"But I have no nuclei prepared. Would a 

 frame with bees and queen from a weak colony 

 do as well? 



" Exactly, for I have used them thus when I 

 desired more than I had provided nuclei for. 

 You will note that the loss of field bees from the 

 removed colony stops the swarming impulse. In 

 about a week this colony will have so regained 

 its loss that the bees are ready to work in the sec- 

 tions again. You will see that, by using this 

 plan, the colonics are all kept as strong in num- 

 bers as is possible, and yet keep down the swarm- 

 ing fever; and that is just what we wish if we 

 w )uld succeed in producing section honey to the 

 best advantage. " 



