458 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



A part of tlie apiai-y of E. A. Duax, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, roof of bee-cellar in the background. 

 The yard is sheltered on the west and north by a cedar hedge. 



fully, in 48 hours very quietly (so as not to 

 break the wax curtain) refill the pan with 

 % the former quantity of syrup, and I 

 think you will say farewell to absconders. 

 A division-board reaching- within an inch 

 of the bottom may be placed between the 

 feed-pan and the foundation, but it is not 

 necessary, and I do not always do so. Any 

 kind of feeder may be used in place of the 

 pan if it may be refilled without breaking 

 the cluster. 



Absconding swarms are hardly likely to 

 carry the disease, as they usually abscond 

 because they are not gorged with honey ; but 

 in diseased sections of the country all 

 swarms not known to be absolutely healthy 

 should be hived on full sheets of foundation, 

 and left the four full days before being 

 disturbed. (See five principles of treat- 

 ment, June 15. 1913, page 406.) One fre- 

 quent cause of absconding is that shaking 

 out has been done so rapidly that the bees 

 do not have time to fill their honey-sacs. 

 Considerable has been said concerning 

 blocking up hives to prevent swarming. 

 Will it work? Yes, sometimes; and when 

 the subject of swarming is fully understood, 

 perhaps it possibly can be made to work at 

 all times. 



In 1913 our clover flow was light in 

 central New Jersey, not many colonies fill- 



ing more than one super, and many not that 

 much, down to nothing. In clover, 70 odd 

 colonies cast two prime swarms. The first 

 week in August started with a good buck- 

 wheat flow, and the second week the same, 

 accompanied by that warm, sticky, sultry 

 condition so well known as setting bees 

 swarming crazy, and things began to devel- 

 op rapidly. On August 14 one swarm issued, 

 and two on the 15th, with the whole apiary 

 getting ready. 



Fifty were immediately placed on inch 

 blocks, and not another swarm issued. Sev- 

 eral apiaries within a few miles swarmed 

 one hundred per cent, or more. Mine 

 swarmed less than seven. I have practiced 

 blocking up more or less for several years, 

 always to my advantage. I do not pretend 

 to say that, with out present knowledge, this 

 can always be accomplished, especially dur- 

 ing June, with its bright, glad, flourishing 

 days, when nearly every thing, including 

 bees, takes life at its fullest, and when the 

 only fly in the ointment of content is also 

 the sultry, sticky June nights when no real 

 live person can sleep with the windows 

 down, and perhaps we may then begin to 

 realize what full ventilation may mean to 

 an overcrowded colony of bees at the height 

 of the normal season of increase, so strong- 



