THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



291 



swiirin, and then remove the old hive at once 

 to a new stand. On my next visit I cut out 

 all the queen cells, and drop in a virgin 

 iiueen from the queen nursery which I keep 

 running during the swarming season. 



Now I supi)Ose some one will say that all 

 tliis is work, and what is the good of the 

 hiver ? Well, in the tirst place I do not have 

 to hire some one to watch the bees, and, 

 perhaps let them go off at that. Then I can 

 fix them up when they have swarmed much 

 easier than I could get them out of tall trees 

 if allowed to have their own way. Then, 

 too, I can fix the bees to suit me much better 

 than if they had been hived by ordinary help. 

 By this plan all my queens are raised from 

 cells from my best colonies, thus constantly 

 improving my stock. 



The question may be asked, will I get as 

 much honey when using the hiver as I would 

 without ? It may astonish some, but I think 

 that I really get more ! You may well ask 

 " how can that be ? " Well, you see I trap 

 all the drones, except from one selected 

 hive, about as fast as hatched, and, of course, 

 have no army of idlers to feed. Then I am 

 sure that the scarcity of drones greatly les- 

 sens and delays swarming, thus retaining 

 the working force in the supers. 



You are wrong I think in stating that the 

 droneF clog the hivers, and prevent the 

 ready passage of the workers through the 

 excluders. In my hiver there is no trouble 

 on that point. The escaping tubes for the 

 queen and drones must not be less than % 

 inch or the bees in their efforts to drag out 

 the dead drones from below will get them 

 clogged there. That is the worst trouble to 

 overcome, but I anticipate no further diffi- 

 culty on that point. There may be other 

 difficulties that I have not yet encountered, 

 but I think I have been through the mill 

 pretty thoroughly. There is one difficulty 

 that you do not mention, that is, two or 

 more swarms is uing at aljout the same time 

 doubling up. I have had but one case of 

 that kind at the out apiary, and for once I 

 got a rousing good swarm, self-hived. I 

 simply gave them an extra super and all was 

 well. 



I want to say that 1 lay no claim to invent- 

 ing the self-hiver, though I think I have im- 

 proved it. Mr. Alley has a patent on the 

 l)rinciple, and I think he is entitled to it. I 

 have no hivers for sale, and am in no way 

 interested in booming them. I think, how- 

 ever, that the hiver, like the bee escape, has 



come to stay, and tliat bee keepers will soon 

 learn what a good thing it is. 



Milan, Ills., Oct. :iO, 18!)1. 



[Friend Dibhern, you have given us an 

 eoi'cei'dingly valuable article. We all know 

 of the disposition of the queen and bees to 

 crawl i(}), and you have taken advantage of 

 this disposition. I have not a particle of 

 doubt that the hiver, as you describe it, 

 works exactly as you say it does, and I can 

 see how valuable it would be in an out 

 apiary. Your plan of management after 

 you have found a swarm hived is such that 

 nothing is lost, even if most of the bees have 

 returned to the old hive. — Ed.1 



Carry in the Bees After They Have all 



Hatched and Flown. — How to Carry 



and Arrange the Hives. 



H. B. BOABDMAN. 



lf^§ ARRYING hives, not only in and out 

 ^^ of the cellar, but elsewhere about the 

 yard, is an important item of work. 

 To the practical bee man this suggests a hive 

 constructed convenient to carry. A hive of 

 proper dimensions for carrying can be pick- 

 ed up and carried by one man much quicker 

 and steadier with less disturbance to the bees 

 than when it is carried by two men. 



Hives are, or should be, constructed for 

 the convenience of the apiarist. The hive I 

 use is nearly cubical in form, with cleats 

 near the top upon which the cover rests. I 

 could not be induced to dispense with these 

 cleats on account of the convenience they 

 afford in carrying, not only by hand but also 

 with the hive cart, although their original 

 intent was to strengthen the hive, which 

 purpose they serve well. 



I do not attach as much importance to the 

 time of setting in as I once did. Before 

 storing, the brood should be all hatched and 

 the young bees have a few flights. During 

 the interval when there is no brood, disturb- 

 ing the bees seems to have no bad results. 

 It is not until after brood rearing begins 

 that we are to look for any bad condition of 

 the bees. They will bear almost any kind 

 of reasonable treatment up to this time. 



For the purpose of protecting the stores it 

 would be prudent to set in before cold 

 weather. 



I certainly would not carry in tlie bottom 

 boards where they are not attached to the 

 hives. It is entirely unnecessary. If it had 

 been I should have found it out before now. 



