MANAGEMENT OP OUT-APIARIES 



21 



with the swarm. However, I like to ^et as many as is consistent with quick 

 work, with the "shook" colony, for the more bees there are here the better 

 results in honey. Then, I wish to say that there are times when thin nectar 

 is coming in bountifully, when I can not shake all the bees off thus, or by 

 any other plan; for if I do the bees will be so nearly drowned in this thin 

 nectar which shakes out of the combs that they will not go into the hive. 

 During such a flow of nectar I shake the combs the same way, only do it so 

 gently that no nectar is shaken out, when the bees which still hold to the 

 eonibs must be brushed off. I have always declared it a nuisance to have 

 thin nectar coming in at a time when I am obliged to free combs from bees, 

 but have always been consoled by the thought that this thin nectar is what 

 is to be turned into cash by and by, when the bees have it evaporated into 



IDOWN 



' ■sr^'B-- 



DOOLITTLE'S METHOD OF HOLDING AND SHAKING FRAMES. 



nice honey, so enjoyable to the consumer later on. As for the kind of 

 brush, it should be soft, so that it does not injure the bees, and yet be 

 firm enough to take all the bees off one side of the comb with only one 

 stroke over the same. In the absence of any brush, through oversight or 

 something of the kind, a bunch of five or six tops of goldenrod, or even 

 of grass, will do very well — in fact, better than some of the brushes which 

 have been sent me. 



As the hive into which this "shook" colony is to go is really their own 

 home, and contains more than an abundance of honey, this plan does en- 

 tirely away with all the labor and time used in drumming and pounding the 

 hives, as well as waiting for the bees to fill themselves with honey — souie- 

 thing which has been considered as a thing of vital importance with all of 

 the other plans of "shook swarming." Nothing of the kind is required to 



