168 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 



fertile queen, a small colony of workers, with a 

 limited amount of comb and honey to commence 

 with. The first of May, begin to feed it with four 

 cents worth of refined sugar (in the form of a nice 

 syrup,) per day, for a period of forty days, or until 

 clover is fairly in bloom, say the tenth of June. This 

 will cost one dollar and sixty cents, which will insure 

 their filling up the hive during the clover season, 

 and perhaps make enough surplus honey during the 

 buckwheat season to repay the cost of feeding, and 

 leave the stock in good condition to live during the 

 succeeding winter. Where stocks are strong and 

 have a large quantity of honey, in the spring, take 

 out one or more combs which contain only honey and 

 pollen, and either give to those that are scarce or set 

 by in a box, or in the honey room, until wanted 

 when making artificial swarms, when they can be 

 used to great advantage. They should be replaced 

 immediately with empty frames. Should the weather 

 be mild, the remaining combs may be shifted to put 

 an empty frame in a central position, where, if they 

 are fed properly, they will build a new comb in a 

 very short time, the queen depositing eggs in the 

 cells very soon after they are formed. 



We have often had a new comb built in this way, 

 full of brood from top to bottom, containing almost 

 enough to make a fair sized swarm, in eight or ten 

 days ; in this manner all the difficulties, if any exist, 

 of a colony having too much honey in the spring, 

 can be easily and very profitably removed in our 

 hives. 



