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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15 



You can pile the shallow bodies containing- 

 the old combs and young bees all together, 

 and have a rousing big colony for extract- 

 ed honey. For a few days, the greater part 

 of the swarm being old bees, there will be 

 some confusion; therefore it is best to have 

 the pairs of hives not less than seven feet 

 apart. * 



Another modification of the " shook " or 

 "brushed " swarm is this: Breed the colo- 

 nies up to the greatest possible strength; 

 Then select ten combs containing the least 

 amount of brood ; put them into a hive- 

 body and set it on the old stand; put a sec- 

 tion-case with full sheets of foundation on 

 top of this body, and brush most of the bees 

 into it. Uncap several of the combs and 

 allow the bees to gorge themselves on the 

 honey. This starts them to building comb. 

 In eight days remove this section of the 

 brood-chamber and substitute the other sec- 

 tion; brush the bees into the last; keep the 

 queen and most of the bees in the working 

 hive; allow the brood to be fed and sealed 

 by nurse bees. This settles swarming. A 

 shallow double-decker is an indispensable 

 requisite to this manipulation. 



Another way, and the one I think recom- 

 mended by Mr. Stachelhausen, is to use 

 full or half sheets of foundation, as consid- 

 ered best, and brush all of the bees, using 

 the combs of brood to build up other colo- 

 nies or make nuclei. This method was far 

 superior to natural swarming, in that it 

 gave at least 20 per cent more bees, and 

 made less work for the apiarist; but it had 

 one very serious fault: The combs of brood 

 could not be utilized to the greatest advan- 

 tage, and the force of hatching bees was 

 lost to the colony. Since first Mr. Stachel- 

 hausen gave to the public this plan, he has 

 modified it considerably. Though many 

 claim to have arrived at these different plans 

 independently, I believe the credit rightly 

 belongs to him. 



I have modified this plan for my own use, 

 and now consider it very satisfactory. I 

 have noticed all that has been said against 

 it, anil candidly believe it suited to the care- 

 ful expert, but not to every careless opera- 

 tor. Either of the other plans is good, and 

 will work with reasonable care. Both can 

 be depended on to get lots of comb honey; 

 but having in mind the matter of soiled and 

 travel-stained sections when producing 

 comb honey over old black combs, I do not 

 use old combs. Half- sheets in the six-inch 

 hive are good enough for me. The amount 

 of drone comb built is insignificant. The 

 second drive gives all the bees I ever need 

 for the flow at home; and after the white- 

 honey flow I can unite again and get a very 

 powerful colony for the slow flow that comes 

 later on. Working thus, I am at all times 

 master of the situation. 



I am not in the least dogmatic; but re- 

 sults count, and I get good results every 

 time; so I say, for me at least, the brush- 

 ing of bees on half-sheets is a decided suc- 

 cess. 



One thing I wish to mention: Pure Ital- 



ians do not go into the supers so readily as 

 Carniolans and their crosses ; and , of course, 

 such good results can be had only when the 

 bees rush into the supers promptly. 



To hive on drawn combs is a very decep- 

 tive thing — at least it is so with me. The 

 bees always store some honey (and I doubt 

 if it can be prevented) in the two outside 

 combs. The brood Mr. Morrison is so anx- 

 ious to get started would be of no value for 

 at least 24 days, and that would mean a 

 big loss to me. Better — far better — the 

 second drive of young bees before the flow 

 is too far gone. In any case I fail to see 

 how the use of drawn combs would increase 

 the amount of honej' or decrease the amount 

 of work. As to the other objections, I am 

 sure that you who are careful to have young 

 queens and shallow hives will never be 

 troubled in the least. 



In experimenting with the three plans 

 outlined above, I found that, in order to 

 overcome certainly the desire to swarm, it 

 is absolutely necessary to give the bees 

 plentj' of work to do something to keep the 

 young bees busy as well as the old ones; 

 and for that purpose nothing equals comb- 

 building. As in the second plan men- 

 tioned, compelling the young bees to nurse 

 the brood in a separate hive will answer 

 the same purpose. 



Mr. Morrison says he wants big hives, 

 and so do I, but not for a working hive. 

 No man can get the best results in comb 

 honey with big hives and drawn combs to 

 start with. Whatever size of hive is used 

 for a breeding-hive, contraction must be re- 

 sorted to, or poor results will follow, no 

 matter who says to the contrary. A really 

 fine article of comb honey can not be got 

 over old combs where the bees can find 

 room to store in the brood chamber. 



Lastly, does not every bee-keeper know 

 that a powerful colony of bees in a small 

 hive, with a vigorous young queen, and 

 plenty of room above to store in, will build 

 only worker comb in the brood-chamber? 

 It is different with large hives and old 

 plaj'ed-out queens, however. The chances 

 are that a good amount of drone comb will 

 be built, if very narrow starters are used in 

 deep frames, and there be any crowding in 

 the supers. The bees during a good flow 

 will be largely compelled to build down- 

 ward; and as storage room is what they 

 are after, drone comb mostly will be 

 built. 



I do not consider that Mr. Morrison has 

 made out any good case against half-sheets 

 of foundation in shallow frames. Evidently 

 he uses a frame too deep for the best results, 

 or allows the bees to be too crowded in the 

 supers. At any rate he gets lots of drone 

 comb in his frames and I do not. He gets 

 more honey over drawn combs, but I get 

 fully a third more over starters, and of 

 course mine is whiter. He gets a good lot 

 of brood in his combs that will be workers 

 in about thirty days; but I get by a second 

 drive a wad that are workers right now. 



Vigo, Tex. 



