176 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



days' break in the eggs, in this part of the di- 

 vision, which break would be insufficient to 

 cause any serious loss in bees. And if a ripe 

 queen-cell is given, a gain is made of II to 12 

 days, which would often be equivalent to some 

 surplus honey, and always insure the colony 

 being in much better shape for winter." 



" How would you make the nuclei for 

 raising the surplus queens you wish ? " 



" After trying every thing proposed in the 

 way of making nuclei, I know of nothing bet- 

 ter than the following for the apiarist who 

 wishes only queens for use in his apiary. It 

 is seldom that any bee-keeper does not have a 

 few weak colonies in the apiary in the spring. 

 Allow these weak colonies to build up only as 

 fast as they naturally will, instead of giving 

 them brood from stronger colonies, as most 

 do, to the great detriment of the stronger and 

 of little advantage to the weaker. Then, 

 about 15 to 20 days before it is expected to 

 want queens for the division, go to these weak- 

 er colonies, remove the frame of brood (bees 

 and all) having the queen on it, setting the 

 same into an empty hive where you wish a 

 nucleus to stand. Now take all of the other 

 frames, not having brood in them, from the 

 same hive, and place them, with all of the ad- 

 hering bees, in the same hive having the frame 

 of bees, brood, and queen. In this way 

 enough bees stay with their queen to hold the 

 frame of brood in good shape, and if you have 

 one nucleus ready to take a queen from in a 

 few days, should you wish one before you 

 have young laying queens. Two days later, 

 take an empty hive and go to the one having 

 the remnant of the brood from which the 

 queen was taken, setting thi* hive of brood 

 enough to one side so that the new hive can 

 partly occupy the old stand. Now take half 

 of the brood and bees and place in the new 

 hive, giving each a frame of honey if neces- 

 sary, when you have two more nuclei ready 

 for ripe queen-cells, these latter having been 

 looked after long enough before so they will 

 he ready for use at this time. By thus placing 

 the hives, the returning bees will divide be- 

 tween the two so that each will be about equal. 

 If one should draw more than the other in 

 bees, move it a little further off from the old 

 stand till you have them about equal. In this 

 wav three _^ood nuclei are made, with very 

 little trouble, from each weak colony in the 

 spring." 



"That seems plain. Now tell us how to 

 make artificial increase so we can secure good 

 strong colonies and a good yield of surplus 

 honey." 



" As you put the question, a very moderate 

 increase will be what you wish ; and this is 

 the pi in I have used under such circumstances 

 for the past 25 years : About eight to ten days 

 before your expected honey-flow, go to a pop- 

 ulous colony, which for convenience we will 

 call No. 1, and shake all of the bees and queen 

 from their combs into a hive filled with empty 

 comb or frames filled with fouijdation, placed 

 where the old one stood, placing the surplus 

 arrangement from the old hive on the colony 

 thus made. In this way you have a strong 

 colony containing all the bees and queen from 



one of Aour very strongest colonies, a hive 

 full of comb or foundation, and the partly 

 filled sections from No. 1, all being in readi- 

 ness to take advantage of the harvest as soon 

 as it comes. Now take the combs of brood 

 taken from No. 1 to No. 2, and set them on 

 No. 2's stand, having previously moved No. 2 

 to a new stand a rod or two away. Just before 

 setting the combs on the stand of No. 2, go 

 to one of your nuclei and get the comb the 

 queen is on and take it, bees and all ; and as 

 soon as the combs are on the stand of No. 2, 

 shake the bees and queen from it in front of 

 the hive on No. 2 stand, and let them run in 

 with the bees from No. 2, now hovering about / 

 trying to find their old home. Put sections 

 on this hive, and the work is done. Thus you 

 have a colony composed of a full hive of 

 combs and brood, a good young queen, and 

 workers to protect her, and all the field or 

 working force from No. 2, which make a big 

 strong colony ready for business as soon as 

 the honey-harvest arrives. No. 2 has a hive 

 of combs and brood, their old queen and sec- 

 tions partly filled, but they have lost their 

 working force. In from eight to ten days 

 they ai e quite well stocked with workers again, 

 when they are also in fine shape for the har- 

 vest which is now on. I have told 5'ou this 

 plan at length as you wished it made plain, 

 and because I consider it the best plan of ar- 

 tificial increase in existence. If you wish a 

 greater increase, go through the same opera- 

 tion again just after the harvest, less the sec- 

 tions, and see that No. 1 is fed in some way, 

 or supplied with combs of honey." 



"Which is better for a beginner — this or 

 natural swarming? " 



" The beginner might try each, the artificial 

 on a small scale till he becomes accustomed 

 to it. Natural swarming has a fascination 

 about it that no mode of artificial increase can 

 possibly have. If one can be about home, 

 natural swarming is a good wa}' of increase 

 where persons desire to double their colonies, 

 and have the ability to prevent all after- 

 swarms." 



" In natural swarming would you clip the 

 queens' wings? " 



"Yes, by all means, as this not only pre- 

 vents swarms from absconding to the woods, 

 but makes you master of the situation where 

 two or more come out or cluster together, and 

 saves all climbing of trees, cutting off limbs, 

 etc., they hiving themselves by returning, you 

 having taken away the old colony while the 

 swarm is out, substituting a new hive in the 

 place of the old one." 



" How about losing these clipped queens in 

 the grass ? ' ' 



' ' In all well-regulated apiaries the grass is 

 kept cut short during swarming time, if not 

 at all Umes ; and if each stand has an alight- 

 ing-board running from the entrance of the 

 hive to the ground, as always should be the 

 case, very few queens will fail to go back to 

 the hive when the swarm returns, if the apia- 

 rist is not present when the swarm issues. If 

 any should happen not to return, a few bees 

 will always cluster about them, so the queen 

 can be found by this cluster of bees by glanc- 



