A YEAR'S WORK IN AN OUT- APIARY 27 



giving them to the colonies having the six combs of brood, as I told about 

 in giving an account of that visit, I put them in a hive, after having 

 brushed the bees off, together with two or three of the reserved combs- 

 one, at least, of which should contain honey. The space left vacant where 

 the brood was taken from, in the strong colony, is filled with two combs 

 from the reserve pile, thus giving the queen in this colony room for 

 more eggs. I now go to another of the stronger colonies and put a 

 queen-excluder on it for the time being, when this prepared hive, having 

 the two combs of emerging brood, is set thereon, where it is allowed to 

 remain two or three hours, during which time the young bees come 

 up from below sufficient to care for the combs and brood, after which 

 it is placed on the stand I wish it to occupy. When I expect to make 

 colonies in this way, if I have no laying queens thus early in the home 

 yard I send south for them, if it is possible to get them from there. A 

 queen-cell will answer, but the laying queen is much better. 



By the way, full colonies can be made in this way at almost any 

 time of the year when there is plenty of emerging brood by taking two 

 combs of such brood from three or four strong colonies and adding to 

 these, frames of honey. I have made such with perfect success as late as 

 September first, using six combs of brood and four of honey. It is so 

 easy — no hunting of queens nor any thing of the kind; and the best 

 part of the whole is, enough of the young bees always stay to make it 

 a success. No need of natural swarming for increase when we can 

 make as many colonies as we desire in such a simple, easy way. The 

 advent of the queen-excluder was a great blessing, and one of the needed 

 helps in giving us the "modern apiculture" we now enjoy. 



Then there is another way of making new colonies about the time 

 of the early flow, or ten days before it commences, just in accord with 

 the strength of the colonies; when we want an increase as well as all 

 the section honey we can secure, as is often the case when a number 

 of out-aplaries are to be built out of the first one started. Let us sup- 

 pose that it is from five to ten days before the expected flow is to 

 arrive, and that, in accord with this plan, no upper stories have been 

 put on. The bees have built up from the extra honey we have allowed 

 them at the outside of the hive until they are in good shape, and the 

 swarming season is drawing on. We now go to hive No. 1 and take out 

 the comb of brood on which we find the queen, bees and all, unless 

 this comb contains mostly maturing brood. If we find her on such a 

 frame of maturing brood, the frames are looked over until we find one 

 which is only partly filled with eggs or larvae, when the queen is put 

 thereon; and this frame with the bees and queen is set aside till we 

 are ready for it. In this way we know right where the queen is, so 

 we can work rapidly without danger of losing her whereabouts or 

 injuring her. All of the rest of the brood is left in the hive where it 

 is; and if the combs are not all occupied with brood, those not so occu- 

 pied are taken out, and frames of brood are taken from some of the 

 colonies which may be too weak to work in sections during the season 

 to advantage, and put in this hive, until it is filled with combs, every 



