34 



Many of the old bees are returning from the field and they are now 

 entering the new hive, distractedly, running ..round and wondering what 

 has happened to their beloved home during their absence. 



Then we will gather in the swarm and run it into the new hive on the 

 old stand. Now see what happens. The bees in the old hive do not know 

 that it has been shifted so when they return from the fields laden with 

 nectar or pollen they naturally seek the old stand, and so every minute our 

 swarm is being augmented by the field workers, while the old hive is getting 

 correspondingly weaker, so weak in fact will it become that there is very 

 little chance of its throwing off a second swarm that season. 



In about twenty-four hours the swarm will have settled down to steady 

 work, so we go to the hive and remove the empty chamber from under- 

 neath, and place it on top of the one containing the frames. Then we turn 

 to the old hive and proceed to weaken it still more by taking from its top 

 story all the combs that contain honey, bees and all, and placing them 

 above the new swarm, looking over the frames carefully for queen cells 

 which we destroy if found. Next we close up both hives, then turn the 

 entrance of the old hive round a few inches so that it begins to point in 

 the same direction as it did before the swarm issued. Each day we turn 

 the old hive round a few inches until on the fifth day the entrances of the 

 old hive and the new are side by side. 



On the seventh day we are ready for the last step. On top of the hive 

 containing the swarm we place an empty hive body, then from the old hive 

 we take the frames one by one and transfer them with the adhering bees 

 to the hive on the old stand, as before looking for queen cells and destroy- 

 ing them. Last of all we remove the empty brood-chamber and the bot- 

 tom-board from the stand, so that all the flying bees will have to join the 

 swarm on the old stand. 



This looks like a lot of work, but all told it is a great deal less than 

 taking care of two swarms. Then look at the difference in results. When 

 unlimited swarming is permitted, we have at least three colonies in place 

 of one with very little prospect of a honey-crop. By combining we have 

 only one colony, as when we started, with the certainty of a big honey- 

 crop if the season be favorable. This method of handling swarms is the 

 one followed by one British Columbian beekeeper who figures on putting 

 into winter quarters every season eighteen hives. His increase each sum- 

 mer is just equal to his winter loss. His honey production runs steadily 

 100 pounds extracted per hive. The biggest honey yield from one hive in 

 British Columbia so far as is known to the inspectors was 400 pounds 

 produced by a beekeeper on Lulu Island, who manipulated the colony in 

 almost similar fashion. The total time devoted to this hive probably did 

 not exceed a couple of hours in the course of the year, nevertheless its 

 product sold for eighty dollars. 



HOW TO HANDLE A SWARM. 



This subject was dealt with rather extensively in the previous bulletin, 

 but the writer of it regretted that at the time it was written it was im- 

 possible for him to make a series^tjf -photographs showing te variou'S'stages 

 from the cluster to the hive, as the swarming season was long past. He 

 determined however to secure a good set at the first opportunity. Luck 

 was specially kind to him in the matter. One morning as he was starting 

 out on a pre-arranged day's work right in the middle of the honey-flow, 



