ipo,^ 



1 1 E AMIJRICAN BEE-KEEPER 



79 



will be ready for caging every ten days. 

 The photographs heuewith will give 

 a correct conception of the details o{ 

 the fertilizing boxes for inside attach- 

 ment, also the open-frame with cages 

 in place. The manner of applying the 

 Swarthmore removable shells is also 

 shown and the facility with which 

 queen cells may be handled when har- 

 nessed in this manner will doubtless be 

 appreciated by those interested in la- 

 bor-saving devices and short-cuts. 



Swarthmore, Pa., Jan. 19, 1903. 



SHAKEN OR BRUSHED SWARHS 



As Made Use of During the Buckwheat Season. 

 (F. Griener). 



WHILE it is a pleasing sight to the 

 enthusiastic bee-keeper, especi- 

 ally the beginner, to see the bees 

 oour forth from their hives Dclle-melle 

 in the act of swarming, the sentimental 

 part of the bee-keeping pursuit is of 

 secondary consideration with the man 

 who has hard work to provide the 

 bread as w-ell as some other things for 

 his family. He would li!ke it a great 

 deal better if the "plaguy"' things would 

 never think of swarming. 



I have read many articles on the sub- 

 ject of "shook" swarms in the different 

 bee papers during the past year; the 

 mpst of the readers will probably be 

 familiar with them; suffice it for me to 

 say here, that the object sought in mak- 

 ing this kind of artificial swarms is 

 principally to prevent natural swarming 

 and thus do away with continuously 

 watching our yards during a large part 

 of the season. Even during the buck- 

 wheat season we are not entirely safe 

 to leave our bees without an attend- 

 ant. I have had heavy losses in some 

 seasons. How to prevent them, has been 

 a problem. 



The majority of bee-keepers who 

 practice the method of shaken or brush- 

 ed swarms naturally increase the num- 

 ber of their colonies considerably. 

 This is no more desirable with me. and 

 others may be "in the same boat." We 

 don't wish to increase any more than 

 to make good the winter losses. We 

 don't care to build any more new hives. 

 We want to begin with so many colo- 

 nies each year, etc. I therefore find 



it advisable to decrease my stock of 

 bees after the honey season from clo- 

 ver and basswood is over, exchanging 

 as much as possible "bees for honey." 

 Before describing "how I proceed," I 

 wish to make the statement that the lo- 

 calities giving us the greatest yields in 

 white honey are little to be depended 

 upon for fall honey, and vice versa. 

 On this account I have come to the 

 conclusion that migratory bee-keeping 

 is the thing for me. In the spring, 

 when the colonies are light, I take 

 them to the best clover locality I can 

 find within a reasonable distance. When 

 the season is over I again move. This 

 time into the hilly, buckwheat sections. 

 It seems to be a fact that, though buck- 

 wheat fields may be plentiful on the 

 flats and within easy reach of our bees, 

 very little honey will be stored from 

 them. Buckwheat on the hilly portions 

 of our country yields abundantly, and 

 the bees just boom. I find it therefore 

 advisable to move. However, I do not 

 move all colonies. Those that were 

 made up from the full sets of shaken- 

 ofif broob-combs are left. They are us- 

 ually heavy and have the young queens. 



The "shooks" with the old aueens 

 are the ones we move. They are light 

 in bees as well as stores, and a great 

 many may be taken at one load. It 

 will be remembered that, when practic- 

 ing shaking or brushing ofi swarms 

 during the early part of the season, we 

 give each swarm a reduced brood 

 chamber in order to secure the largest 

 possible white honey crop. These 

 small brood chambers con,tain scarce- 

 ly any honey and are in the 

 best possible condition to move 

 into the buckwheat. Before moving 

 them they are carefully looked over 

 and the age of the queens is conspicu- 

 ously marked upon the outside of each 

 hive, so that, when moving them, it 

 will be an easy matter to place an old 

 and a younger queen side by side.in the 

 new place, for each two of the colonies 

 are to be united as a "shook," giving 

 us an opportunity to dispose of the 

 oldest queen. 



At this time of the year it is a good 

 plan to give each "shook" a set of 

 combs, not less than eight L frames, 

 providing we expect to winter them. 

 If not, then fewer frames with comb 

 or starters will do. The object of giv- 

 ing comb is apparent. We all know 



