182 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



March 19, 



up by the best lawyer in my county. He said, " Go ahead — if 

 the bee-keeper can show damages, the county has to pay 

 for it." 



Pres. Aikin — Mr. Devinny errs in so sweepingly condemn- 

 ing the law. Certainly, good can be done. But the law is not 

 right as it stands. It condemns property without recompense. 



Mr. Preston — Dr. Howard claims that foul-broody hives 

 can be exposed without again generating the germ. 



Mr. Devinny — It is the honey that passes through the 

 stomachs of the nurse-bees that we have to look out for. 

 Clean the hives, don't burn them, and keep foul-broody honey 

 away ; that's all. 



Mr. Porter — Do the germs increase in honey ? 



Mr. Preston — According to Dr. Howard, they do not, but 

 they are preserved by it. [Inspector Adams was not present 

 at this time, or he would doubtless have said something. See 

 his article on page 248 of the American Bee Journal for 

 1895. -F. L. T.] 



Mr. Thompson next read an essay on management of 

 swarms, an abridgement of which follows : 



MANAGEMENT OF SWAEM8. 



In Colorado it is safe to say that three-fourths of the dif- 

 erence between success and failure in keeping bees lies in the 

 proper treatment of swarms. Every colony should give a sur- 

 plus in the poorest season. 



The ordinary management is to set the swarm in a new 

 location, leaving the old colony in its place, with the super on 

 it. When the swarm has filled its brood-chamber, it also is 

 given a super. This is according to Nature. 



But bees in a state of nature don't set out to produce what 

 we call surplus honey. They divide their forces during the 

 flow; whereas the one golden Tula it'C should keep in mind is 

 that which is well stated in the words of Mr. Demaree : " A 

 system of managent that will keep the full working-force of 

 the colony together during the entire honey-flow." 



When swarming is allowed, the swarm only should get the 

 super, and it should be set on the old location, the old colony 

 being removed elsewhere later on. If increase is wanted, the 

 old colony is first made to contribute all the bees it can spare 

 to the swarm, and then left to itself, and only expected to 

 build up to a full colony by fall. Not many bees are neces- 

 sary for this. 



Perhaps the best way is to set the old colony by the side 

 of the swarm a few days, then shake off all its bees in front of 

 the swarm except such as are on one comb (or more according 

 to weather or advancement of season) which contains the best- 

 looking queen-cell, then remove what is left of the old colony 

 (i. e., all the brood and the smaller part of the bees) to a new 

 location. As Mr. Demaree rightly says, there is no need of 

 any fuss about it. There is only one operation to remember, 

 and when you have done that, you have done everything, and 

 done it thoroughly. This also prevents after-swarms, which 

 are a regular nuisance, and do not pay anyhow. If more in- 

 crease is wanted, the old colony, instead of giving bees to the 

 swarm, can be divided into nuclei. This is a plan I have suc- 

 cessfully practiced. 



When increase is not wanted, the simplest way is to pro- 

 ceed as before, and hive the swarm in a contracted brood- 

 chamber (preferably shallow rather than narrow) with a 

 queen-excluder. It will not be worth much in the fall, but it 

 will have stored lots of surplus. It can then be united to the 

 old colony. 



There is another plan, followed by Mr. Lyman, of Illinois, 

 by which it is the swarm which survives and the old colony 

 which is united to it. I have tried it with good success, but 

 do not know whether it is any better. This plan has been de- 

 scribed in the American Bee Journal, Vol. 34, page 211. 



F. h. 'Thompson. 



Next came an essay by D. L. Tracy, entitled, 

 Swarming," most of which follows : 



'Natural 



NATURAL SWARMING. 



There has not been a year since I commenced to handle 

 bees but what they have paid expenses, and a little more, up 

 to a very fair profit. 



If I were starting in the coming spring with plenty of 

 colonies on hand, I should only save the largest swarms. I 

 should send the small swarms back into their hive. I would 

 place the swarm in the new hive, carry it to where I wished it 

 to stand, and let them alone from 24 to 60 hours. When 

 another swarm came off I would take it to the first one, lay a 

 board or white cloth in front of the hive, gently lay them 

 upon it, give swarm No. 1 a good puffing with the smoker, 

 gently puff No. 2, and as they go in catch the queen and pinch 

 off her head. This is my plan when I only desire to save a 



few swarms. The hive will be full of bees, and with any nec- 

 tar in the flowers will give a surplus. 



My second plan, when I do not wish to enlarge my apiary, 

 is to use a 10-frame hive, liUed not with brood-frames, but 

 with seven wide frames, the old style 8-section holder used in 

 a double body ; or, use section-holders. This will fill the 

 brood-chamber with 56 one-pound sections. Proceed as with 

 the first plan, and on the third day — not later, for after the 

 third day the queen may commence to deposit eggs — open the 

 hive and take the frames out gently. Some of the sections 

 will have been drawn out by this time. Lay them on a board 

 or cloth in front of the hive, puff them a little with the smoker, 

 and as they go in catch the queen. Pinch her head. Close 

 the hive and let them alone until the next day. If a swarm 

 comes off, run them into the queenless hive the same as be- 

 fore, catching and killing the queen. Put on supers accord- 

 ing to the size of the swarms. 



With this plan you have two things to contend with- -a lay- 

 ing worker or the "blues." The laying worker is the hardest 

 to contend with. The blues may be overcome by baiting with 

 partly-filled sections. Should the bees commence to dwindle 

 too much before the sections are capped over, add another 

 swarm or part of one. 



This hive must be watched very closely, for often the bees 

 seem to go all at once. I have had a hive like this with 150 

 sections full, and not a handful of bees in it. 



I like this plan better than the first, and it seems more 

 humane than the practice of some to put the swarms in boxes 

 and kill them in the fall. D. L. Tracy. 



The latter essay was then discussed : 



Mr. Devinny — I don't like the plan for poor seasons ; too 

 many are lost. 



Mr. Tracy — I do not run all my bees that way. 



H. Rauchf uss— What kind of combs do they build ? 



Mr. Tracy — Straight. 



Mr. Porter — When you are looking for a queen, how about 

 other swarms coming out? 



Mr. Tracy — I don't care if 17 swarms get together, if 

 they have no queen. 



H. Rauchfuss — Are there not too many bees in a hive 

 sometimes ? We tried the plan of running the bees of two 

 colonies into a third hive between the other two, by means of 

 an automatic device. It did not work. There was too much 

 hanging out. But when by means of the same device we 

 turned the bees of only one hive Into an empty hive, it worked 

 all right. In that empty hive we set one frame of brood, 

 which was removed when the queen began to lay. 



Pres. Aikin — My average last year with the unqueening 

 system was 100 pounds per colony. Three colonies together in 

 one empty hive gave three good supers. Two others in one 

 hive gave two supers. I do not think there can be too many 

 bees. 



F. Rauchfuss — The reason why we did not succeed with 

 so many bees, is that we had too many young bees. Your un- 

 queening system cuts off the supply of young bees. 



Mr. Tracy — My plan was suggested by Mr. Aikin's princi- 

 ple of having no young bees to feed. 



Pres. Aikin — Don't leave them hopelessly queenless too 

 long. A colony that has laying workers is useless for honey. 



H. Rauchfuss — We had a case of laying workers in which 

 in spite of queen-cells in the hive, comb was built around and 

 on the queen-cells (which were fastened on a stick by the 

 Doolittle method), and eggs laid by the workers in that comb. 

 We had several cases of a young queen in the hive at the same 

 time the workers were laying. 



When the colonies are weak, queens will seldom lay 5 or 

 6 eggs in a cell as laying workers do, but when an egg is found 

 on pollen, it is a sure sign of laying workers. 



PRODUCING extracted HONET. 



This subject was next on the program, but as no essay 

 had been handed in, it was taken up by discussion. 



Mr. Porter — I have almost concluded it would have been 

 better if the extractor had never existed. We can get nearly 

 as much comb honey. There is the trouble of adulteration to 

 contend with. We can't educate people on that subject. I 

 used to think so. but have given it up. There is no question 

 that there is much adulteration. 



Mr. Devinny — Adulteration is on the increase. Extracting 

 encourages it. 



H. Rauchfuss — There is not so much adulteration as 

 some imagine. Some people get notions in tasting. In a 

 large grocery a clerk told me that some 5-galIon cans they 

 had contained adulterated honey. It was as nice alfalfa 

 honey as I ever tasted. But that is the disadvantage of ex- 

 tracted honey. 



