May, 1921 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



275 



IN order to fol- 

 low out the 

 plan describ- 

 ed below it is 

 quite necessary 

 to begin opera- 

 tions the latter 

 part of the hon- 

 ey flow, so as to 

 have the colo- 

 nies of sufficient 

 strength the next spring. In most cases 

 this can be accomplished by wintering in 

 double-story hives, making sure that the 

 colony has plenty of honey and bees. One 

 very essential point is to have a good strain 

 of bees — bees that will winter well and 

 raise an abundance of brood, so tliat a 

 double-story hive will be none too large for 

 them. If colonies are strong in the latter 

 part of the honey flow, instead of putting 

 on the last comb-honey super and running 

 chances of not getting the sections finished 

 and in many cases getting them stained 

 more or less, a set of combs may be put un- 

 der the brood-chamber, which at the end of 

 the honey flow should be quite well filled 

 with honey and brood. If colonies are not 

 strong enough for two stories at the close 

 of the honey flow, it is advisable to double 

 them up. If colonies have been handled 

 properly in this manner, in all probability 

 they will come thru the winter quite strong, 

 thereby giving them a good opportunity of 

 gathering the early pollen and nectar which 

 are of great benefit to them in building up. 



Now assuming that the bees had been 

 prepared in this manner and are in two- 

 story hives in the spring, leave them this 

 way until they have both chambers well 

 filled with brood and the upper chamber 

 quite well filled with honey, except the 

 space occupied by the brood. Some colo- 

 nies in this condition will have queen-cells 

 started; if queen-cells are to be grafted, this 

 is the time to do it. 



Assuming a colony in this condition with 

 no cells started, remove the upper story; 

 then on the lower chamber place a super, 

 or two supers if the honey flow is heavy 

 enough to warrant it; then place a bee- 

 escape board on top of the super or supers; 

 put a piece of queen-excluding zinc over 

 the hole in the bee-escape board; and finally 

 put the upper chamber on top of the bee- 

 escape board. If the upper chamber has 

 enough bees to work in a super, place one 

 on top, being sure to provide a flight-hole 

 in the upper chamber. 



If a colony has cells started, cut out all 

 queen-cells from the lower chamber, and 

 place a super on this chamber or two supers 

 should the honey flow justify it. Next, 

 place a bee-escape board on the super or 

 supers; put a piece of queen-excluding zinc 

 over the hole in bee-escape board; then set 

 the other chamber on top of the bee-escape 

 board as before. If queen-cells are not to 

 be grafted cut out only the sealed queen- 



SWARM CONTROL 



Removing the ^eens Without Find- 

 ing Them. A Simple and '^'radical 

 Way of Checking Swarming in Comb- 

 Honey Production 



By F. G. Rauchfuss 



cells in this 

 chamber, a n d 

 place the queen 

 in the lower 

 chamber. If the 

 queen in this 

 colony is not 

 good enough to 

 rear queens 

 from, cut out 

 all queen-cells, 

 and in this case it is immaterial whether 

 the queen is above or below. If the colony 

 is very strong put another super on top of 

 the upper chamber, put on the cover, and 

 provide a flight-hole in tliis upper chamber. 

 Eight days later when the next visit is 

 made, first treat the colonies in which un- 

 sealed cells were left in order to secure 

 select queen-cells. Now remove the upper 

 chamber and super or supers under this 

 chamber and take away the lower chamber 

 which has the queeuj moving it to a new 

 location. Next, the chamber that was on top 

 is placed on a bottom-board on the old 

 stand and all queen-cells but one are cut out, 

 using precaution in doing so, as these are 

 mostly ripe cells from select stock and they 

 will be needed in the other hives that had 

 no queen-cells on the former visit. Next 

 place the supers on this chamber, being 

 sure to provide plenty of super room. 



By removing the hive containing the 

 queen to a new location most of the field 

 bees will go back to the old stand; and in 

 most cases it is not necessary to cut out 

 the queen-cells in this hive, as the bees will 

 generally eat them out. This colony, by 

 losing the field bees, has a splendid oppor- 

 tunity to rear brood, as they will gather 

 very little honey for some time. The queen 

 will now have a chance to keep the hive 

 filled with brood and this colony should be 

 in fine shape for a later honey flow. The 

 young queen from the cell in the hive left 

 on the old stand should begin laying within 

 about 12 days, and there should be very 

 little trouble with swarming from either 

 one of these hives. 



With the colonies that had no queen-cells 

 on the former visit,' the first thing is to 

 find out which chamber the queen, is in. 

 This can be easily determined by examin- 

 ing the brood in the upper chamber; if 

 there is no young brood, she is below. Then 

 proceed as with the other colony, with the 

 exception that when treating the chamber 

 left on the old stand, all queen-cells should 

 be cut out and one of the ripe queen-cells 

 saved from the other colony should be 

 given. If cells have been grafted from se- 

 lect stock, use one of these or a virgin 

 queen. Should the queen happen to be in 

 the upper chamber when the examination is 

 made, move that portion to a new location, 

 the essential thing being the removal of 

 the brood-chamber containing the queen. 

 Englewood, Colo. 



