March 1, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



131 



to cover that number of frames, but if more bees than eijfht 

 frames will accommodate be produced it will be necessary 

 to induce swarminjf thereby, or accommodate them in the 

 brood-chamber, and no one will have any objection to a 

 larg-e colony, no matter how large, because the more bees it 

 has the more honey can be produced — providing- it does not 

 become crowded so as to induce swarming. It will not do 



^jlvt ^;iTtl^io\ 



to be arbitrary in the selection of either a large or a .small 

 hive, for all colonies do not work alike, and what would suit 

 one colony exactly might not suit another, like a large shoe 

 on a small foot. What is necessary, then, is a hive to meet 

 every exigency, and to accommodate a large or small col- 

 ony equally well. Personally, I believe in having plenty 

 of bees in the hive, and by that I mean all I can get, either 

 by means of good queens or by a plan which I intend here- 

 after to pursue for this reasou, and incidentally to solve the 

 swarming question, or rather, control swarming in the in- 

 terest of honey -production. Both of these highly desirable 

 things I can accomplish with the new hive in the following 

 manner : I start with eight brood-frames. If I find a 

 necessity for 10 I expand the brood-chamber and this I can 

 do indefinitely in the manner and as previously described. 



A still more sure plan is that at which I have already 

 hinted, viz.: two or more queens to a hive. This, as I have 

 before said, was an afterthought too late to put into prac- 

 tice during the last season, and while I have not tried it, 

 yet unquestionable authority not differing in essentials, 

 confirms my belief in it. Running more than one queen in 

 a hive is not an entirely new proposition, and such a plan, 

 if practicable, would have, to any one, its own obvious rea- 

 sons unnecessary to dwell upon. 



I quote as authority Mr. G. M. Doolittle, and while my 

 references are found in his book on "Scientific Queen- 

 Rearing," the circumstances alluded to by Mr. Doolittle are 

 not different in an ordinary working hive. Any one can 

 convince himself of the possibility by reading from the 

 middle of page 93 to page 96 carefully. One or two other 

 references, perhaps not so applicable, can also be found. 

 It may be noticed that mention is made by Mr. Doolittle of 

 these things having occurred in an upper and lower hive, 

 while I use only a lower hive. This, however, can in no 

 way affect the proposition. A double-queen system in a 

 working hive would hardly be possible, except in one hav- 

 ing the features which I describe, and outside of this possi- 

 bility its advantages are so numerous as to render it very 

 valuable. The following, then, would be the method of 

 procedure : 



If the bees show a tendency to cast a swarm I am per- 

 fectly willing to let them do so ; rather gaining than losing 

 theieby, as by the management I will still have the united 

 force of all the bees I had before, and in addition an in- 

 creast producing facility as hereinafter explained. 



As soon as a swarm is cast, having first placed the new 

 swarm in the hive from which it issued, I expand the brood- 

 chamber. I do this, if I have already hung the surplus 

 frames, by sacrificing one on each side, or all, as the case 

 may seem to require. Before returning the new swarm to 

 the old hive, I push the old swarm and brood-frames to one 

 side of the hive, and isolate the queen by means of an ex- 

 cluder, leaving half of the brood-chamber to the domain of 

 each queen. Having given the new swarm the necessary 

 brood-frames with starters, I close the hive, and the opera- 

 tion is practically complete. In order to be sure that the 



young queen shall return to the right side of the hive when 

 ehe returns from her (light, if she should not happen to 

 have been fertilized before t\u- swarm was cast, I have two 

 entrances in the front of the hive which I use as follows : 



Having prepared one side as I explained, I close the en- 

 trance which opens into the space lor the new swarm, leav- 

 ing the entrance which opens into the space for the mother 

 colony for a pa.ssageway for all the bees ; if the new queen 

 has not been fertilized, it will of course leave and enter by 

 this entrance. This insures separation of the queens. 



After a few days, when I am sure the new queen has 

 been fertilized, I remove the obstruction from the clo.sed 

 entrance and run them as necessary. If still another swarm 

 is cast, I handle it in very much the same manner by plac- 

 ing the new swarm in the rear compartment and giving it 

 four brood-frames. The queen-excluder already in place 

 serves to exclude the queen from the rest of the hive. 



Having hived the swarm I examine both sides of the 

 original brood-chamber to ascertain, if I have not seen the 

 swarm issue, which side cast it. This is necessary in order 

 to arrange the entrance on account of the possibility of an 

 unfertilized queen, as before explained. Having cleaned 

 out the remaining queen-cells, if any, while investigating 

 the two sides, I can close down the cover on a single hive 

 with the rearing power of two or three colonies, and feel 

 quite secure about further swarming or dwindling on ac- 

 count of it. 



If the second swarm issues after about June 1st, it is of 

 course a question for the bee-keeper to decide whether he 

 will install it as colony number three of the hive, reinstate 

 the bees, or handle the swarm in some other manner, but 

 the facility is ready for the emergency if required. No 

 moving around or handling of the hive is necessary. Such 

 a thing would at least be very singular and rare, so the ob- 

 jection which might occur to some is not of weight. The 

 size of the hive is about 22x26 inches. 



Ir the fall, in preparing for chaffing, the hive is reduced 

 to one colony (if more than one queen is successfully used) 

 occupying about eight frames ;. leaving chaffing spaces of 

 three to five inches on the sides and back ; or preferably 

 two colonies are left, the brood-chamber being reduced to 

 about 10 frames, which is sufficient, considering consider- 

 able room in the cluster-space ; there will then be about a 

 five-inch chaffing space in the back and about 3'i inches on 

 each side. The side spaces can be advantageously used for 

 feeding, either in the fall before chaffing, or in the spring 

 by removing the chaff from the warm side and placing the 

 food there. 



In the event of reducing the brood-chamber to one col- 

 ony, there will be a considerable increase of colonies either 



5Hovv"^C- SECTION^ 



(N PL^CE . 



for next year's apiary or for sale. The same will be true 

 also if some of the hives have three colonies, and it is de- 

 cided to winter with two. Other advantages of the .system 

 might be mentioned, and further explanation and details 

 given, but space would not permit. Cook Co., 111. 



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