I 



1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



359 



rection, and the same distance away. In the 

 ten days or two weeks that have elapsed, 

 many of the young bees that were too young 

 to fly when the first shift was made will 

 now be field bees. These will naturally go 

 into No. 2, because No. 2 is nearer the 

 stand to which they have been flying, so 

 that, again, No. 1 gives up its field bees to 

 No 2. If the apiarist desires to carry the 

 process still further, in ten days more he can 

 jump No. 1 back to the position it occupied 

 after the first shift, or to the right of No. 

 2. Again, it, No. 1, will give of its field 

 bees to No. 2. So the process might be re- 

 peated until No. 1 would be weakened clear 

 down; but I should conclude, in the absence 

 of any statement to the contrary, that there 

 would be only one or possibly two jumpings, 

 at the end of which time No. 1 is removed 

 to an entirely new location when again it 

 will give its field bees to No. 2. It might 

 then be little better than a nucleus, but 

 would rapidly increase to a fair colony for 

 winter, while No. 2, which has been receiv- 

 ing fresh invoices of field bees, would become 

 strong, and pile in the honey. 



The only question that arises in my mind 

 is whether or not these fresh accessions of 

 bees would not induce swarming in No. 2; 

 and, still further, would these field bees al- 

 ways go into No. 2 rather than seek out 

 their old entrance? The strain of bees 

 would have something to do with this. 



So much for increase. When increase is 

 not desired, the following is the plan: 



THE SIBBALD NON-SWARMING PLAN WHEN 

 INCREASE IS NOT DESIRED. 



We now go back again to the point, ten 

 days after the first shift was made, when 

 No. 1 was moved from its old stand a few 

 inches to the right. It will be remembered 

 that, ten days before, we had given No. 1 a 

 frame of brood with cells on it. If the old 

 queen is a good one and we do not care to 

 let the one in No. 2 hatch out or lay, we de- 

 stroy these cells or virgin, if hatched, and 

 put the frame of brood back into No. 1. 

 But at this point Mr. Sibbald does not ex- 

 plain what he would do with virgins that 

 may have hatched prematurely. Cells five 

 or six days old at the time of the first shift 

 would be liable to hatch out a virgin 

 before the ten days were up. As will be 

 seen I have taken it for granted that he 

 would dispose of them. 



We will assume, in this case at least, that 

 the virgins have not hatched, and we have 

 destroyed the cells and put the frame of 

 brood back into No. \. We take away hive 

 No. 2 entirely, and put No. 1 in its place, 

 or exactly the same place it had at the very 

 start. The young bees and the brood will 

 now have been added to the field force plus 

 the old queen. Of course, the super should 

 be taken off from No. 2 and put back on No. 

 1. No. 1, during the interim of ten days, 

 has been under the delusion that there was 

 a famine in the land, has destroyed its 

 queen-cells, and therefore the swarming 

 fever that had already begun to manifest 

 itself ten days before has been killed out 



simply by a shift of hives. The cells in No. 

 1 that were left have been destroyed by the 

 bees without any act on the part of the api- 

 arist; there has been no interruption in 

 brood-rearing, or practically none, except 

 the small amount that might take place ow- 

 ing to the stoppage, apparently, of the hon- 

 ey-flow; but as soon as the young bees begin 

 to go to the fields the queen would com- 

 mence laying as before. One would natu- 

 rally suppose that the swarming fever would 

 come on again. Editor Hutchison suggests 

 in his footnote that it may do so; but Mr. 

 Sibbald says if plenty of super room is giv- 

 en it will not. 



Once more, if the old queen is not desired, 

 wait until the cell or cells hatch and virgin 

 begins laying in No. 2. Kill the old queen 

 and unite the two colonies as before direct- 

 ed. 



The particular claim for this method over 

 shook swarming is that it does away with 

 all shaking of bees— an operation that is un- 

 pleasant, to say the least. In shaking combs 

 I have found that bees will often fly up and 

 sting. This is particularly so of certain 

 strains. If they are shaken out in front of 

 the entrance, one is liable to trample on 

 them during the operation, or to get bees 

 up his pants legs. New honey is liable to 

 be sprinkled all over the bees and upon the 

 grass. Of course, this can be avoided by 

 brushing rather than shaking. 



Another claim for the method is that it 

 does away with the destruction of queen- 

 cells by the apiarist or the chance of his 

 missing some; for the bees do all that work 

 themselves far cheaper than any human be- 

 ing, and without a miss. 



1 have thus supplied what are, in my esti- 

 mation, the "missing links," for I am sat- 

 isfied that many of our beginner bee-keepers 

 would not understand the method just as 

 Mr. Sibbald gives it in the Review. Perhaps 

 I have not given it strictly correct; but so 

 far as I can see it dovetails with his in- 

 structions. 



The more I think over this whole plan, 

 the more I am pleased with it; and I do not 

 wonder that Editor Hutchinson felt that he 

 had made a "good scoop" over the rest of 

 us when he secured the prior publication of 

 the method. We certainly shall give it a 

 test in our own yards this summer; and if it 

 proves to be simpler and quicker than the 

 "shook" plan, which is regarded with so 

 much favor by our bee-keeping friends, Mr. 

 Sibbald will, to say the least, prove a bene- 

 factor to his fellow bee-keepers. 



He does not say that he would have hives 

 exactly alike. This may not be essential; 

 but it would be advantageous, I am sure; 

 for the fresh field bees will be more likely 

 to go to the hive nearest their old location 

 if it has the same outside appearance as the 

 old hive. 



I shall be glad to hear from our subscribers 

 as to what they think of the method; and if 

 any of them in the South can give this an 

 early test we should be glad to have reports 

 at once. 



