310 



September, 1914. 



American Hea Joarnal 



frame hives in the manner above men- 

 tioned, and without any added protec- 

 tion. Mr. Holtermann, perhaps, will 

 no longer feel the need in successive 

 winters of his mammoth winter cases. 

 Perhaps his bees will consume a little 

 more honey, but in compensation they 

 will live in a more healthful atmos- 

 phere, and they will have brood before 

 the others. This will facilitate ventila- 

 tion and the escape of moisture and 

 carbonic acid, and prevent dampness 

 in the hives, which is a guarantee of 

 strength and health. The outside 

 combs and the thickness of the bee 

 cluster constitute a most powerful de- 

 fense against the assaults of the lowest 

 temperatures. 



In a recent issue of the New York 

 Evening Journal I read the following 

 golden words: "To keep disease down 

 keep the windows up. Fresh air, which 

 costs nothing, is more important to 

 health than any food. Cold does not 

 kill vou, but germs and bad ventilation 

 will." 



Do you not think this wise advice 

 suitable even to our bees ? 



Mr. W. 7. Hutchinson encouraged 

 the keeping of more bees. To the bee- 

 keeper, and especially to the young 

 beekeeper, I would say: Keep more 

 bees in lar^^e hives. Only these give, 

 with the least amount of money, time 

 and labor, the greatest profits. Con- 

 form to the golden rule of the German 

 beekeeper Oetll, " Keep always your 

 colonies strong. Clear your mind 

 from all prejudices, study and assist 

 the bees in their real needs, have faith 

 in yourself, and you will undoubtedly 

 be successful." 



New York, N. Y. 



[The above interesting contribution 



was received by us early in the spring. 

 Its author, who is an experienced Ital- 

 ian apiarist, now living in the United 

 States, writes us as follows concern- 

 ing hives of the Langstroth system, en- 

 larged, championed in Europe by my 

 father, who was the promoter of the 

 large hives, and after whom they have 

 been named : — Editor ) 



"My father, an old beekeeper, first 

 adopted the I5erlepsch hive, which, at 

 that time, was considered the best, and 

 I, then a boy, yet remember how tire- 

 some and slow were the operations 

 with those hives. Reading I'Apiculteur 

 of Paris, and I'Apicoltore of Milan, he 

 followed the advice of Chas. Dadant, 

 and experimented on his large hives. 



"Tlie results were so satisfactory 

 that for the last 25 years the roomy 

 Dadant hives are used e.xclusively in 

 our apiaries. The Italian beekeepers 

 keep a sentiment of gratitude to the 

 memory of C. D. His hives, together 

 with a strain of peerless bees, have 

 made their beekeeping an industry of 

 the most successful kind." — D. Barone. 



Controlling Swarming 



BY C. F. GREENING. 



IN the American Bee Journal for July 

 appears an article from " Virginia," 

 relative to the way his Italians 

 swarm on him, and asking what he 

 should do in such a case, etc. Now I 

 will give my plan to save him all his 

 trouble. 



First, I am working for extracted 



honey principally, as there is less work 

 and far more money in it in the long 

 run. Working for comb honey would 

 be rather more difficult. But I also do 

 some of that. 



I store my bees with a superof combs 

 on top for winter, or, if not, I add the 

 super as soon as it becomes warm, and 

 let the queen deposit some eggs in it 

 until honey flow begins. 



When the flow starts, I lift up the 

 s per and place another under it full of 

 combs. When that is reasonably filled 

 I again lift the top super, placing an- 

 other set of combs under it, then ex- 

 amine the top super and see if all the 

 brood has hatched, or nearly so. If it 

 has, I remove one frame from the cen- 

 ter, go to a hive that has frames of 

 brood in super, and simply exchange 

 combs, always keeping some brood un- 

 hatched in the lup super. As long as 

 there is any space below that super in 

 the hive proper, your bees will not 

 swarm. My hives I run as high as my 

 head, 8 to 10 supers, or if short I ex- 

 tract as required, but always leave or 

 have some unfilled frames below the 

 top super that has brood. 



'1 hat is my method of non-swarming. 

 I have not had a natural swarm in six 

 years. Whereas before that my chil- 

 dren and grandchildren have had to 

 watch bees for four months of summer. 

 Now I watch no more, but tell the 

 bees "there's the honey. If any swarm- 

 ing is needed / will attend to that. You 

 go for the honey and keep everlastingly 

 at it." They always mind me. 



Now for swarming in May, or up to 

 the honey flow, whenever that occurs. 

 We will say you want to double your 

 colonies and no more. As soon as 



I 



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