THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



327 



another saper under the one already on, and 

 simply exchange the leader for the (jueen 

 for a longer one, reaching past two or even 

 three supers. If the hivo:^, supers and honey 

 boards are all of an even width, there is no 

 trouble in making the leaders tit, but to 

 guard against their getting out of place, I 

 usually tack them on the supers with little 

 bits of tin. The tubes of wire cloth for the 

 queen and drones to pass through, seem out 

 of proportion, but it is very important that 

 they be not less than -'i inch, or they will 

 become clogged with dead drones. 



At first it was a mystery to me why they 

 became stopped up with drones when there 

 was plenty of room for them to get through, 

 but I soon discovered that the bees in trying 

 to expel the dead drones from the hive 

 would try to drag them up through these 

 tubes, and just as they came to the top, the 

 stiff, outstretched wings would catch in the 

 wire cloth and stick there. This was the 

 most serious difficulty I have had with the 

 hiver. I now have a plan of boring, say two 

 1^4 inch holes through the bottom board in 

 front of entrance, and inserting a tin tube 

 extending two or three inches below for the 

 bees to drop all dead bees, drones and rub- 

 bish through. I will arrange this so it will 

 be dark, and I believe there will no danger 

 of the queen escaping through these tubes. 

 I have closely watched the actions of queens 

 in the swarmers, and find they persistently 

 go to the light, and run upwards. 



In my former article I said that the part of 

 the hiver on the empty hive was like the one 

 on the swarming hive, except as to the tubes, 

 That was the way I used them last year, but, 

 for several reasons, I will next season make 

 them only the width of the super. 



One serious objection urged against the 

 hiver is that where perhaps twenty-five per 

 cent of the bees swarm, we must have one 

 hundred per cent of empty hives. Now you 

 see this upper part will tit on an empty super 

 just as well, and the bees can be put into 

 hives afterwards, and fixed up to suit. On 

 one occasion I found the entire swarm in 

 the upper part of the hiver, and they had 

 filled it more than half full of comb. From 

 this experience, and the fact that it is 

 cheaper, I conclude the smaller size is best. 

 Then, too, the swarming bees, on their re- 

 turn, finding the queen in this smaller space, 

 will be more apt to go into the hive, and 

 stay there. It often happens that we have a 

 lot of hives with good empty combs, or per- 



haps with some honey in, that we wish to 

 use for some of our very first swarms, but of 

 course we can not use them to receive swarms 

 like empty hives, with the hiver, without ex- 

 posing them to robbers, and moths. Now, 

 by hiving the bees in an empty super we can 

 afterwards hive them just when and where 

 we want them. 



Great care must be taken not to liberate 

 the queen too soon after swarming, as she 

 will surely take wing, and the swarm will 

 immediately follow. To guard against that, 

 I usually remove the escape board, (now 

 doing duty as a bottom with the empty hive), 

 when I place the hived swarm on the old 

 stand to receive the returning swarm. 



Should I wish to hive them (when I am 

 present) in a hive containing comb, I place 

 this hive on the old stand, removing the old 

 hive some distance, so the swarming bees 

 will not find it. Now, when I see the queen 

 in the upper hiver, I unhook it and slip a 

 piece of sheet iron between it and the hive 

 so that no bees can escape, and carry it to 

 and hook it upon the hive to receive the 

 swarm. Now, when the bees have been thus 

 nicely hived, I put the old colony on fojJ, 

 over a bee escape, as described last month. 

 Don't be in any hurry to remove the swarmer 

 from the new hive, as bees will often take a 

 notion to abscond even when hived in the 

 old way, and I have saved several swarms by 

 keeping the swarmer on. Wtien I remember 

 how I lost twenty swarms one season by 

 their absconding for some unaccountable 

 reason, I know that the hiver is worth some- 

 thing for that purpose alone. 



Some may object to lifting oft an empty 

 hive whenever they wish to see how the bees 

 are getting along in the supers, but an empty 

 super with the hiver part attached is about 

 as easily handled as a cover. The cut shows 

 how I fasten hive, supers and coyer together 

 by wires to keep all tightly together and pre- 

 vent the wind from blowing them ofif. 



The special toi)ic in the December number 

 of the Review is to be, "How to tide over 

 the poor seasons." This is indeed a vital 

 (luestion with most bee keepers. I believe 

 that the hiver will play as important a part 

 in solving this problem as any one thing. 

 This question has been a disturbing element 

 with me for many years. In the "(iO's and 

 even in the '70's we used to be reasonably 

 safe in counting on a good honey year : at 

 any rate the poor seasons were the excep- 

 tions ; but since If^W they have rather been 



