96 THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



DOUBI.Z: HIVE STANDS. 



The hives are set on douljle hive-stands, one hive on a stand. 

 These stands are made of two pieces of 2x4 or 2x6 scantling about 

 five feet in length, with cross pieces about fifteen inches long nailed 

 at the ends and the corners resting on bricks to level the stands and 

 keep them off the ground. It is easier to slide the hives along on 

 these stands than to lift or slide them on the ground, and the real 

 hard work is eliminated. The bottom boards all have an entrance 

 at both front and back, with blocks to close either of them as 

 occasion requires. 



THZ: METHOD OF SWARM CONTROI.. 



Now, my method of controlling the swarming is this : When 

 the colonies are about strong enough to swarm, and before they 

 have started queen cells, if possible, I prepare as many hive bodies 

 as there are colonies ready by filling them with empty combs or 

 foundation, or both. I then go to the first hive, take ofl: the cover, 

 find the comb with the queen and put it with the queen in one of 

 the prepared hives, putting in its place an empty comb ; put on a 

 queen excluding honey board and set the prepared hive on top ; then 

 slip on the cover and go to the next hive, and so on until the queens 

 have all been put up. Another way is to drive the queen and bees 

 up by drumming on the hive, then slip in the excluder. There 

 would then be no handling of frames whatever. I leave them this 

 way about ten days. B}^ this time there will be a nice lot of brood 

 in the upper story, and the brood in the lower story will all be 

 sealed and saved. There will also be some queen cells in most of 

 the lower stories. If not, I give them a ripe cell or a queen. 

 Swarming is now delayed at least ten days longer, and the forced 

 swarm will be made that much nearer the main honey flow. I try 

 to get the queens all up about the same time. If they are put up 

 about the last week in May or first of June, they will then be set ofif 

 just before the main clover honey flow, and this is the best time for 

 forced swarms. 



THE FORCED SWARMS. 



We are now ready for some forced swarms. I go to the first 

 hive as before, slide it along on the hive stand about eighteen inches, 

 blow some smoke in at the entrance, and then drum on the hive and 

 drive most of the bees up with the queen, the same as if trans- 

 ferring by the Heddon m^ethod. I then lift ofif the upper story and 

 set it on a bottom board where the hive originally stood, leaving 

 the two stories close together, with the front entrance of the old 

 brood section closed and the back entrance opened. The swarm is 

 now ready for a super of sections. There is some unsealed honey 



