172 
THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURN AL. 
you will probably reward your pains. Many 
a beekeeper has numerous stocks with nothing 
but losses, where the same number of bees in 
fewer hives would have set him talking all the 
winter about the profits of beekeeping. 
Read “ Uniting,” and do not think that this 
is only to be done when the honey harvest is 
passed. 
2nd. - Even in the best managed apiaries it is 
often found, at the time the honey harvest opens, 
that some hives, though rapidly increasing, are 
not sufficiently crowded to take advantage of 
super space, while the honey yield is so short in 
duration, that to wait while the bees are 
multiplying is to lose it altogether. If comb 
honey be our object, wise management would 
now either unite, as we have suggested, or, in 
the case of frame hives, contract the hive, 
removing every frame, filled or unfilled, that 
does not contain brood, leaving only those which 
are necessary for the egg-laying of the queen, 
and using a division-board , as explained under 
“ Wintering ” The bees, though not particularly 
strong, are crowded aloft, and super boxes 
become ours, where but for this plan, we could 
have had no hope. But it must not be over- 
looked that, as the bees have no room for store 
in the hive-body, they will be left so poor at the 
removal of the sections that sugar must be 
supplied to them ; but our profits, as well as our 
experience, if we have it, will cause us to do this 
with a cheerful heart and a generous hand. 
Remember that feeding must never be done 
while sections are on or they will be filled with 
syrup instead of honey, and any such exhibited 
at a honey show would be disqualified, and con- 
sidered a fraud. 
3rd. —It is sometimes difficult to induce the 
bees to take possession of empty sections when 
placed on the top of the hive, and they will 
occasionally swarm rather than enter them. If, 
however, some of the sections are placed in a 
frame in the body of the hive, beside the cluster 
of bees, they will readily commence working in 
these. They must, of course, be fitted with 
dividers or excluder-zinc to prevent the queen 
getting at the sections. As soon as they have 
been fairly started the sections may be removed, 
with the adhering bees, and placed upon the top 
of the hive and the frames re-filled with empty 
sections. The bees in the body of the hive, 
finding their comrades at work above, soon join 
them and continue their work in the supers 
which had been commenced in the body of the 
hive. Immediately the sections in the hive are 
well started they should be placed on the top for 
completion. All unfinished sections, at the end 
of the season, should have the honey extracted 
from them, the combs being returned to the bees 
to be cleared by them of the little honey remain- 
ing in them. They may then be kept in store 
for use next season. 
CUPPING THE QUEEN’S WINGS. 
Many of our best beekeepers practise clipping 
the queen’s wings. The operation is a simple 
one. Catch the queen by the wings between the 
thumb and forefinger of the right hand, then take 
her by the head and thorax, using the thumb and 
first two fingers of the left hand, at the same time 
releasing her wings and using the right hand to 
manipulate a small, sharp pair ot scissors. Cut 
off two-thirds of one wing. Do not hurry. Do 
the work slowly, and be careful not to allow her 
to thrust a leg up between the jaws of the 
scissors. When the wing is clipped, place her 
back upon the comb and return it to the hive. 
When the colony swarms, the queen of course 
tries to go with the bees, and she will he found 
crawling about in front of the hive. She should 
be carefully caged, the old hive carried away a 
short distance, and a new hive all ready for the 
bees put in its place, the cage containing the 
queen being laid at the entrance. The bees find- 
ing that the queen is not with them, soon return 
and enter the new hive, thinking it is their old 
home, or they think so until they get inside, but 
as the queen is soon released and allowed to go 
in with them, they conclude it is all right and 
go to work, thus they are made to hive themselves. 
This method has the advantage that, when several 
swarms issue at the same time, the work of 
separating them is greatly simplified, as the queens 
are all caged. There is also no danger of losing 
swarms, as the bees will not leave without their 
queen. When the queens are clipped the grass 
must be kept close cut about the hives, or there 
will be danger of losing queens. Salt sprinkled 
about the hives will keep the grass from growing. 
— Mildura Cultivator , July n, 1889. 
INCREASE. 
My Plan fob Making it by Dividing. 
Written fur the Farm, Field and Stockman. 
BY S. E. MILLER. 
No doubt most of the renders have seen a 
great deal that has been written about artificial 
swarming, but perhaps have not taken the pains 
to try it. As my brother and I tried last, year 
with one swarm, and were so well pleased with 
the result, that we tried it on several colonies the 
present season with satisfactory results. I will 
give our method. 
As the beekeeper with a numher of colonies 
has generally plenty of other things to occupy 
his attention during swarming time, it is not at 
all a small job to be eontinall.v on the watch 
during the hours that they are likely to swarm, 
viz., from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Therefore we con- 
cluded to help all of those along that were 
making preparation for swarming, and thus 
relieve ourselves for a time, of the trouble of 
watchiDg them. Even though our queens’ wings 
are clipped, we do not like to have a swarm 
issue and return again without us having any 
knowledge of the fact. 
We go to a colony that is strong enough to 
cast a good swarm (and are likely to be making 
