574 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



to give them bick to the old colony as soon 

 as the young queen is mated. In this way 

 we have no trouble in rearing and in having 

 fertilized all the young queens we care for 

 to make our increase and supersede all our 

 old queens at the same time. 



Af cer you have practiced this method of 

 rearing queens you will have no trouble in 

 having all you want ready to use for early 

 increase some time before there is any har- 

 vest of surplus honey in our Northern States 



With us this method of rearing early 

 queens is so easy that we frequently have 

 more than we can use. Sometimes we have 

 30 or more full colonies in our apiary that 

 contain two or three laying queens each, 

 nearly all summer, until we can find or make 

 a place to use them. They make a fine col- 

 ony to draw brood from. When there are 

 two or three good queens in a three- story 

 hive the bees all work from one entrance 

 as one colony; for as soon as the young 

 queens commence to lay we close up the en- 

 trance that was made for them to fly from, 

 and they all work together. 



Some of you may want to know what I 

 would do if my queens were all young and I 

 had none I cared to kill. In that case I 

 would do the same with the colonies as in 

 the case with the old queens, only I would 

 save these younger queens in nuclei until I 

 could use them in making increase. 



We manipulate our bees so much through 

 May and June that it is no uncommon thing 

 for us to make 100 or more new colonies, 

 mostly nuclei, to-day, for some special pur- 

 pose, and then in a few days unite the most 

 of them again with- other colonies. We can 

 do this very easily, as we use our common 

 hives and combs for all this work. 



In the article I wrote for the Dec. 1st 

 Gleanings I made some assertions as to 

 what might be made from 100 colonies in a 

 year providing we gave them the best of 

 care. Since then I have received some let- 

 ters that show the writers think I am in a 

 tight place, and can not rear the necessary 

 queens in time to make as early increase as 

 I advise. To those doubting Thomases I wish 

 to say that we can rear twice as m any queens 

 as is necessary to double our colonies before 

 June 10; and I assure you if you handled 

 your bees as we sometimes handle ours, all 

 that I have ever claimed can be done. Many 

 bee-keepers seem to think that, if they set 

 their bees out of the cellar about April 1, 

 that is all there is to do until they hive some 

 swarms and put on their clamps of empty 

 sections. We find about as much to do from 

 the time they are set out up to Aug. 1, when 

 we commence to extract, as we do when we 

 are extracting; and there is no slack time. 

 The bees are kept busy every day, either to 

 rear queens, make increase, form nuclei, 

 draw out foundation, or something that is 

 necessary to be done by them in order to be 

 in proper condition for our August harvest. 

 We usually spend the last week in July unit- 

 ing all weak colonies and nuc'ei with strong- 

 er swarms so as to have the yard well clean- 

 ed up of those that are not in condition to 



give us a good surplus. Then we can give 

 all our attention to extracting and caring for 

 our surplus honey. 



In conclusion let me assure you that there 

 is not much danger of having your colonies 

 too strong in bees at any time if you will 

 use them as you should, for they are the 

 principal factor in making your business a 

 success. We like them in the spring to rear 

 those nice early queens from. We like them 

 to make our increase from. We like them 

 to get our surplus from. Yes, my friends, 

 and there is a pleasure in putting away good 

 strong full colonies in their winter quarters, 

 as you would put money away in the bank 

 to draw an income from in the future. 



Delanson, N. Y. 



[I believe I have already stated that, when 

 I was present last summer in Mr. Alexan- 

 der's yard, he showed me hive after hive 

 where he had two and three queens, all of 

 them doing full service in stacked-up hives. 

 He had no trouble at all from bees killing 

 the queens, and yet all the bees of the colo- 

 ny had access to every brood-chamber, there- 

 fore coming in contact with the two or three 

 queens. 



Our Delanson friend showed me what a 

 c mvenience it was to have these stacked-up 

 hives, with queens in reserve that were fresh 

 in their egg-laying, that were not weakened 

 by long journeys in the mails, but were 

 ready to do service in any colony as soon as 

 introduced. 



Not every one has been able to make the 

 Pratt cell-starting box, with borrowed bees, 

 a success; but enough have done it to show 

 that it can be done with a great economy 

 of time and bee force. That Mr. Alexan- 

 der should be one of the first to make the plan 

 a success only goes to show how readily he 

 adapts himself to new ideas. 



This whole article is replete with valuable 

 hints; and, coming just art this time, it may 

 be put into application at once. 



The reader should not forget that Mr. 

 Alexander's honey harvest really begins] 

 about the time that the basswood and clover! 

 flows in most northern localities close. Hi 

 has. therefore, fully a month of time more in] 

 which he can get his colonies in shape. 

 This gives him something of an advantage] 

 over the majority of bee-keepers in the clo- 

 ver belt. If we could, like him, defer ourl 

 main honey-flow to the middle of July or thai 

 first of August it would be much easier forj 

 us to get our bees in shape. But Mr. Alex- 

 ander explains what can be done up to thej 

 10th of June, which is about the time the! 

 main harvest begins in most localities. —Ed.]] 



SWARMING TIME. 



Some General Principles to Think over in Ad- 

 vance. 



BY W. R. GILBERT. 



Bees up to this time have been kept vei 

 closely to their hives since the weather first 

 gave them the opportunity of much- needed 



