260 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



April 26 1900 



we may have to put up with it till we can do better. Under 

 some conditions foundation is thinned and workt out by the 

 bees till it is almost like natural comb, but there is a whole 

 lot left so that the foundation base is verj- noticeable. I 

 suspect that even natural comb varies considerable, owing- 

 to conditions ; but there is quite a difference between wax 

 as it comes fresh from the bee and that which has been 

 melted and workt. The fresh product is more of a light, 

 loose, flaky nature, the melted wax more compact and close- 

 grained. The more the bee tvorks over the wax of the 

 foundation the more it is like the original, yet never wholly 

 like it. 



But can we avoid the foundation ? Let your thoughts 

 §•0 back to what I have said about necessity of strong colo- 

 nies for good section-work. Recall that a weak colonj- can 

 not always keep up enough heat to properly manipulate 

 wax, and that therefore thej' will of necessity put it into 

 the comb more in chunks. That temperature does affect 

 comb-building is a commonly accepted idea. Think of the 

 effect of bait-combs — a thing generally conceded of great 

 value, particularly in getting the bees into the super. Comb 

 foundation acts much as a bait-comb ; a colony having full 

 sheets of foundation will take to supers more freely than if 

 starters onlj' are used. Going to the supers they crowd the 

 brood-chambers less, relieving pressure both of bees and 

 honey. A large force in the super means a better quality 

 of work done, both in good workmanship in comb construc- 

 tion, either new thruout orfrom foundation. 



Since the foundation acts as bait-combs, and so helps 

 in the control of swarming, and in getting better and more 

 super-work, it seems that we will have to sacrifice a little 

 in the quality of our comb honey, and use the full sheets of 

 foundation. Then, too, the shipping qualities of a section 

 are improved b3' foundation. While the colony may thin 

 foundation — thej' do usually thin it some — it never is quite 

 so frail as the all-new comb, and also it enables us to get 

 better attachment to the wood, making much stronger sec- 

 tions. Full sheets give us a neater finish than can be had 

 with the same strength of colony and flow when new comb 

 is built. It seems, then, that we will have to use founda- 

 tion. 



Bottom starters also should be used, serving two pur- 

 poses : They secure stronger sections for shipment, and 

 more even filling and weight. This bottom-starter business 

 is like the separator question — it is possible to get good at- 

 tachments without them, but in unfavorable conditions we 

 are able to get better with them. The thing to recommend 

 for common practice is not that which gives good results 

 under the most favorable conditions, but that which suc- 

 ceeds in ordinary hands and under ordinary or poor condi- 

 tions. It is poor policy to adopt that which will succeed 

 only in the best of seasons, and in the hands of an expert. 

 That which will do well in an average season will do pro- 

 portionately better in the good years. 



Another thing about the super is important, and that 

 is, that it shall be covered with a bee-space above the sec- 

 tions. With those weak colonies that will store only a very 

 few pounds in sections, a quilt held down tight on top of 

 the sections will do ; but where supers are tiered up — and 

 they will and should be with strong colonies in good flows 

 — there should always be a space above the sections as be- 

 low them, for a quilt laid on with its own weight only will 

 be pusht up, and propolis put in around the openings on top 

 of the sections, till it is a perfect nuisance. 



Pull the quilt from the top of a super and put another 

 super over it without cleaning the propolis from it, and the 

 bees will smear the stuff over the section tops and on comb- 

 surfaces and make a bad muss. Have a space in the super 

 top and cover with aboard. Larimer Co., Colo. 



Laying- Workers— How to Get Rid of Them. 



BY F. A. SNBLL. 



LAYING workers are occasionally found in colonies that 

 have been queenless for some time, or until the numbers 

 are much reduced. These workers are capable of lay- 

 ing eggs that will produce drones only. The eggs and the 

 developing drones are cared for with a full degree of .tender- 

 ness by the bees, and they seem to be satisfied with their 

 condition. This fact has rendered these laying workers a 

 great nuisance and annoyance to bee-keepers new in the 

 pursuit, especially. Many a valuable queen has been sac- 

 rificed by their owner in an efl'ort to requeen such colonies, 

 or, more properly, remnants of such. 



The trouble with many apiarists has been realized that 

 the bees are so devoted to the laying workers that the good 



queen given is considered an intruder, and is destroyed. 

 Many of us have seen this demonstrated in our earlier 

 years of bee-keeping. 



Quite a number of years ago the plan of carrying the 

 bees with their combs some distance from their hives and 

 throwing them from their combs and then returning the 

 combs to the hive was practiced, the bees returning, minus 

 the laying worker, to their hive. It was claimed by the ad- 

 vocates of the plan that the laying workers would not know 

 her way back, and be lost, and that then a queen would be 

 accepted. The plan did not at all times work, from the fact 

 that the laying worker had not forgotten her location since 

 last leaving the hive in search of honey. 



The plan I hit upon some years ago was to unite these 

 colonies with nuclei or full colonies having queens and 

 brood. When convenient the bees are united with their 

 combs, the bees being put at all times in the hive with the 

 queen. I like this plan better than shaking the bees from 

 the queenless colony at the hive-entrance of the one having 

 the queen, as some at least will return to their old location ; 

 while with the other plan I have noticed none to do so. I 

 have practiced the preferred plan for 20 years or more, and 

 have never lost a queen in so doing, and can recommend it 

 to others whose methods have not proved satisfactory, or to 

 the beginner who has not had experience along this line. 

 This method is very easy, and the work quicklj' done. 



I have advised the plan above outlined to be practiced 

 by bee-keepers I have met that had trouble with other ways, 

 and success has been reported with some at least, as they 

 so informed me. The plan is so easy to follow that I be- 

 lieve about every one who will try can succeed with it. 



Some one may argue that the bees in the colon5' having 

 the laying worker are old, and not of much value — not 

 worth the time spent in saving them. That depends largely 

 upon the time of year and the honey-flow at the time. Dur- 

 ing early summer and a good bloom one or two quarts of 

 old bees will do a good work, and can, with a few young 

 bees, and even one frame of brood, be built into a strong 

 colony by fall, yes, and sometimes do give some surplus be- 

 side. These little things must be lookt after to meet with 

 the best success possible in our pursuit, or any other in fact. 



If one has reason to suspect that a colony is queenless, 

 that colony should be examined at the earliest opportunity, 

 and, if found so, do the work advised herein. Queenless 

 colonies should not be allowed to remain such. As they 

 become weak in numbers, thej' are almost sure to fall a 

 prey to robbers — a thing to be avoided. Robbing thus 

 started by the careless apiarist at once demoralizes an api- 

 ary, and may be carried to weaker colonies, nuclei, etc., to 

 the annovance and loss of their owner. 



Carroll Co.. 111. 



Management of the Shallow Divisible-Brood- 

 Chamber Box-Hive. 



BY C. DAVENPORT. 



IN using the hives described in my last article, on page 

 179, there are different methods to be practiced, depend- 

 ing upon the results sought, as to whether increase is 

 desired at the expense of the surplus crop, or whether the 

 best possible results in surplus are the object regardless of 

 increase. But in running for comb honej', if it is a fair 

 season it is impossible to prevent some increase for the time 

 being, unless such an amount of drawn comb is allowed for 

 the queen to lay in and range around on that a fair crop of 

 section honey is out of the question. If swarming occurs, 

 and at the end of the season it is desired to unite colonies 

 in order to reduce the number to be wintered, on account of 

 these hives possessing the tiering-up feature, it is fully as 

 easy to unite colonies in them with others in the same kind 

 of hives, or with colonies in frame hives, as it would be if 

 all frame hives were used. 



Here in the North, with our short season, I think there 

 is no question but what when natural swarms issue, or, 

 what is practically the same thing, when artificial swarms 

 are made on account of colonies getting the swarming fever 

 just before or during the main flow, but what more surplus 

 can be obtained if the working-force is kept together as 

 much as possible, and the queen of the swarm allowed but 

 a limited space during the flow, for here, if a colony swarms 

 it is the swarm we must depend upon for surplus from the 

 white honey-flow, and if running for comb honey we want 

 the surplus in sections instead of in the brood-nest. By 

 limited space I mean one story of a divisible hive, the same 

 size otherwise as the 8-frame hive, but only 6 or 7 inches 



