88 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



printed and sent out to dealers and 

 others who wish to buy hone3^ 



Notliing- happened to mar the pleas- 

 ure of the meeting', which was solid 

 discussion from beg'inning' to end. 

 This way of conducting' a convention is 

 very good if there are plenty of talkers 

 present, or if the presiding- officer 

 knows how to stir up those not in- 

 clined to talk. Little slips of paper 

 are passed around among the audience 

 and each requested to write some ques- 

 tion, or questions, when they are 

 gathered up and read, one at a time, 



and discussed. In this way, any one 

 who wishes a question answered can 

 be accommodated; and there never 

 seems to be a lack of subjects. 



The convention adjourned to meet at 

 the time and place to be selected by the 

 executive committee. It might not be 

 out of place to mention that, for the 

 past two or three years, we have been 

 meeting in connection with the State 

 Dairymen's Association; the two Asso- 

 ciations furnishing sufficient attend- 

 ance to secure the desired low rates on 

 the railroads. 



SETTING HIVES IN PAIRS. 



How it Helps in Practicing Shook-Swarming. 



It is a little earlj' yet to be practic- 

 ing shook-swarming, but none too 

 early to be considering the prelimin- 

 aries, especially when one of them may 

 be how the hives are to be arranged 

 when the bees are taken from the cel- 

 lar. Mr. M. A. Gill, in an article in 

 the Rural Bee-Keeper, tells of the ad- 

 vantages of having hives arranged in 

 pairs, the principle one of which is 

 that it allows of the practicing of 

 shook-swarming in such a way as to 

 avoid increase if so desired, or to 

 simply make one new colony from two. 

 Here is what he sa3's: — 



"You have asked me to give my 

 reasons for arranging mj^ colonies of 

 hives in pairs. First I will say that it 

 is a great convenience in doing the 

 work, as one hive is a work bench for 

 the operator while he is manipulating 

 either of the pair. Again, where hives 

 are set in pairs, and the pairs at least 

 8 feet apart, there is not so much loss 

 of queens as when hives are set in 

 a long continuous row. If two rows of 

 pairs are set, say, facing south, then 

 two rows facing east, then two rows 

 facing south again, it will assist the 

 queens in finding their homes, besides 



keeping the working force more evenly 

 distributed throughout the apiary; for 

 it is a fact that the greatest number of 

 bees stop in the front rows during 

 windy weather, especially when there 

 are a number of rows, and the working 

 force all come in from the same direc- 

 tion; but when part are turned east 

 and part south they come in from two 

 directions and are less apt to become 

 confused. 



It is very convenient to have hives sit- 

 ting in pairs where shook-swarming is 

 to be practiced. To illustrate: we will 

 say here is a pair, and both are making 

 preparations to swarm, but we do not' 

 want any increase. We realize, how- 

 ever, that something must be done, else 

 they will swarm. So we will simply 

 set both hives back from their stands, 

 and put in their place a new hive that 

 has been made ready to receive a 

 swarm. Now find the queen in one of 

 the old colonies, and hang her with a 

 frame o f brood in the new hive; then 

 shake all remaining bees in the old 

 swarm into the new one, leaving just 

 enough to care for the brood. Now 

 find the queen in the other colony, and 

 set the frame she is on away some- 

 where, temporarily, then shake all the 

 bees in that hive (except enough to care 

 for the brood) in with the one where 

 you shook the others, shaking out all 

 the nectar you want to, completely 

 daubing the bees of both colonies as 

 you shake them together into the new 

 hive. Now take the queen that you set 

 away and hang her back in the hive 



