1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



187 



it to accomplish certain aims. I have 

 learned to my cost that there are 

 other vital interests to consider be- 

 sides the ctirrent year's surplus, and 

 one of the greatest of these interests 

 is the condition of our colonies for 

 future work. What does it profit a 

 person that relies on honey produc- 

 tion for a living to gain a big crop 

 and then lose all his bees ? The par- 

 ent colonies treated as I have describ- 

 ed will in the fall, if there is a fair 

 yield of nectar, and without which all 

 methods are vain be heavy with 

 stores and filled to overflowing with 

 young bees. Witliotd ivhich successful 

 wintering is impossible. This method 

 enables us, after we have got as many 

 colonies as we wish, to control in- 

 crease, for we are to unite the prime 

 swarms with the parent colonies 

 again in the early fall. This I do by 

 setting the prime swarm on top of the 

 parent colony with a queen excluding 

 honey board between them, having 

 first removed the old queen. If the 

 new swarm is very populous I will 

 set the two together without the 

 honey board and winter them in the 

 two story hive ; in fact this may be 

 the best in all cases where the colon- 

 ies are very strong in bees. I have 

 learned, however, from actual experi- 

 ence' that it does not improve the 

 parent colony to add the bees from 

 the other colony to it, especially if 

 done late, and if I could satisfy my 

 consience I would kill or abandon to 

 its fate the new swarm after the brood 

 was hatched and utilized, using the 

 combs and honey in the most desir- 

 able way for wax for future use ; but 

 1 cannot reconcile myself to this 

 cruel work. I know it is no worse 

 than to raise and kill our domestic 



and wild animals for food, but I be- 

 lieve that the person that can enjoy 

 the milk from his gentle pet cow dur- 

 ing her useful life and then with 

 bloody hands take her life and enjoy 

 the meat, can do so only because he 

 is yet a savage. Believing as I do 

 that all forms of life are related I 

 feel like obeying ihe command, " thou 

 shalt not kill. " I feel thus not so 

 much from fear of harming the infer- 

 ior animals as from fear of blunting 

 my own better nature. 

 FoRESTViLLE, Minn. 



(From the Nebraska Queen). 



SOMETHING ABOUT SWARMING 

 AND HIVEING OP BEES- 



The bees swarm because their nat- 

 ural instinct is to multiply themselves, 

 and because their home becomes too 

 small and warm. The bees in small 

 hives will swarm earlier and more in 

 number if left to themselves, other 

 things being equal. 



Now, if we wish to control the 

 swarming tendency, and we must if 

 we expect to get a good crop of honey, 

 I have found by long experience that 

 good-sized hives are better than small 

 ones. 



I think it is better to give them 

 room to occupy just as soon as the 

 strength of the colony will permit ; 

 don't wait until your hive is chuck- 

 full of bees. 



By giving room in advance they 

 will not be apt to swarm so early, 

 and when a swarm comes off it will 

 be very large. Such swarms are A 

 No, 1 for making comb for extracted 

 honey. 



A record should be kept of the 

 date of the swarming, because in 

 seven or eight days we must go 



