14 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



combs containing unsealed brood below. 

 Three or four combs may be found in 

 each hive, for the upper story ; a num- 

 ber of hives are visited, and enough 

 combs taken to fill the first upper story, 

 replacing in each case with good worker 

 combs. Care should be taken not to re- 

 move sealed brood enough to weaken 

 the colonies. 



Go over the yard in this manner, again 

 and again, until every hive is made 

 "two story." Empty combs may be 

 used above and below where practica- 

 ble. All sealed combs of honey may be 

 removed to the honey-house, and re- 

 placed by empty ones, or good wired 

 comb foundation ; when comb founda- 

 tion is used, put it in the lower story in 

 the brood-nest, and it will be drawn out 

 and filled with brood, which toughens 

 it, making it less liable to break during 

 extracting. 



Should you run short of combs you 

 may take time to extract and return the 

 combs. Managed in this manner we 

 give plenty of room, and secure the 

 largest possible yield, and never carry 

 sealed brood to the extractor or honey- 

 house. 



Some complain that the queen gets 

 into the upper story ; it makes very 

 little difference where she is now, as we 

 do not need her work at this time if we 

 have strong colonies ; and, besides, she 

 cannot deposit eggs in the upper story if 

 every cell has some honey in it, which is 

 nearly always the case if this method is 

 followed, and the extra amount of room 

 given prevents to a great extent the 

 swarming. 



If a swarm issues before the second 

 story is put on, during a heavy honey- 

 fiow, by the exclusive use of clipped- 

 wing queens, the queen is captured and 

 caged, and the parent hive moved to one 

 side, and a hive containing empty combs 

 placed on the old stand, to which the 

 bees will usually return in a few min- 

 utes, and as they enter the queen is 

 allowed to accompany them, a second 

 story is put on, and the contents of the 

 parent hive lifted to it, after destroying 

 all queen-cells, and young queens should 

 any be present. This usually settles the 

 swarming fever of this colony, for the 

 time being. 



Right here allow me to say that this 

 is the manner in which I manage all 

 natural swarms when I desire to in- 

 crease my stock ; except that I remove 

 at once tlie newly-hived swarm to a dis- 

 tant part of the yard, replacing the par- 

 ent hive on its original stand; and 

 should it swarm again, after the bees 



are all out, I overhaul the brood-cham- 

 ber, removing all queens and queen-cells, 

 disorganize the brood-nest, and return 

 the swarm to the original hive, and place 

 it on the old stand. After the first 

 brood hatches from this young queen, 

 and proves satisfactory, her wing is 

 clipped. Each hive, or stand, is num- 

 bered ; and by having universal covers, 

 the same cover may be used for any 

 hive that may be placed on the stand. 



SOME HAEMONIOUS BEE-NOTES. 



Never waste time in wintering weak 

 colonies. 



Never take from a strong colony in 

 the spring to build up a weak one, as 

 you may lose the "work of both of them. 



Never keep a superannuated queen in 

 your yard. 



Never leave a newly-hived swarm 

 near the place where it clustered, as 

 you may be surprised by its taking to 

 the woods. Remove it to a stand at a 

 distant part of the yard at once, whether 

 all the bees are in or not. 



Strong colonies protect themselves 

 against robbers and the bee-moth. 



Strong colonies at the proper time in- 

 sures a successful honey harvest. 



A large number of extra combs are 

 necessary where; extracted honey is our 

 aim. 



Black bees are better architects than 

 Italians, and can gather as much honey; 

 but the docility of Italians allows us to 

 handle four colonies where we can one 

 of the blacks. 



Ft. Worth, Tex. 



Italians Ahead of the Blacks. 



Mrs. Atchley : — The honey harvest 

 here will soon be over, and I do not 

 think there will be over half a crop, but 

 I will send a report from this neighbor- 

 hood later, after the final round-up. The 

 queens I reared from the old queen last 

 season have turned out to be fine honey- 

 gatherers. Several of their colonies 

 have filled 216 one-pound sections each, 

 and are likely to fill another super, 

 while some of the blacks that were 

 stronger in the spring than the Italians 

 have only put up 24 pounds so far. The 

 new queens are doing very well ; their 

 bees are beauties — the best marked I 

 ever saw. I will not bo able to test 

 them as honey-gatherers this season, as 

 I am using them to rear queens, as I in- 

 tend to re-queen my apiary entirely. 

 John Collins 



Elsmore, Calif., June 15, 1893 



