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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15 



getting a crop that will not break down or 

 blow over during heavy rainstorms." 



SOMETHING STILL LATER FROM CALVIN S. HUNTER. 



We got two fields planted in April, and our testing- 

 boxes show the seed to be good. The three old straw- 

 berry-boxes (covered by frames of chicken-wire of 2- 

 inch mesh) will test 264 ears of corn at one setting 

 (enough seed for 2.5 acres). Each twine suspends'the 

 number of ears that fill one row of the meshes, and is 

 tagged at its loop for its number or row in its box, al- 

 ways counting the ears from the bottom one up to 

 the loop by which they are hung up to dry or season. 



I fill our testing-boxes more than full of garden 

 soil, so it may settle and yet the wires fit snugly on 

 the surface; then I push each grain point down (and 

 deep) so as to economize space, the two butt grains 

 in the center of the block, so as to waste only the 

 point of the ear, if that is all that is bad. I have a 

 grain with two hearts, or germs, and to me it is as 

 rare as to see grains on the inside of an open cob, 

 which I have seen. This two-heart grain would make 

 a suitable wedding-present. C. S. Hunter. 



Seven Mile, Ohio, May 2. 



A SEASON'S WORK WITH SECTIONAL 

 HIVES. 



Swarm Control and Comb-honey Produc- 

 tion. 



BY J. E. HAND. 



[This is the beginning of the promised series of ar- 

 ticles by Mr. J. E. Hand, on the general subject of 

 comb-honey production and swarm control in locali- 

 ties where the honey season is short, and where, gen- 

 erally, no surplus can be secured with ordinary 

 management and appliances. 



Our friend has been saying for a year or two back 

 that he had a system of management, in connection 

 with the divisible-brood-chamber hive, which not only 

 brings swarming under control, but secures for him 

 extra fancy comb honey. We did not think very much 

 about the matter, as there are not a few (good bee- 

 men, too) who sometimes become so over-enthusiastic 

 over some method of management that they have de- 

 veloped that they come to the conclusion there is no 

 other plan to equal it. We were finally induced to 

 look into Mr. Hand's method. Indeed, he made a trip 

 to Medina to explain it. We called together a coterie 

 of our men. At first we were really sorry for him; 

 then we became interested; finally enthusiastic. 

 While we did not lose our head (at least, we hope so) 

 we will say this much: Mr. Hand has perfected a sys- 

 tem which will merit the closest and most careful 

 scrutiny of those comb-honey producers who have 

 been annoyed by the swarming problem, and who have 

 been unable, owing to the shortness of the season, to 

 secure a paying crop of comb honey. 



The result of our interview was that we made ar- 

 rangements with Mr. Hand to write us a series of ar- 

 ticles detailing his method, describing how he works 

 with the Heddon divisible-brood-chamber hive as he 

 has modified it. These articles we now have in hand, 

 and we expect to send a member of our editorial staff 

 to his place to-morrow with a set of cameras to photo- 

 graph each step and detail of this method. We hope, 

 therefore, in succeeding issues, to place before our 

 readers something of more than ordinary interest. 



We may say further that we have talked with a 

 number of divisible-brood-chamber experts since that 

 time, and have been surprised to note the remarkable 

 agreement among them as to the possibilities in the 

 handling of this hive.— Ed.] 



That swarming is the most serious obstacle 

 in the pathway of sviccessful comb-honey pro- 

 duction on a large scale is evident from the 

 fact that, notwithstanding there is an almost 

 unlimited demand for a fancy article of comb 

 honey at a high price, nearly all the large 

 apiaries are engaged in the production of ex- 

 tracted honey, which brings less than half 

 what it would if stored in the form of section 

 honey. 



In a serifs of articles which I have prom- 



ised to give .to the readers of this journal, of 

 which tnis is the beginning, I will endeavor 

 to tell, in a clear and concise manner, just 

 how very nearly, if not quite, as many pounds 

 of comb honey can be produced as of ex- 

 tracted, and with no more trouble from 

 swarming than in the production of extract- 

 ed honey. That there is need of such a sys- 

 tem, all producers of comb honey will agree. 



It is true that shook swarming, with its 

 many variations, is better than nothing; but 

 it is only a partial success at best, in that, 

 like natural swarming, the strength of the 

 colony is being continually reduced by the 

 dropping off of old bees while no young ones 

 are hatching out to take their places, and the 

 colony soon becomes perceptibly weakened 

 right in the midst of the honey-How, which 

 means a loss to the honey-producer. Hence 

 it is very desirable to have a system that will 

 keep the brood and bees together, thus keep- 

 ing up the full working force of the colony 

 for any length of honey-flow that may come. 



These articles will tell you, not only how 

 to do this, but how you can have every one 

 of your colonies just boiling over with bees, 

 so that you can take advantage of any hon- 

 ey-flow that may come, however early. They 

 will show you all the advantages of the two- 

 queen system as applied to comb-honey pro- 

 duction and swai'm control. They will tell 

 you of a new method of putting foundation 

 in sections, four at a time, in such a manner 

 as to insure a perfect section of honey firmly 

 fastened on four sides, and practically free 

 from pop-holes in the corners, which means 

 that practically all yovir honey will be 

 fancy. 



I will begin in early spring, taking the 

 reader right along with me throughout the 

 entire season. We will clip queens, unite 

 colonies, and, in fact, carry on all the neces- 

 sary manipulations with lightning rapidity, 

 and yet not hurry, for all our manipulations 

 will be by hives; not a single brood-frame 

 will be removed during the entire season, 

 thus proving to your entire satisfaction that 

 the handling of brood-frames singly is in- 

 deed an expensive luxury. 



HIVES, 



While it is true that hives do not gather 

 honey, and that, other things being equal, a 

 colony of bees will stoi'e as much honey in 

 one hive as in another, it is no less true that 

 our success or failure in the production of 

 surplus comb honey and swarm conti'ol de- 

 pends upon the principles involved in the 

 construction of our hives to a greater degree 

 than on any other one thing. 



That the advocates of large fixed-brood- 

 chamber hives are the ones who are calling 

 loudest for a system of swarm control, is a 

 significant fact. 



To the user of these hives, swarming is in- 

 deed a calamity; for with the issuing of a 

 swarm vanishes all their hopes of a crop of 

 surplus comb honey, since a swarm hived in 

 one of these large brood-chambers would not 

 enter the sections unless the honey-flow were 

 of long duration. 



