266 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



DO@D°SlD ©®[PDo@g[p®[]D(^®[]Q©(l 



MAKING INCREASE 



The Importance of Becoming Acquainted with the 

 Advice in the Best Books on the Subject 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER 



[The following is a reply to a question asked by 

 J. G. Nance. Kevil, Ky., on the subject of making 

 increase. Mr. Nance sent the same inquiry to Mr. 

 Doolittle, whose reply appeared in the last issue, p. 

 227.— ED. J 



Your question is a very broad one. Un- 

 fortunately — fortunately in some respects — 

 there.are more ways than one of making in- 

 crease. Indeed, taking all the variations 

 that may be made, there are more ways 

 than a dozen. What is the best way for 

 one may not be the best way for another. 

 What is best in one locality may not be best 

 for the same man in another locality. What 

 is best for one season may not always be 

 best for another season. Indeed, what is 

 best for a certain man in a certain locality 

 and in a certain season may not be at all 

 best for ihe same man in the same locality 

 and in ihe same kind of season, if in the 

 first case he is entirely without experience; 

 and in the second case he has made great 

 advancement. So I think you will see that, 

 to be able to advise you satisfactorily, I 

 ought to be w^ell informed as to you and 

 your surroundings. 



I feel >afe, however, in giving one general 

 bit of advice to any one who wants to know 

 the best way to make increase. It is, to in- 

 form oneself thoroughly on general princi- 

 ples. Make yourself thoroughly familiar 

 with the contents of one or more of the ex- 

 cellent books of instruction about bees, such 

 as Root's ABC and X Y Z. Even things 

 that on the surface seem to have no connec- 

 tion with the subject of incrt^ase may have 

 a vital bearing upon it. Then give special 

 attention to the matter of increase itself. 

 Read up all you can in all the books and 

 papers at your command that tells any 

 thing about increase. I do not hesitate to 

 recommend to you the book " Fifty Years 

 among ihe Bees " as being as full upon the 

 subject of increase as any book you can find, 

 beginning at page 265. Having thus in- 

 formed yourself you will likely be able to 

 tell better than any one else what will best 

 suit your case. 



After generalizing in this way I will not 

 leave the subject without some attempt at 

 particularizing; and if I can not tell you 

 what is the very best way for you I can at 

 least say something about a way to do. 



It is just possible that natural swarming 

 may best suit your purpose. But if the 

 bees are left entirely to their own devices, 

 natural swarming is likely to be more or 

 less unsatisfactory. They may swarm too 

 little. They may swarm too much. The 

 poorest colonies may swarm two or three 

 times each, and the best colonies may re- 



main without swarming. Well, then, don't 

 leave them entirely to their own devices, 

 bvit take a hand in the matter yourself. If 

 there is any choice as to stock, select about 

 five colonies that you think are the best of 

 the nineteen. Suppose A is one of those 

 that are thus selected, and that B, C, and D 

 are three of those not selected. Take from 

 one or all of B, C, and D some of their full- 

 est and ripest frames of brood, and exchange 

 with A for its poorest, thus strengthening 

 and encouraging it to swarm. When A 

 sw'arms, hive the swarm and set it on the 

 stand of A, putting A in place of B, and 

 setting B in a new place. The field bees of 

 B, when they return from foraging, instead 

 of returning to B will go straight to their 

 old location and join A. That, of course, 

 will strengthen A. In about eight days the 

 first young queen in A will emi rge from its 

 cell, and a swarm will issue. Hive this 

 swarm and set it in place of A, and set A in 

 place of C, setting C in a new place. With- 

 in two or three days A will swarm again. 

 Set the swarm in place of A, set A in place 

 of D, and set D in a new place. 



You have now accomplished two things: 

 You have made sure of a swarm in place of 

 each of the colonies B, C, and D, which, 

 without your interference, might not have 

 swarmed at all and you have made sure 

 that each shall have a queen of good stock. 



Of course while all this has been going on 

 you have performed in the same way with 

 the other four of your selected colonies; and 

 when all the colonies have been replaced by 

 a swarm you will have 38 colonies in all. 

 That is not as many as you want. Well, 

 when you set A in place of D, probably A 

 will swarm again in a day or two. "When it 

 does, you can set the swarm in place of A, 

 and set A in a new place. If you do the 

 same way with all of your selected colonies, 

 that will add five more to j^our number, 

 making 43 in all. 



If you want to go beyond this, instead of 

 putting A in a new place when it swarmed 

 the last time on the stand vacated by B, set 

 A in the place of C, putting C in a new 

 place. Then when A swarms again you can 

 set A in a new place unless you want to go 

 still further. 



The show may not come off exactly ac- 

 cording to program, for there is a possibility 

 that, toward the last, the swarm will not is- 

 sue. There is v^ery little doubt, however, 

 about reaching the first 38. On the other 

 hand, there is a possibility that, when A or 

 one of its compeers is set on a new stand for 

 the last, with the understanding that it will 

 swarm no more, it may take it into its head 

 to send out another swarm, although it will 

 be a weakling. If this weakling is not de- 

 sired, it may be put in a dark cellar for 24 

 hours, and then returned to the hive it came 

 from. 



Marengo, 111. 



