APRIL 15, 1916 



SOI 



younger brood can be used. Indeed, we ad- 

 vise at that time taking brood, bees, and 

 all, of the weak nuclei, and giving them to 

 the stronger of the sub-normal colonies. In 

 honey production, either comb or extracted, 

 the weakling colony in the spring is usually 

 good for nothing except to use for making 

 increase. But a better rule by far is to 

 unite in the manner here explained, on the 

 principle that " to him that hath shall be 

 given, and he shall have more abundance; 

 but from him that hath not, shall be taken 

 away even that which he seemeth to have." 

 But the reinforcing with brood, as al- 

 ready explained, will not accomplish much 

 unless the bees have plenty of stores in 

 reserve, and natural pollen in the combs 

 early in the spring. Of course, after the 

 bees can get pollen from the fields there is 

 no danger of a shortage; but before tliis 

 time there will be bad weather early in the 

 spring when the bees will not breed readily 

 unless provided with combs containing 

 pollen. Without it they will not do much. 

 It should be borne in mind that in the early 

 spring pollen is nearly as important as 

 stores of sugar syrup or honey. Every 

 good beekeeper will see that combs of it are 

 gathered up in the fall and kept in reserve, 

 and then slipped into the hives early in the 

 spring on the first favorable day.* There 

 is no better capital in the beeyard than 

 combs of natural pollen. Artificial substi- 

 tutes can be given; and while these answer 

 the purpose to a limited extent they by no 

 means take the place of the natural arti- 

 cle, for the simple reason that the nitroge- 

 nous food element that the bees so urgently 

 need is not supplied in the proper form. 



Transferring 



At this time of the year we receive many 

 letters inquiring for easy methods of trans- 

 feiTing bees from old box hives to hives 

 having movable combs. A great many in- 

 quire whether they cannot remove the box 

 hive, put a movable-comb hive in its place, 

 and then put the box hive on top, the idea 

 being to have the bees work down into the 

 lower hive. This plan is usually uncertain. 

 If the queen is caught and put below, and 

 a queen-excluder put between the two, the 

 results are far better. A still better plan, 

 however, is the one in which the box hive is 

 below and the new hive on top. F. Eric 

 Millen, of the Entomological Department of 

 the Michigan Agricultural College, in a 

 special bulletin. No.. 76, of the Experiment 

 Station, discusses a number of plans for 



* It is not advisable to have such combs in the 

 hive during mid-winter. 



transferring, including the Guernsey plan, 

 which has been given in substance in 

 Gleanings before, but which will bear re- 

 peating here. 



At a time when the box hive is crowded 

 with bees, usually in May or early June, the 

 transfer is commenced. The beekeeper pro- 

 vides a hive-body containing one frame of 

 unsealed brood placed midway between a 

 sufficient number of frames of drawn comb 

 or full sheets of foundation to fill the hive- 

 body. The box hive is then opened, and the 

 new hive-body, with brood and combs, or 

 foundation, placed on top. In a few days, 

 usually, the queen will be found laying in 

 the upper (or new) hive-body; but if foun- 

 dation only is used it may be a week or two 

 before the queen conies up. As soon as the 

 beekeeper is sure the queen is in the upper 

 hive-body a queen-excluder is placed be- 

 tween the box hive and the new hive, and 

 left there for twenty-one days. When exam- 

 ining for the queen it is a good plan to slip 

 the excluder between the two hive-bodies 

 before disturbing the bees very much, as the 

 queen is liable to run below. If, on exam- 

 ination, it is found that the queen has not 

 commenced working in the new hive, the 

 excluder must, of course, be removed and 

 replaced after the queen ascends. Supers 

 may be added to the new hive as required, 

 and work proceeds norm'ally. The success of 

 this plan depends on getting the queen to 

 ascend and commence working in the new 

 hive, and, after that is accomplished, in 

 preventing her return to the box hive. After 

 the queen has been established in the upper 

 new hive, and when the queen-excluder is in 

 position, close up all outside entrances to 

 the old box hive and provide entrance to the 

 new hive by inserting wedges between the 

 two hive-bodies. A sloping alighting-board, 

 extending from the new entrance to the 

 ground, will aid the bees in making a speedy 

 entrance. Twenty-one days after the queen- 

 excluder is placed between the hives, with 

 the queen above, all the worker bees will 

 have emerged from their cells in the box 

 hive. 



Prepare an escape-board by tacking a strip 

 of wood just over the edge of the circular 

 hole in the bee-escape. This strip is to aid 

 the bees in climbing up to the Porter bee- 

 escape. Place the board with bee-escape 

 upside down between the hives in place of 

 the queen-excluder. Two days after the 

 escape has been placed between the hive- 

 bodies, all the bees will have gone above, 

 and the old box can be broken up and the 

 combs rendered into wax. 



We recommend the Heddon short method 

 of ti'ansferring as given in the ABC and 

 X Y Z of Bee Culture. We have so many 

 calls for this that we have printed circulars 

 that we send out on request, giving this 

 plan. 



Ml'. Millen, in the bulletin above referred 



