164 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



tiouB where it is doubly valaable. The small 

 number of frames into which the brood is 

 compressed should not occasion alarm. Five 

 L. frames may easily contain what is often 

 spread over ten, while the former means 

 forty pounds of comb honey and the latter 

 none at all ; the live additional combs se- 

 cure part of the possible surplus in the 

 brood combs and convert the rest into val- 

 xieless bees. In a poor season a colony con- 

 fined to comb equal to that of five L. frames 

 gave me fifty pounds of section honey — more 

 than twice the average of the apiary — and 

 this though all the time it was afflicted with 

 '• foul brood." 



To meet the difficulties of this second point 

 I find the new Heddon hive convenient. 

 Some fill one section only of the hive with 

 brood, others may need a little help to do 

 even that. All such are of course confined 

 to the one section. Others fill more than 

 one, and others still, nearly two. By a little 

 manipulation, every colony is confined either 

 to one or to two sections of the hive which 

 in either case is substantially full of brood 

 by the 20th of June and each hive presents 

 the same top surface for the reception of 

 sections. 



As to the time of putting on the first case 

 of sections I follow one simple rule. When 

 the bees are found lying above the honey 

 board in considerable numbers, say a pint 

 or less, they are ready for work above, and 

 the sections go on at once. There is nothing 

 like the incoming of nectar to expand a col- 

 ony and they hardly ever lie above the honey 

 board in the early part of the season unless 

 there is considerable nectar to be gathered. 

 When a second and succeeding cases should 

 be put on depends on various circumstances. 

 The strength of the colony, the prospective 

 length of time before the end of the run of 

 nectar and the amount of work done in the 

 case last adjusted, must all be weighed in 

 the determination of the question. On the 

 one hand the danger of loss from too much 

 crowding, and, on the other, too many un- 

 finished sections consequent on giving too 

 much room, are the Scylla and Charybdis to 

 be shunned. Early in the run a colony 

 rather weak in Vjees may be allowed to near- 

 ly complete the first case before another is 

 given ; a medium one should be supplied 

 with a second when the first is about half 

 tilled and a strong one that crowds the first 

 case should be furnished with a second as 

 soon as the first is fairly started. 



These are to be taken as general directions 

 if everything is favorable for a good^honey 

 flow. Each succeeding case should be 

 placed under the last one, i. e., immediately 

 upon the honey board, until towards the 

 probable end of the honey flow, when it is 

 better to place it above the one that is still 

 unfinished to make the completion of those 

 already begun more certain. As the season 

 advances more and more caution must be 

 exercised in the adding of sections. In the 

 height of the season, I aim to give the bees 

 at least as many sections as they will occupy 

 and work on, and as the end of the flow ap- 

 proaches I allow the space where work is to 

 be done to become more and more contract- 

 ed so that at the last there may be few sec- 

 tions containing honey that are not com- 

 pleted and fit for market. During a good 

 season, some colonies may have completed 

 five cases each and some only one. It will 

 be of great assistance in forming a sound 

 judgement in the matter of putting on sec- 

 tions to have regard to the condition and 

 probable continuance of white clover, which 

 depends largely upon the amount and fre- 

 quency of the rains. One must also observe 

 the time of the blooming of basswood and 

 know the usual time during which it lasts in 

 one's locality. 



I am in no haste to take off the hives even 

 finished cases of honey. They can be in no 

 better place for the ripening of the honey 

 and there need be no fear of travel stains so 

 long as honey is coming in and there is room 

 lower down in unfinished sections for the 



It only remains to speak of swarming and 

 the manipulation incident thereto. As a 

 preparation I have the queens clipped, the 

 entrance of each hive guarded by a queen 

 trap, and a sufficient supply of hives for the 

 reception of swarms. The hives consist each 

 of a single section of the Heddon hive fur- 

 nished with comb, or, preferably, founda- 

 tion, besides bottom, cover and queen ex- 

 cluding honey board, and are kept in a cool 

 place in the yard where they are convenient 

 of access. A swarm is seen issuing ; I take 

 a hive to the spot, turn the old hive around 

 out of its place and replace it with the new 

 one. I then watch to see if the queen is 

 safely in the trap. When I see her I place 

 the trap at the entrance of the new hive and 

 remove the sections from the old hive to the 

 new one. In some seasons a few swarms 

 cluster on trees but return soon. In that 



