G-LEA KINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April, 1917 



in time to give a fail- account of itself in 

 surialus. Now suppose we equalize by tak- 

 ing from the strongest and giving to one or 

 both of the weaker. But as the strongest 

 was barely strong enough to be ready for 

 the harvest, we have now weakened it so 

 that it will store no surplus, and at the same 

 time helped the others so little that we get 

 no suriDlus from either of the three. So in- 

 stead of increasing our prospects for a crop, 

 our equalizing has decreased them. 



The thing to do is to take the opposite 

 coui-se, and, instead of taking from the 

 strongest, to add to it. So we will unite 

 one of the weak colonies with the strongest. 

 That will make it stronger, and it will de- 

 velop still more rapidly, so that before long 

 it will be able in its turn to give aid to the 

 remaining weak colony, enough to bring up 

 this latter to storing strength. Thus, altho 

 we have one less number of hives contain- 

 ing bees, we have doubled the number of 

 colonies yielding surplus. 



So when we have a lot of weaklings on 

 hand in spring, the right plan is to begin by 

 strengthening those that are already the 

 sti'ongest. 



But this condition of affairs is not very 

 likely to be found in the apiary of an ex- 

 perienced beekeeper. Most of his colonies 

 are strong enough in spring so that they will 

 easily grow into good storing strength, while 

 with proper management those that, left to 

 themselves, would not be able to do anything 

 on the han'est, can be brought up so that 

 every colony in the apiary will be a storer. 



The way to do this is to draw from the 

 strong and give to the weak. That looks 

 easy — is easy — but it is also easy for the be- 

 ginner to proceed in the wrong way, and 

 thus fail of full success. His first thought 

 is likely to be that the weakest of the weak 

 ones is the one that first needs help, and so 

 he works on that basis, constantly giving 

 help to those that need it most, leaving the 

 stronger of the weak ones to be helped last. 

 The rule should be exactly the opposite : 

 Alivays help first those that need the least 

 help, leaving the very weakest to he helped 

 last. Along with this rule should go anoth- 

 er : In drawing from the strong to help the 

 weak, never reduce a strong colony to less 

 than four brood. With these two rules con- 

 stantly kept in mind there can be hardly any 

 danger of making mistakes. 



Let us now have a distinct understanding 

 as to what is meant by " four brood," " a 

 five-brood colony," etc. Nothing is entitled 

 to be called a brood unless at least half the 

 comb on each side is filled with brood, or 

 brood and eggs. If a colony has brood in 

 four of its frames, and one or both of the 



outside combs are less than half filled, no 

 matter how full the two central combs are, 

 that's not " four brood," but " brood in 

 four." So it may happen that a colony with 

 two brood may be stronger than another 

 colony with " brood in four." For there 

 may be more brood in the two combs of the 

 one colony than in the four combs of the 

 other. 



With this definition and our two rules in 

 mind, let us on a good flying day in spring 

 proceed to look thru the apiary; and sup- 

 pose the strongest colony in the apiary has 

 " brood in five." Nothing doing. For if 

 we take one of its best brood from this 

 strongest colony, it will be left with " brood 

 in four," and our rule says we must not 

 make it less than " four brood." But if, on 

 this or a future day, we find a colony with 

 five brood, we will take from it one brood 

 witli all adhering bees, making sure that we 

 do not take the queen. The comb we take 

 will be one of those containing the most 

 sealed brood. 



Where shall we put the brood and bees 

 we have taken? In the apiary we may 

 have all the way from " brood in one " up, 

 and any colony having less than four brood 

 needs help. So the first colony that we 

 come to having " brood in four " will re- 

 ceive our frame of brood and bees. We 

 need not, however, be so vei-y particular, but 

 give it to a three-brood colony if we happen 

 to find one of that kind before reaching a 

 brood-in-four colony. 



Putting into a weak colony a frame of 

 brood with strange bees will not endanger 

 the queen so long as her own bees are so 

 greatly in the majority; but it is well to 

 take pains to put the strange bees at one 

 side of the brood-nest, of course next to the 

 brood. 



In taking brood from a strong colony it 

 may happen that we cannot find the queen. 

 In that ease we carefully brush off all the 

 bees, but are particular to give this beeless 

 brood only where we are sure there will be 

 enough bees so that no brood shall be 

 chilled. 



In making our rounds we arrange the 

 combs in each hive so that the first comb at 

 the furthest side from us shall contain no 

 brood — generally it will have pollen — but 

 next to it shall commence the brood. Then 

 the next time around it will not be necessary 

 for us to go any further than the first brood 

 on the nearest side in order to knoAv just 

 how many brood are in the hive. We Avill 

 also make a record of tlie number of brood 

 in each hive. 



In our rounds we may come to a colony 

 that has more than five brood. In that case 



