336 



CLEANINGS IN BEE CUIiTURE 



COMB HONEY - FEW SWARMS 



Keeping the Colonies Contented at 



the Critical Time, Thus Warding 



off the Swarming Fever 



By Mrs. S. Wilbur Frey 



ON June 5, 

 1912, I sold 

 100 of my 

 strongest colo- 

 nies. There were 

 41 very weak 

 colonies left, and 

 these I built up 

 with drone comb 

 that contained a 

 little honey. 

 That year I sold 

 $160 worth of 

 comb honey. 



In the spring 

 of 1913 I had 120 colonies that I secured 

 by dividing the previous year. I had to 

 fight foul brood in all of my yards that 

 year, and the white-clover flow was nearly 

 over before I got the mastery of it. I lost 

 the crop entirely on ten or twelve colonies 

 at the home yard, but had evei-ything in 

 good condition for winter. That fall I 

 sold $1000 worth of honey. 

 " In 1914 I had some foul brood in all the 

 yards. The spring flow was poor, but that 

 of the fall was extra good, and I sold $1600 

 worth of honey. 



Last year the spring honey-flow was good. 

 The fall flowers were extra fine; but cold 

 winds and storms came on just as they came 

 into full bloom, the blooming time being 

 ten days later than usual. I sold $1200 

 worth of honey and put 170 colonies in 

 winter quarters. One-third of them are in 

 single-walled hives, and all of them are on 

 the summer stands. 



During the last four years my bees have 

 averaged $10.00 per colony, spring count, 

 on honey sales. My first-grade honey is all 

 sold to commission men at wholesale prices. 

 The lower grades are all sold locally. 



In addition to the comb honey I produc3 

 1000 pounds of extracted honey yearly. 

 This is from unsalable combs, trimmings, 

 etc. This amount of extracted honey yields 

 about 60 pounds of beeswax. At two auc- 

 tion sales this last winter in tlie same 

 locality I sold over $70 worth of second- 

 grade comb and extracted honey at good 

 prices, and as fast as I could make tlie 

 change. 



ONLY FOUR TRIPS TO THE OUTYARDS AND THE 

 CROP IS SECURED. 



Four trips are all that are necessary dur- 

 ing the honey harvest. They are as follows : 



No. 1. Equalizing the brood and putting 

 the bees in condition to stay at home and 

 enter the supers; also putting supers on 

 such colonies as are in condition to receive 

 them. 



No, 2. I\emn\ing queens whore thei^'e is 



[Before attempting to understand the following 

 article the reader should not fail to turn back and 

 study the illustration on page 254 of the April 

 number, showing Mrs. Frey's hive and the large 

 box-like " cap," which will hold three 45-section 

 supers. By the way, the president of the Michigan 

 association considers Mrs. Frey one of the best 

 comb-honey producers in the state. — Ed.] 



May, 1917 



danger of 

 swarming a n d 

 g i V ing supers 

 where needed. I 

 take out all 

 queens as soon 

 as the bees are 

 well started in 

 the second su- 

 pers. 



No. 3. Giving 

 supers where 

 needed, destroy- 

 ing queen-cells, 

 giving each 



queenless colony a comb of young larvae. 

 No. 4. Destroying all queen-cells except 



one in each colony. 



RESTRAINING THE SV^ARMING IMPULSE BE- 

 FORE SUPERING. 



I always give the bees and queen unlimit- 

 ed room without exposing the brood to 

 chilly air. Shortly after fruit bloom three- 

 fourths of the colonies will usually have 

 six or eight combs packed full of brood 

 with bees hateliing rapidly, and something 

 must be done or they will swarm as soon as 

 they can build cells after the clover begins 

 to yield. Frequently many of the largest 

 and most promising colonies will sulk and 

 hardly make a start in the sections. They 

 are just waiting for the time to come when 

 they can swarm. 



Can this desire to swarm be prevented? 

 It certainly can. The bees must be led to 

 think they have something to do. Some 

 must be made to cluster ready to build 

 combs, while others are caring for brood. 

 If these conditions are present all the bees 

 that can be spared will be in the field when- 

 ever there is an opportunity. Here is the 

 way I accomplish this: When the brood- 

 nest has twelve combs of brood and honey 

 I take out one, leaving a vacant space in 

 the back of the. hive for clustering. This 

 space is then filled with an empty frame 

 having no starter. While the bees must 

 cover twelve combs before this operation, I 

 do not allow them more than eight combs of 

 brood after this time. As often as I find 

 more I rob them down to the required num- 

 ber, taking away sealed or hatching brood 

 which I give to weak colonies, filling in the 

 space thus created with combs or honey as 

 required. 



CAPPING THE COLONIES. 



I cover the brood-nest with oilcloth, leav- 

 ing one space at each end of the hive open 

 into the cap. I now put on the cap (for 

 description of this see my article in the 

 April number) and into it put one empty 

 frame in front, then four combs containing 



