236 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



direct all available honey stocks in all 

 sections of the country, besides making 

 large importations from Cuba, whenever 

 stocks in America seem insuflBcient. 

 Buyers have long since learned that they 

 can place implicit confidence in all goods 

 bearing the firm's trade mark. 



The trade in pure honey is becoming 

 larger every year. Its wholesomeness 

 and nutritious qualities commend it in- 

 stead of syrups and other adulterated 

 products. Consumers find the proof 

 verified. The more honey in a family 

 the less medicine. Messrs. Muth & Son 

 fill car-load orders of honey very often. 



Such a far-reaching and growing de-. 

 mand has been fully earned and de- 

 served. When this firm entered the 

 trade, over 30 years ago, there was 

 neither system nor profit in apiculture. 

 They have been actively identified with 

 putting a system to honey-production 

 and bringing the business up to a recog- 

 nized commercial standing, and they are 

 now reaping the reward of hard, practi- 

 cal study and enterprise. 



XX T T » X xxxxTTxya 



CONDUCTED BY 



Greenville. Texas. 

 Our School in Bee-Keeping. 



Now let all pay close attention. I am 

 going to show you how to divide your 

 bees, or swarm them, as some call it ; 

 then further on we will learn how to 

 Italianize and to extract, and, in fact, 

 we will go through all that we can think 

 of ; but let us take each subject by it- 

 self, and we will learn faster. 



I know you want increase, but we will 

 not go into extremes on any line, but I 

 will run your bees for a moderate in- 

 crease, and to get some honey, too, as I 

 think you will be better pleased, as some 

 go wild on increasing their bees, and go 

 too far, and fail, and get no honey. We 

 usually find such in the " blasted hopes" 

 column sooner or later. I do not wish a 

 single one of my class to fail, so I am 



going to carry you over on the safest 

 bridge I know of. Now, attention all, 

 while we divide the bees. 



SECOND LESSON — DIVIDING COLONIES. 



I will only give you my best way to 

 divide, and where we do not wish to 

 divide but once. We will suppose that 

 the bees are gathering at least honey 

 enough for daily supply, and that the 

 hive is chock-full of bees. Now bring 

 on the new hive, with its frames filled 

 with foundation, lift out the combs until 

 you find the queen, then hang the frame 

 of bees with the queen on it in the new 

 hive, and one more with it ; shake 

 enough of the bees oflf of the other combs 

 in front, or into the new hive to make a 

 rousing colony, then fill it up with 

 frames of foundation, and place it on 

 the old stand, carry the old hive off to a 

 new location, and put in the places 

 where you took out the two frames of 

 bees for the swarm, frames filled with 

 foundation, though the bees will not use 

 them until they recruit, but they will be 

 there ready. 



Some make colonies this way, except 

 they do not shake any bees into the 

 new hive, and let all the old field work- 

 ers make up the colony by returning, 

 when they leave the old hive and return 

 to the new one. This is wrong, and the 

 reason I shake what bees I wish with it 

 at once is to get both young and old bees 

 the same as a natural swarm, and for 

 me they work off as nicely as any natural 

 swarm I ever had. But when you only 

 let the old bees form the colony, you de- 

 prive the hive of its active inside work- 

 ers, and throw it out of natural chan- 

 nels, and then if a honey-flow sets in, 

 the old bees disappear too quickly, or be- 

 fore a new crop of bees comes in, and 

 the hive is at a stand-still, or on a down- 

 hill course until the young workers get 

 ready for the field. But this state of 

 things is remedied by shaking, as stated, 

 and the new colony will at once assume 

 a natural course, and work just as well 

 as any swarm ; while the old colony will 

 not work at all for three or four days, 

 or at least not much, and should be 

 looked after about stores, until it has a 

 working force. 



Now the old colony will start queen- 

 cells, and after they have all their brood 

 capped, open the hive and take out all 

 the queen-cells but one of the nicest 

 ones, and then you have no after-swarm- 

 ing, and the reason that I want you to 

 wait until the brood is all sealed is, then 

 the bees have no chance to start more 

 cells and swarm in spite of you, and 

 then this would cause an inferior queen 



