405 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



cvery-day name. The woi'd of A. I. Root car- 

 ries more weight than that of " Novice," and 

 ••Ramhler" always looks out of place in the 

 (^iKistion-box. 



BiU)()Di-ESS BEES are better in February, 

 Woodchopper, because— well, because. I never 

 saw a case of spring dwindling without much 

 advance in brood -reai-ing. They're quieter 

 without brood; and if they breed in February 

 they will not keep so quiet till the Hrst or mid- 

 dle" of April. Raising brood is work, and it 

 isn't natural for bees to work without flying. 

 Yes, I know "Nature sets queens td laying 

 shortly after Jan. 1, sometimes sooner," and 

 then Nature sometimes sets those same bees to 

 getting the diarrhea, dwindling, and so on. 



gENE^^Ii C^l^J^EgP^NDENCE. 



DIVISION-BOARDS WITH RUBBER EDGES. 



MK. .JUMUS HOFFMAN TELI-S HOW TO liAISE A 



SUHPI.US OF QX'EENS WITH LITTLE LABOR 



AND EXl'ENSE. 



In niv last article I did not mention the dif- 

 fei-ence between the two rubbered boards in 

 the hive I sent you. The one board that has 

 llie rubber edges only part way down is a spac- 

 ing-board for general use; and the other, with 

 the rubber on three sides, so as to tit the walls 

 and bottom of the hive, I use for a dividing or 

 separating board. Whenever a colony has to 

 raise a queen, all I have to do is to place one of 

 these dividing-boards between the frames, as 

 near the center of the hive as the entrance of 

 the hive will allow it. and I have two small 

 separate colonies, in each of which a young 

 queen can be raised with hardly any extra 

 trouble. The advantage of this management 

 is easily understood. If one half of the colony 

 fails to raise a perfect queen, the other half 

 most likely will: or. if either side succeeds in 

 getting a good fertile queen, we have a spare 

 one which can be used elsewhere: or. if not 

 needed, we have the choice of the two queens, 

 and destroy the one not wanted. 



HOW Mil. HOFFMAN DIVIDES A COLONY. 



In dividing the colony, the tops of frames 

 will, of course, have to be covered, so that the 

 separated bees can not get together. I use a 

 heavy enameled cloth for this purpose. An ex- 

 tra entrance, which I make at the rear of the 

 hive, as you will notice by the hive I sent you, 

 is, of course, needed. This enti'ance should not 

 be exactly opposite the front entrance, or center 

 of the hive, but a little to one side, so that the 

 separating-board can be inserted between the 

 front and rear entrance. When dividing the 

 colony the rear entrance is opened and the hive 

 is turned half way round, so that the now two 

 entrances are to the right and left of the posi- 

 tions formerly occupied by the front entrance. 

 The flying bees will in this way divide up 

 without any trouble. After uniting the colony 

 again, the hive is turned round once more to 

 have the entrance as before dividing, and the 

 extra entrance is closed. 



In hives where the frames I'un the long way, 

 as is the case with most of the hives used at 

 present, the extra entrance for dividing had 

 better be made at one of the sid(^s of the hive, 

 right or left from front enti-ance, in which case 

 the hives will, in dividing, have to be turned 

 only enough to make part of the flying liees en- 

 ter the side entrance. A Iki'-inch hole, bored 

 with a center-bit. will suffice for this tenipoi'ary 



side or back entrance, which can, after uniting 

 the colony again, be closed with a plug or 

 slide. vShould the divided colony be strong 

 enough to need a surplus aiTangement, then we 

 can give the one half of the divided colony less 

 of bees and brood, and cover the frames of the 

 other and stronger half only partly or not at 

 all, to give passage to the super. In general I 

 use only such colonies for the purpose of sepa- 

 rating to raise queens that are not so sti'ong 

 as to need any super, as I get enough young 

 queens by using only a certain portion of the 

 colonies for this purpose. In uniting again, a 

 separated colony, after removal of one of the 

 queens or queen-cells, the separated bees should 

 get acquainted before taking out the division- 

 board. I do this by partly raising the covei'ing 

 of frames of both divisions, and leave them so 

 for a few days, or not longer than a week's 

 time; then after removing queen-cells, if any 

 have been built again, take out the separating- 

 board, shake most of the bees from the combs 

 to get them mixed, and use the smoker on the 

 bees freely. 



Before 1 close I will mention another use I 

 make of tiu^se rubber-edged separating-boards. 

 When it happens that I am prevented from 

 working an apia-ry in time to cut out queen- 

 cells, I often find young queens ali'eady leaving 

 their cells, or just ready to hatch. In such a 

 case, if I have use for queen-cells or queens 

 just hatching, I can in a few moments separate 

 the combs having queen-cells or queens on 

 them, by putting between the frames of comb 

 as many boards as are needed, or put some of 

 these frames, bees and all, in another empty 

 hive, with boards between. In this way, when 

 covered and kept in a shady place, the separat- 

 ed queen-cells and queens can be saved and 

 used as wanted during the day. It will be 

 found an advantage to leave a certain nnmbtn' 

 of the separated colonies, containing t\\o 

 queens, until fall, or even to spring, as some 

 queens may be wanted to repair queenless col- 

 onies. In a good cellar, or with good protection 

 when outdoors, they will winter as well as when 

 not divided. In the winter of 188::;-3 I put into 

 winter quarters In of such divided c'.)loni<'S. con- 

 taining 150 queens. They wintered so well that 

 I lost not one: and when warm weather came I 

 t(j()k out from all the strongest double hives one 

 queen with her bees and combs, and built them 

 ui) to good colonies. 



In summing up I will say. that, although tlie 

 dividing of a colony Vithin one hive to raise 

 extra or surplus queens is not a new idea, yet it 

 is certainly of use to practical bee-keepers, and 

 we ought to find out the best and simplest 

 method to do it. I have used the rubber-edge 

 separating-boai'ds. as I nuike them, foi' nuiny 

 years, and. liave found them useful and durable. 

 iSeparating-boards without a rubber edge ai'e 

 not practical. They either work too loosely or 

 are too tight, are glued fast too much by the 

 bees with propolis; and as the boards of the 

 hives shrink, swell, or warp, they would not be 

 reliable in ])reventing bees from passing 

 through. Jrijus Hoffman. 



Canajoharie, N. Y., .Ian. 14. 



[In order that the readei- may more fully 

 understand^ I will ask him to turn to page 3(57 

 of our last issue, for a cut of the separating- 

 board, with its rubber edges. This laoard has 

 been adapted to the L. size. The rubber is 

 simply a kind of packing used for water-pipes, 

 about ^s thick, and in long strips about % inch 

 wide. Its manner of insertion is shown in the 

 cross-section, in the cut referred to. on page 307. 

 From experience, I know that a division- board 

 that fits tight, or nearly so, to the inside of the 



