30 A YEAR'S "WORK IN AN OUT-APIARY 



fourth visit, when I proceed to shake and brush the bees off from the 

 whole of the nineteen combs still remaining in the two hives; then from 

 the hives and the bottom-boards, thus giving this colony all the bees 

 from two hives of brood, or, as a rule, very many more than those had 

 that were made at the fourth visit. After two more of the strongest 

 colonies have been treated in the same way the beeless brood is tiered 

 up on those remaining, when a moment of taking an inventory shows 

 that I now have sixteen "shook" colonies, two others containing three 

 hives of brood and one of four hives, the queens of which are confined 

 to the lower hive by the queen-excluder, and nine colonies just made, 

 having queen-cells ready to hatch, together with nine frames of brood, 

 which will all emerge in eleven days, making twenty-eight colonies in all. 

 In order that the remainder of the reserved combs may not be destroyed 

 by moths they are now placed, ten in a hive, and one set on top of each 

 of the twelve hives not having sections on them, a queen-excluder having 

 first been placed over the nine just made colonies not having any on. 

 The year 1905 was an exceptional one, in that the colonies in the 

 apiary had been allowed to become so few through overwork. 



When the whole thirty, fifty, or seventy-five stands (or whatever 

 number we decide upon for an out-apiary) are occupied at the time of 

 setting out in the spring, there is no need of making colonies as here 

 given. When we have the full number, four-fifths of the best colonies 

 are worked for section honey, while the weaker one-fifth are to care 

 for the beeless brood, and combs, which become the "reserve combs" 

 in the fall, for the next season. That the reader may understand more 

 fully, suppose that the out-apiary is laid out for seventy-five colonies, and 

 that we have that number in the spring; then we shall want sixty hives 

 of reserve combs to go on to the four-fifths of the stronger colonies, 

 which in this case would be sixty, the work with each being done as 

 given in chapters three and four. 



In thus working, these sixty hives of beeless brood will be stacked 

 on the one-fifth, or fifteen colonies, where they will remain till the 

 end of the honey season, when they are taken off and stacked away for re- 

 serve combs for the next year, as will be given later on. This will make 

 each of the fifteen colonies have five hives of brood, the queen being con- 

 fined to the lower hive by the queen-excluder. At first glance it would 

 seem that some of this brood would be neglected through the giving of so 

 much to one colony; but repeated examinations prove that all is well 

 cared for. As the weather is warm at this time of the year, and as 

 many young bees are emerging from these combs every hour, a few 

 bees on the start can hold things in perfect condition till all danger 

 is past. When this brood has all emerged, such hives have an army of 

 bees, which, in a good season, often fill all the hives with honey, 

 thus giving us an insurance for the next year when that needed for 

 brood is so used, and the rest of it carried up to the sections, so there 

 is no loss. It will be noticed that, by this plan, all the honey not used 

 in the actual production of bees goes into the sections (which is some- 

 thing no other plan heretofore given ever accomplished), that the bees 



