1870.] 



THE AMEEICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



from the necessity of building any, and having, 

 moreover, no brood to nurse, the colony can 

 devote all its energies to honey gathering ; and 

 it is really marvellous to see what bees in such 

 a condition can accomiilish. 



If it be desired to give the colony a young- 

 fertile queen, it can easily be done at the time 

 of transfer from their old hive. Catch and re- 

 move the old queen, cage the young one, and 

 liberate her on the evening of the third day. 

 Though the queen, whether an old or a young- 

 one, will, under these circumstances, lay eggs 

 rapidly and on an extensive sale, a considerable 

 time must nevertheless elapse before the colony 

 can receive an accession of strength from this 

 source ; and the daily diminution of numbers is 

 great while pasturage is plentiful. To repair 

 these losses and maintain the colony in full 

 vigor, nay, to make it even more populous than 

 it was before, I take combs of maturing brood 

 from other strong stocks, about a week after 

 the operation, and insert them, if practicable, 

 in the Iwney apartment, between which and the 

 brooding apartment communication has now 

 been opened ; or if I judge the colony not to be 

 populous enough to cover the brood combs when 

 placed in the honey chamber (regard being had 

 to the temperature of the weather ; for if that 

 be high, sealed brood will mature and emerge 

 in the ordinary heat of the hive,) I place the 

 brood comb in the brooding chamber at the side 

 of the division board, and transfer to the honey 

 chamber the comb removed to make room for it. 

 I moreover now fill out the honey chamber with 

 any good clean drone combs in my possession. 

 Indeed, there is in general, no better means of 

 inducing bees to work in the brood chamber 

 than to insert therein a comb containing- worker 

 brood nearly ready to leave the cells. If, as I 

 prefer doing, I have given the colony a young 

 fertile queen when the bees were shaken oft' and 

 transferred, I need subsequently feel less appre- 

 hensive that a swarm will issue, even if it 

 becomes excessively populous. Nevertheless, 

 should I suspect that one might leave, I reduce 

 the brooding space, taking care that in doing so 

 I do not shut up the queen in the honey cham- 

 ber ; or I remove some of the brood combs, and 

 substitute for them empty worker combs. 



Of course the combs from which the bees 

 were shaken off at the time of the transfer, are 

 used to strengthen any weak stocks I may have, 

 or to equalize colonies in my apiary. 



But, I hear some one ask, "if all these things 

 do not proceed so smoothly as you state — if, in- 

 stead of good pasturage, bad weather should in- 

 tervene and cut off supplies, how then?" Why, 

 then, indeed, you must be governed by circum- 

 stances and act accordingly. You must riot 

 permit the shaken off" and transferred colony, 

 deprived of its .stores, to sufter want. It must 

 be fed, and this is best done by inserting honey 

 in the comb. But dread of possible mishaps 

 should deter no one from making preparations 

 for action. It is well enough for the bee-keeper 

 never to be over-sanguine in his expectations, or 

 always to look at the future in the most roseate 

 light. Yet this must not prevent him from do- 

 ing his duty, or what seems at the time to be his 

 duty. Let him trust the event to heaven and 



his own good luck, without perpetually forecast- 

 ing the fashion of uncertain evils. 



On the whole, my respected reader will doubt- 

 less have perceived that the gist of the matter here 

 is, to knoio at all times the condition of his colonies, 

 and to have at hand constantly an amjjle supjoly 

 of empty toorker comb. If he have only a few 

 good stocks and a sufficiency of such combs, the 

 building up of colonies and the multiplying 

 of stock may proceed as it were by steam ; and 

 a good yield of honey may be secured even in 

 such years as are called failures by common bee- 

 keepers, at least in such localities as mine. 

 With a good supply of empty combs, and a 

 knowledge of the proper mode of using them in 

 bee-culture with movable comb hives, results 

 almost incredible may be achieved. 



C. J. H. GliAVENHORST. 



Bni7iswick, April, 1870. 



[Translated fur the American Bee Journal.] 



How may the largest yield of honey be secured 

 from an apiary. 



The Bar-on of Ehrenfels, so celebrated in his 

 day as a successful apiarian, called bee-culture 

 the poetry of rural economy. Undoubtedly a 

 large majority of my readers will cordially respond 

 to this sentiment, for I think I may safely assert 

 that whoever once partakes of the innocent enjoy- 

 ments flowing from this noble pursuit, will never 

 again forego them, if circrunstances permit him 

 to indulge his predilections and gratify his taste. 

 The wonderful household domiciliated in the 

 hive presents us with so much that is interesting 

 and instructive that scarcely any other hobby 

 could be exchanged for it with satisfaction or 

 advantage. No doubt all of us concede the 

 poetry, but how comes it that so many assert 

 that this poetry yields no profit — that, with all 

 its delightful gratifications, it has its attendant 

 drawbacks, and, worst of all in the eyes of 

 matter-of-fact men, it does not pay ? Is this so ? 

 Is it indeed true, as the pi'overb avers, that 



" He wlio would see bis wealth take wing, 

 Needs but invest it in pigeons and bees." 



I trow not. On the contrary, I maintain that 

 bee-culture is a remunerative occupation, yield- 

 ing- fifty, sixty, aye, one hundred per cent, profit 

 annually. 



But certain prerequisites on the part of the 

 apiarian are absolutely indispensable in order to 

 secure compensating returns. 



1. He must be thoroughly conversant with the 

 Dzierzon theory, and possess calmness, coolness, 

 and skill in the handling of bees. In short he 

 must show himself a master both in theory and 

 practice. If not, he will not be much profited 

 by this pursuit, unless kind Providence has so 

 favored him as to cast his lot in a country, in 

 which, as the Baron of Berlepsch quaintly ex- 

 presses it, he need only opeir his mouth to have 

 ample, well filled honey combs fly down his 

 throat. 



2. He must provide himself with cheap, light, 

 and convenient hives. I can confidentially re- 

 commend the Dzierzon twin hive as such, 



