THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



145 



manage somewhat differently. In 

 this case I return one-half of the 

 bees instead of one-third and in the 

 new hive I put in three new one- 

 half swarms and sometimes as many 

 as four one-lialf swarms, returning 

 or destro^ung the surplus queens as 

 before. 



Perhaps I ought to state that I 

 hive all new swarms on ten frames 

 filled with foundation or empty 

 combs, but if on empty combs the 

 cells should be shaved off about 

 one-half their length before hiving 

 the bees on them. My hives take 

 twelve frames, 9i inches deep X 

 12 inches long, hence when usin"; 

 only ten frames I till up the space 

 with division-boards, thus crowding 

 the bees below so that they are 

 forced up into the sections, and as 

 I aim to have nn^ combs but \-^'^ 

 inches from centre to centre there is 

 but little room in the brood-cham- 

 ber for the bees to loaf in. It will 

 be observed that by the above plan 

 all my colonies are made and kei^t 

 strong, just at the time when strong 

 colonies are most needed and at tiie 

 same time the bees have the fun 

 of swarming and the apiarist the 

 pleasure of hiving the swarms. 



The next morning after hiving 

 the bees, and while I have time be- 

 fore swarn)ing for the day com- 

 mences, I put one tier of sections on 

 the new swarm. It is often the 

 case that I hive three such parts of 

 swarms as mentioned above, into 

 one hive, making the same as two 

 prime swarms in one hive. When I 

 do, and the season is a good one, 

 it is often necessary to tier up after 

 thirty-six or forty-eight hours. 



My object in managing, as I have 

 stated al)Ove, is to keep all colo- 

 nies so strong that they may fill 

 the sections as quickly as possible, 

 which means, when finished, detai, 

 white comb hovey. 



In the fall, if I wish to reduce iny 

 stock, I unite two of these new col- 

 onies that were hived on ten frames, 



as they have been managed in such 

 a way through the honey season 

 that they have stored but little 

 honey in the brood-chamber. Oth- 

 erwise I would have to feed up two 

 colonies for winter instead of one, 

 which at present prices for honey 

 would hardly pay. considering that 

 I am not desirous of increase ; 

 making, as will be seen by my 

 method of hiving and then uniting, 

 an increase of only 25 per cent in- 

 stead of 100 per cent as practised 

 by some beekeepers. 



Perhaps I should have stated at 

 the outset that I put my sections 

 on all strong colonies- as soon as I 

 see that honey is coming in freel}^ 

 By putting on one tier at first and 

 as soon as these are well advanced 

 tiering up by sli])ping another set of 

 sections under the first and so on 

 as conditions require, I have had 

 as many as six sets of sections on 

 one hive at one time ; making 192 

 sections that the bees were work- 

 ing in. 



Let us remember that in order 

 to obtain the best results either in 

 a good or poor season, we must so 

 manage in tiie early part of the 

 season as to get the colonies very 

 strong by the time white clover 

 blossoms. It is my experience 

 that one good strong colony, early 

 in the season, will give more sur- 

 plus honey than ten light ones. 



I frequently find it necessary 

 during the honey season to "jump" 

 the sections. This is done b}- taking 

 those at the ends of the clamps that 

 the bees usually do not fill until 

 those at and near the centre are 

 nearly or quite completed, and ex- 

 change places with those that are 

 the neiirest filled at the centre. If 

 this "jumping" is oniitted, we are 

 liable to have the centre combs 

 somewhat colored by the bees pass- 

 ing over them while completing 

 the end ones ; hence it is important 

 that we "jump" at the proper time, 

 in order to have our honey white 



