ADVANCED BEE-CULTURE. 



39 



Dends upon how many combs are to be re- 

 moved. When using the L,angstroth 

 frame I prefer to contract to five frames. 



With the Heddon hive, in which the 

 brood chamber is horizontally divisible, 

 simply using only one section of the brood 

 nest contiacts the brood nest to about the 

 proper capacity. This method of contrac- 

 tion is preferable to using dummies'. Not 

 only is there less labor and complication, 

 but the flattening of the brood-nest, and 

 the absence of any dummies under the 

 outer sections, makes the bees more in- 

 clined to work in the supers. 



When the brood nest is very much con- 

 tracted, it has a tendencj' to cause a new- 

 ly hived swarm to "swarm out" and leave 

 the hive. When there is trouble from 

 this source, the brood nest may be used 

 nearly or quite full size for two or three 

 days, until the swarming fever has abated, 

 and the bees have settled down to steady 

 work. If newly hived swarms begin 

 "swarming out," when I am using the 

 new Heddon hive, I use a full size brood 

 nest for three days, and then shake the 



bees from the lower section of the hive, 

 and use this section for the upper section 

 of the next hive in which I put a swarm. 

 It has been urged against contraction 

 that it results in small colonies at the end 

 of the season. If it is carried to too 

 great extent, and too long continued, it 

 certainly does. If a man wishes to turn 

 bees into honey, contraction will enable 

 him to accomplish his object. If colonies 

 are too weak in the fall as the result of 

 severe contraction, they must be united; 

 but the course pursued by nearly all who 

 practice contraction, is to enlarge the 

 brood nest again in time for the colony to 

 build up sufficiently for a fall flow of hon- 

 ey, if there is one, or to become strong 

 enough for winter. When bees are win- 

 tered in a repository of the proper tem- 

 perature, I have never found that un- 

 usually populous colonies were any more 

 desirable than smaller ones. This is one 

 advantage of cellar wintering, the popula- 

 tion may be reduced to the minimum dur- 

 ing the comsumptive, non-productive 

 part of the year. 



>^^>^^<^^^^^^4>'^<^ 



Hiving Bees. 



[y\ fv^HE hiving of a swarm of bees is 

 a very simple operation when 

 only one swarm comes out at 

 ^-^ the same time, and hangs itself 

 up on the limb of a tree within easy reach 

 of the bee-keeper; but in a large apiary, 

 where several swarms are often in the air 

 at the same time, and there are tall trees 

 near by, the getting of all the bees into 

 the hives in the right quantities, accompa- 

 nied by queens, is no light task. 



To my mind, there is only one way in 

 which these hosts of circling, whirling, 

 excited little bodies can be satisfactorily 

 controlled; and that is through the 



queens. No swarm will ever leave the 

 apiary unless accompanied by a queen. 

 If the queens' wings are clipped, or traps 

 in front of the hives catch them as they 

 attempt to leave, there will be no chasing 

 after and losing of swarms. The swarms 

 may unite, when mori than one issues, 

 and all may attempt to return and enter 

 one hive, but there will be no loss of 

 bees nor climbing of trees. The bees will 

 stay in the yard, and can be brought with- 

 in reach of the bee master; while the 

 absence of queens and the desire of the 

 bees for a qneen, allows the apiarist to 

 control the bees to such an extent that 



