544 



GLEANINGS IN DEE CLLIURE. 



June 15 



bees are hatching lively a frame of larvee or 

 others to hatch. Before any queens have 

 hatched out, the perforated zinc is removed, 

 and a frame with wire cloth tacked on the 

 upper side is put in its place, and on this 

 frame '/(-inch strips are placed on three 

 edges, leaving the fourth open for an en- 

 trance. This upper- story entrance should 

 be on the side opposite the lower one. In 

 due time a queen will be found laying 

 above, and both stories must be worked for 

 brood to their greatest capacity, and ad- 

 ditional stories given above or below if re- 

 quired. This must be continued to the com- 

 mencement of the honey- flow. 



Now take a box of the size of the hive in 

 use; remove the upper story containing the 

 young queen, and place the box over it. 

 Now smoke the bees lightly, first breaking 

 the cappings in a frame below, and then 

 drum gently on the hive, giving the bees 

 ample time to till their honey-sacs. Drum 

 these bees into the box above, making a 

 clean drive if possible. Now remove the old 

 queen with a frame of adhering bees, and 

 place this frame in any empty hive-body. 

 Now break the cappings of a frame in the 

 hive from which the old queen was taken; 

 place the box containing the driven bees 

 over this hive, and drive all bees from be- 

 low into the box above. All being of the 

 same odor, no trouble will result. Have 

 now your frames and supers ready, and 

 dump the bees in front of the entrance. 

 Use all drawn-out comb in the brood-nest 

 below, if shallow, and full sheets of founda- 

 tion in the supers. I have never found it 

 necessary to use perforated zinc between, 

 yet in some localities it seems to be neces- 

 sary. 



The principal objections to be overcome 

 in the brushed, etc., swarm plan are: 



1. A tendency to abscond. 



2. The building of too much drone comb. 



3. The deposit of pollen in the sections. 



4. The building of queen-cells in the col- 

 ony of the parent stock. 



The fl'nz'^w-swarm plan, as I practice it, 

 overcomes the objections as follows: 



1. The driving of the swarm, as detailed, 

 reduces the colony to the condition of a nat- 

 ural swarm, and thus reduces to a mini- 

 mum the liaijility to abscond. 



2. The driving of the young queen with 

 the swarm insures the building of worker 

 comb. 



3. The use, as far as possible, of drawn- 

 out comb in the brood-chamber is a safe- 

 guard against pollen in the sections. 



4. The old queen is a safeguard against 

 the building of queen-cells in the parent 

 stock. 



If increase is desired, the old queen and 

 hatching bees will furnish it. If not de- 

 sired, then the worker bees may be given 

 from time to time to the new swarm. By 

 the above method there will be no swarm- 

 ing if sufficient room is given in the su- 

 pers. 



The foregoing plan, to be successful, re- 

 quires close attention to details, a thorough 



knowledge of the habits of bees, and of the 

 pasturage in the locality of the apiary. I 

 do not, therefore, recommend the plan for 

 beginners. 



Since writing the above I have received 

 the Dec. 1st number of Gleanings, and 

 note on page 978, Mr. Editor, that you want 

 something on the question of foundation or 

 empty combs in the brood-chamber. 



If the frames are shallow I use all empty 

 combs if possible — filling out with full 

 sheets of foundation or starters if neces- 

 sary — for the reason that the queen and 

 bees know instinctively that the first thing 

 to do is to produce brood, and they use the 

 material best suited to their immediate 

 needs — namely, drawn comb. The bees 

 proceed at once to clean out this comb, and 

 this gives the queen ample room for the im- 

 mediate deposit of eggs, which keeps her 

 from going into the supers. As soon as the 

 queen begins to lay, the bees will put pol- 

 len below, and neither eggs nor pollen will 

 go into the supers. 



When the bees are slowly driven — not 

 shook, brushed, jounced, etc., and allowed 

 to fill up on honey, their natural instinct 

 is to use this honey converted into wax for 

 comb-building-; there being no use for it be- 

 low on empty combs, it is carried into the 

 supers, and the foundation in sections is 

 rapidly drawn out. 



If foundation or starters only are used in 

 the brood-chamber, the bees can not draw 

 it out fast enough to accommodate the full 

 egg-laying capacity of a young prolific 

 queen, and this is particularly true of 

 shallow frames or a contracted brood-cham- 

 ber. 



Bradford, N. Y. 



SNAP SHOTS GATHERED AT THE ONTARIO CO. 

 BEEKEEPERS' CONVENTION. 



BY F. GREINER. 



As to the disposing of our honey, we bee- 

 keepers are not doing business on business 

 principles. We ought to co-operate. — H. L. 

 Case. 



We New York bee-keepers have the ad- 

 vantage over our western competitors. We 

 are at the consumer's door. — W. F. Marks. 



Crop reports of an official character 

 would assist us in establishing uniformity 

 in prices of honey. The sum of 2000 dollars 

 was set apart by the government for api- 

 culture, but was not used. A definite sum 

 should be set apart for gathering crop re- 

 ports. If this business were conducted by 

 the government, figures would not be ma- 

 nipulated, and nothing would leak out pre- 

 maturely. — Frank Benton, Washington, D. 

 C. 



There is a class of bee-keepers who can 

 not be educated; they will undersell any 

 way. The cure is, to buy their bees. 

 Ricker, Iowa. 



A good way to space brood-frames is by 

 way of a wide staple to be driven across each 



