70 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



away early the next morning. If the weather 

 be fair and mild on the following day, the bees 

 will tly and soon begin to gather pollen, as 

 though no removal had taken place; and they 

 may be permitted to work without interference 

 lill'the approach of the swarming season. If, 

 on the contrary, the weather be cold and raw, 

 as it not unfrequently is at that season, it will 

 greatly encourage the bees, and promote brood- 

 ing, if a spoonful or two of honey be given to 

 each of the hives every other evening, till they 

 are able to gather supplies from abroad. 



For the enlargement of the incipient apiary 

 Bwarms are now indispensable, and the apia- 

 rian must use means to place his hives in a con- 

 dition to produce these seasonably. Stimula- 

 tive feeding is eminently conducive to this end; 

 for swarming depends on the early and abun- 

 dant production of brood, which always keeps 

 even pace with the supplies of pasturage, when 

 a colony has a healthj^ and prolific queen. But 

 if, as is ordinarily the case, bees are dependent 

 for their supplies solely on natural resources, 

 brooding will usually, and in many districts in- 

 variably, be commenced so late in the spring, 

 that the colonies remain too weak to avail them- 

 selves properly of the early pasturage however 

 abundant it may be; and the young bees, when 

 they do make their appearance, prove them- 

 selves consumers rather than producers. The 

 hoped-for swarms not only fail to come, but the 

 stocks themselves remain too feeble to work to 

 advantage when the spring fairly opens. To 

 obviate this, the bees should be stimulated to 

 commence brooding freely, as early as practica- 

 ble in April, by feeding them on the evening of 

 every other day Avith a mixture of two parts 

 honey and one part water, slightly warmed. 

 Feeble stocks, deficient in stores, should be lib- 

 erally fed with this diluted honey, giving them 

 a gill as a dose at first, and gradually increasing 

 the quantity to half a pint. When honey can- 

 not be procured for this i)urpose, good brown 

 sugar dissolved in water, and boiled down to 

 the consistence of syrup, may be used as a sub- 

 stitute. Baron Ehrenfels was in the habit of 

 feeding all his stocks in this manner, ever}^ 

 spring— not excepting even such as had ample 

 stores remaining, though to such the food was 

 administered only every third or fourth even- 

 ing. 



if they have not previously been removed, 

 all supers and ekes must at this time be taken 

 away, and access to surplus honey receptacles 

 be prevented. Excepting during the warmer 

 hours of the day, when the bees are flying, the 

 entrances of the hives should also be kept warm 

 or contracted to confine the heat, as an ele- 

 vated temperature is now desirable. Brooding 

 will then be greatly promoted at a period when 

 the bees would otherwise remain to a great ex- 

 tent inactive; and strong swarms may be look- 

 ed for soon after spring pasturage becomes 

 abundant, if the season bo at all propitious. 



When a swarm has issued and is hived, the 

 present slock must be immediately removed to 

 a new location, as distant as practicable in the 

 apiary, and the swarm substituted in its place. 

 After-swarming will thus almost in variably be 



prevented, and both colonies will become good 

 stocks, capable of being wintered without fall 

 feeding. The same course must be pursued 

 when swarms issue in the following year — in- 

 creasing the apiary to eight stocks, and proba- 

 bly doubling it the year after. Then, if the bee 

 keeper has concluded not further to enlarge his 

 apiary, a different mode of management must 

 be adopted, to turn the labors of the bees to 

 account. 



Increase X^y swarms does not, however, usu- 

 ally proceed thus systematicall}' and by rule — 

 especially if the purchased hives Avith which 

 the bee keeper begins his operations, were kept 

 in large magazine or store hives. In selecting 

 stocks, therefore, it is judicious not to choose 

 such as are contained in very large hives. 

 Those of smaller dimensions are preferable, if 

 in good condition, populous, and having pro- 

 duced a swarm the previous summer, or a sec- 

 ond swarm of that summer, in equally good 

 condition in all respects. Such stocks have 

 young queens, and the latter sort moreover 

 have new combs. Nevertheless, with all this 

 care and caution, and despite of stimulative 

 feeding, swarms do sometimes fail to come — 

 especially in seasons when spring pasturage 

 happens to be unusually abundant. What islo 

 be done in such event? The only resource, then, 

 is to drive out a swarm from each hive; but a 

 novice in beekeeping should not undertake to 

 do this, except with the advice and aid of some 

 experienced person; though we shall fully de- 

 scribe the process in a future number. The 

 driven swarm must then likewise be set where 

 the parent stock stood, and the latter moved to 

 a new location in the apiary. It is very advan- 

 tageous, when practicable to place swarms, 

 whether natural or driven, in hives furnished 

 with clean empty combs. This effects a great 

 saving in time and honey. If a comb contain- 

 ing brood can also be given to a swarm, it will 

 be" very serviceable indeed; and swarms thus 

 supplied will rarely desert their domicile. 



There is still another process by which the 

 enlargement of an apiary may be more rapidly 

 eifected; but as it is somewhat hazardous and 

 requires experience and great expertness in the 

 operator, we cannot recommend it to a begin- 

 ner. By adopting the above more simple me- 

 thod, he incurs little risk, though a year or two 

 more may be required for him to reach the 

 point at which he aims. The more expeditious 

 method alluded to, while it may prove success- 

 ful, depends on sa many coutingencies that it 

 often ends in disappointment and verifies the 

 adage that "haste makes waste," It can only 

 be resorted to when the season is unusually 

 propitious, and in a district where pasturage 

 abounds every year; for should cold and wet 

 weather prevent the bees from gathering stores, 

 the abxmdance and even superabundance of 

 nectar which the district might furnish are of 

 no avail. Eapid multiplication, in such cir- 

 cumstances, would be ruinous, unless the stocks 

 be properly reunited and fed not only liberally 

 but lavishly. "Furnished lodgings," moreover, 

 which are simply advantages in the case of nat- 

 ural or driven swarms, are altogether indispeu- 



