THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



swarm. With this method, in some years, 

 there will be an occasional second swarm; 

 but I doubt whether there will be any 

 more than by Doolittle's plan; and there 

 will be a very great saving of energy. Of 

 course, the trap must be removed in due 

 time; and it may be dispensed with alto- 

 gether without serious risk if the princi- 

 ple of the method, viz,, the draining of the 

 old hive of all superfluous bees, be care- 

 fully applied. 



A CONCISE STATEMENT OF SOME LABOR- 

 SAVING METHODS. 



Labor is much the greatest item in the 

 cost of the production of honey; so I am 

 cutting it down wherever I find it practi- 

 cable. To explain briefly my management 

 may help some, and perhaps give the ed- 

 itor of Gleanings a clearer idea of my 

 methods with regard to contraction, etc. 

 I use the Heddon hive; two sections of 

 which equal :oL. frames. I seldom re- 

 remove a brood frame except from an 

 occasional colony to discover the reason 

 that it is not prospering. I go over my 

 colonies in the spring — in April — when 

 it is cool enough so that the bees are 

 clustered, and raise the front end of each 

 hive from the bottom board sufficiently 

 to enable me to see the size of the cluster. 

 Unless the bees already occupy both sec- 

 tions of the hive, or are likely to do so 

 inmiediately, the lower section of the 

 hive is removed, and the colony retains 

 but one. The other stronger colonies 

 are left with two. All the one-section 

 colonies that during the last half of May 

 are ready to rush into another section are 

 given one more each, and those not found 

 strong enough to do that, get no more be- 

 fore the end of the early honey season. 

 Next, as the honey season approaches, I 

 put supers on all hives as soon as they 

 are found with bees lying plentifully on 

 top of the honey board. It is of no use 

 before that. Swarms are hived on the 

 old stand, as already intimated, in two 

 sections of the hive, to prevent attempts 

 to abscond, and the lower section is re- 

 moved in three or four daj-s. Queen 



traps are used to prevent the escape of 

 swarms and no time is-now spent in hunt- 

 ing and clipping tiueens. All comb hon- 

 ey is removed by tlie case when finished, 

 or at the end of the honey flow. Then, 

 so far as is necessary, a second section is 

 given to those colonies having only one. 

 The colonies in single sections generally 

 are apt to furnish more comb honey than 

 those given another section the last of 

 May, and swarm much less than those re- 

 taining two sections throughout the sea- 

 son. But it will be asked, as intimated 

 by editor Root, don't you reverse and 

 otherwise manipulate frames to get large 

 amounts of brood? Not at all. An 

 abundance of stores is the best and all- 

 sufficient receipt for producing great 

 quantities of bees for the honey season. 

 Some combs partly filled with honey 

 placed above the honey-board not only 

 provide a reinforcement of the stores but 

 also furnish a receptacle for surplus hon- 

 ey that might chance sometimes to be in 

 the way in the brood-chamber. The ob- 

 ject is not the greatest surplus from d co/- 

 oiiy, but the greatest profit to a man. 

 Against my position on these points it 

 will not be partinent to quote something 

 I wrote or did years ago. I claim to have 

 learned something from experience. 



CARELESS READING OF \ QUESTION. 



Does something like the swarming fe- 

 ver attack apiarists sometimes ? In the 

 American Bee Journal, 427, question 2, 

 query 75, is: 'How many days after 

 hatching before .she [the queen] commen- 

 ces laying?" No less than five of the 

 most prominent bee keepers, Dadant, 

 Cook, Mason, Secor, and Demaree answer 

 from 2 to 4 days, or within those limits, 

 less time than any of them gave her from 

 hatching till her flight. Of course they 

 failed to catch the meaning of the ques- 

 tion, but it is a curious instance. 



IMPROVEMENTS IN GRAMMAR AND 



SPELLING. THE USE OF INITIALS. 

 Brother York of the same Journal, 

 page 425, seems to have a light opinion 



