.Ir.vK, 1921 



O L K A KINGS 1 N H K E C U h TURK 



357 



oiiy, lay a single thickness of newspaper 

 over it; with equal care remove the queen- 

 less colony from its bottom-board and set 

 it quietly on the other. In a few days it 

 can be reduced to smaller hive space, if de- 

 sired, by removing empty combs. Very 

 weak colonies can be united the same way 

 with strong- ones. 



It is not necessary to lind the <(U('i'h t(> 

 know she is there. The j)resence of worker 

 brood in \arious stages, including eggs, may 

 be taken as a sign of a laying queen in the 

 hive. (Worker brood is sealed tlat, drone 

 brood with louuded cajipings.) But many 

 beekeeiiers clip the queen's wings at this 

 time, to prevent her going off with a swarm. 

 It hel})S, too, in telling the age of the 

 (|ueeu. Some clip the right wing one year 

 and the left the next. Finding an undipped 

 queen in a hive, where there "was one 

 clipped, shows that the bees have super- 

 seded the old one. If one wants to find the 

 queen, he should use as little smoke as pos- 

 sible and work quietly and gently. 



As the main honey flow comes on, supers 

 must be added. Indeed, the one great point 

 to remember during the spring and early 

 summer is to give plenty of room. This 

 applies to both brood and honey. So if one 

 uses a queen-excluder, he must see that 

 there is room both above and beloAV. There 

 are many methods of handling bees at this 

 time, but the one underlying tiling to re- 

 niember is i)leuty of room. Tlv (iuihmi is 

 laying rajiidly; nectar is coming jn rapidly, 

 and, being very thin, must be spread out 

 ill many cells to be evaporated and ripened. 

 See that full capacity of storage is granted 

 every colony. 



Often this one provision o*' plenty of 

 room will prevent swarming. Cten it will 

 ufit. Swarm jireveiition is the greatest of 

 apiari.an i)roV)lems. Swarms must be jnc- 

 xcnted if the full lionev croj) is to be se- 

 cured. A great many l)eekeei>ers exa-i'inc 

 tlieir brood-chambers every week during 

 tlie swaiining season, to look for ovidi'iice 

 of swarming ])repaiations. Others put their 

 trust in large brood-chambers, some using 

 a size considerably larger than standard, 

 others using two standard bodies, both full 

 'lepth, or one full depth and one sha^''iw. 



The sign of swarming i)re]iarations is the 

 Ijiesence of queen-cells. If these long cells, 

 meant to rear queens in, are just being 

 started, they can be cut out and at the same 

 time additional room be given, which may 

 do away with the swarming desire; Iho 

 usually it will only give it a setback and 

 will have to be repeateil ji week later. If 

 tlie cells have advanced to the point of 

 containing laivae, it will be necessary to 

 do something more. The common practice 

 then is to put a new brood-chamber with 10 

 empty combs on the bottom-board, exchang- 

 ing one of these empty combs for a comb 

 of brood with the queen (but no (|ueen-c(dls) , 

 put the ((iieen-excluiler on, then one or two 



emi)ty supers, and the old brood-chambej: 

 on top with all queen-cells destroyed. A 

 week later this raised brood is again ex- 

 amined for queen-cells, which are again cut 

 out. Thus are the bees ke})t together. 



But if a swarm issues, and the queen is 

 clij>j>ed, the first thing to do is to find her. 

 She is usually outside the entrance, unable, 

 of couise, to lly. Secure her first; then 

 (luickly set the hive aside and put in its 

 place one containing emjity combs or full 

 sheets of foundation. Soon the swarm will 

 miss the queen and return. As they rush 

 into this new hive on the old stand, the 

 queen is released at the entrance and goes 

 in with them. Any super on the old hive 

 should be set on this new one, over a 

 oueen-excluder. That cares for the swarm. 

 The parent hive can then be set on a new 

 stand with all cells cut out, except one good 

 sealed cell to produce the new queen. 



If a swarm comes out with a queen not 

 clipped, it can be secured when it clusters, 

 shaken into a hive, and set where desired. 

 There are almost an indefinite number of 

 possibilities at this time, but these are the 

 simple moves usually made. 



Colonies must be kejit strong at all times; 

 only strong colonies roll in the honey, and 

 only strong colonies ke(q) out moths. Ital- 

 ian bees have been found i)articularly re- 

 sistant to disease and free from moths. If 

 one desires to Italianize a colony, or to re- 

 queen it for any reason, let him order a 

 (|ueen from some reliable breeder. When it 

 arrives, he should find and kill the queen to 

 be replaced, and introduce the new one ac- 

 cording to directions on the shipping cage. 



In removing the honey, after it is rip- 

 ened and sealed, only the sur]>lus, left after 

 allowing from ?>Q to 50 pounds for the bees, 

 should be taken. Extra sujiers may then be 

 removed, piled in tight stacks, and treated 

 twice, a week apart, with carbon bisulphide 

 to protect them from moths. 



Sometimes an adverse season, or an un 

 wise beekeeper, will leave the bees without 

 enough honey in the fall to take them thru 

 the winter and on to fruit bloom, at least 

 ."10 pounds being required. What they lack 

 must then be given them. This should be 

 done in the evening, giving a warm syrup 

 i"ade of two parts granulated sugar thoroly 

 dissolved in one part boiling water, allowing 

 each colony as much sugar as it lacks honev. 



Having made sure that each colony has 

 a good aueeii (lu-eferably young), plenty of 

 bees, and .50 or more pounds of sea'ed stores, 

 and having united anv weak colonies with 

 strong ones, as in the spring, one is ready 

 for winter. Bees can be wintered in one 

 full -depth body or in two, or in one full 

 depth and one shallow; but the bulk of the 

 stores must be in the upper story. Queen- 

 excluders must be removed, and entrances 

 should be contracted. And whosover ]dans 

 to jtack, let him ])ack early. 



