THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[July, 



though it has been found fault with by some, as 

 perniittino- irregular comb building in its top. 

 The fact is so, but is by no means as disadvan- 

 tageous as it has been decried to be. In poor 

 honey districts successful wintering is very 

 materially assured by that arrangement. 



3. He must multiply stock, whether by natural 

 or artificial swarming, only till he has obtained 

 the normal number of colonies, of which he pro- 

 poses his apiary shall consist. It is only when 

 he lias readied that point that he may begin to 

 turn his attention to the ingathering of full crops 

 of honey. I prefer artificial multiplication, 

 because it furnishes me at the same time with 

 opportunities for improving the breed of bees. 



4. He must regard the honey-emptying ma- 

 chine as indispensable in an apiarJ^ It is the 

 crowning gem of the movable comb system, 

 entitling its inventor. Major Yon Hruschka, to 

 the gratitude of every bee-keeper. 



5. He must melt up no combs or pieces of 

 comb, except such as have grown black in the 

 service, or are rendered useless by mould, or con- 

 tain an accumulation of hardened pollen. All 

 other combs must be carefully preserved and 

 used in his practice. 



G. The apiarian needs only few implements 

 besides, in the prosecution of his work, whetlier 

 he uses bars or frames in his hives. I ijrefer the 

 latter, having long since adopted them in their 

 simple form. I never could perceive any of the 

 alleged disadvantages attending the use of them. 

 Of comb drawers, combjacks, knives, fumigators, 

 feather brushes, queen cages, feeders, gloves, 

 and bee caps, I make no use, and will forfeit 

 twenty-five dollars to any one who catches me 

 using anything for jirotection. A tight closet 

 for the preservation of empty combs, is much to 

 be commended. 



Follow me now in spirit to my ai^iary, which 

 at present contains sixty-two colonies. There 

 were thirty-five in the spring. You see from 

 this that I have not quite doubled my stock. I 

 have prevented natural swarming as much I 

 could, and shall reduce these sixty-two colonies 

 to thirty-four, in the fall. To those colonies 

 which have shown themselves to be industrious 

 and of good temperament, which are now popu- 

 lous, and have given prolific queens, I shall give 

 combs containing worker cells only, if they have 

 not already such exclusively ; always selecting 

 combs at least half full of sealed honey, if such 

 ai'e to be had. If there are any drone cells, I cut 

 them out and insert comb with worker cells in 

 their place. I move the division board close up 

 to the last comb in the brood apartment ; and in 

 the honey apartment I insert combs and bees of 

 any colony I intend to unite with it, having 

 previously removed the queens and sprinkled the 

 bees with scented sugar water. The honey has 

 already been, for the most part, removed by the 

 melextractor. Then, by blowing tobacco smoke 

 into the main hive, I alarm and dispirit the bees 

 of the colony on which I am operating, and open 

 the communication between the two apartments. 

 The bees of the main hive, attracted by the odor 

 of honey, speedily enter the honey chamber, 

 kindly unite with the besprinkled strangers, and 

 the joint body will co-oiierate in carrying over 

 into the main hive or brooding apartment the 



honey not yet appropriated. If thereupon I con- 

 sider the colony still not sufficiently ijopulous, 

 and I have yet other bees to dispose of, I repeat 

 the process. All the bees thus added, unite 

 peaceably with the old stock. That the i^nion 

 can be effected more conveniently where the 

 twin hive is used, is very well known. 



I winter only such colonies as I can by this pro- 

 cess make as strong and populous as each should 

 be in the spring, at swarming time. In doing so 

 some bees will doubtless be lost or killed, but 

 that is nothing in comparison with the wholesale 

 slaughter incident to the brimstoning system. 

 When uniting stocks the apiarian must provide 

 himself with as many combs filled with sealed 

 honey as will enable him to keep his bees well 

 supplied till the ensuing sjiring, without recourse 

 to fet ding as the spring approaches, or better still, 

 he should endeavor to have his colonies in such 

 condition in the fall, that they shall be able to 

 spare several filled combs when the spring has 

 fairly opened. Such strong and well provided 

 colonies can safely endure tlie ordinary rigors of 

 winter and need no special x^i'otection. 



Now assume that in the spring all those thirty- 

 four colonies are alive and vigorous, as they may 

 fairly be expected to be. On some mild day at 

 the close of March or the beginning of Ainil, the 

 customary revision and hive cleansing should be 

 performed, and while doing so I am careful to 

 select about one-half of the whole number of 

 stocks to be used specially as honey gatherers 

 and storers. To these I transfer from the re- 

 mainder all such combs as contain brood nearly 

 mature, supplying their place from my stores of 

 reserved combs containing sealed honey in the 

 upper portion. Such combs I am careful to sup- 

 ply myself with in the fall, when using the mel- 

 extractor, uncapping and removing the honey 

 from the lower ranges of cells. These colonies 

 receive in this manner additional provision in 

 the best and most acceptable condition lor use, 

 and are at the same time, supi)lied with empty 

 workei cells for the accommodation of the queen. 

 Eight days subsequently I repeat the operation 

 removing brooding combs again from the brood- 

 ing stocks, to the intended honey stocks ; thus 

 building up the latter with ample reinforce- 

 ments of population, so that by the end of May 

 or the beginning of June, when spring pasturage 

 — which is our sole dependence in this locality — 

 is in full bloom, the hives of my honey stocks are 

 literally overcrowded with bees, as laborers 

 ready for the harvest. The brood thus intro- 

 duced having meantime hatched and obtained 

 the age fitting them for out-door work, the colo- 

 nies, rejoicing in their vigor, are prone to make 

 arrangements for swarming — to counteract wliich 

 measures must be taken early. With this view, 

 I provide as many hives as I have honey stocks 

 on hand, and furnish them with a full outfit of 

 empty worker combs. In each of them I insert 

 a piece of worker comb containing eggs and un- 

 sealed larvae, placing it well forward, near tlie 

 entrance of the hive, because I design that the 

 colony destined to occupy it shall there establisli 

 its brood nest. This brood comb is always taken 

 from one of my choicest stocks, marked A No. 1, 

 in my register, whereby I maintain the quality 

 or secure the improvement of the breed. Then 



