34 A YEAR'S WORK IN AN OUT-APIARY 



rather than the exception, allow me to say that, nine years out of ten, 

 we do not need to resort to anything of this kind, for we are more 

 often met with the conditions of the colonies building up in advance 

 of the season, when we are taxed the other way to keep down the swarm- 

 ing instinct till the time of shaking arrives. At the time of shaking 

 the strong colonies a queen-excluder is placed over the weaker colonies 

 from which we took the brood at our visit the last time we were at 

 the out-apiary before; and after the bees are shaken off the brood 

 from the strong colonies, their beeless brood is set on top of the ex- 

 cluders, where It remains for from four to six days, in accord with the 

 weather, or our necessary work at some other place, when the out- 

 apiary is visited again and a super of sections having baits is placed 

 on top of the excluder, and on top of this the hive of brood we have 

 removed to give room for the super of sections, which is now virtually 

 between the brood in both hives, this giving the colony so much room 

 that it does not think of swarming, even with the great increase the 

 maturing brood in both hives gives in the number of bees. To over- 

 come the difficulty of stained sections and cappings to the combs in the 

 sections, a sheet of enameled cloth, or a sheet of tin (the latter being 

 preferred), is placed so it will cover their tops and all the openings 

 between the sections at the top, except those in the last row next to 

 the front of the super, and here there is only a place of about two inches 

 wide left which is not covered. Through this space the bees pass up 

 and down to and from the brood in the upper hive, so that the brood 

 is kept in as good shape as it was before putting on the super, and 

 thus the colony soon becomes very populous, without desire to swarm, 

 while this small passageway to the upper hive so nearly excludes it 

 from the bees that work is soon begun in the sections, although more 

 or less honey will be stored in these combs above as the brood emerges. 

 But as this is to be used for turning into bees the next season, no loss 

 occurs on this (storing in brood-combs) account. If the season gives 

 prospect that more than the one super will be filled, another is placed 

 above it, as in the usual plan, raising the tin covering the sections to 

 top of this super, and the only objection which comes from this way 

 of working in a very poor season is that this upper hive must be raised 

 or set off when we wish to manipulate the sections in any way. In this 

 way I secured during the extremely poor season of 1907 a little over 

 sixty-one pounds per colony, on an average, while multitudes of colonies 

 in this locality, which were allowed to take their own course, did not 

 give a pound of surplus. If success is to crown our efforts under all 

 circumstances, conditions of different seasons, and especially during an 

 uncommonly backward spring, we must "have more than one string to 

 our bow," so as to get the bees and the season together, even in the 

 worst seasons which ever come; and by thus doing, a very poor season 

 may chronicle success on the right side of the ledger page. And because 

 I believe the above is the right "string" to pull for success in a very 

 poor season, I have given this exceptional plan of working; while the 

 other and more fully described plan is the one to be used unless the 

 season gives promise of being very poor 



