IS'.VJ 



(.{LEANINGS IN HEE CULTURE. 



841 



howovcr. tli(> ainoimt of liuul to be irrijralrd is 

 too small to. justify murli i'\|h'iis(>. even llioufili 

 vory I'losc iToppiiiiX tir loilowoil. In many rases 

 our pt'oplc uso a steam pumi) for liftitijij water, 

 with entire satisfaction; hut tliis is too expen- 

 sive for a two-acre trartlen, unless the pump 

 could he used for other purposes as well. 



There are many thiiiRs to be taken into ac- 

 count in irrigating besides securing a supply of 

 water. Where the supply is sliort, the saving 

 of water is a study in itsidf. The alvantages 

 of irrigation sliould not be conceded to the arid 

 region alone. Irrigation is essential to com- 

 plete success in high pressure gardening in al- 

 most any country. E. BitAYTON. 



Tueblo. Colo. 



LADIES' Conversazione. 



THE CONSER PLAN OF NON-SWARMING. 



MKS. AXTELL EXPI-AINS WHAT tT IS. 



I believe that the Conser plan of non-swarm- 

 ing will pay much better than taking away the 

 queen. We never could succeed in getting the 

 bees to work so well for comb honey (and that 

 is the kind of honey we take, except a very lit- 

 tle extracted each year to supply the few calls 

 we have for it) as wlicn tliey have a vigorous 

 laying queen in the hive. The more vigorous 

 the queen, the greater the quantity of honey 

 gathered from that hive. I fully agree with 

 Mr. Conser when he says, "No. indeed; the 

 queen should be kept at all times at home when 

 the bees are so busy " as they are in swarming 

 time. 



The Conser plan of non-swarming is, to ar- 

 range a hatching-box in the center of three 

 hives, one on either side and one at the back of 

 the box. connecting the box with each hive by 

 a ^-inch tube between the; hive and box about 

 the center of the brood-comb. In the center of 

 the tube is a queen-excluding piece of zinc to 

 keep the queen from going into the hatching- 

 box. The box is divided into three apartments 

 — one apartment for each hive. There being 

 three together, there are bees and brood enough 

 to keep each other warm at that time of the 

 year. Each apartment is covered with a piece 

 of heavy ducking that keeps two covered while 

 the third one is being manipulated. and over all 

 is a board cover like other hives. Each little 

 apartment has its own entrance from th(» out- 

 side. The hives should be put into groups of 

 three before swarminir time comes, by moving 

 them a few inclies. oi- a foot, each day, or by 

 placing them in that position when brought 

 from the cellar; but all should be good coloni(!S, 

 and the queen laying in the outside combs. 



Eight or ten days before the honey season 

 opens from white clover, stock the hatching- 

 box from brood from the hives thus : Open one 

 of the hives and hunt out the queen, and lift 

 out the comb that she is on. and hang it on the 

 comb-rack, or lean it against the liive until 

 ready to place back. Take out two combs tilled 

 with capped brood (Hot unsealed, but capped 

 brood) and place them with the adhering b<'es 

 in the apartment of the hatching-box that is 

 connected with the liive, first closing up the 

 entrance of the tube that leads back into their 

 own hive. Leave the tubes closed for 48 hours; 

 leave the outside entrance open — at least, we 

 did; but he did not, in his directions to us, say 

 whetiier it should be h-ft open or shut. 



The comb the queen was on should be return- 



ed to her hive with an empty comb placed on 

 each side of the comb she was on. Treat tho 

 two other hives in the same way as the one de- 

 scribed. In eij/htorten days the same treat- 

 ment should be gone over again, this tim(! using 

 the two combs in the halching-box, and one 

 empty one. returning them to the parent hive 

 and placing one on each side of the comb the 

 queen is on, as l)efore, and taking out three 

 combs of capped brood and placing them in the 

 hatching-box as before; but the tube need not 

 be clo.sed this time, as there will now be bees 

 enotigh that have learned to stay in the hatch- 

 ing-box to care for the brood. I should think it 

 would not be out of place to brush oil' part of 

 the bees when taken out of the hatching-box, 

 but he did not direct us so to do, and we did not. 



At this second manipulation place the surplus 

 cases on the hives, as the hives are now very 

 full of bees, and will immediately start to work 

 in sections if bait combs are given them. In 

 about a week or eight days, go over the treat- 

 ment again, and jiut a second surplus case on 

 under the first. If the surplus cases were small 

 they may need three by this time if honey is 

 coming in. From two of the hives thus treated 

 we got a few more pounds of honey than from 

 any other hives in the apiary. In the other 

 colony the queen failed, and I took it for grant- 

 ed she was dead, as I found queen-cells and saw 

 no eggs or larva\ so I gave them a queen, and 

 at the next manipulation I found cells and the 

 old queen, so I broke up that colony. The two 

 colonies did not swarm. We 'applied somewhat 

 the same principle to other colonies, that of giv- 

 ing the queen more room, none of which swarm- 

 ed; but we found queen-cells in hives that I 

 think had old queens; but by taking out one 

 comb in the center once in six or seven days — 

 the same comb each time — and destroying the 

 cells we saw. there was no swarming from those 

 hives. We did not look very carefully for cells. 

 I think this year was not a very bad one for 

 swarming. The honey came in slowly at Hrst, 

 and we gave plenty of room, so they did not get 

 the swarming fever badly, as in other years. 



The plan of giving an empty comb in the cen- 

 ter frequently, and each time taking the same 

 comb, as I have mentioned, and also mentioned 

 m this journal, works well, gives nearly as good 

 results as the Conser plan, as that comb can be 

 used to build up nuclei, and the strength of the 

 colony is kept up by th(> remaining combs, and 

 the bees worked well in th(! sections. Our hive 

 is not very well adapted to the Conser plan of 

 manipulation, having the closed -end frames 

 resting on tiie bottom- board, and hive clamped 

 at the side: but any hanging frame that will 

 admit of frames being taken out of the center, 

 would, 1 think, work better. Working only 

 three hives, after the Conser plan, hardly gives 

 a fair trial. I think we shall want to try more 

 another year before fully deciding, though I am 

 satisfied that the queen needs more room rather 

 than less than the usual size of brood-nest. 

 True, it leaves a very large colony at th(! close 

 of the honey harvest; but they will gather 

 enough more honey to make up the difference, 

 and will (ind and store honey longer than small- 

 er colonicrs. I believe that such large colonies, 

 if the brood-nest is left alone, will always, or 

 nearly always, have enough to winter on, even 

 if the fall harvest is short. 



The Conser plan is patented, or a patent is 

 applied for ; but if It works as well as I think it 

 will with the hanging frames, it will soon pay 

 one who uses the hanging frame to use it, even 

 if he does have to ijay ten or fifteen dollars for 

 a sample hive and a right to use it. 



If the plan itself does not come into general 

 use it may lead to something that will. Even 

 if it does not prevent <(?< swarms, it would pre- 



