Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1871-06-08
For the Republican
SCIENTIFIC BEE CULTURE.
ARTIFICIAL swARNIING WITH MOVABLE
COMB HIVES.

ARTIFICIAL swARMING WITH MOVABLE
COMB HIVES.
As there are so many ways to per
form this operation with comb
frames, will give only the method
| use and conceived to be nearest
natural swarming. When the prop
er season arrives and your bees are
bred up strong, go to the meanest
hybrid or black stock of bees you
have and kill the Queen. The east
est way to find her, is to open the
hive carefully, blow little smoke on
the top of the frames and bees, not
too much or the Queen will leave
the combs, take out the center
frames, disturbing the bees as little
as possible. as soon as the Queen Is
found pinch her head off, and give
the bees a splendid smoking to put
them on their good. behaviour.
Then shake them from the combs
back into the hive. Take little
broom brush and brush all the bees
from the combs, and carry them and
set them near your best Italian
stock. Then open your Italian
stock and treat them to Whit or
two of smoke and take out the
frames carefully, brushing back the
bees into the hive. As soon as you
have two or three frames free of bees,
set them aside and put in frames
from the other stock, and so on, till
YOU have exchanged every frame OF
the mean stock for the frames of the
Italian stock. Now take all the
combs of the Italian stock and put
them into the mean stock. This is
simply exchanging the combs while
the bees still remain in their own
hives and you have nothing but fine
Italian brood in your mean hive, and
they can't help making you a nice
lot of pure Queen cells, and your
fine Italian Queen still remains with
her own bees and ont of danger
from the exchange. In about eight
DAYS after you have made this ex-
change, make as many swarms as
you have spare Queen cells; in the
following manner: Select time
when the bees are in full flight, re-
move the colony yon intend to di-
vide, and set a decoy hive in its
place, ascertain the comb that the
Queen is on, and place it in new
hive, or the hive you intend to use,
together with about 8 or 4 other
frames, and fill up the hive with
empty frames, alternating them with
the filed frames. Then set this new
hive with the Queen in, on the old
stand till the bees which were in the
field at the commencement, have
gone into it tnen set it on a ne,c
stand and put the Old hive on the
old stand, and so proceed with as
many as you have spare Queen cells
for. The nert day in the evening,
cnt out a Queen cell for each Queen
less stock Zone at time, being care
full not TO chill or bruise them in the
least) cut suitable hole in brood
comb and insert a Queen cell, and
so proceed till all haye queen cells.
The reason why 1 advise to give the
Queen cells the next day is, that
were you to do so on the day you
make your swarms, the bees would
destroy all your cells, but after they
have started cells of their own they
will let yours remain with few ex-
ceptions. By following this method
you will have good swarms if you
have used a little good judgement.
If in dividing, your new part with
the old Queen is left too weak, take
another frame from the part on the
old stand ony time after the opera
ton is performed and you have dis
covered that fact. You can thus
equalize them ct pleasure. Next
week we will give some methods OF
introducing Italian Queens TO ma
tive colonies. A. b. fRE1.