202 



THE BEE-KEEPERS* REVIEW. 



I have not time to sift them from amoug the 

 mass of rubbish, in which tliey are buried. 



Messrs. Laugdon, Taylor, Aikin aud oth- 

 ers have made marked progress aloug the 

 uon-swarming liues ou which many bee- 

 keepers are working aud they deserve great 

 credit. However, the same results can be 

 accomplislied, at less cost, aud with some 

 marked advantages, by three hives being 

 worked together in place of two. Place 

 three hives, fronts in line, as close together 

 as possible, arrange two boards with escapes 

 Bo they will close the entrances, cover the en- 

 trances of the escapes with perforated metal, 

 with these close the entrances of the two 

 outside hives and place sufficient surplus 

 cases on the center hive for the prevailing 

 honey How. All workers must return to the 

 center hive. At tlie end of four or five days, 

 change places with the center and one of the 

 outside hives, place an escape board under 

 the surplus cases, as they having the atten- 

 tion of the workers from three hives will be 

 about completed, remove them when clear 

 of bees, place other cases over the hive now 

 in the center, aud, after four or five days 

 change places between the center and the 

 other outside hive ; care for the surplus, and 

 arrange other cases over the hive now in the 

 center. Repeat the programme as long as 

 the honey flow continues, 



In all these manipulations it is understood 

 that the outside entrances are closed, except 

 that bee escapes allow the bees to leave the 

 hives, but they are compelled to enter the 

 center hive. 



By this arrangement each hive will be 

 cleaned of all < xtra bees alternately, for a 

 period of from eight to ten days, which will 

 effectually repress all desire to swarm, yet 

 each is boomed with all the bees for only 

 four or five days at one time; consequently 

 the swarming fever will not develop as it 

 would if they were boomed for eight or ten 

 days. ( )bserve, the workers do not have to 

 change entrances every time a change is 

 made, but work at the center entrance all 

 the season, nothing patentable is used, no 

 extras, that need cost a nickel. 



The perforated metal behind the escapes 

 is important. If a young queen should be 

 raised and took her mating flight through 

 an escaiie, she must return to the wrong hive 

 and be lost, the metal will confine her, not 

 longer than eight or ten days when she will 

 have a chance to leave the center hive, and 

 it being in a group of three, she cannot miss 



it on her return. In house apiaries the 

 manipulation will be easier than out of 

 doors. 



So many workers thrown together will re- 

 sult in extra surplus, in extra tine shape. 

 Truly we are " getting there " in good style. 



To the special self hiving number of the 

 Review, and subsequent articles, belong the 

 credit of getting together the accumulations 

 of experience on these lines, so it could be 

 sifted, and we would know where we were, 

 and be thereby the better enabled to work 

 out further improvements. "May it live 

 long, and prosper." 



Beblin, Mo. May 22, l»m. 



[It is possible that the above plan would 

 work satisfactorily. One objection is that 

 the hives would need lifting about, which is 

 now not the case with the Langdon method. 

 Then, again, I am not snre that such a great 

 mass of bees works to the best advantage. 

 Possibly they are in one another's way. It 

 is one of the things that I confess I " don't 

 know." It is an experiment that could be 

 easily tried and would not be expensive. A 

 few months ago, Mr. R. L. Taylor said it 

 would be desirable if all the bees in the api- 

 ary could be induced to store their honey in 

 one common pile of supers. When we get 

 three colonies to work satisfactorily in one 

 set of supers, we are, as Mr. VVeller says, 

 "getting there." 



Since the foregoing was written I have re- 

 ceived a letter from Mr. Corneil in which he 

 suggests placing two hives side by side with 

 the supers all on one hive and the entrance 

 to the other hive closed with the exception 

 of a bee escape opening outwardly. The 

 workers will pass out through the bee es- 

 cape, and, upon their return, they will even- 

 tually find their way into the adjoining hive. 

 In a few days, simply change places with the 

 hives, always keeping the supers upon the 

 hive standing, say, at the right, and the en- 

 trance of the hive standing at the left closed 

 with a bee escape. As the workers will al- 

 ways be in the habit of returning to the hive 

 at the right, there will be no confusion. To 

 this plan there is the objection of having the 

 hives to handle. 



Latek — Since the above was jiut in type I 

 have visited the Michigan, Experimental 

 Apiary and learned that such a great mass of 

 bees as the working force of even two colo- 

 nies thrown together is quite likely to swarm. 

 See Taylor's report of work in Michigan, 

 Experimental apiary. — Ed.] 



