630 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



In about a week the supers are again 

 placed upon hive B, the entrance to 

 which is then opened, while that of hive 

 A is closed. In another week another 

 transfer is made, and so on alternately 

 during the flow of honey. 



This alternate running of the field- 

 bees from one hive to another, and back 

 again, and the simultaneous transfer of 

 the supers, so disturbs the plans of the 

 nurse-bees, and temporarily depopulates 

 the hives successively closed, that or- 

 ganization for swarming is not effected, 

 hence, 710 sioarms issue, and the field-bees 

 of both hives work xinitedly, and without 

 interruption throxighout the entire gather- 

 ing season. 



ADVANTAGES OF THIS SYSTEM. 



The experienced bee-master will not 

 only readily see that this meets the re- 

 quirements mentioned in the first part 

 of this article as advantageous to secure, 

 but also that in many other ways it is 

 likely to prove a system of great value 

 in the apiary. Mr. Langdon has men- 

 tioned some of these, and I will there- 

 fore quote from his letter : 



1. Two light colonies that would not do 

 much In sections if working separately, 

 make one good one by running the field 

 force of both into the same set of supers. 



2. No bait sections are needed, as the bees 

 can be crowded into the sections without 

 swarming. 



3. The honey will be finished in better 

 condition, that is, with less travel-stain, 

 because the union of the field forces enables 

 them to complete the work in less time. 



4. There will be fewer unfinished sections 

 at the close of the honey harvest, for the 

 reason just mentioned. 



5. Also for the same reason honey can be 

 taken off by the full case instead of by the 

 section or holder full. 



6. Drones will be fewer in number, as a 

 double handful will of often be killed off in 

 the closed hive while the other is storing 

 honey rapidly. 



7. Artificial swarms and nuclei can be 

 more easily made, as combs of brood and 

 bees can be taken from the closed hive in 

 which the queen can be found very quickly. 



As there is in carrying out this system 

 of swarm prevention no caging of 

 queens, cutting out of queen-cells, ma- 

 nipulation of brood-combs, or even open- 

 ing of the brood-chambers at all during 

 the honey season, and all the vexatious 

 watching for swarms, and the labor and 

 time involved in securing these are 

 done away with, and instead of this a 

 simple manipulation attended to not 

 oftener than once a week is substituted, 

 it is plain that very many more colonies 

 can be managed by one person, and, in- 

 deed, Mr. Langdon informs me that he 



" can care for 200 colonies with one 

 day's work in a week with no help, in- 

 stead of working all the time with 100 

 colonies." It will, therefore, prove a 

 great boon to all having numerous out- 

 apiaries. 



One of the greatest advantages over 

 any plan for the prevention of swarming 

 yet proposed, which Mr. Langdon's sys- 

 tem will have, should it prove on further 

 trial all that it now pi'omises, is that it 

 will not only prevent more effectually 

 than any other the actual issuance of 

 swarms, but, while not requiring any 

 manipulation antagonistic to the known 

 instincts of bees, it will prevent all de- 

 sire to swarm — will completely do away 

 with the " swarming fever," so fatal to 

 the hopes of the comb-honey producer. 



Another great feature of it will be the 

 more rigid selection of breeding stock, 

 which it will facilitate. Intelligent selec- 

 tion can accomplish for this pursuit as 

 much as it has done for the breeders of 

 our larger domestic animalg. Further- 

 more, a strong natural inclination to- 

 ward swarming on the part of any race 

 of bees, otherwise possessed of very de- 

 sirable traits, will not, under this sys- 

 tem, oblige the rejection of such race. 

 Eventually the disposition to swarm 

 must through constant suppression be- 

 come less, or, in time it may even dis- 

 appear, giving us the long-sought non- 

 swarming strain. 



THE SYSTEM TESTED PRACTICALLY. 



A brief statement of the success which 

 has attended Mr. Langdon's practical 

 test of his system during 1892 will be 

 of interest in this connection. In a let- 

 ter dated Dec. 24, 1892, he wrote: 



Last season I tried the device on 100 

 hives. Except in one instance the bees did 

 no fighting. Why they do not fight when 

 united in this way I cannot say. It cer- 

 tainly did not discourage them in honey 

 gathering, for my yield from the 100 hives 

 was 6,000 pounds of comb honey, or an 

 average of 60 pounds per hive, some pairs 

 yielding 150 pounds, and it has been counted 

 a poor season for bees in my locality this 

 year. After one season's trial of the device 

 and plan, I do not know of a single fault or 

 objection to it. 



Capons and Caponizini^, by 



Edward Warren Sawyer, M. D., Fanny 

 Field, and others. It shows in clear 

 language and illustrations all about 

 caponizing fowls; and thus how to 

 make the most money in poultry-raising. 

 Every poultry-keeper should have it. 

 Price, postpaid, 30 cents ; or clubbed 

 with Bee Journal one year, for $1.10 



