1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



219 



have them, supply them with laying queens, 

 or virgins that will begin to lay in a short 

 time. But it is best to leave virgins in the 

 hive until they are ftrtilized, because it is hard 

 to introduce ttiem. — Ed.] 



BEES ON SHARES. 

 Where one has bees on shares, is it custom- 

 ary to divide the increase at swarming time, 

 and make up the losses to the owner of bees, 

 as they occur during the season? I don't 

 know just what is customary. 

 ^Fresno, Cal., Jan. 10. ^ A. A. Coney. 



^ [When bees are kept on shares it is the rule 

 for both parties to share equally in the profits, 

 and in the expenses and losses. The time of 

 the one who contributes the labor is supposed 

 to offset the capital of the other in the form 

 of bees, hives, implements, etc. Carrying this 

 principle out, each party pays for half of the 

 new hives, sections, shipping - cases, honey 

 barrels, honey-cans, etc. ; and each party re- 

 ceives half the proceeds of honey and bees 

 sold. At the end of the season the increase 

 is divided equally between them. For in- 

 stance, if there is an increase of fifty colonies 

 from swarming, each would have 25 colonies, 

 including hives and a half-interest in the sup- 

 plies left over. If at the beginning of the sea- 

 son the owner has 25,000 sections, the one who 

 is supposed to work the bees is expected to 

 pay half their cost, including freight. 



But if half the bees die during winter, not- 

 withstanding the fact that the operator puts 

 them up the best he knows how, carrying out 

 the same rule, he should make good half the 

 loss of the bees. And right here is where 

 many troubles arise. The operator is apt to 

 complain, and with a fair show of justice, that 

 he ought not to be expected to pay for bees 

 that were lost during winter that were not his 

 legally. But here comes the owner, and says 

 that, if his partner had taken care of the bees, 

 no such loss would have occurred, and then 

 there is a row So it is well to have this partic- 

 ular point safely covered. 



A large portion of the bees in Colorado are 

 kept on shares. It very often happens that 

 one may own 200 or 300 colonies, and work 

 them as his own property, and, of course, in 

 this cise, receiving all the profits or suffering 

 all the losses. In all probability he can not 

 only take care of his own bees, but also of 200 

 or more colonies belonging to a neighbor who 

 has some other business. An agreement is 

 made, whereby the owner of the 300 takes care 

 of the 200 colonies not his own. This seems 

 to be done to a considerable extent in Colorado. 

 But, say; knowing what I do about bees being 

 kept on shares I think I should prefer to buy 

 my neighbor's colonies if I could, and then 

 pay for them out of the proceeds that I might 

 derive from those very same bees. But here 

 is the rub T Bees pay in Colorado, and proba- 

 bly the other fellow would not sell ; and then 

 the only thing that can be done is to run the 

 bees on shares. I am not sure that sharing 

 equally in losses as well as gains is an equit- 

 able arrangement. 



I should be glad to hear from any one of a 



legal turn of mind who has had experience in 

 a matter that has occasioned no little contro- 

 versy and bad feeling. If there is an equita- 

 ble plan whereby all disputes may be avoided, 

 let us by all means have it. Furnish us with 

 a form of contract that will be iron-clad, and 

 afford full protection equally to both parties. 

 Let it be stated in legal phraseology, and be 

 so clear and fair that no trouble can arise. — 

 Ed.] 



swarming. 



1. Do bees always swarm in a good season if 

 strong enough to do so, even if late in getting 

 about it — old swarms I mean ? 



2. If an old colony swarms out several times, 

 and goes back, is it a sure sign that they will 

 swarm some time that summer? I had some 

 act that way, but divided them after they had 

 swarmed out twice. 



3. Do after-swarms ever swarm the first sum- 

 mer ? 



4. If an old swarm sends out a prime swarm 

 early in the summer, and no after-swarms, and 

 has most of its winter stores still left in the 

 hive after sending out the swarm, will it send 

 off another prime swarm later on in the sum- 

 mer? or do old swarms ever send out more 

 than one prime swarm in a summer ? 



Anita A. Byers. 

 Entiat, Wash., Dec. 12. 



[1. It depends on how good the season is, 

 and somewhat on the bees and the size of hive. 

 Ordinarily, with a good honey-flow, an eight- 

 frame colony is pretty sure to cast at least one 

 swarm. 



2. Do not let them do it. If they swarm out 

 more than once, and continue to .owarm out, 

 and go back, the probabilities are that the 

 queen is not able to fly. During the interim 

 from one swarming-out to another, the bees 

 will be pretty apt to fool away their time, gath- 

 ering little or no honey, and sulking, proba- 

 bly because they can not have their own way. 

 After they have attempted to swarm out three 

 or four times they will be liable to kill their 

 queen; and when the virgin is able to fly, they 

 will swarm out and stay out. 



There is no sure sign about swarming. If a 

 colony attempts to swarm out once, and if, a 

 few days afterward, tries the act again, I would 

 divide it, or else see what is the matter with 

 the queen; or perhaps, better still, takeaway 

 all frames of brood, and give it frames of 

 foundation, leaving them their super, if they 

 have one, in which they are storing honey. 



3. Yes, sometimes ; but, of course, this is 

 not the rule. The parent colony is liable to 

 give off after-swarms at the going-out of each 

 virgin queen on her wedding-tour. 



4. This is a question that I can not answer. 

 If the honey-flow continues, it might send out 

 a second swarm, probably weaker than the 

 first. If the honey-flow stops, then you may 

 set it down as a rule that all swarming will 

 stop, although there are exceptions to even 

 this rule. Sometimes the bees get such a 

 craze for swarming thai , even after the honey- 

 flow is stopped, they have so far lost their 

 heads that they are bound to carry out their 



