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MANAGEMENT TO PREVENT 

 INCREASE. 



Written fur Uie American Bee Journal 



Query 527.— How would it do, when you 

 desire no Increase, to let the bees swarm nat- 

 urally and then hive them on the old stand, 

 placing the old colony close by, and at night 

 or the next day open the hives ot the old colo- 

 nies and shake all of the bees otf o( the combe 

 in front of the new colony, letting them run 

 in, thus giving the new colony a large force 

 of workers ? Then take the combs of brood 

 and give them to weak colonies. You would 

 then have some nice queen-cells to give to 

 others in place of old queens, as it is said that 

 queens reared by natural swarming are beet. 

 —Miss. 



It will do. — Dad ANT & Son. 



It will do very well. — A. B. Mason. 



It would probably do very well. — C. 



C. MiLLEE. 



It would do excellently, so long as 

 your weak colonies held out. — R. L. 

 Taylor. 



In case you do not desire much in- 

 crease, it will do very well. — J. P. H. 

 Brown. 



It would be very fair practice if well 

 executed ; but you would have to dis- 

 pose of your old queens first, before 

 giving the colony a queen-cell. — Mrs. 

 L. Harrison. 



I hardly think that the plan would 

 work well, as the weak colony would 

 be likely to swarm in a week or two 

 after the brood was given them. 

 Otherwise it probabl)' would work all 

 right. — G. M. Doolittle. 



Yes, that is a very good plan as long 

 as you have any weak colonies to build 

 up. When all are strong and deter- 

 mined to swarm, what then ? — C. H. 



DiBBERN. 



This is almost too large a subject for 

 so short a space. That might work 

 very well if you always had weak colo- 

 nies. But it seems to me that I should 

 prefer increase from the colony strong 

 enough to swarm, rather than try and 

 doctor up a weak one. — Eugenk 

 Secor. 



The plan I think will work, but 

 should the honey-flow continue, they 

 may swarm again as soon as queen- 

 cells can bo started. You can keep 

 down the swarming impulse in a great 

 measure by giving plenty of surplus 

 room for the bees to store honey in. — 

 J. M. Hambaugh. 



Your plau will do, but why not 

 shake tlie bees from the old hive at 

 once, if thi^ swarm is in a hive supplied 

 only with empty frames of wired foun- 

 dation, and add a surplus story or 

 crate of sections ? It is a risky busi- 

 ness to give queen-cells in place of old 

 queens. — P. L. Viallon. 



I see no objection to this plan, but 

 why not permit one swarm ? It will 

 doubtless produce more honey, if the 

 colonies are all wintered well, and 

 cared for in the spring. — A. J. Cook. 



Try your plan with a few colonies, 

 and see how you like it. Why not 

 shake all off at the time of hiving, and 

 have it done with, and not wait until 

 night or the next day ? — H.D.Cdtting. 



Try it and see. It would be far 

 easier for myself to return the swarm 

 at once. Why not try instead some of 

 the tested plans for non-increase, that 

 have been given from time to time in 

 the bee-papers during the past years P 

 —J. E. Pond. 



A better way would be to return the 

 bees and remove the old queen, and in 

 five or six days destroy all queen-cells 

 but one ; or, better still, destroy all 

 queen-cells, and give the bees a young 

 laying queen. In the meantime, give 

 plenty of room and plenty of ventila- 

 tion. — M. Mahin. 



Your plan will work well enough, 

 but it necessarily leaves the old queens 

 on hand to intensify the swarming 

 fever the rest of the season, and cer- 

 tainly the next season. I prefer my 

 depletion system, which results in pre- 

 serving the old colony with a vigorous 

 young queen, and exhausts the swarm 

 in storing surplus honey. Of course I 

 mean when it is desirable to suppress 

 increase. — G. W. Demaree. 



Hiving all the bees of a colony into 

 a new hive on the old stand after 

 swarming, is good practice with a con- 

 tracted brood-chamber in working for 

 comb honey. But the uniting of the 

 bees should be done as soon after 

 swarming as possible. I had one col- 

 ony to kill a large number of bees 

 from this operation,put off till the next 

 day. — G. L. Tinker. 



This query answers itself, and sets 

 forth an excellent method. The sug- 

 gestion about the care of queen-cells, 

 and superseding poor queens with 

 those that promise well, is a good one. 

 If the honey-producer does not rear 

 and test his own queens, he goes into 

 the harvest with no correct idea of the 

 efficiency of his forces. — J. M. Shuck. 



It would be good, when you thus 

 have use for the brood in the old colo- 

 nies. If the weak colonies to which 

 you give tlie C(nnl5S of brood, are verj' 

 weak, do not break up the parent col- 

 ony until you fear the queen-cells will 

 be hatching. I have practiced this 

 manj' times, when I could use the 

 brood to better advantage than to 

 make increase. This is coming down 

 to practical bee-keeping in harmony 

 with the prevailing prices of honey. 

 Go on, and soon you will want a hive 

 different from the Langstroth. — James 

 Heddon. 



After disposing of the old queen, it 

 might do to give the colony a queen- 

 cell and carry out the plan proposed, 

 but there are many better methods to 

 pursue, but there is not space enough 

 in this department to give the details. 

 — The Editor. 



WIRED FRAMES WITH COMB 

 FOUNDATION. 



Written for the Amerir/^n Bee Journal 



Query 528.— 1. In using frames with start- 

 ers and full sheets of foundation, would you 

 advise using wired frames 1 2. If so, how 

 should they be wired ?— S. 



1. No.— G. L. Tinker. 



1. For most people, I would. 2. 

 Diagonally. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



I have used very few wired frames 

 so far, but I shall try more the coming 

 season.. — G. M. Doolittle. 



1. By all means. 2. I use vertical 

 wires, about 2 inches apart. — C. C. 

 Miller. 



I have no use for wired frames, if 

 good foundation is used, and it is well 

 secured. — J. P. H. Brovtn. 



When we use wires at all, we use 2 

 or 3 horizontally. We do not believe 

 in excessive wiring. — Dadant & Son. 



1. Yes, every time. 2. I use about 

 3 or 4 wires equal distances, parallel 

 with the frame. — J. M. Hambaugh. 



I do not use the wired frames, as I 

 have no difficulty in getting nice, 

 straight combs without them. — C. H. 

 Dibbern. 



1. Yes. 2. I put 8 wires (No. 36, 

 tinned) up and down in a Langstroth 

 frame ; the end ones about an inch 

 from the ends of the frame. I use a 

 Given press, to put ^in the foundation. 

 — A. B. Mason. 



1. No. Certainly not when using 

 starters. If you have the skill to have 

 good, straight combs drawn from foun- 

 dation without wires, you will like 

 them better than any wired combs. — 

 G. W. Demaree. 



1. Always and invariably in both 

 cases. 2. Put wires from the top to 

 the bottom-bar about 3 inches apart, 

 with diagonal wires on Langstroth 

 frames, running from the ends of the 

 top-bar to the centre of the bottom-bar. 

 —3. E. Pond. 



1. If starters only are used, I see no 

 necessity of wire. If full sheets are 

 used, they are an advantage. 2. Per- 

 pendicularly,from 2J to 3 inches apart. 

 — Edgene Secor. 



1. I do not think that I should, with 

 starters ; but I would with full sheets 

 of foundation. 2. I wire the frames 

 up and down, having the end wire 

 within an inch of the frame end-bar. — 

 A. J. Cook. 



