THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



137 



think have inferior queens are marked, 

 and, if they show no improvement, they 

 are requeened at the earliest time 

 jiracticable. During- one or the other 

 of the first two over-hauling-s we 

 thorough! j^ clean the hives and frames 

 of all propolis and burr combs by 

 scraping-. One man can clean from 25 

 toSOcolonies per day; and if the bees are 

 so treated every spring-, the result 

 is that we alvva3's have clean hives 

 and frames to handle; and the saving 

 in manipulations later pa^' for this 

 work many times over. In this connec- 

 tion let me remark that for out- apia- 

 ries and hired help no one can afford to 

 tolerate loose frames. Use either the 

 Hoffman or closed-end frames. Hired 

 help cannot be relied upon to properly 

 space loose frames. Again, when you 

 wish to move the bees, and in hauling 

 hives and supers to and from the yards, 

 fixed frames are so far superior as to 

 need no further argument. Some have 

 claimed that propolis was so bad with 

 them that they could not tolerate fixed 

 frames. If these same people will 

 thoroughly clean their frames each 

 springy I think that they will soon favor 

 the Hoffman or other fixed frame. 



After the queens have commenced to 

 breed rapidly, I recommend the equal- 

 izing of brood among all colonies hav- 

 ing good queens; and, at this juncture, 

 I would begin to systematically spread 

 the brood. As soon as there are two, 

 good, full, well-capped frames of brood 

 in the center of the brood nest, I would 

 insert between them a frame partly full 

 of honey and partly empty, and on 

 each side of the two frames of brood, 

 place a frame similar to the one put in 

 the center, placing the pollen frames 

 just outside these frames. If the 

 weather is good, the center frame will 

 at once be filled with eggs, and, as fast 

 as the cappe;! frames of brood hatch, 

 the other two outside frames will like- 

 wise be filled. As soon as there are 

 five frames of brood it is a simple 

 matter to place one or inore frames 



at a time between the filled frames of 

 brood, and so on until the entire hive 

 is filled with brood. The spreading of 

 brood is all right when properly done 

 by experienced men, but not advisable 

 when done by others. 



As the spring proceeds, and the bees 

 become strong-er, our object is to keep 

 them from swarming, and yet have 

 them as strong as possible when the 

 honey flow commences, which, with us, 

 is from April 1st to May 1st, owing to 

 locality. If the colonies become full of 

 brood, and show sig-ns of swarming'-, 

 we draw brood and bees from them, 

 and give empty cumbs or foundiition; 

 draw just enough and give the queen 

 just enough empty room, to keep down 

 swarming. With the brood and bees 

 removed, new colonies may be made by 

 putting enough together, or nuclei can 

 be started with two or more of the 

 frames of brood or bees; and a queen 

 cell or virgin queen given them from 

 cells already started for the purpose, 

 or from cells cut from colonies that 

 may have the swarming fever. 



Swarming is the greatest problem to 

 meet in the successful manipulation of 

 out-apiaries; but, with us, if we can 

 hold it down iTntil the flow commences, 

 and the bees once start in the supers, 

 we have no more swarming. This is a 

 peculiarity of all the Southwestern 

 States, and a very good peculiarity, 

 too. If we cannot keep down swarm- 

 ing, and the bees get the fever too bad, 

 then we resort to the well-known 

 "shook-swarming, " throwing'- all the 

 bees of two colonies tog-ether, giving 

 one queen to the bees, and one to the 

 brood, and, a few days later, again 

 shake all the hatched bees from the 

 brood into the hive of bees, so as to 

 augment their strength. 



SHALLOW SUPKKS AND HOW THF,Y MAY 

 BE USED TO ADVANTAGE. 



Whether comb or extracted honey is 

 to be produced, it is our practice to 

 have one shallovy super of combs (5^ 



