1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



669- 



tures are to be used in the ABC of Bee 

 Culture, the two first under the head of 

 "Stings," and the last under the head of 

 " Swarms." 



"a colony that never thinks of 

 swarming;" a confession. 

 Some little time ago Dr. Miller and I 

 had a little tilt over the first part of this 

 subject. I was taking the ground that the 

 new shaken-swarm plan was going to do 

 awaj' with manj'of our difficulties. While 

 Dr. Miller admitted that shaking was effec- 

 tive, and could be made very useful, yet he 

 still expressed a hope that we might some 

 day breed a race of bees that would go on 

 storing honey without swarming, the same 

 as poultrj'-men have bred several varieties 

 of hens that are non-sitters. I argued that 

 the gain would be only trifling, because a 

 colony could be shaken at the convenience 



of the apiarist, and thus all desire to- 

 swarm be taken away from them in ad- 

 vance. Well, now, for the confession. The 

 events of the last few days have completely 

 converted me to Dr. Miller's view of the 

 matter. While I still have as much faith 

 in the shaken method as I ever had, and 

 while not one of the swarms we shook this 

 season has essayed to go out again, yet a 

 colony that will siay on its old brood- combs 

 in its old brood- nest, and allow all its brood 

 to hatch, is to be preferred because of the 

 saving in the labor. 



At the Harrington yard we shook per- 

 haps a third of our colonies — perhaps the 

 strongest ones. The remainder we left just 

 as they were. When the honey- flow came 

 on it was apparent that the shaking had set 

 them back a little. They had, temporarily, 

 at least, been deprived of their brood, and 

 it takes a day or so right in the hon- 



BEE-KEEPING FOR WOMEN. 



