1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



909 



honey, the comb of which was made of beeswax and 

 paraffine. The Department broke up the sale of some 

 spurious honey. The Inspector believed the salesmen 

 were students I do not know how the report got start- 

 ed in the papers, but there seemed to be a good ba-^is 

 for a newspaper story, and I presume some correspon- 

 dent drew on his imasrination to state that the comb 

 was beeswax and paraffine. and then other papers took 

 it up. No such information could have come from the 

 Department, for the Department has not yet discovei ed 

 any artificial comb thus made. 



Horace Ankeney, Commissioner. 



It is just as I expected. Some newspaper 

 got hold of some stray facts, and made up 

 the usual story. As the Food Commissioner 

 did break up a gang of medical students who 

 were selling adulterated honey, the newspa- 

 per clipping has some semblance of official 

 recognition. I hope our readers who run 

 across this story (as it is and will be copied 

 in the papers) will be prompt to make an 

 extract from this journal — tear out this 

 whole page, and mail it to the editor of the 

 paper, requesting, if possible, a correction. 





^y. 



SHAKEN SWARMS, AGAIN. 



Some of the Difficulties Explained; When to 



Shake for Both Comb and Extracted 



Honey; Large and Small Hives. 



BY L. STACHELHAUSEN. 



[As some of our correspondents encountered some 

 difficulties the past season with shaken swarms, and 

 others made an entire failure of them, I asked Mr. 

 L. Stachelhausen, the pioneer and the introducer of the 

 plan in America, to review the subject and to explain, 

 if possible, some of the causes of failure. This has 

 been done so well in the subjoined article that no one 

 can fail to undere-tand it in all its different phases. In 

 saying this I think it but proper to state that our cor- 

 respondent knows more about the practice, both in this 

 country and in Europe, than any other bee-keeper in 

 the world.— Ed.] 



By reading different bee-journals I find 

 that a few things in making these artificial 

 swarms are not properly understood by some 

 bee-keepers. For this reason it will not be 

 out of place to say a few words more. 



1. There is no agreement about the time 

 when a shaken swarm shall be made. Some 

 say it can be made as soon as the colony is 

 strong enough; others advise waiting till 

 queen-cells are started; and the editor, page 

 527, even thinks the absconding, which some- 

 times happens with such swarms, may be 

 caused by shaking a colony, when there was 

 no indication or desire to swarm in the old 

 colony. Whether we shall wait for queen- 

 cells or not depends on circumstances. If 

 we have a strong colony in a large hive, 

 there is no reason why a shaken swarm 

 could not be shaken successfully, queen-cells 

 or none. I have made hundreds of such 



swarms without waiting for queen-cells. If 

 we work for extracted honey, and want some 

 increase, the swarm can be made as soon as 

 the colony is strong enough. But suppose 

 we work for comb honey and keep our colo- 

 nies in small hives (eight- frame Langstroth) . 

 We have given a section- super, and proba- 

 bly the bees have already commenced to 

 work in the sections. At such times we 

 should probably get more section honey from 

 this colony if it would not swarm at all. For 

 this reason the proper way will be to wait 

 till the colony makes preparation to swarm; 

 and as we do not want natural swarms we 

 make one artificially because a natural 

 swarm would come out a few days afterward 

 anyhow. 



But in my opinion it is better to use a 

 larger brood- chamber in the spring, because 

 we shall raise a much stronger colony in it 

 with less work than in these small hives. 

 When the honey-fiow commences we make 

 the shaken swarm, no matter whether 

 queen-cells are started or not, and hive it in 

 a small brood-nest (six-frame Langstroth 

 size), and give the section- supers to this 

 swarm. Generally these colonies in large 

 hives are not inclined to swarm, consequent- 

 ly it is out of the question to wait for queen- 

 cells. The shaking of the bees here is not 

 for the purpose of anticipating swarming, as 

 in the former case, but to force the bees 

 into the sec tions by a contracted brood- 

 nest without combs. This leads us to anoth- 

 er question. 



2. Shall the shaken swarm be hived on 

 drone-combs, full sheets of foundation, or 

 on starters? 



About 18 years ago W. Z. Hutchinson 

 published a little book in which he described 

 his experiments in hiving swarms on combs, 

 foundation, or starters if worked for comb 

 honey, and at that time this little book set- 

 tled the question that it is more profitable to 

 hive swarms on starters only in a contracted 

 brood-chamber than in any other way, and 

 the reason was given why it is so. As this 

 is true now just as well as eighteen years 

 ago, and just as well for artificial swarms 

 as for natural ones, it seems there could be 

 no doubt if comb honey is to be produced. 

 Nevertheless, there is room for a question. 

 By the use of starters in the brood-nest a 

 small amount more of section honey may be 

 secured then by the use of full sheets of 

 foundation; but in the later case nicer all- 

 worker combs can be secured without any 

 loss of time and labor. For this reason, at 

 certain times it may be more profitable to 

 use full sheets of foundation in the brood- 

 nest. Every bee-keeper has to decide this 

 question for himself. The use of drone 

 combs is always a loss except, perhaps, 

 when extracted honey is produced, and even 

 then I would not allow it. 



The use of empty combs or full sheets of 

 foundation has no influence on the fact that 

 sometimes natural or shaken swarms come 

 out and abscond. 



3. This swarming- out of shaken swarms 

 on one of the following days, or of starting 



