372 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



height, so one cover does for all, and they 

 are one or two inches higher than the toj)- 

 bars of the frames, giNing a si)ace where I 

 can cage queens. This also permits the use 

 of heavy quilts between the tops of the 

 frames and the cover. 



Four or five nuclei together maintain a 

 much more equal temperature than do those 

 in separate small hives. The tive-nuclei 

 hive is a very good one. but there are two 

 entrances on one side. This makes no dif- 

 ference, however, if a dividing-board 8 or 12 

 inches wide, and as high as the body of the 

 hive, is fastened between the two. 



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Those colonies that need it are fed for 

 stimulation in the spring; then, when the 

 fruit-bloom comes, each is given an extract- 

 ing-sujier (1 believe a comb-honey super 

 would fill the bill). I place the extracting- 

 super, with combs, beneath the brood-cham- 

 ber, for in this section of the country we 

 often have a cold snap during fruit-bloom. 

 When treated thus the bees will make no 

 preparations to swarm until the main (clo- 

 ver) honey-flow is on. As soon as the hon- 

 ey is coming in from the clover I go to each 

 colony that is preparing to swarm, and take 

 it off its stand, placing an empty hive wdth 

 seven frames with 



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BEST'.S FOt'R AND FIVE NUCLEI HIVES 



When I start these nuclei I go to some 

 strong colonies, take the frames of sealed 

 brood about ready to hatch, and the adher- 

 ing bees, and i)lace them in these hives, 

 keeping the entrance closed for several days; 

 then I open them toward evening and the 

 bees always stay. I like to use the regular 

 standard-sized frames in mating-boxes, for 

 it is so handy to change them back and 

 forth from the weaker to the stronger, etc., 

 especially when some of them run short of 

 stores. Then in the fall I can unite all of 

 the nuclei so that every eight or ten will 

 make a colony ready for winter. 



Slatington, Pa. 



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SWARM CONTROL. 



Securing the Full Honey Crop, Increase or Not, as 

 Desired. 



BY WILLIAM N. MILLER. 



Before I tell you how I get a full croj) of 

 honey with 100 per cent increase or with 

 none at all, I wish you would bear in mind 

 the fact that I live in the southern part of 

 Wisconsin, in what may be termed the 

 White-clover Belt. I have often seen the 

 pastures and jiarts of the field white with 

 clover -blossoms, and a honey -flow that 

 would last from the ISth of .lune to the 15th 

 of July; so it is evident that the bees would 

 be inclined to swarm if not taken care of. 



I have tried many methods of swarm con- 

 trol and i)reventi()n — among them those of 

 Messrs. Doolittle and .Jones, but without 

 satisfactory results. As I do not allow any 

 of my colonies to cast a natural swarm, I 

 find the following method most satisfactory. 



full sheets of fovmda- 

 tion in place of the 

 old hive. In the mid- 

 dle of the new hive I 

 place a frame of 

 drawn comb that has 

 had brood in it at 

 least one season. 



If I wish to pro- 

 duce comb honey 1 

 next place a sujjcr on 

 t^i) of the new brood- 

 chamber; for extract- 

 ed honey I place an 

 excluder on top of the 

 new brood-chamber, and over this my ex- 

 tracting-super containing the frames frojn 

 the old hive that have the least brood, 

 so that I have only eight frames of brood 

 left in the old hive!^ The extracting-supers 

 given at the time of the fruit-bloom usually 

 contain only two or three frames of brood, 

 the rest of the combs containing honey. 



I now shake the bees from all but two 

 frames, allowing them to enter the new hive. 

 The bees left on these two frames will care 

 for the hatching brood. I ]irefer to have 

 the (jueen go in with the last bees, so that 

 she will not go into the comb-honey super 

 with those which have entered first. The 

 old or i)arent hive is set behind and a little 

 to one side of the new hive, and left alone 

 for seven ilays. At the end of that time the 

 bees are shaken from all but two combs, and 

 allowetl to enter the new hive. If I want 

 increase I now give the old hive a new loca- 

 tion, and either a queen or a ripe queen-cell, 

 and this nucleus will build up into a good 

 colony by fall. If I do not want increase I 

 cut out all the queen-cells, and at the end 

 of six days I again shake all the bees in 

 front of the new hive and use the combs 

 with the remaining brood as I think best. 

 Sometimes I use the brood that is left at the 

 end of seven days to build u]) a weak colony. 

 Some may ask, "Do the shaken swarms 

 prei)are to swarm again ? " About (> per cent 

 do; but the honey-tlow is nearly over, and 

 most of the time they " back out." 



I place my seconcl comb-honey super on 

 to]) of the first; and when the bees go to 

 work in it I put it beneath the first and next 

 to the brood-chamber. As a result the bees 

 draw out the sections, making them more 

 plump ami full. My object in arranging 

 the sui)ers thus is to avoid breaking the 



