April, 1909. 



American IBee Journal 



gets into the cage before the hive is 

 ready, pick the cage up and set it on the 

 open end, as the cage at the right. 



Now after the swarm is in the new 

 hive, take an entrance-block and put it 

 on the entrance of the old hive. (See 

 hive at the left.) Turn the little piece 

 of excluder to one side of the l4-inch 

 hole (which is the entrance) and leave 

 it thus for g days. Now remove the 

 supers from the old hive and set them 

 to one side. Then pick up the new hive 

 which has the swarm, and set it on top 

 of the old hive. Now set the supers on 

 top of the escape-board, which is next 

 to the new hive. Then put up the run- 

 way board and fasten it to the bottom- 

 board of the new hive with small wire 

 hooked over nail-heads, which are on 

 the bottom-board and run-way for this 

 purpose. (See hive to left.) In from 

 24 to 48 hours the escape-board can be 

 removed and the bees will continue work 

 in the supers. 



The reason for using the escape is to 

 keep the queen out of the sections, and 

 to force the bees out of the supers into 

 the new hive, so there will be a larger 

 force of bees to draw out the frames 

 of foundation. 



At the end of 9 days turn the little 

 piece of queen-excluder around over the 

 entrance of the old hive, as there is 

 danger of a virgin queen leaving the 

 lower entrance, and going in at the upper 

 entrance and causing trouble. 



At the right, leaning on the side of the 

 swarm-cage, is an entrance-block, show- 

 ing queen-cell protector in place, wliich 

 is also put on over the entrance at the 

 end of 9 days. The excluder will pre- 

 vent the virgin queens coming out, but 

 will allow the worker-bees to pass. The 

 cell-protector will also allow the workers 

 to pass, never to return to the lower 

 hive, but on returning from the field, 

 heavily laden, must enter the top en- 

 trance, as the brood is now all sealed. 

 The bees will all enter the top-hive, as 

 fast as they become fielders. The run- 

 way board is used to- obstruct the lower 

 hive-entrance, and to aid the heavily 

 laden bees to gain the upper entrance. 



In 21 days the lower hive can be re- 

 moved and the new hive and its supers 

 can be lowered down on the old bottom- 



board, and they will work on as if they 

 had never cast a swarm. There will be 

 nothing left in tlie old hive but combs, 

 with a little honey, a few young bees, 

 and a virgin queen ; also some drones, if 

 not liberated. 



In the front row of hives in Fig. i, 

 can be seen 3 colonies treated in the way 

 just described. This is a good plan to 

 use when transferring. 



There is another plan of preventing 

 increase, which I have found to be of 

 much value, which is as follows : 



When the swarm starts to issue, cage 

 it as stated above, and when it settles 

 down in the cage, pull the cage back 

 from the hive a little so it will be out 

 of the way. Then remove the supers, 

 set them to one side, and remove the 

 brood-frames one at a time, and take 

 out all queen-cells, return the frames, 

 then put the supers back on the hive, 

 then return the swarm. This operation 

 is performed on all colonies as fast as 

 they cast a swarm, throughout the 

 swarming season. These cages have 

 been a great help to me in the swarm- 

 ing season, as I had as high as 18 

 swarms in one day the past season. Had 

 it not been for these cages there would 

 have been a great mix-up, but by their 

 use everything was in good order at the 

 end of my day's work. 



My apiary is run for comb honey. My 

 total crop the past season was about 

 4000 sections. My customers call at my 

 house, taking almost my entire crop. 



Fig. 4 shows the apiary while the snow 

 is on; also my method of wintering. 

 The colonics are set in rows, the hives 

 being about 14 inches apart, and are 

 packed with straw, vihich is held in 

 place by a sort of rack, and over the 

 top of the straw is placed felt roofing 

 to turn the rain. The packing is about 

 10 inches thick at the back of the hives. 

 The fronts are left clear so the bees can 

 fly at any time the weather is warm 

 enough. 



In the background of Fig. 3, will be 

 seen a closer view of the bees packed 

 for winter. The bees are left in their 

 winter quarters fill settled warm weather 

 in the spring, when the racks are piled 

 up out of the way, and the straw re- 

 moved. 



The American Bee Journal is a wel- 



come visitor at our house. Many have 

 been the good lessons which I have 

 learned from its pages. 

 Elnora, Ind., Jan. 6. 



Cost of Beeswax to the Bees 



BY C. P. DAD A NT. 



Should the bees be allowed to build 

 the combs? Is there a waste of wax 

 when the hive is supplied with already- 

 built combs for the harvest? These 

 questions, mentioned in the American 

 Bee Journal for February (page 37) 

 have lately been discussed both in this 

 country and in Europe, with entirely dif- 

 ferent conclusions by different writers. 

 The matter under study can never be 

 positively decided, because of the differ- 

 ent conditions in which the production 

 of wax is carried on. Experiments on 

 the cost of wax in pounds of honey have 

 been made, and the amount of honey 

 needed variously estimated at from up- 

 wards of 20 pounds down to 2 pounds 

 for each pound of comb. The last- 

 named estimate was given by a foreign 

 writer vi'ho has so little practical knowl- 

 edge of bee-culture that he condemned 

 the use of the honey extractor as alto- 

 gether impractical. On the other hand, 

 the scientists who tried the experiments 

 of feeding bees and found 20 pounds as 

 needed to produce a pound of wax were 

 doing this in too artificial a manner to 

 secure as good results as must be se- 

 cured in the height of the honey harvest. 



It is evident to me that the amount of 

 honey consumed in producing a pound 

 nf wax varies greatly, even in favorable 

 circumstances, just as the amount of 

 corn or cereals needed to produce a 

 pound of fat in our domestic animals 

 varies under different circumstances. 

 Tliis comparison is supported by most 

 scientists. Cheshire compares the con- 

 ditions necessary to produce wax to 

 those needed by chickens to fatten — con- 

 finement, bodily inactivity, warmth, and 

 high nourishment. 



But must the bee produce a certain 

 amount of beeswax whether she is wil- 

 ling to do so or not? In other words, 

 must an amount of wax be produced, 

 which if not used to build combs will be 



Fir,. 3.— WooLBRioHT Apiary— Two Hives and Two Swarm-Cages 



Fig. 4.— W001.11RIGHT Ai'Iarv— With Snow on Hive.s. 



