Beekeeping in Wisconsin 21 



with frames containing full sheets of comb foundation alter- 

 nated with the remaining brood combs, the desire to swarm 

 will be greatly decreased. It may be further decreased by 

 the addition of a hive body of surplus combs. Following this 

 manipulation, place a wood and wire queen excluder be- 

 tween the brood and extracting super to prevent the queen 

 from laying in the extracting combs. 



Extract the honey from upper combs as soon as they be- 

 come one-half to two-thirds capped over, or when the un- 

 capped honey is not thin hke water. In the latter case, it 

 may be extracted or placed with additional combs in an- 

 other hive body. Additional supers and combs should be 

 added as needed and room given in the brood-chamber by 

 the removal of more brood as seems advisable, replacing the 

 frames taken out with wired frames containing full sheets 

 of comb foundation. The combs of brood and honey re- 

 moved should be used to aid weak colonies or in making in- 

 crease. Always extract "ripe honey" and properly market 

 the best possible grade that can be produced. 



A very common way to make increase, is to let each col- 

 ony swarm once; hive the swarm in a new hive on empty 

 combs or frames with full sheets of foundation, and then 

 give the old hive a new queen. Before introducing the new 

 queen, however, destroy all queen cells or if desirable to let 

 the bees requeen themselves do not add the queen and leave 

 one queen cell to develop. A better way, and one which 

 avoids the trouble of catching swarms, is to use the brood 

 combs taken from colonies during the process of "room- 

 making," place six or eight of these, usually made up of 

 capped brood, in a new hive with a peck of bees stolen from 

 some exceedingly strong colony and give them a ripe queen 

 cell with which to develop a new queen. This method should 

 only be used during honey flow. Another way to increase 

 the number of colonies without the trouble of swarming is 

 to divide a strong colony at the beginning of honey flow, 

 letting the queenless part raise a queen from the best ripe 

 cell that can be found. 



Disease May Consume Beeman's Profits 



The presence or absence of bee diseases in a beeyard often 

 means the difference between a profit or loss as applied to 



