THE BEE-KEEPfiRS' REVIEM^ 



4') 



value in cross-fertilizing' the flowers, 

 and the injury they may do in convej'- 

 ing- destructive diseases and insects, 

 such as the San Jose scale, as well as 

 the damage done by bees to fruits, etc. 

 This will be something along the same 

 line as the talk given by Prof. Waite 

 at Buffalo, in 1901. Ernest Root has 

 promised to be witli us, and, taking it 

 all in all, it promises to be a most 

 interesting meeting. 



On account of the "round-up" Insti- 

 tute, half-fare will be given on all 

 Michigan railroads. Dinner and sup- 

 per may be secured at the College, but 

 visitors will have to go to Lansing for 

 their lodging and breakfast. The dis- 

 tance, however, is onU' four miles, and 

 the fare only five cents. Headquarters 

 for bee-keepers at Lansing will be at the 

 Wentworth hotel, where excellent fare 

 may be secured at $1.50 a daj-. 



•*i.F*^^^^*»^*« 



HOW TO TELL, WITHOUT OPENING THE 



HIVE, WHEN A COLONY WILL 



SWARM. 



One improvement nearly always 

 leads to, or calls for, another. The 

 establishment of out-apiaries called 

 for some method of controlling swarm- 

 ing. Shook-swarming has come in re- 

 sponse to this demand. If we knew 

 that a colony would not swarm, we 

 would not shake it. We do not wish 

 to shake a colony until it has made 

 preparations for swarming — that is the 

 time, the most desirable time, for shak- 

 ing. Consequently the first step, upon 

 reaching an apiary managed on the 

 shook-swarming plan, is to examine 

 each colony and see which ones have 

 made preparations for swarming. 

 This is considerable work; supers 

 must be lifted off, brood combs lifted 

 out and examined to see if queen cells 

 have been started, then the supers 

 lifted back. To thus pull a colony all 

 to pieces, and interrupt and disturb 

 the bees right when the work is at its 

 height, is something that any bee- 



keeper would gladly avoid. Mr. M. A. 

 Gill, of Colorado, who, last year, with 

 the assistance of his wife and one 

 helper, managed 1,100 colonies, system- 

 ized this part of their work. I be- 

 lieve Mr. Gill went ahead and lifted 

 off the supers, his wife followed and 

 examined for queen cells, while the 

 other helper did the "shaking" at the 

 hives that were so marked. Then I 

 think Mr. Gill lifted the supers back 

 upon the hives. Suppose that Mr. Gill 

 could have stepped into an apiary of 

 100 colonies, and, in twenty minutes, 

 or less, with no assistance from any 

 one, without even opejihig a hive, or 

 lifting off a super, he could have known 

 which colonies were making prepara- 

 tions for swarming, I say suppose it 

 would have been possible for him to do 

 this, see how greatly it would have 

 lessened his labor. Well, this very 

 thing can be done. 



During my recent trip to New York, 

 I met a bee-keeper who has been 

 practicing this, successfully, for some 

 time, on a large scale. He described 

 the method to me in detail, and the 

 simplicity of it is only equaled by the 

 wonder that no one has thought of, or 

 practiced it, before. He told it to me 

 in confidence, and when I urged him 

 to allow its publication, he declined. 

 He said he had put much thought and 

 experimentation upon the matter, and 

 as an idea is not patentable, he pre- 

 ferred to enjoy its advantages himself 

 rather than give it away to those who 

 would become his competitors. After 

 thinking the matter over awhile, I 

 proposed that I mention the matter in 

 the Review, and find out how many 

 men would be willing to pay $1.00 

 each to have the matter published in 

 the Review. Now then, let each man 

 who is willing to pay $1.00 to have 

 this matter published, drop me a 

 postal card. The first of March I will 

 write this man and let him know how 

 many have made this promise, and, if 

 he feels that the number is sufficient. 



