236 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



tin tube in place, as shown in the cut. 

 Now you will see that the lower hive is 

 entirely closed, except for the exit through 

 the tube; and the mature bees on the old 

 combs, finding" themselves confined and 

 queenless, when they attempt to escape, 

 pass up the tube and emerge at the new 

 upper entrance, where they join the queen, 

 and go to form and re-inforce the new 

 colony. The nurse bees below find water 

 handy in an outside comb, and do not 

 leave, the most of them, except as they 

 become older, and the same is true of the 

 emerging brood. This forms a continu- 

 ous re-inforcement of the swarm, insur- 

 ing large results — and if left thus for 21 

 days you have every bee kept on the old 

 stand at work during the flow and no in- 

 crease. 



INCREASE OR NOT — JUST AS YOU DESIRE. 



At the close of the 21 days we can re- 

 move the old hive and combs and use 

 them as desired. If we do want some in- 

 crease, remove the lower body with its 

 brood and bees, ten days after treatment, 

 to a new stand, giving them a cell, or 

 queen if there is not a cell, or a virgin on 

 the combs, and remove the tube and block 

 from the entrance. Or, you can remove 

 the tube-swarm to a new stand, see that 

 the all-sealed brood (like the Rauchfuss- 

 Aikin method) has one queen-cell or one 

 virgin, put your supers on this hive and 

 remove the tube and block. 



When hiving on a temporarily con- 

 tracted brood-nest, as practiced by Mr. 

 Dudley, as above described, you may wait 

 nine or ten days, then remove the dum- 

 mies and take sealed brood from the old 

 brood-nest and put a frame of sealed 

 brood in the place of each dummy re- 

 moved, after destroying any queen-cells 

 that may be on these sealed brood-combs. 

 Allow the brood in the remaining old 

 combs to emerge and pass up the tube, or 

 remove and use as desired. 



MANY MODIFICATIONS OF THE DUDLEY TUBE 

 PLAN. 



The modifications of the methods first 

 described are attained through the use 

 of the tube and block. With the Rauch- 



fuss-Aikin plan, if no increase is wanted^ 

 you may kill the old queen at once, or 

 wait a week later, put her hive under the 

 hive of sealed brood having the virgin 

 queen and supers, and tube up the bees 

 and brood into the active colony. Give 

 plenty of supers, for the force of workers 

 will be im.mense. 



With the Wright method, tube up one 

 or both of the two stories of brood into 

 the swarm with its young laying queen. 

 When tubing up the force from a two- 

 story hive, couple two tubes by slipping 

 the end of one tube a short distance into 

 the end of the other tube. We took some 

 fine big results from such colonies. 



A fault of the Doolittle method, in com- 

 mon with natural or forced swarming as 

 usually practiced, is that for over three 

 weeks the forced or natural swarm be- 

 comes weaker. We overcome this, and 

 avoid the shaking recommended by Doo- 

 little, by tubing up the bees and brood, on 

 to the hive of combs and honey with 

 supers above. 



A tube swarm can be run into a small 

 brood-nest, with far less danger of 

 swarming out, or sulking, than with either 

 a forced or natural swarm. Perhaps 

 some credit for this contentment is due to 

 the fact that the bees in the old brood- 

 nest find themselves queenless, then when 

 they do join the queen above with plenty 

 of super room, and practically a new lo- 

 cation, swarming is forgotten. 



MRS. FREY'S QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 



The methods which 1 have described 

 enables us to control swarming; even in 

 distant out-yards the tube method pure 

 and simple can be so quickly and easily 

 applied that we can now answer some of 

 the questions of Mrs. Frey. page 110, 

 1906 Review. 



First. We can keep a large apiary to- 

 gether until the honey is completed—just 

 tube them up. 



Second. Requeen as needed by the Al- 

 exander method of mating, or a combina- 

 tion of Alexander and Sibbald plans, as I 

 have described. 



Third. We can keep the bees from 



