1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



263 



new dummies which I substituted 

 fot those of last season, but upon re- 

 flection, seeing that ray hives were 

 too small and the season unusually 

 favorable to swarming, concluded that 

 possibly it was not in the dummy, but 

 a return of the crowded condition like 

 that of swarming hives. My hives 

 have a capacity for but eleven frames, 

 and upon careful consideration have 

 concluded that with a space for fif- 

 teen or sixteen, a little less than half 

 of which could be occupied with dum- 

 mies, better results might be obtained. 

 I am really surprised that the ad- 

 ditional room for three frames (oc- 

 cupied by dummies), should have 

 produced such satisfactory results 

 heretofore, and to have retarded 

 swarming to the extent it did this sea- 

 son,aIl things taken into consideration. 

 There was, however, a noticeable fact 

 presented which has given me great 

 enouragement for the future non- 

 swarraer. It was the unusual number 

 of bees which remained with the par- 

 ent colonies almost without exception. 

 So strong were they that the storage 

 of honey in the supers was continued 

 or resumed in two or three days, and 

 which has given me an average of 

 about sixty pounds per colony, with 

 about forty pounds more in sight; 

 some sweet clover, however, will be 

 mixed with the latter. 



Although the flow was great and 

 tended to fill the bee keeper with en- 

 thusiam, still the brood chambers are 

 very much clogged with honey, to the 

 exclusion of brood. This of course 

 is unfavorable to the best results just 

 at present, still, with a favorable sea- 

 son from , this QUI,Ultiii'>Qgh n(*t in a 

 basswood locality, I shall look for a- 

 least 100 pounds per colony. 



I learn that the intensely warm 

 weather has ruined a few colonies by^ 

 softening and breakage of the conloS 

 in this and doubtless many other lo- 

 calities; still none of mine have suf- 

 fered. The dummies favor ventilation, 

 and should one comb soften and drop 

 from the top bar the dummies would: 

 prevent further disaster by holding it 

 partly in place. Three or four years 

 ago I had several hives in which a 

 single comb became detached while 

 the others remained intact by reason 

 of the dummies. 



Another advantage derived from 

 the use of dummies is that al- 

 ready alluded to in affording 

 more perfect ventilation, and 

 with the additional room prevents 

 the usual crowding or clustering on 

 the outside during warm weather. 

 The result has been, and is, that no 

 loafing colonies are found in my 

 apiary. There is a marked difference 

 in the aggregate amount of honey 

 stored when ever colony in the yard 

 is doing something. Of course the 

 equalization of colonies during the 

 nionth of May, as set forth in a pre- 

 vious article, is the prime essential to 

 such a result. 



The conditions which have changed 

 from time to time in bee keeping, as 

 in all branches of human affairs, are' 

 marvelous. The revolution caused by 

 the invention of movable frames and 

 comb foundation has enabled the 

 specialist to produce a much finer pro- 

 duct of comb honey at greatly reduced 

 cost. We look at the quotations today 

 and compare with the prices of thirty 

 or forty years ago. feeling as 

 though the bottom had dropped 

 out of bee keeping. But 



when the Quinby system was in 



