176 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



to utilize the working force of my 

 apiary, and to prevent disorganiza- 

 tion just when perfect order is 

 most needed, I have discovered a 

 plan tliat vpill work every time, and 

 by its practice puts the whole mat- 

 ter of increase into the liands of 

 the bee master and makes him 

 in fact master of his bees. The 

 plan is this : keep on hand a sup- 

 ply of surplus hives, and when a 

 colony shows signs of swarming — or 

 swarms as for that matter — hunt up 

 the queen and set the frame on which 

 she is found in the new hive ; now 

 remove all the frames containing 

 brood from the old hive, setting 

 them in your " comb box." Now 

 fill the old hive with empty combs 

 — or with full sheets of founda- 

 tion — and, after supplying them 

 with a piece of comb containing lar- 

 vae to "fuss with," close up the hive. 

 You now take the combs from the 

 comb box, one at atime, give them a 

 smart jerk in front of the old hive, 

 and set them in the new hive with 

 the queen, giving the new hive a 

 new position in the apiary. Your 

 plan now is to work the bees left in 

 the old hive for all that is in tliem. 

 To accomplish this the}^ are not al- 

 lowed to rear a queen, but are pro- 

 vided with a bit of larvse to keep 

 them contented and the space they 

 occupy is diminished by a division 

 board as the bees wear out. The 

 honey is extracted from the combs 

 as fast as filled till the season is 

 over, or the bees are worn out. It 

 is surprising how much honey can 

 be obtained in this way as the bees 

 have no brood to nurse and feed. 

 The new hive will soon recover 



its strength, as it has a laying 

 queen and will seldom swarm that 

 season, but if it should, I treat it in 

 the same wa3^ 



This plan, iffaithfully carried out, 

 will keep the number of colonies in 

 an apiary, as to spring and fall 

 count, always the same, and thus 

 we suppress. increase, and utilize 

 the working force of our bees. 

 From what I have learned, the plan 

 can be varied to almost an}^ extent 

 and the desired end reached. 



After a colony has cast a swarm, 

 the preparation above mentioned 

 can be made, the queen captured 

 from the swarm and given to the 

 hive containing the brood ; and the 

 queenless bees hived in the new 

 hive on the old stand will give the 

 same results if managed in the 

 same way. 



Some will object to this plan on 

 account of imagined " cruelty," 

 failing to remember that all of our 

 domestic animals are worn out, or 

 are slaughtered for the use of man. 



Christiansbvrg, Ivy. 



A GUIDE TO 



THE BEST METHODS OF 



BEEKEEPING. 



By J. L. Chkist. 



(Continued from p. 155, Vol. II.) 

 INABILITY OF DRONKS TO W^OHK. 



Other than the purpose already 

 mentioned, for which the drones 

 are created, they are of no practi- 

 cal utility ; they cannot work, nei- 

 ther can they gather honey or 

 pollen (for which last purpose their 



