AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



81 



center of the crate or super, so much 

 the better ; this, with room for the 

 queeu to lay in the brood-chamber, 

 ample entrance for ventilation, together 

 with shade, etc. — these, and perhaps 

 other minor details, may be of some ser- 

 vice in securing the end desired. 



After observing all these precautions, 

 and perhaps getting the bees nicely 

 started at work in the sections, how pro- 

 voking to see them drop work and send 

 out a rousing big swarm ! It has been 

 recommended under such circumstances 

 to open the hive, remove all queen-cells, 

 and return the swarm to the parent 

 colony ; but after thoroughly testing this 

 plan, I find that in very few cases does 

 it amount to anything so far as securing 

 honey is concerned, than to have allowed 

 the swarm to have gone to the woods, 

 and have done with it at once, provided 

 the queen, should she be a valuable one, 

 could be saved, as it is usually only a 

 question of from a few hours to a few 

 days when they will again pour out, and 

 while they do stay in they only sulk and 

 accomplish nothing, and, if the above 

 plan is repeated several times, are 

 almost sure to kill the old queen, and 

 again come out with a young one ; and 

 even if one does succeed in getting them 

 to remain at home, the colony usually 

 does but little work until a new force of 

 bees hatch and become old enough to 

 carry on the labors of the hive. By this 

 time the harvest is usually over, the sea- 

 son drawing to a close, and but little 

 honey to reward the owner for the 

 promising outlook at the beginning of 

 the season. 



Now I want to say that the plan which 

 I am about to give is not patented, 

 neither is it necessary to buy a cent's 

 worth of traps or fixings to put it into 

 successful operation, provided, of course, 

 you have an empty hive and a few extra 

 frames on hand. 



To begin with, then, let us suppose 

 that the reader has the bees in the dove- 

 tailed hive, or any other style which is 

 capable of being tiered up. They are to 

 be supplied with sections at the begin- 

 ning of the honey-fiow, or sooney if they 

 are strong enough to occupy them. In 

 case the colony should, in due time, cast 

 a swarm first, secure the old queen, 

 which can be accomplished either by 

 having one wing clipped so she cannot 

 fly, or by using a trap on the entrance 

 to the hive. Next, while the swarm is 

 in the air, remove the old brood-cham- 

 ber, combs and all, from the stand, and 

 replace it with another filled with empty 

 combs, full sheets of foundation, or 



starters, as you choose, or whichever 

 you are best supplied with. Now re- 

 move the crate of sections from the old 

 hive, and put them in place on the new 

 one, on the old stand, and if the cover to 

 the hive is a flat one, pu^ it on also. 



By this time, the bees will in many 

 cases have missed their queen, and with- 

 out clustering will be returning home. 

 Allow them to enter the hive prepared 

 for them, and if the queen has been 

 caged release her (provided her wing is 

 clipped) ; but if she is caught in a queen- 

 trap without being clipped, adjust the 

 trap to the new hive, then release the 

 queen, leaving the trap in place until 

 satisfied that the colony has commenced 

 work in earnest, otherwise they might 

 desert and leave for parts unknown. 



Then take the hive containing the old 

 combs of brood and honey, together with 

 the bees which were left behind, and set 

 it on top of the new hive, thus making 

 the top of the new hive serve as a bot- 

 tom for the old one ; put a cover on this, 

 and give them an entrance at one end, 

 and the work for the present is done. 



Next, keep a record of the date on 

 which this colony swarmed, and if you 

 wish to rear some queens, and the cells 

 left in the old colony are from choice 

 stock, here is your chance. Bore a one- 

 inch hole in each side of the top hive for 

 an entrance, divide the colony into three 

 parts, giving say two combs of brood and 

 honey and one queen-cell to each — this 

 will probably leave sufficient room to in- 

 sert the extra division-boards required 

 to keep each one of these lots of bees 

 separate. 



We now have three nucleus colonies, 

 which in due time should furnish a lay- 

 ing queen each (barring accident, of 

 course). I usually divide up the old 

 colony in from four to five days after 

 the swarm issues, as they sometimes 

 "hang fire ;" that is, they do not, on ac- 

 count of bad weather or other causes, 

 come out as soon as the first cell is 

 capped, hence if we wait until the sev- 

 enth or eighth day, we may get either a 

 second swarm or lose all our queen- 

 cells by their being torn open by the 

 first young queen that hatches. With 

 this plan I find that this latter is the 

 most apt to happen, as but few old field- 

 bees remain in the old hive, so there is 

 but little honey coming in, which is as 

 we want it at this time. 



If your hive is not large enough to. 

 contain all the combs of the old colony 

 with the added division-boards, remove 

 a frame or two and add them to some 

 other colony, if they contain, brood. 



If you do not wish to rear any queens, 



