122 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



FIRST SWARM. 



OLD STOCK. 



Remove No. 1 three or four feet from 

 0. to B., and place No. 3 on the old stand 

 at 0. 



After you have found the queen place 

 the comb that she is on, if it is a straight 

 one, in the centre of the new hive. No. 2 

 at d, and fill up on eacli side of this comb 

 with empty frames — close up the hive and 

 raise up the front side by placing a couple 

 of blocks under the corners; then take 

 tliree or four combs from No. 1 (one at a 

 time) and shake or brush the bees in front 

 of No. 2, and make them go in — return the 

 combs to No. 1, putting in an empty 

 frame bar at E to supply the place of the 

 comb left in No. 2 — which was left 

 theie contrary to the natural laws of 

 swarming — to prevent the new swarm 

 from going off. 



HOW TO PLACE THE STANDS. 



Place No. 2 on the old stand at 0, 

 where No. 1 set before the division, 

 and place No. 1 three or four feet from 

 ut B, so that most of the working bees 

 will enter No. 2. You have them now 

 the same as natural swarming. No. 1 is 

 weak in bees, but has most of the brood. 

 No. 2 is an empty hive containing the 

 old queen and a strong swarm of working 

 bees. No. 2 should have two-thirds' of 

 tlie bees, or more, and if it does not be- 

 come strong enough in an hour after you 

 have divided them, No. 1 should be mov 

 ed farther away from to C, and if No. 1 

 should then become so weak that there 

 would be danger of the brood chilling 

 or the young larvae starving for the want 

 of bees to feed them, it should be moved 

 back to B, and No. 2 should be moved to 

 A, but you should never change the hives, 

 setting the weak in the place of the strong, 

 as it will be of no benefit. If your stocks 

 are close together, the entrance of the bees 

 may be regulated by setting short boards 



OLD STOCK. 



up in front of the strong one, instead of 

 moving it. 



WHEN TO TAKE A SECOND SWARM. 



A stock will generally rear from five to 

 twenty queens, and in about ten days the 

 queens in No. 1 will commence hatching. 

 This is the time, should nature take its 

 course, that we should expect our second 

 and third swarms. But we find from ex- 

 perience that, should No. 1 swarm so 

 often there would be so few bees left to 

 protect the eight combs that the motha 

 would be very ajit to destroy them, while 

 the swarms would be so small in such 

 large hives that they would build combs 

 very slowly and be very apt to make them 

 crooked. We may obviate these diflScult- 

 ies by dividing the bees and combs 

 equally, and if we contract the size of the 

 hive according to the strength of the bees, 

 they will keep out the moths as well as 

 strong stocks will in large hives. 



HOW TO TAKE THE SECOND SWARM. 



On the ninth da}^ take four combs with 

 the bees on them, from No. 1, and place 

 them in an empty hive. No. 3, (being care- 

 ful to put combs in each hive that have 

 queen cells on them)— make a couple of 

 strips f^a^J'g' ^od as long as the top bars 

 of the frames — tack on these strips one or 

 two thicknesses of cloth cut just the size 

 of the inside of your hive — hang this 

 curtain X against the combs. You will 

 find this mucli more convenient than a 

 division board, as it liolds the heat better 

 — the bees do not fasten it, and when not 

 in use it can be rolled up on the strap and 

 laid away. 



HOW TO PLACE THE STANDS. 



Since 5 is the stand formerly occupied 

 by No. 1, and we wish to divide the bees, 

 we must place No. 1 between and B, 



SECOND SWARM. 



A 



