THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



1904. 



must be kept good and warm for prop- 

 er development, and this can only be 

 done by keeping the colony together 

 till they hatch. Just enough bees 

 should be taken from the swarm to 

 start a nucleus with the old queen, 

 while the remainder are to be returned 

 to the hive from whence they came. 

 Now if there is any available hatching- 

 brood tha^ can be spared from other 

 colonies in the yard, give it to the now 

 queenless colony or colonies that the 

 desire to swarm may become rampant. 

 This will cause the workers to 

 guard the unhatched queen-cells from 

 the attacks of the first queens that 

 emerge from the cells; otherwise they 

 might be allowed to destroy a portion 

 of the cells were the weather to tiu-n 

 cool about that time. An entrance- 

 guard of perforated zinc should be at- 

 tached to the hive to prevent the 

 swarm running away in the event that 

 other matters demand your attentio'i 

 much of the time when the bees do. 

 This treatment insures strong, vigor- 

 ous queens whereas if the colony were 

 broken up as soon as the cells are cap- 

 ped, the embrygo queens are tumbled 

 about in their cells, and then the cells 

 are often deserted by the bees on cool 

 nights after they have been placed in 

 the little colonies which invariably re- 

 sults in very inferior queens. Bees 

 that do not have a desire to swarm, 

 but instead are devoted to home in- 

 terests, having a good laying queen, 

 are very presistent about returning to 

 the old location. In such cases it is 

 almost impossible to hold the older 

 bee with the nuclei if neighboring 

 hives are close to where the parent 

 hive was and resemble it in appear- 

 ance. 



Tall grass, weeds, or little sticks of 

 wood placed against the front of the 

 hive, in fact anything that obstructs 

 the entrance somewhat, is a great 

 help, for it causes the bees to turn and 

 mark their new location upon leaving 

 the hive. But it is better to break 

 the tie that binds them to home and its 

 sweetness before any artificial increase 

 is made in crowded apiaries. 



Wheelersburg, O., April 12. 1904. 



Ill 



THE PREVENTION OF IN- 

 CREASE. 



By C. Theilmann. 



MUCH has been said and written 

 in regard to methods to prevent 

 the increase of colonies. I 

 have tried a number of these witliout 

 satisfaction, but during the past eight 

 or ten years I have practiced a plan 

 which is very satisfactory to me. It 

 is as follows: 



By way of preparation, I clip one 

 wing of each queen in the apiary be- 



We are arranging a Honey Dealers' 

 Directory for continuous publication 

 in these columns. If you buy or sell 

 honey, please write for particulars. 



MR. THEILMANN. 



fore they become very populous in the 

 spring, as they are then easier found. 

 This prevents the escape of swarms, 

 as the queens cannot fly, and they are 

 easily picked up on the ground as they 

 crawl about before the hives when 

 swarming. They are caged and l;iid 

 before the entrance until the swarm 

 comes back, which it will do as a rule. 

 Even if four or five swarms cluster 

 together, they will separate and go 

 back to their respective hives if the" 

 queens are not with them. Thp caged 

 queens are either killed or left at the 

 entrances until some place is found 



