AUGUST 15, 1916 



to the presence of too much larval food in 

 the stomachs of nurse bees, there would 

 necessarily have to be desertion with the 

 accompanying: building of queen-cells, no 

 matter if the swarm were hived or shaken 

 on to starters, full sheets, or full combs. 

 The statement that too much larval food in 

 nurse bees is the cause of queen-cell con- 

 struction, and therefore of absconding or 

 swarming, is not a full truth but an adum- 

 bration of the truth. It is a minor truth 

 forming part of a major truth. This major 

 truth is that, whenever there is either 

 swarming or that which some prefer to 

 distingiiish as absconding, there is a restric- 

 tion of function. In shaking or hiving a 

 swarm on to starters, the functions of tield- 

 ers of nurse bees and queen are all restrict- 

 ed. In shaking on to full sheets, the restric- 

 tion of function is relatively short. In 

 shaking on to full combs, the restriction is 

 too brief to be a serious obstruction to the 

 immediate performance of the work of life. 

 Since coming to the conclusion that re- 

 striction of function is the cause of swarm- 

 ing, I have got into the habit of asking 

 myself, after treating colonies, " Have I 

 removed every obstacle to the performance 

 of function? Is there anything which stands 

 in the way of raising brood and storing 



honey?" At first I thought that merely 

 giving a full set of combs was all that was 

 necessary. Here are some of the minor 

 conditions wliicii, later, were observed as 

 ocrasional causes in the restriction of func- 

 ti.iis: A. new comb which had been partly 

 drnwn out in a top story the year before, 

 and then, in the fall, had been more or less 

 diseolord by deposits of propolis; a new 

 comb with very deep cells; moldy combs; 

 extraeting-combs which had been uncapped 

 with the knife the year before. Some queens 

 will refuse to lay in combs like the above, 

 and some bees will refuse to prepare them 

 properly. When a comb is uncapped, the 

 mouths of the cells are hexagonal; but the 

 mouths of cells ready for the queen are 

 round. Several cases have come to my 

 notice where the queens refused to lay in 

 such combs, and where the workers refused 

 to remodel the mouths of the cells. In all 

 of the above cases, the effect was the same 

 as tho dummies had been inserted. There 

 was a restriction of egg-laying and conse- 

 quent swarming. 



Failing to observe these occasional minor 

 causes, it is not at all hard to convince 

 oneself that giving plenty of room will fail 

 to prevent swarming. 



Cadott, Wis. 



STRAIGHT COMBS WITHOUT FOUNDATION 



BY H. H. KOLLOSTER 



T indorse Mr. E. E. Colien's article on 

 page 279, April 1, in regard to home-made 

 hives. It is about time for some one to 

 defend the principle of home-made hives. 

 It is a common thing for our best beemeii 

 to advise against home-made hives; and tho 

 average uninformed beekeeper, unable to 

 buy f actor j'-made hives, stays in the old rut 

 and keeps his bees in an old box, thinking 

 that there is something mysterious about a 

 modern hive. This is a mistake. Factor}- 

 made hives are improperly made for all 

 excejDt the professional beekeeper. I can 

 use them if I can afford to buy foundation ; 

 but if I cannot, then they are a nuisance, 

 unless all the frames are t>lled with drawn 

 comb. 



I make my own hives. If I have no 

 foundation, and a swarm is in the trees, I 

 just take my home-made hive, fill it with 

 empty frames, and put my swarm into it 

 and let the bees go to work. If I don't see 

 them again for two or three weeks I know 

 that I have straight movable combs. I do 

 not say that they are perfect, for it takes 

 a good beemau with lots of experience to 

 get good perfect combs; but in my home- 



made hives and frames the combs are 

 straight and the comb is built in the center 

 of the frame. This cannot be done with 

 tlie factory hives, for they are made so mat 

 foundation must be used. 



The construction of my frame is an old 

 idea. A %-square bar is used, set into the 

 hive, corner down. The ends are cut out on 

 the bottom side to the center of the bar, 

 and the side pieces are nailed on to the 

 shoulder thus formed. Tlie ends of the bar 

 rest in the rabbet in the usual manner. I 

 use % square, but I plane down the two 

 sides and top, as that size is a little too 

 thick; but this size is kept in stock at the 

 lumber yards, therefore is liandier to get. 



Foundation mav be u; cd. and the frames 



