618 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



credit from father Langstrolh. Of course, I 

 wouldn't. But is it necessary to use his name 

 every time we speak of movable frames? Have 

 you done it? Rather than withhold any credit 

 from him, however. I'll say closed-end Lang- 

 stroth movable fi'ame, Hoffman- Langstroth 

 frame, or how would you write that item on 

 p. 4.57, any way? But, say: why are you com- 

 ing at («c for "it? I'm only using names that 

 others have been using this long time. Go for 

 those New York fellows, and don't come at me 

 just because I live out west. 



DIVIDING COLONIES AFTEK THE HONEY 

 HARVEST. 



WHAT DOOLITTLE THINKS ABOUT IT. 



Beside me lies a letter containing the follow- 

 ing, in substance: "Our harvest of white honey 

 will soon be over, and my colonies are all strong 

 lis to numbers. Not having as many bees as I 

 wish. I propose to increase those I have, by 

 division, as soon as the flow is over, and wish to 

 do it in such a way that a good crop of honey 

 may be secured from fall flowers. How shall I 

 do this?" 



There are various ways of doing this; but as 

 I have a way which is successful with me I will 

 give it here for the benefit of all who may care 

 to try it. In the first place, nuclei should be 

 started at once, so that we may have laying 

 queens at our disposal when we come to the in- 

 crease. Having these queens, the honey har- 

 vest being over for the present, and we being 

 otherwise ready for action, the second thing we 

 shall want is a'bo.x holding about a cubic foot, 

 wire-cloth sides, similar to what I have de- 

 scribed in back numbers of Gleanings, and 

 the same as described in "Scientific Queen- 

 rearing;" together with a large funnel, such as 

 is used to put up bees by the pound with. 

 These, with our lighted smoker, are to be taken 

 to the apiary, when one of the hives is to be 

 opened, the queen found, and the frame she is 

 on set outside of the hive for the time being, 

 till we have taken out a third of the combs 

 with the adhering bees, when this frame is to 

 be returned. The frames now outside of the 

 hive are to be gently jarred a little to cause the 

 bees to fill themselves with honey. While they 

 are filling themselves with honey we are to go 

 to another hive and treat it exactly the same 

 as we did the first, when we go back to the first 

 and shake all the bees off the combs which are 

 outside the hive, down through the funnel into 

 the box, immediately taking it to the secohd 

 hive and shaking the bees there down into the 

 same box, when the frames of brood and honey 

 are to be returned to their respective hives, 

 after first removing the funnel and closing the 

 box. If this work is done toward night no 

 trouble from robbers will be experienced, and 

 the bees will be better prepared for what is to 

 follow. Just before dark, taking plenty of time 

 to find the queen readily before it is too dark, 

 go to your nucleus and secure the queen from 

 it, having her in a provisioned cage, the new 

 West cage being particularly adapted to this 

 purpose. Having the queen in the cage, go to 

 your darkened, cool room (where the bees should 

 be left while they are in the box), and, by set- 

 ting the box down suddenly, drop them all to 

 the bottom, when the caged queen is to be hung 

 in so the cage touches the top of the box, and 

 the bees left till the next morning. When going 

 to put the queen in, you will find them in great 

 commotion, and "crying" over their queenless 

 condition: but in an hour after the caged queen 

 has been put in they will be all quiet, and send 

 forth a satisfied note, as much as to say, " We 



are now prepared to make a future home of this 

 place if need be;" while in the morning they 

 will be clustered as snug and compact as any 

 swarm. Early in the morning, before robbers 

 are around, tlie same two hives are to be open- 

 ed, and a third of the combs are to be taken 

 from each, having the honey and brood corres- 

 pond in about the same proportion as that left 

 iy the hives, the bees from these combs all 

 brushed off and allowed to go back, the hive 

 filled out with combs, comb foundation, or 

 dummi(^s, as you prefer, when these new beeless 

 combs of brood and honey are to be put into an 

 empty hive, the same placed on the stand you 

 wish it to occupy, and the one-third vacant 

 space filled out the same as you did the others. 

 The clustered swarm of bees is to be hived in 

 this hive, the same as you would hive a natui-al 

 swarm, the same being accomplished by remov- 

 ing one side of the box, which should be easily 

 removable for this purpose. In this way you 

 will have three good colonies in place of two 

 (which would be as great an increase as I would 

 recommend at this time of year, if I expected 

 to secure a yield fi-om fall flowers), and it is one 

 of the very best plans of artificial increase that 

 I know of. If done early in the season, when 

 the bees are about to swarm naturally, it would 

 do well to take half the bees and half of the 

 combs, so that the colonies could be doubled, if 

 increase is preferred to honey. 



Many, who can not be with their bees, on ac- 

 count of work which keeps them away from 

 home during the middle of the day, will find in 

 this an easy and good plan of controlling 

 swarming, and yet have their bees in good con- 

 dition all the while. I foi-got to say in the 

 right place, that, as the bees are running into 

 the hive, the queen should be let out of the 

 cage and allowed to run in with them. For- 

 merly I always put the queen in with the bees 

 after they were "crying" for her, without cag- 

 ing, and, so far as I am concerned, generally 

 had good success; but some report failures, 

 which thing can not result by the plan here 

 given, for the queen can not be harmed un- 

 til she has become a part of the newly formed 

 colony, when, of course, they will not injure 

 her. In reading this many will exclaim, "This 

 is lots of work!" but after a little practice you 

 will find that it takes hardly as much time as 

 it does to read this article, and put you in a 

 place where you are master of the situation, 

 every time, aiid also gives you just tlie right 

 division of nuitters and things, so that the right 

 proportion of bees and brood is in each hive, 

 and all ready to go to work to the best advan- 

 tage, on all subsequent bloom, so that all are in 

 readiness for winter when it arrives, and gen- 

 erally a good yield of honey. 



Borodino. N. Y. H. M. Dooi,itti,e. 



FUSSING WITH BEES. 



something on the other side. 



" Don't fuss too much with your bees." say 

 some of the wi'iters for the bee - journals. 

 " Don't tinker with your bees unnecessarily," 

 says Dr. Miller. " Mr. G. de Layen's plan for 

 an out-apiary is to have very large hives, and 

 visit them only twice a year, spring and au- 

 tumn " (Dr. Miller, page 155, Gleanings). " If 

 you wish a large yield of section honey, keep 

 prolific queens, and let the brood-combs alone, 

 after they are once filled with brood in the 

 spring," says G. M. Doolittle. 



My young bee-keeping friends, and those of 

 the South in particular, don't let such state- 

 ments and advice as the above lead you astray. 



