40S 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULUTRE 



July 1 



honey secured was very small besides. It is 

 better to make haste slowly, when increasing 

 an apiary; for a live colony in the spring is 

 wortn many dead ones. 



The plan that I shall here outline will en- 

 able the beginner to get a fair crop of surplus 

 honey in connection with a pretty good in- 

 crease besides. After the clover honey has 

 been coming in for a few days, some of the 

 colonies will cast swarms. No after-swarms 

 should be tolerated, so when the prime 

 swarm (that is, the first swarm) is in the air, 

 the hive which it came from should be car- 

 ried to a new location at least 30 feet from 

 the old stand. However, if it is desirable to 

 set this old hive near where it stood before, 

 it should be carried away just the same, and 

 then, at night, after the new swarm is hived, 

 the old hive can be moved near this new 

 swarm if desired. If this old hive had been 

 placed only a few feet from where it former- 

 ly stood, many of the bees would have found 

 it and would have gone back to it again, 

 strengthening the parent colony enough, 

 possibly, to cause an after-swarm. It is de- 

 sirable to have all the flying bees with the 

 new swarm, for it will do practically all the 

 work for the next few weeks, there being 

 no working force left in the old hive. 



As soon as the swarm in the air begins to 

 cluster, a new hive should be set on the old 

 stand, and the sections from the old hive put 

 on it whether they are partly filled or not. 

 It is not necessary to wait until all of the 

 bees have clustered before getting them and 

 shaking them in front of the new hive; for, 

 even it a few are left, they would have no 

 place to go to but back to the old location, 

 on which, in this case, the new hive stands. 

 Now, if the supers are given at the proper 

 time, etc., the bees of this swarm should not 

 swarm again during the honey-flow. 



HOW TO GET SWARMS THAT ARE CLUSTERED 

 IN INACCESSIBLE PLACES. 



If a swarm clusters on a small limb of a 

 tree where it can be shaken into a Manum 

 swarm-catcher and carried to the hive, al- 

 most any one, even without experience, can 

 get along very well; but if it clusters on the 

 trunk of a tree, on a fence-post, or on the 

 ground, it is rather difficult for one to get it 

 who does not know how. We will suppose 

 that the cluster has formed on a fence-post. 

 Set the Manum swarm-catcher near the post 

 (a couple of feet higher is all the better) , and 

 then with a long-handled tin dipper dip most 

 of the bees from the post, and empty them 

 into the swarm-catcher. Now smoke the 

 rest of the bees off the post and they will 

 soon alight on the basket. In this way the 

 whole swarm can be carried to the hive and 

 run in. 



HOW TO GET A SWARM INTO A HIVE. 



The whole cluster of bees in the swarm- 

 catcher should not be dumped in front of the 

 hive at once, for a large number of them will 

 take wing. About a quart of bees should be 

 dislodged from the catcher and shaken near 

 the entrance of the hive; and when these 

 bees set up that "homing hum" every bee 



in the catcher will hear it, so that, when they 

 are dumped in front of the hive, instead of 

 many of them taking wing, some of them, 

 perhaps, going back to the original cluster- 

 mg-place, all will stay on the alighting-board, 

 and every thing will be quiet. It is quite im- 

 portant to have the bees enter the hive as 

 soon and as quietly as possible; for if anoth- 

 er swarm should issue soon after the first 

 one is hived, the bees of this second swarm 

 would be attracted to the first, and would be 

 likely to enter with the rest. 



It often happens that another swarm issues 

 about the time that the first one is nicely 

 clustered on the swarm-catcher; and in this 

 case, if the first swarm be hived immediate- 

 ly, the bees of the swarm in the air would 

 unite with it, so that there would be the two 

 swarms in one hive. While this would do 

 no serious harm, I usually prefer to have 

 each swarm hived by itself; for by so doing 

 about as much honey is secured, and I have 

 the extra colony besides. In such a case, 

 therefore, the proper way would be to carry 

 the first swarm, already on the swarm-catch- 

 er, into a cellar, or set it aside in the shade, 

 with a sheet over it, so the bees of the swarm 

 in the air will not find it. While this is be- 

 ing done it is quite likely that the other 

 swarm will cluster in the place just vacated 

 by the first swarm. It may then be shaken 

 into a second swarm-catcher and hived in the 

 usual way; and when every thing in the 

 yard is quiet the first swarm left covered 

 with a sheet can be hived as usual. 



WHAT TO DO WHEN MORE THAN ONE SWARM 

 COMES OUT AT A TIME. 



It sometimes happens that two or more 

 swarms emerge at about the same time, and 

 there is no way of keeping them from going 

 together. This is a more serious matter, and 

 the beginner will hardly know which way 

 to turn. He will very likely get all the bees 

 into one hive, as this is apparently the easi- 

 est way out of the difficulty. We will sup- 

 pose that two swarms have issued and clus- 

 tered together. The hives containing the 

 parent colonies should be removed just as in 

 the case of a single swarm, and empty hives 

 put on the old stands. Partly filled supers 

 irom the old hives should be put on the new 

 hives, and entrance-guards fastened over the 

 entrances. It is best to do this at once, for 

 the bees of the newly hived swarm should 

 not be disturbed for three or four days, or 

 else they may decide that their new quarters 

 are not just right, and that they had better 

 leave. When nearly all the bees of the two 

 swarms have clustered, about half of them 

 should be shaken into the swarm-catcher and 

 taken to one of the new hives. A queen- 

 cage should be provided, for one of the 

 queens will have to be found and caged tem- 

 porarily. Before shaking, a wide board 

 should be leaned up against the front of the 

 hive for an alighting-board. As before, a 

 few of the bees should now be emptied on 

 this board; and, since there is a queen-ex- 

 cluding guard over the entrance, only the 

 workers can get in. As soon as the few bees 

 set up the " call " the rest should be dumped 



