750 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



frames of emerging brood from the colonies 

 having eight frames, and, instead of giving 

 them to the colonies having the six combs of 

 brood, as I told about in giving an account 

 of that visit, I put them in a hive, after hav- 

 ing brushed the bees off, together with two 

 or three of the reserved combs— one, at 

 least, of which should contain honey. The 

 space left vacant where the brood was taken 

 from, in the strong colony, is filled with two 

 combs from the reserve pile, thus giving the 

 queen in this colony room for more eggs, I 

 now go to another of the stronger colonies 

 and put a queen-excluder on it for the time 

 being, when this prepared hive, having the 

 two combs of emerging brood, is set thereon, 

 where it is allowed to remain two or three 

 hours, during which time the young bees 

 come up from below sufficient to care for 

 the combs and brood, after which it is plac- 

 ed on the stand I wish it to occupy. When 

 I expect to make colonies in this way, if I 

 have no laying queens thus early in the 

 home yard I send south for them, if it is 

 possible to get them from there. A queen- 

 cell will answer, but the laying queen is 

 much better. 



By the way, full colonies can be made in 

 this way at almost any time of the year 

 when there is plenty of emerging brood by 

 taking two combs of such brood from three 

 or four strong colonies and adding to these, 

 frames of honey. I have 

 made such with perfect 

 success as late as Sep- 

 tember first, using six 

 combs of brood and four 

 of honey. It is so easy- 

 no hunting of queens nor 

 any thing of the kind; 

 and the best part of the 

 whole is, enough of the 

 young bees always stay 

 to make it a success. No 

 need of natural swarm- 

 ing for increase when we 

 can make as many colo- 

 nies as we desire in such 

 a simple, easy way. The 

 advent of the queen- ex- 

 cluder was a great bless- 

 ing, and one of the need- 

 ed helps in giving us the 

 "modern apiculture " we 

 now enjoy. 



With the making of 

 the nine colonies, as above 

 given, I have the desired 

 number for the year 1905, 

 as I have house-building 

 and other work going on, 

 so I have no desire for 

 further enlarging this year, 

 colonies with a hive of brood on each, the 

 one having completed the queen-cells being 

 the stronger. As I wish to work 16 colonies 

 for section honey, and having shaken only 13 

 at my last visit, I now prepare to shake 

 three more. To do this I pick from the re- 

 served combs enough to fill three hives, us- 

 ing those the nearest full of honey. One of 



these hives is now carried to the colony com- 

 pleting the queen- cells, a reserve bottom- 

 board placed on its stand, after it has been 

 set off, and the hive with combs of honey set 

 thereon. 



A comb only partly full of brood is now 

 selected from the upper story, one from 

 which many young bees have emerged, and 

 more rapidly gnawing from the cells, this 

 being set in the center of the combs of hon- 

 ey; then two supers are set on in the way 

 those were at the fourth visit, when I pro- 

 ceed to shake and brush the bees off from 

 the whole of the 19 combs still remaining in 

 the two hives; then from the hives and the 

 bottom-boards, thus giving this colony all 

 the bees from two hives of brood, or, as a 

 rule, very many more than those had that 

 were made at the fourth visit. After two 

 more of the strongest colonies have been 

 treated in the same way the beeless brood is 

 tiered up on those remaining, when a mo- 

 ment of taking an inventory shows that I 

 now have 16 "shook" colonies, two others 

 containing three hives of brood and one of 

 four hives, the queens of which are confined 

 to the lower hive by the queen- excluder, and 

 nine colonies just made, having queen-cells 

 ready to hatch, together nine frames of brood, 

 which will all emerge in 11 days, making 28 

 colonies in all. In order that the remainder 

 of the reserved combs may not be destroyed 



I still have four 



by moths they are now placed, ten in a hive, 

 and one set on top of each of the 12 hives 

 not having sections on them, a queen-exclud- 

 er having first been placed over the nine 

 just made colonies not having any on. The 

 year 1905 was an exceptional one, in that 

 the colonies in the apiary had been allowed 

 to become so few through overwork. 

 When the whole 30, 50, or 75 stands (or 



