1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



227 



ed, and both can furnish brood to another 

 colonj' which is only a little weaker than 

 the second, in a week or so. I think j-ou 

 see this part now." 



"Yes, I do understand. But what about 

 the colony from which you took the brood?" 



" I now give this a comb quite well 

 filled with honej', which is set in the place 

 of the comb of brood taken. This stimu- 

 lates this colon\- to g-reater activity, and 

 causes the queen to till this comb with eggs 

 almost immediately, thus turniniif the honey 

 into brood very rapidlj'. If the hone}' is 

 sealed, the cappings to the cells should be 

 broken, so as to cause the bees to remove it 

 at once. This is best done by passing- a 

 knife flatwise over it, bearing- on enough so 

 as to mash down the sealing- to the cells." 



" What do 3'ou do next?" 



" I keep working the brood from the very 

 strongest down, steo by step, as the bees 

 advance and the season progresses, till the 

 time the weakest colony (one having, say, 

 on!}' two combs filled with brood by this 

 time) can take brood enough, without dan- 

 ger of chilling, to make it of equal strength 

 with all." 



" You now have all of the w-eakest 

 colonies, which were shut up with division- 

 boards, with five frames of brood — that is, 

 supposing that 3'our hive holds nine 

 combs." 



"Yes; and having them thus -we are 

 ready to unite, which should be done about 

 two weeks before the honej'-harvest comes, 

 that the best results may be obtained." 



"Please explain minutely about this 

 uniting, so I may fully comprehend how it 

 is done." 



" To unite, go to No. 1 and look over the 

 combs till you find the one the queen is on, 

 when j'ou will set it, queen, bees, and all, 

 out of the hive, so as to make sure that 

 j'ou do not get the queen where you do not 

 wish her, when _you will take the rest of the 

 combs, bees and all, to hive No. 2. After 

 spreading out the combs in this hive, set 

 those brought from No. 1 ih each alternate 

 space made by spreading the combs in No. 2, 

 and clo?-e the hive." 



"Why not set the combs in all together? 

 It would be less work." 



" The alternating of the frames is so that 

 the bees will be all mixtd up, and, thus 

 mixed, they never quarrel, as each bee 

 that touches another is a stranger. Bees 

 often quarrel, and a lot are killed where no 

 precautions are taken." 



" Thank you for telling me this. Now 

 what next? ' 



" The colonies are now allowed to stand 

 thus for a few days till they are strong 

 enough to enter the sections, when they are 

 to be put on; and if your experience proves 

 any thing like mine you will have a colony 

 which will give as much comb honey as 

 would that colony which was called 'the 

 very best you ever had in the spring.' In 

 this way you will have half as many col- 

 onies in excellent condition to work in the 

 sections as you had weak colonies in the 



spring; and if the season is at all good, you 

 will secure a good yield of comb honey; 

 while, had you united in the early spring, 

 or tried to work each one separately, little 

 if any surplus would have been the result, 

 according to my experience." 



" How about any increase?" 



" These united colonies will be nearly as 

 likely to increase by swarming as other 

 colonies considered good in the spring. If 

 you wish more increase than this, the comb 

 with brood, bees, and queen, wh'ch are to 

 be put back into hive No. 1, together with 

 an empty frame and one partly filled with 

 honejs can be built up to a fair-sized colony 

 for wintering. This little colony will build 

 straight worker comb for some time; and as 

 soon as it ceases to do this, take the work- 

 er combs built by another colony just like 

 it, and put them with No. 1 till the hive is 

 full, and you have as nice a colony as you 

 can get in any other way." 



Sixteen extra pages this time. 



There have been a number of good rains 

 in California so far, but I am told, by those 

 who know, that there hav6 not been enough 

 to insure a honey crop. 



It has been very warm for the last week 

 or so. I have been expecting the bees un- 

 der the machine-shop to begin to "scold." 

 Notwithstanding it is quite warm in their 

 compartment, they are as quiet and peace- 

 able as I ever saw^ them. But there are not 

 so many bees in the cellar this spring as 

 usual. 



I hereby acknowledge my thanks to 

 those who have so kindly written me regard- 

 ing the general subject-matter of Glean- 

 ings. And, dear friends, while you are 

 telling about the things you like, do not 

 hesitate to speak about the things you don't 

 like. A little honest criticism is often more 

 helpful than praise. 



SHALLOW brood-chambers AND THE 4X5 

 SECTIONS. 



In the American Bee Jourfial for March 

 12, Mr. R. C. Aikin, of Loveland, C.il, ad- 

 vocates an elastic double-brood-chamber 

 hive suitable for accommodating 4X5 sec- 

 tions. It is surprising how many of the 

 progressive bee- keepers are turning their 

 thoughts in that direction. At the last 

 Chicago Northwestern, 4X5 sections re- 

 ceived quite a favorable mention. As time 



