THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



any of the other journals care to make 

 suggestions, or express their views, I 

 shall be thankful. Of course, /am run- 

 ning the Review; I am the one that must 

 decide how it shall be conducted; but I 

 have not yet reached that point where 

 advice and suggestions are not welcome. 

 If anyone wishes to write me confiden- 

 tially on this subject, or any subject, that 

 confidence will be respected. 



.»^.»«*<i^it»^» 



I.AROE HIVES, ]^ARGE COLONIES, .A.NI) 

 THEIR INFLUENCE UPON SWARMING. 



Their has been, and is yet, considera- 

 ble talk about large hives and large colo- 

 nies, and small hives and contraction of 

 the brood nests, etc., and the relation of 

 these things to swarming. The idea that 

 large colonies swarm less is, of course, 

 erroneous. Colonies in large hives may 

 swarm less, and probably do, because 

 they have more room. Large hives must 

 not be confounded with large colonies. 

 As E. R. Root remarked in Gleanings, 

 " Large hives do not make large colonies 

 any more than large shoes make big 

 feet." Perhaps these are not his exact 

 words, but they express the idea. The 

 only way in which large hives could assist 

 in the production of large colonies would 

 be in allowing more room for breeding. 

 A large colony, if crowded for room, is 

 just as likely to swarm, perhaps more so, 

 than a small colony. When all of the 

 hives of an apiary are of the same capaci- 

 tv, the large colonies are the more likely 

 to swarm. Lack of room is a great in- 

 centive to swarming. Mr. Aspinwall has 

 prevented it entirely this season among 

 50 colonies; and the principal feature of 

 his plan is that of separating the combs 

 of the brood nest with dummies that give 

 the bees room; but the room thus given 

 is of such a shape that no honey can be 

 stored in it, but must be put into the sec- 

 tions. In the production of extracted 

 honey there is not much difficulty in con- 

 trolling swarming, because of the abun- 

 ance of room that can be given. Some- 

 time ago the editor of Gleanings referred 



me to Mr. N. E. Doane of Breckenridge, 

 Mich., as a man who used large hives, 

 and urged me to visit him. I followed 

 his advice, and, about a month ago, 

 called on Mr. Doane rather late in the 

 evening; and all of the members of the 

 family, including the dog, left their beds 

 to get up and welcome me. I am not 

 sure but the dog ought to be placed first 

 on the list. I stayed with Mr. Doane 

 that night and a part of the next fore- 

 noon. He explained to me why he had 

 preferred large hives. It was because by 

 their use he had been able to largely 

 prevent swarming. Of late he has adopt- 

 ed the plan of removing sections as soon 

 as they are completed; not waiting until 

 a whole case is completed; in fact, I be- 

 lieve he does not use a case, but manijiu- 

 lates them by the wide frame- full, or 

 section holder, rather, ami in this way is 

 able to always have an abundance of 

 room in the supers. Giving room by 

 this method does away with swarming to 

 a great extent, and now he does not care 

 to have a brood-nest larger than ten 

 frames. 



While I believe that for the bee-keeper 

 who has a single apiary under his care, 

 and that at liome where it is constantly 

 under his eye, a brood-nest of at lea.st 

 moderate capacity is be.st, I will admit 

 that possibly for out-apiaries, or under 

 any condition where neglect is likelv to 

 play a prominent part in the manage- 

 ment, large brood-nests may be better 

 than small ones. 



A VISIT TO THE HOME OF MR. ASPINWAIJ. 



— HIS NON-SWARMERS, SFXTION- 



CLEANER, f;TC. 



Mrs. Hutchinson and myself have just 

 returned from a flying trip to the pleas- 

 ant and hospitable home of Mr. and Mrs. 

 L. A. Aspinwall of Jackson, Mich. 



For some eight or ten years, Mr. As- 

 pinwall has been struggling with the 

 problem of preventing swarming This 

 year perfect success has crowned his 

 efforts. Out of about 50 colonies, pre- 



