The Honey Bee 1411 



\^arious methods of making increase have been given from time 

 to time, but one of the best and approaching natural conditions is 

 the follovs^ing: Prepare the new hive, preferably filled -with frames 

 of wired foiuidation, take it to some strong colony which is to be 

 removed from its stand and the new hive set in its place. Now re- 

 move the combs of the strong colony, keeping a watch for the queen, 

 and shake most of the bees into or in front of the new hive until 

 you have about two-thirds of the bees of the colony — say, five out 

 of eight combs or six from a ten frame hive — and the queen. Re- 

 place all combs in the old hive, remove it to a new stand wherever 

 desired and give a ripe queen cell or a laying queen after a day or 

 two. The best time of day to operate is toward evening, as some 

 artificial swarms, as well as natural ones, become discontented and 

 desert their hives, but when hived at evening they usually become 

 settled before morning. If desired, a frame of brood from the old 

 colony may be left in the new hive to hold the bees down, replacing 

 it with a frame of foundation. 



The entrance of the old hive should be contracted for a time, as 

 most of the old bees will join the shaken swarm. 



Do not divide a colony that is not fit to swarm naturally. Many 

 beginners who are anxious for increase, divide their colonies to 

 such an extent that they have only a quantity of nuclei, unfit for 

 either storing surplus or wintering. 



PHODUCTS OF THE HONEY BEE 



The following substances are gathered by the bees, namely : 

 honey, pollen, propolis and honey-dew. By the consumption of 

 more or less honey by the worker bees, beeswax is secreted and 

 built into comb to contain honey and brood. 



Honey 



The correct definition of honey is this : " Honey is the nectar 

 and saccharine exudations of plants, gathered, modified and stored 

 in the comb of honey bees." Any substance to which this defini- 

 tion will not apply can not bo legally labeled and sold as honey. 



Honey is marketed in two forms — comb honey and extracted 

 honey. The former name is applied to the product sold in the 



