1884 



GLEANING IN BEE CULTUKE. 



443 



UNITING BEES. 



DOOLITTLE KECOMMENDS UNITING JUST BEFOllE 

 THE HONEY-FLOW*. 



«S I am now uniting- my weaker colonies of bees, 

 and as I am so often asked privately how I 

 do it, I will tell the readers of Gleanings 

 just how I work, so that they can do the 

 same if they wish. Long- ag-o we were told 

 that early springr was the time to unite weak colo- 

 nies of bees; but years of experience have proved 

 that each of the united colonies would often puFl 

 through alone, while, if united, all would perish. 

 The reason for this seems to be, that, by early unit- 

 ing, an excitement is caused which wears out the 

 nearly exhausted life of the old bees which then 

 compose the little colonies, so that they die before 

 the young bees arc sufficiently mature to take up 

 the labor of sustaining the colony, thus causing the 

 loss of the whole thing. Being left as they were, 

 without uniting, they seem to realize their condi- 

 tion, so no great amount of extra labor is per- 

 formed till the young bees mature, after which such 

 weak colonies build up rapidly. 



After learning that early spring was not the time 

 to unite weak colonies of bees, I adopted the fol- 

 lowing plan, which I have used for years; and 1 like 

 it so well that I am using it to-day as I work with 

 my bees. In early spring, all the colonies which I 

 think will not make good strong colonies by the 

 middle of June are shut to one side of the hive, upon 

 only as many combs as they have brood in, by 

 means of a movable division-board, which number 

 of combs will be from one to five, according to the 

 strength of the colony. They are thus kept shut up 

 till said combs are full of brood. For feed I gener- 

 ally seta frame of honey beyond the division-board, 

 the carrying oevr of which stimulates brood rearing 

 wonderfully. When the strongest of these weak 

 colonies have their five frames full of brood, I take 

 one of them away and give it to one having four 

 frames full, always taking a frame where I can see 

 plenty of bees just gnawing from the cells. An 

 empty frame is put in the center, to take the place 

 of the frame of hatching brood, which will soon be 

 filled with eggs and brood. Don't on any account 

 give this frame of brood to one of the weakest col- 

 onies at this time, as some are prone to do; for by 

 so doing, a part of the brood will be lost, for the bees 

 in the weakest are not yet strong enough to care for 

 more brood than they already have. In a week I 

 take another frame of hatching brood fi-om the 

 same colony, and give it to one that has three frames 

 full, and also take one from the one I gave the frame 

 to the week previous. 



Thus I keep on taking from the stronger and giv- 

 ing to the next strongest, till all have five frames of 

 bees and brood, giving brood the latest to the weak- 

 est of the little colonies. Now having all of them 

 with five frames of brood, I proceed to unite them 

 as I am doing to-day. I go to No. 1, and look it over 

 till I find the frame the queen is on, which frame 

 (bees, queen, and all) is set over in the vacant side of 

 the hive. I now take the four remaining frames, 

 bees and all, and set them in a comb-carrier, when I 

 set the frame, having the queen upon it, back where 

 it was. I also place beside it an empty comb, and 

 adjust the division-board to suit the two frames, 

 when the hive is cjosed. Next I take the comb-car- 

 rier and proceed tp No. 2, which is opened, and the 

 division-board taken out. I now take the first 



frame next to where the division-board stood, and 

 place it next the opposite side of the hive, when I 

 take a frame from my comb-carrier, bees and all, as 

 taken from No. 1, and place next to the moved frame 

 in No. 3. Next 1 move another frame in No. 3 up to 

 the one taken from the carrier, when another is tak- 

 en from the carrier and placed beside it, and so on till 

 the four frames from tiie carrier are alternated 

 with those in No. 3. As my hives hold nine frames, 

 it will be seen that I now have in No. 3 nine frames 

 completely filled with brood, which will soon make 

 a very populous colony. In this way I keep to work 

 till all are united, and the sequel nearly always 

 shows a better result from these united colonies 

 than from those which were considered strong in 

 the spring. Some ask if there is not danger of hav- 

 ing the queen in No. 3 killed in uniting in this way, 

 unless she is caged. I at first feared there might 

 be, and so caged a few; but after using the plan for 

 ten years, without losing a single queen, and also 

 without caging anj' during that time, I am led to be- 

 lieve that bees thus mi.xed will never kill a queen 

 occupied in laying at the time of uniting. In fact, 

 I have never known a queen to be killed when bees 

 were thus mixed up at any season of the year, pro- 

 viding the queen was one that belonged to one of 

 the colonies thus united, and I adopt the above plan 

 in uniting in the fall also, only attliattime I use the 

 frames containing the most honey instead of frames 

 of brood, as above given. If there are frames of 

 bees, but containing no honey, more than I wish to 

 put in the hive, I shake off the bees in front' of the 

 hive, taking first a frame from one hive, and the 

 next from the other, so that the bees shall be com- 

 pletely mixed. I also often make new colonies by 

 taking a frame of brood and bees from several hives, 

 placing them all together in an empty hive, letting 

 a strange queen run in the hive with them as soon 

 as the frames are set in, and I never yet lost a 

 queen, pi'oviding she was one taken from my own 

 yard; but a queen which has been shipped along 

 distance will sometimes be killed if she is thus let 

 among the bees. The same holds true regarding a 

 queen which has long been caged in my own apiary. 

 Why this is I do not know, unless it is that the queen 

 is so long getting to laying that the bees become 

 discontented with her. 



I see much in Gleanings and the other bee pa- 

 pers, relative to non-increase of bees. Now, if I had 

 more bees than I wished with their increase, T 

 should adopt the above plan with all colonies in 

 early spring, keeping the whole apiary on five 

 combs of brood aslongas Icould consistently, when 

 I should unite them, thus making half the number 

 of extra sti-ong colonies. These would double by 

 natural swarming in a few weeks, when I would 

 have my original number, having a contented dis- 

 position to work, and that with an extra strong 

 force of bees. In my nc-xt (Aug. 1st No.) I will tell 

 just you what I do with the little colony of bees loft 

 in No. 1, so as to get a good pi-ofit from it. 



G. M. UOOLITTLE. 



Borodino, N. Y., June 16, 1884. 



Friend D., I knew yon practiced something 

 like this a good many years ago, and I know, 

 too, von have Ix en eminently snccesst'nl ; 

 bnt still there has always been a qnery in my 

 mind whether there were really any advan- 

 tage in nnitiug two small colonies when they 

 would, in a few weeks, swaini and b«e two 

 separate colonies again. Why not, when you 

 have got the small colonies up to live frames 



