1870.] 



TUE AMEEICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



55 



more to the depth of the hive, as the bees seldom 

 build combs to within half an inch of the bottom 

 board. Well, suj^pose the hive is fourteen inches 

 each way (horizontal) we would thus add ninety- 

 eight inches more ; this would give one thousand 

 nine hundred and eighty-eight, or for conveni- 

 ence, two thousand cubic inches ; two thousand 

 two hundred and eighteen and one-fifth cubic 

 inches are a bushel, which is most commonly 

 given as the proper size of the hive. Now, our 

 figures have given nearly that size, and worked 

 mathematically close, and giving a little leeway, 

 our hive will hold about a bushel. Let us recol- 

 lect this is the room required for breeding pur- 

 poses. We added two hundred inches, and will 

 suppose that will be filled with pollen and honey ; 

 now, if these premises be correct, we start in the 

 spring with the size of our hive much reduced by 

 being filled with honey, as we have but two hun- 

 dred cubic inches for that purpose and the bee- 

 bread. Can we now see that a swarm of bees 

 may have too much honey in the breeding cham- 

 ber? Still we must leave enough at this exami- 

 nation to carry them safe through till an abund- 

 ant supply can be obtained from the blossoms. 

 Suppose, therefore, we leave from thirty to fifty 

 pounds of honey in the hive, is it not evident we 

 have trenched that amount of space upon the 

 breeding territory? Tlien, if the season is a good 

 one for honey, this room is constantly being di- 

 minished by the bees deiiositing honey in the 

 cells as soon as the brood leaves, the result of 

 which will be your young swarms will be too 

 small, and by winter the old ones, for the want of 

 breeding room, are too few to raise sufiicient 

 animal heat to winter. Even if the proper amount 

 only is left in the hive in the spring, and the sea- 

 son is a good one for honey, the hives should be 

 examined, say the first day of August, and the 

 outside sheets that are filled Avitli honey and have 

 no brood in them, be removed, and empty sheets 

 or frames j^laced in the centre of the hive that 

 the queen may have more room. 



Thh-dly. We examine the hive to see if there is 

 too much drone comb (and any is too much in a 

 large apiary) for if you remove all, the bees will 

 find means to raise drones enough, as in a hive 

 with the ordinary quantity there are probably 

 enough for an apiary of fifty or seventy-five 

 swarms. 



Fourthly. We examine the hive to determine 

 if the queen is living, and if so, if she may not 

 be a drone layer. The question will be asked by 

 some how we determine if she is living, or is a 

 drone layer. If there is no queen there will be 

 no brood, and vice Vrusa, and if the brood be all 

 drone, there would be no doubt of her being a 

 drone layer. In either case, the swarm should 

 be doubled up with a swarm that has a normal 

 queen ; the drone layer should first be killed. 



Fifthly. In performing these examinations it 

 is an excellent plan to transfer each swarm to a 

 clean hive, as the rabbets have often become 

 partially filled with propolis or gum, as are also 

 the ends of the frames covered with it, and some- 

 times the hive may want repairs. 



We have seen that this examination is one of 

 paramount necessity . The better place to operate 

 is perha!)s in a room or place with a single win- 

 dow, or a half window is better, and the room 



should be so warm that the bees will not chill 

 upon the window. It should be so arranged that 

 the bees that gather thereon may be frequently 

 liberated ; the weather should be sufficiently 

 mild for them to fiy from the place to the hive. 

 A decoy hive should be set upon the stand, with 

 a few pieces of comb in it ; the decoy hive should 

 be of the same color as the one being operated 

 upon. An active person can examine twenty 

 hives in a day with an assistant. This examina- 

 tion may be performed out of door at the stands, 

 were it not for the fact that it is a season of the 

 year wlicn the robbers are most persistent. In 

 performing these operations, it will be I'ound ad- 

 vantageous to blow in a little smoke at the time 

 of opening the hive. 



We now have our bees in clean hives with 

 plenty of honey — not too much — and without 

 too much drone comb. But perhaps a few queens 

 may have died a natural death during the win- 

 ter, or there mny be some drone layers. In either 

 case, the bees should be put with another swarm. 

 This may done in various ways ; the safest, per- 

 haps, for the uninitiated, would be to drive the 

 swarm from the hive without a queen into the 

 other, by first blowing in a little smoke, also 

 sprinkle in a trifie of scented syrup, and then 

 drumming ; and after they are driven the swarm 

 had better be removed to a perfectly dark room 

 or cellar say lor a week, or remove them to a dis- 

 tance of at least a mile for a week. This I'e- 

 iiioving should be done instanter. An additional 

 precaution would be to place the one hive above 

 the other preparatory to driving, with a wire 

 cloth between them, say for forty-eight hours, 

 that each may have the same scent. 



It is often the case that many swarms are 

 small in the spring ; then comes the question, 

 what is it best to do with them ? I am of the 

 opinion that the better plan is to feed them, to 

 stimulate the queen to breeding. Commencing 

 the loth of March, give the swarm from three to 

 four tablespoonfuls of honey every day, or every 

 other day, except the days they gather from 

 flowers, will answer ; but they must be watched 

 closely to see if they have plenty of honey in the 

 combs for their brood, and they consume much 

 more than we would suspect ; as, for illustration, 

 suppose a hive to be filled with larva capped over, 

 can any person tell me how that amount or mass 

 of animal matter can be brought into that form 

 without an equivalent in weiglit of liquid sweet 

 (honey or sugar syrup) and jjollen, for which we 

 substitute in our stimulating process in the 

 spring unbolted rye flour, placed where it will 

 be protected from wind and water. They may 

 be easily enticed to it by placing a little honey in 

 the vessel. 



Another method of procedure is to double up 

 the weak ones. Another still is to equalize 

 them by taking a sheet of brood that is hatching 

 from a large swarm and giving it to the small 

 one. 



One of these methods is very important, as 

 after all the apparent secret of bee management 

 the greatest secret lies in keeping the swarms 

 strong. 



The bees in small swarms are all compelled to 

 stay at home to keep up sufiicient animal heat to 

 keep the brood warm, perhaps scarcely gather- 



