Controlling Increase, etc. G. W. DEMAREE.
Original article publish in ABJ around 1894??
It is not my purpose to " moralize," as the manner of some is on such occasions as this. Let the past with its successes and failures suffice us. It is with the present and future that we have to deal. It is enough to say that the past honey season has not been satisfactory to most of us. The flow of nectar from white clover was marvelously profuse, but the period was too short to give a full crop. Many of us made the mistake of laying our plans too broad for the short harvest, which we did not anticipate. I, for one, have learned something in that direction, and from that experience. Hereafter, I shall work my bees for what is in sight, and broaden my plans if the occasion demands and justifies it. I wish to call your attention to the fact that many persons begin to talk and write as though bee-culture, as a science and as a practical industry, has reached the fop round of the ladder. Let no one be deceived by the exhausted ideas of such. I am willing that it shall go to record when I say here, that the present mode of handling or manipulating bees and bee-implements, in short, the present system of bee-keeping, which we proudly call the "modern system," will, in the near future, be revolutionized and made a thing of memory only. There is no question, pertaining to apiculture in the South, of so much importance as that of controlling increase. In the North, where long, cold winters hold the " balance " with the grip of death, it is well enough to say, " let the bees swarm." With us, bees succumb to nothing but the expiration of the lease of life, or straight-out starvation. Not a fatal case of the disease known as dysentery or diarrhoea, in the North, has ever come to the knowledge of the writer, in all Central and Southern Kentucky. Most of us have seen bees with distended bodies when confined to the hives unusually long during unusually cold winters; but a single flight in the open air is all that is necessary to restore them to a normal condition. The Southern apiarist smiles at the conceit of the pollen and hibernation theorists. Our bees gather pollen eight months in the year, and "snap their fingers" at pollen chimera. As to the " sleepy-headedness " of bees: In January, 1881, my bees could be seen either.on the wing or stirring about the entrances of the hives every clay but three in that month. They wintered well without sleep (?). Why, sirs, if I should follow the advice of some who say, " let the bees swarm," my apiary wrould multiply to 2,000 colonies in four years, provided that I would covenant to let none of them starve ! In the light of these facts, any system of management that does not put the matter of increase entirely at the disposal of the apiarist, needsimprovement, and is sure to be improved. It occurred to me years ago that if queenless bees could be employed to produce honey, the problem would be solved ; and, now, after experimenting considerably in that direction, I am prepared to say that I can control increase by employing queenless bees to gather my surplus crop of honey; and in order that others may aid me in perfecting the new system, I will here give you a description of the practical working of the plan : In the early part of the honey season, the surplus cases are adjusted on the hives in the usual way, and "rurther proceedings continued " till the colonies show signs of swarming. I then move the old hive from its stand and put a new (or empty) hive in its place, and fill up the new hive with empty combs, one of which must contain some larvae just hatched from the eggs. The case or cases for surplus honey are now lifted off of the old hive and set, with all the bees in them, on the new hives. You now look up the queen and put the combs in which she is found, in your comb-box, and then proceed to shake the bees from the combs into the old hive right in front of the new one, having first provided a slanting board to lead the bees to the entrance. Place the combs back in the old hive, to which add the comb with the queen, and set the old hive at right angles with the new one. It is best to spread a cloth over the old hive to disguise it for a day or so. It will be seen that the new hive contains nearly all of the field workers, and a large portion of the young bees for comb-builders, while the old hive has all the brood with the queen, and enough workers and nurses to push forward brood-rearing. The bees in the new hive will start queen-cells and gather honey with the greatest rapidity. In five or six days we begin to turn the old hive, a little at a time, so as to stand close by the side of the new one, bringing the entrances of both hives, practically, together. At the expiration of ten daysif the honey season continued goodthe old colony will be strong enough to spare additional working force to the honey-producing colony in the new hive ; and to accomplish this, all we have to do is to turn the old hive back to its former position,at right angles with the new hive, at a time when the bees are in the fields in full force, and as they come home loaded, they will enter the new hive and recruit its failing strength. Of course the queen-cells must be removed, and freshly-hatched larvce given in their place. When all danger of swarming is over, the old hive is brought in line with the new one, and the bees are united by " tiering up " the new hive on the old one, and thus the honey-harvest is finished up by the united colony. It will be noticed that I speak of employing two hives for each colony, which I distinguish by the terms " new1\' and t; old/1 Well, now I propose to dispense with the extra cost of the \'L new hive,\'1 and in its place I use the supers or surplus cases adjusted on a recess bottom-board. When running a colony for comb honey, I will work a case of shallow extracting-combs on the recess board, and underneath the section-cases, to catch the pollen, if any is brought in. My recess bottom-boards are made just the width of the hive I use, and two inches longer. A strip of wood %x% of an inch is nailed to three sides of the board to give " bee space" under the cases which rest on the elevated rim formed by the strips of wood. The extra two inches in the length of the board is for an alighting-board. I have now given my new system of controlling increase suppressing swarming, if you prefer the terms, and producing honey with queenless bees. Of course there will be much criticism. A large minority of bee-culturists have always refused to accept anything "new" until they have" added some " improvement," worthless though it may be, to the new improvement or device. I do not object to this. Many fine inventions have been born of absurdity. Christiansburg, Ky.
