AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



237 



in the hive, should it swarm, as the larva 

 would be too old that they made the 

 queen from. 



Should the cell you leave them fail, 

 from any cause, to hatch, then swap one 

 frame with the new colony, and give a 

 frame of brood and eggs, that they may 

 have a chance to rear another queen. 

 Or should the queen get lost on her 

 bridal trip, or fail to lay from any 

 cause, take her out and give the bees a 

 chance to rear a good one ; or if you do 

 not wish to wait, send to a queen- 

 breeder and get one. In short, if you 

 are going to make a bee-keeper, you will 

 not let the colony perish. 



PREPARING FOR THE HONEY-FLOW. 



Now as we have our bees divided and 

 working nicely, we will begin to prepare 

 them for the honey-flow. If the harvest 

 comes on soon after the division, the new 

 colony will need sections first, as we will 

 produce comb honey first, then try ex- 

 tracted. 



When the bees seem to be gathering 

 more honey than they need for brood- 

 rearing, or when we see the tops of 

 combs with white specks on the them, 

 this is a sign that they are beginning to 

 gather a surplus. Now bring the sec- 

 tions, filled with the thinnest founda- 

 tion you can get (and when I say 

 "filled," I mean to have it fastened at 

 the top of the section, and lack one- 

 fourth of an inch of touching it any 

 where else). The reason I want them 

 filled is from a common-sense stand- 

 point, that if a slice of a watermelon is 

 good, a whole melon is "gooder." Why ? 

 Just because there is more it. I have 

 found that it paid me to fill the section 

 with foundation. 



At first we will only put on one tier of 

 sections, and when the bees get well 

 started on them, we will, if honey still 

 comes in, and the general prospects war- 

 rant it, put on another crate, by lifting 

 up the first crate, and placing a new one 

 under it. I usually leave a partly-filled 

 section in the lower crate, swapped with 

 one out of the second crate ; this serves 

 for a bait, or for a string of bees clear 

 from the top of the brood-nest to the 

 upper crate, as the bees will at once 

 cluster where the honey is ; but this is 

 not so very important, as they soon go 

 to work and fill up the empty space as 

 soon as possible, any way. 



As soon as the old colony needs sec- 

 tions, we will give them in the same 

 manner. We will not discuss any particu- 

 lar hive or crate, but will be expected to 

 use those that some of our most exten- 



sive and successful honey-producers use, 

 as they are sure to use the best. 

 (Continued next week.) 



ftueenless Colony in Winter. 



Mrs. Atchley :— I have a queenless 

 colony, I am sure, because I found their 

 queen dead at the entrance. We have 

 had zero weather here since long before 

 Christmas, and it is very cold yet, and it 

 would be a loss to send a queen at this 

 season. Do you think these bees will 

 rear a queen in cold weather ? If they 

 do, it will be hard to introduce one in 

 March or April, or when they can fly, 

 will it not ? I know they have brood 

 now. What is the best way to manage 

 such colonies? A reply through the 

 American Bee Journal, will do. 



L. D. 



Bishop Hill, Ills., Jan. 30, 1893. 



Friend L. D. :— Your finding a dead 

 queen in front of the hive is not conclu- 

 sive evidence that the hive is queenless. 

 There are hives that have two queens 

 pretty often — one very old, and a young 

 queen — and they sometimes go into win- 

 ter with two queens, and during cold 

 weather the old one may die or be de- 

 stroyed, and the young one lay right 

 along as though nothing had happened. 

 I rather think you have a case of this 

 kind, as you say you are sure they have 

 brood. Here in the South, we often 

 have what we term "pauper swarms," 

 that come out of their hives on warm 

 days in winter, and enter other hives, 

 and of course one of the queens is 

 killed. 



But in case your colony is queenless, 

 and they have brood as you say, they 

 will rear a queen just the same as at any 

 other time of the year ; but she may not 

 have a chance to mate, and of course 

 will be useless only to keep the colony 

 pacified until you can give them a queen, 

 or a frame of eggs and brood in the 

 spring. Should they rear a queen, just 

 let her alone in the hive until you get 

 ready to introduce one in the spring, or 

 give them brood, and at the time of 

 giving a queen or brood, take out the 

 worthless queen, and all will go well. In 

 fact, one of the best ways to introduce a 

 queen, is to remove the old and put in 

 the new queen at one and the same 

 operation. 



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