10 



MANAGEMENT OF OUT-APIARIES 



twenty nice worker combs for each colony I expected to work at tlie out- 

 apiary for section hone\-, each year. To return again. 



Having the hive with eight combs in it, set o\-er colony No. 1, prepared 

 as given, I take the two combs of honey taken out, shake the bees from 

 them (in shaking bees from the combs, always shake them right close up to 

 the entrance, so that should the clipped queen be with them she will be sure 

 to run into the hive rather than off in the grass or under the hive and get 

 lost, as is often the case when this part of the work is done thoughtlessly), 

 so as to be sure the queen is not gotten above, when two of the eight combs 

 in the upper hive are placed a bee-space apart, toward one side of the hive, 

 when one of the combs of honey is put in. Four more of the eight combs 

 are now drawn towai'd the frame of honey just put in, properly spacing 

 them, when the other comb of honey is put in, the other two combs spaced, 

 and the hive closed. The diagram shows the ari'angenient. 



I now fix the other twelve colonies in the same way, when all are ready 

 to do the best work possible in every way till white clover blooms. Taking 

 the years as they average, and fixing each upper hi\'e with an avei'age of 

 the reserve combs, as to honey for each colony, each will have from 15 to 

 30 pounds; and this amount, together with the way their "riches" are fixed, 

 and the bees sti'aightening up things to theiT liking, gi\es a zest to brood- 

 rearing which soon veryjnearly or completely fills the ten combs below, 

 and that in time to give the maximum amount of bees in the clover and 

 basswood flow. If the bees do not secure honey to any amount from the 

 fi'uit bloom, mustard, or locust, on account of bad weather, as is often the 

 case in this locality, they go right on with their brodd ,iust the same, as the 

 amount of honey they have demands no retrenching. Then these combs 

 act as a sort of balance wheel; that is, if a short flow of nectar comes for 

 a day or two, there are empty cells in abundance in which to store it; and 

 the bees do not hesitate to take all that is needed for the most prolific 

 brood-rearing, if the next two days or a week are days of storm, cold, or 

 an entire failure of nectar. Thus we have no days of crowding out of the 

 brood with a sudden flow of nectar on one hand or a slackening or failui-e 

 of brood on account of "famine" on the other hand ; while at the same time 

 this doubling of the hi-\-e room entirely prevents any of the colonies from 

 contracting the swarming fever before the time for the working-out of 



