1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



847 



the sections, thus demonstrating the only 

 system of pei'fect swarm control that has 

 ever yet been given to the public in connec- 

 tion with comb-honey production. When I 

 say 7Jer/ec< swarm co?i^ro/. I mean a system 

 that will keep the bees and brood together 

 with no desire to swarm. I am not gomg to 

 promise you a system of perfect swai'm con- 

 trol and then give you an artificial swarm 

 destitute of hatching brood that is continual- 

 ly becoming weakened by the loss of old 

 bees, and that hived in a brood-chamber so 

 contracted with honey as to compel the bees 

 to swarm out the next day and the next, and 

 so on. 



Birmingham, Ohio. 



BUILDING UP THE APIARY FOR THE 

 MAIN HONEY-FLOW. 



An Entirely Feasible Plan for a Season like 



this : how to Get a Profit out of a Lot 



of Weak Colonies; a Hopeful View 



of the Clover Prospects. 



BY OREL L. HEUSHISEK. 



[The subjoined article presents a plan that looks at 

 least as if it should give g-ood results to the extent 

 that a profit would besecured on an investment' that 

 might otherwise give no returns or even a loss. There 

 are some who have tried the Alexander plan of build- 

 ing up weak colonies, and failed. To all such the 

 Hershiser method will commend itself. We are glad 

 to present it, as it may not be too late to apply it this 

 season.— Ed.] 



Heavy winter and spring losses are report- 

 ed in many localities in the northern and 

 eastern States and in Canada; and the colo- 

 nies that have pulled through are in many 

 cases greatly depleted. Without some spe- 

 cial care and manipulation many apiarists 

 will get very little benefit from the white- 

 clover and other early honey-fiows. How- 

 ever, if the bees are properly and promptly 

 handled a fair crop is possible from colonies 

 that have come through in such condition. 



Having had previous occasions to practice 

 all the ingenuity I possessed in order to turn 

 to profitable account the depleted colonies in 

 my apiaries, resulting from severe winter 

 and spring conditions, my methods, if fol- 

 lowed by others similarly circumstanced, 

 may enable them to win success where con- 

 ditions and prospects seem to promise naught 

 but failure. 



At this time of year, spring dwindling is 

 practically at an end, and every colony with 

 a handful of bees will build up as rapidly as 

 possible, the rapidity depending largely upon 

 the number of eggs the small number of bees 

 are able to incubate and the brood they can 

 nourish and keep warm. The egg-laying ca- 

 pacity of the queens in these weak colonies 

 being in no way impaired, the problem is 

 how best to turn them to profitable account 

 in the production of eggs from which to rear 

 the bees in time for the honey harvest. It 

 will not do to "spread brood " in weak col- 

 onies; and it may be remarked in passing, 

 that, to obtain beneficial results from "spread- 

 ing bi'ood " under any condition of the colo- 

 ny, requires good judgment. 



The plan that I have found most fruitful 

 of good results in getting the greatest benefit 

 from these weak colonies is as follows: 



Look the apiary over and make three 

 classes of the colonies, the first of which will 

 be all colonies which are or will be in fii'st-class 

 condition for the forthcoming white-clover 

 honey harvest or the firstmain flow from what- 

 ever source. The second class will be all those 

 colonies which will be of from one-half to 

 two-thirds the required strength for this first 

 main honey-flow; and the third class all the 

 remaining weak colonies, with fx'om a hand- 

 ful of bees to enough to cover two or three 

 frames of brood. 



. Now go to one of these weak colonies of 

 the third class and shake the bees from one 

 or two of the combs into their own hive, se- 

 lecting those combs with eggs and larvaj, but 

 leaving with the weak colony the combs hav- 

 ing the most capped brood. Now take these 

 combs to one of the strong colonies of the 

 first class, and exchange them for a like 

 number of combs of hatching and capped 

 brood, shaking off most of the bees, and be- 

 ing sure the queen remains in her hive. Now 

 supply one of these combs of hatching brood 

 to the colony of the third class from which 

 the combs had been removed. If this colony 

 has enough bees to take care of two frames 

 of brood, both may be given; but if not, the 

 other frame may be given to another of the 

 third-class colonies. Proceed in like manner 

 lantil all the third-class colonies have been 

 supplied with one or two combs of hatching 

 " bi'ood from the first- class colonies in exchange 

 for the combs of eggs and uncapped larvaj 

 from the third-class colonies, being careful 

 not to give more brood to the third-class col- 

 onies than they can keep warm and cause to 

 develop properly and normally. The result 

 of this manipulation will be that the queens 

 in the first-class colonies will almost immedi- 

 ately fill the exchanged frames with eggs, 

 and the colony will be little, if any, the worse 

 for having lost some of its capped brood at 

 this time. On the other hand, the third-class 

 colonies will, in three or four days, have be- 

 come so strong, by reason of the rapidly 

 hatching bees from the exchanged combs, as 

 to cover one or two combs besides those con- 

 taining brood. The queen will lay eggs nn 

 these exchanged combs as fast as the bees 

 hatch, and in a very short time one or two 

 of the frames adjacent to the exchanged 

 frames will be filled with eggs. As fast as 

 the combs of the thii'd-class colonies are fill- 

 ed with eggs they are given to the colonies 

 of the second class to build them up. It will 

 be surprising to see how rapidly the colonies 

 of the second class may tbus be built up. 

 Near the end of this building-up process, and 

 when nearly all the second-class colonies 

 have been brought to a condition of efficien- 

 cy for the honey-flow, the third-class colonies 

 may be divided into two classes, or, in other 

 words, a part of them placed in the second 

 class to be built up as were the others of the 

 second class, and a few days later still anoth- 

 er classification may be made, and the net 

 result will be that seven-eighths or more of 



