1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



227 



process too slow I have only to say, try it and 

 prepare for a pleasant surprise. Lastly, this 

 syrup is of such a consistency that it is imme- 

 diately available for use by the bees, requiring 

 no evaporation after being placi-d in the cells. 

 Ontario, Ohio, Feb. 8. 



[We have never ihade syrup with a percola- 

 tor; but as the doctor seems to be perfectly fa- 

 miliar with the subject we have decided to give 

 it a test. The trouble of using heat, boiling 

 over, soiling stoves, etc., is enough to warrant 

 every one giving the plan a trial.— Ed.] 



MANTJM IN THE APIARY. 



THE I.ANOnON NON-SWAKMEK NOT A SUCCESS 

 WITH HIM LAST SKASON, AND WHi'. 



Bij A. E. Maimm. 



" Now let me see, Scott. I believe you asked 

 me before dinner how I liked this non-swarm- 

 ing plan, and if I could recommend it to others. 

 My answer is, that one season's trial of a new 

 method of management is hardly sufficient to 

 test thoroughly its real worth, and determine 

 upon its i"eal practicability. As the seasons 

 vary so much it is hardly safe for the apiarist 

 to take a decided stand for or against any thing 

 new that may come to light in apiculture. I 

 have misjudged new ideas and theories so many 

 times that I have learned to be very careful, 

 and to weigh all things before adopting or lay- 

 ing them aside. But so far as I have tested this 

 new plan I am not favorably impressed with it. 

 I have, however, experimented more or less the 

 past three years on a plan of my own, the prin- 

 ciple of which is very similar to this, but with- 

 out attaining perfect success, though I am 

 hopeful that I may be more successful next sea- 

 son, as I aim to try it again, with some new ad- 

 ditions to the plan I adopted last year." 



'■ Did any of these 16 colonies swarm or offer 

 to swarm ?" asks Scott. 



" Yes. Six of them built queen-cells, and 

 two of the six swarmed. It happened in this 

 way: On two of the stands — each occupying 

 two colonies— the colonies, four of them, were 

 of equal strength, all being strong, and all pre- 

 pared to swarm, each one starting queen-cells 

 while they had the bulk of the bees from their 

 companion hive; and upon reversing the force 

 of bees the reduced hive did not destroy their 

 queen-cells soon enough to admit of giving 

 them the working force before their companion 

 colony cast a swarm. Hence, here lies the diffi- 

 culty: When two colonies, of equal strength 

 and advancement, are worked together while 

 reducing one to prevent it from swarming, the 

 other will swarm; but where one is strong, and 

 the other only medium, or one is a week behind 

 the other in the preparation of swarming, the 

 plan will work completely to prevent swarming; 

 but the apiarist must be on the alert, and at- 



tend to business; and, besides, he must know 

 the exact condition of his bees at certain pe- 

 riods." 



"How about the storing of surplus? It is 

 claimed that, by this method, more honey will 

 be stored." 



" Yes, I know that is the claim set forth; but, 

 that has not been my experience, but, rather, 

 the reverse. These 16 colonies have not given 

 me any surplus, while my other bees in this 

 yard have averaged 38 lbs. per colony. This 

 fact has puzzled me more than any other one 

 thing in connection with this plan. The shift- 

 ing of the bees from one hive to the other every 

 five or six days seemed to demoralize them to 

 the extent that the storing of surplus honey 

 was out of the question; and, moreover, you 

 will observe that they are very short of stores, 

 even in the brood-chamber— so much so that I 

 must very soon feed them unless buckwheat 

 favors us with a fair yield." 



" I suppose that, since these colonies have re- 

 tained their queens throughout the season, they 

 have carried a large amount of brood, which 

 doubtless accounts for their being short of hon- 

 ey, while your other colonies have been queen- 

 less a good part of the time during the honey- 

 flow, and have, consequently, carried less brood, 

 and have, therefore, saved the honey that the 

 rearing of brood would have consumed," says 

 Scott. 



" Yes, that is correct in theory; but in this 

 case it has not proved correct in practice, since 

 the queens in these 16 colonies have not deposit- 

 ed eggs to the extent that would be expected. 

 Why this is so I am not able to say, unless it be 

 that the bees and queen in the reduced colony, 

 finding themselves so weak in numbers, and un- 

 able to care for more brood, destroyed all eggs, 

 thereby preventing all development of brood 

 from that source; while the queen in the colo- 

 ny having all the bees, would be expected to fill 

 at once the empty combs with eggs after receiv- 

 ing the full force of bees from the othe'r hive; 

 but this is not the case to the extent we should 

 naturally expect, owing to the fact that this 

 queen had so recently been deprived of the 

 working force where her egg-producing organs 

 have received a check so that she hardly gets 

 in good condition for laying when receiving the 

 full force of bees before they are again taken 

 from her, and so on through the season. This, 

 therefore, is my explanation of the cause of 

 there not being more brood in these hives. As 

 soon as I noticed the effect produced upon the 

 functions of these queens by the shifting of the 

 working force of bees from one hive to the oth- 

 er I commenced to experiment by reversing less 

 often with some colonies and more often with 

 others. I found that, to allow the force of bees 

 to remain in one hive 12 days, it improved the 

 condition of things in the sections, and the 

 queen deposited eggs in the brood-combs at a 

 satisfactory rate. But the colony that was 



