VOL. VII. 



FEBRUfVRY, 1897. 



NO. 2. 



How I Manage My Bees 



BY SAMP. WILLIAMSON. 



The past year I have kept my bees 

 in a double walled two story chafE 

 hive, and I coraraeueed stimulating 

 brood rearing as soon as the weather 

 would permit. One of the most essen- 

 tial things for a successful season is to 

 have your colonies large and so I get 

 them as strong as possible to be ready 

 for the first honey flow. As soon as 

 they begin to whiten up their combs 

 nicely I put on the supers with some 

 drawn comb in the center. I keep 

 down swarming as much as possible 

 by cutting out queen cells, and when 

 a swarm comes out I hive them on 

 full combs if I have any and if not I 

 give them starters and put them on a 

 new stand, and at about the close of 

 the honey flow I take off the supers 

 with whatever they contain, let it be 

 much or little. After this I put on 

 the feeders and commence feeding 

 again, during the time Avhen there is 

 no honey flow here, which is usually 

 in July. Bv feeding I keep my bees 

 as strong iu numbers as possible so 

 that when the fall flow comes I am 

 ready for it. During the flow I go 

 over my hives and contract the brood 

 nests by removing the outside frames 



according to the size of the swarm, 

 leaving from five to eight frames. A 

 division board is put on one side of 

 the frames. 



About the time the flow of honey is 

 at an end I go over them again and 

 ascertain if each colony has enough 

 stores to last until spring, and if they 

 are found satisfactory I place four 

 sticks across the tops of the frames 

 and put on my chaff cushion and bid 

 the little fellows good bye. 



Friendly, W. Va. 



Swarming. 



BY CHAS. H. TRIES. 



Bees are not swarming yet, but 

 probably will in a few months. The 

 question of how to prevent swarming 

 has often been discussed. I have never 

 said much, if anything, in regai'd to 

 this, but have thought and experi- 

 mented a good deal along this line, 

 and have long since come to the con- 

 clusion that if bees are really deter- 

 mined to swarm, let them swarm. I 

 have tried hiving back, uniting with 

 another colony, etc., but have failed 

 to have much success. I find thait to 

 get the very best work from a colony 

 we must try to keep them satisfied . 

 As soon as they become dissatisfied 



