536 



T'HK SMERICffilf MMM JlOtJRHMI*-. 



ginning to feel like throwing up my hat, 

 when, To, on July 4 they swarmed. The 

 single colony, prepared in the same way 

 also swarmed on the next day, dashing 

 all my hopes completely. 



Upon examining the bottoms, I found 

 the bees had built but little comb be- 

 tween the boards, and that almost 

 entirely drone-comb. As I had expected 

 to use these combs in dividing after the 

 honey season was over, drone-comb was 

 consequently not wanted. Although 

 these experiments have proved failures, 

 I think I have got some new ideas from 

 them, and I will try another year. 



Bees Hanging; Outside. 



Some people seem to think that be- 

 cause bees "lay out," they are about to 

 swarm, or that they are more apt to 

 swarm in warm weather than when it 

 is cool. This is a mistaken notion. It 

 is true that bees do swarm on the ap- 

 proach of warm weather, but it is be- 

 cause other conditions are then favor- 

 able, and they are then no more inclined 

 to swarm on a warm day than a cool 

 one. 



Another popular mistake is, that bees 

 are inclined to sting in warm weather, 

 or because a person is sweaty. The 

 truth is that they are much easier to 

 handle in warm weather, and they are 

 not nearly so cross. 



Carnlolan Bees. 



The Carinolan bees are still at the 

 front. They have all swarmed, and 

 they are also all in the sections. While 

 other bees are inclined to lay off, on 

 account of hot weather, they seem to be 

 all business. 



Milan, 111. 



■ DIVISION-BOARDS. 



Their Utility and Historic Use 

 in Bce-Keepins;. 



Read iit the Maine Convention 



BY L. F. ABBOTT. 



Division- boards should have a place 

 in every well-regulated apiary. In fact, 

 every well-managed apiary will include 

 the division- board as a necessary ad- 

 junct to successful handling of bees 

 The division-board fits into a place in 

 the handling of bees which no system 

 of management can fill without them, 

 hence they are a necessity. 



This necessity in their use has grown 

 out of the system by which bees are 

 kept, an understanding of their ways 

 and workings calling into requisition 

 many things, as movable frames, the 

 extractor, section-cases, honey-sections, 

 and the various appliances which render 

 beekeeping profitable, and among them 

 all, the division-board ranks as im- 

 portant a feature as either of the re- 

 quisites named. 



Introduction of Division-Boards. 



Although the use of division-boards 

 in the apiary as a factor of prominence 

 dates back but a few years, it may be 

 known to some of the more advanced 

 apiarists that as long ago as 18.'52 a pat- 

 ent was taken out on division- boards 



fc^*<**<»>*^* ^^'^*-^^^^^-* i ^ <fc >^ * j^* ^ ^ ^^ ^^jji^A^^^^^^^^^^^.^^.^^^^^ 



by Rev. L. L. Langstroth. This was 36 

 years ago, but the division-board, we 

 think, did not very generally come into 

 use till quite recently. Mr. Langstroth's 

 board was made as follovi's, and will be 

 found described on page 376 of his book, 

 '■ The Hive and Honey Bee : " 



"One piece ISJ^xflMx;^, each side 

 of each end made X inch beveling, for 

 easy adjustment. One pieces-gx^xiej^ 

 nailed on the first piece, like the top- 

 piece of the movable comb-frames. By 

 this divider, the size of hive can be de- 

 termined at will." 



This reveals the use the division- 

 board was first put to, to contract or 

 enlarge the size of the hive. And this 

 is an important matter when rightly 

 considered. While there are various 

 ways in which division- boards are use- 

 ful in handling bees, perhaps the two 

 most important advantages derived 

 from their use is, in preparing colonies 

 for winter, and in adapting the size of 

 the hive to the strength of the colony in 

 spring. 



Preparing Bees for Winter. 



In preparing for winter, it is known to 

 be best to allow the bees only space ac- 

 cording to their numbers. That may 

 be to occupy four, five or six frames. 

 We all know that it is easier to heat a 

 small room in winter than a large one, 

 and so this principle applies to the bee- 

 hive. And, again, we do not want to 

 depart from established rules in build- 

 ing hives as to size; were we to do so, 

 we might lumber our premises with a 

 large number of different sized bee- 

 hives, of no use only as occasion called 

 for wintering, and occasionally for nu- 

 clei colonies in summer. 



If we use division-boards, the ques- 

 tion of making hives to carry eight or 

 ten frames is easily solved. It is an 

 advantage to have some hives which 

 will carry ten frames, as side-storing 

 can then be practiced if one likes that 

 way, and in working for extracted honey 

 it is an advantage to use ten frames in 

 the lower story, as a prolific queen will 

 occupy that numberand leave the upper 

 story clear of brood. Then if such hives 

 are desired to work for comb honey, 

 and five to six frames in the brood- 

 chamber are found sufficient, the con- 

 traction is easily made by using divi- 

 sion-boards, or the same contraction 

 made for wintering, and, if deemed 

 necessary, the spaces between the walls 

 of the hives and division-boards can be 

 filled with some material which is non- 

 conducting to cold, as leaves, chaff, etc. 



Use of Division-Boards in Spring. 



In rearing large numbers of bees 

 early in the season, queens are induced 

 to early breeding trom two especial 

 causes, viz : heat and a supply of proper 

 food. A requisite of spring care is to 

 reduce the size of the brood-nest to just 

 as small compass as the bees can com- 

 fortably fill. Having done this in the 

 fall previous, while the bees were more 

 numerous, crowding them upon six 

 frames, we will say, April may find the 

 bees only able to cover two frames com- 

 fortably. The division-board upon each 

 side has been the means of contracting 

 their domicile, enabling the bees to 

 more easily warm up their house, and 



the consequence is, the queen will com- 

 mence laying earlier by some weeks 

 than it the whole space of eight or ten 

 frames had been given the colony in the 

 fall. 



Often winter and spring dwindling 

 will be such that two frames will be 

 adequate to the requirements of the 

 colony. It is, then, of the highest im- 

 portance that the division boards be 

 used so that the heat may be utilized, 

 and by that means a few bees be en- 

 abled to do in small, contracted quar- 

 ters, in the way of rearing brood, what 

 double the numbercould not do in three 

 or four times the space. 



DlTlsIon-Boards In Surplus Cbanibers. 



In case of extracting, division-boards 

 are indispensable, to place over the 

 brood-chamber and grade the number 

 of frames as they are put in from time 

 to time. It is a fact known by all 

 practical bee-keepers, that bees, in 

 order to build combs, must keep a high 

 temperature where they are working, 

 to keep the wax in a proper consistency 

 to admit of being manipulated into 

 combs. Hence, if the surplus room is 

 much larger than the bees can occupy, 

 because these conditions of necessary 

 heat are waiting, comb building will 

 often be delayed for the necessary 

 amount of bees to engender sufficient 

 heat. By the use of division-boards, 

 combs or sheet of foundation can be 

 supplied as the bees require them, and 

 are able to occupy them. 



Constrnctlon of DlTisIon-Boards. 



How to properly construct division- 

 boards is of some importance. Solid 

 boards answer very well, but such are 

 liable to warp and make their use not 

 quite so handy as those that are true. 

 Those made of thin material and the 

 interior filled with chaff, have advan- 

 tages. Whatever kind are used, it is 

 of importance that the ends have some 

 material of a yielding nature tacked to 

 them, so as to allow this board slight 

 friction to hold it when crowded into 

 place. 



Lewiston Maine. 



SWARMING. 



Do Bees Select a Habitation 

 before i^warming^ ? 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY J. F. LATHAM. 



Although the above caption is des- 

 titute of originality, the question is a 

 mucli mooted one, judging from the 

 correspondence, jv/o and con, that has 

 appeared in the bee-periodicals during 

 my acquaintance with the subject. As I 

 have been much interested in the diver- 

 sity of opinion by those who have given 

 their testimony with reference to bees 

 "seeking a home before swarming," I 

 feel prompted to add my mite to the 

 general fund of observation and expe- 

 rience. 



Eight years ago I had a powerful 

 colony of black bees in a box-hive. The 

 colony had wintered excellently, and as 

 the season was favorable, by the middle 



