The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1884-02-27

| a good shrinking of water will gen
enally bring them down. When
they are hived they should be re-
moved to the place where the owner
wants them to set, just as soon as the
bees are all well in the hive and not
left until night, as is the custom, for
if left till night before being moved
the bees that 60 out that day to for
age will come back to where the
hive was removed from and not
finding it they will become demoral
lied and fly about in all directions,
and finally enter other hives and be
destroyed.
DIVIDING.
Dividing is the best method of Sc
curing an increase of stock, but it
should be practiced judiciously, and
not in a hap-hazard sort Of a way.
The bee-keeper should know just
what he is doing, he should know
when to divide, how to divide, and
the condition in which to leave each
part of the divided colony. Many
beginners ruin their bees by injudi-
cious dividing, they think that all
they have to do is to open the hive
and take out half the contents and
put into an empty hive and fill up
with empty frames and assign the
new colony location and the Job is
done, but they often fail, and then
they swear that dividing is a hum
bug, when the failure was entirely
due to their own ignorance. Divid.
ing when correctly done, is never
attended with any evil consequences,
but is much better than natural
swarming, for the apiarian can al
ways make his swarms in the proper
season, when if left to swarm natu-
rally they will often swarm late in
the season, when other stocks will
have to be robbed to supply them
with winter supplies. Then the
number of swarms can be regulated
and if honey is the main object nc
colony should be divided more than
once. There are several methods
of dividing, but the one 1 practice
and which 1 consider the best is as
follows I select a strong colony
and in the heat of the day when the
outside workers or old bees, are
mostly absent from the hive gather
ing stores, l open the hive and take
out frame after frame and examine
them until find the queen. Wher
find her put her into a cage anC
set it in a safe place, l then take ou'
all the frames but two, bees and all
and put into an empty hive ir
which l also put two empty frames
1 then close up the new hive and re
move it a rod or two away. I ther
60 to three other hives and take Ou
two frames from each, containing
brood about ready to hatch, shake
off the bees, fill the vacant places
with empty frames, close up the
hives, put the frames taken from
them into the old hive, with two
r empty ones, replace the queen, clost
up the hive and the job is done
Time required after queen is found
fifteen minutes. The old, or paren
, swarm have all the old bees, for a
, the old bees fly out of the new hivr
they will return to their old home
! and as they have the queen ant
) plenty Of young bees Matching out
! they will in three or four days b.
strong and vigorous. The new col
q ony will have all the young bees
. and this is all the better as they hav
queen to rear as young bees ar
more certain to throw up queen cell
] and rear a queen than old bees, il
r fact, a colony composed entirely {
D old bees, will often refuse or negleC
to rear a queen when she has bee
D removed until it is too late to do SC
p as they are at that season of tn
r year too busily engaged in hone
d gathering to turn their attention t
# queen rearing, and by the tim
- enough young bees are hatched OIL
e to perform the work it is too late i
6 consequence of the advanced stat
), of the Larvae. The method of divit
:. ing by filling an empty hive wit
S frames taken from other hives, will
d out the bees, and removing a colon
IS from its stand and placing the pr,
e pared hive in its place, thus reducin
It that colony entirely to old bees, an
e compelling them to rear a quee
e often proves a failure for the reason
C above given. A colony compose
IS entirely or mostly of young bee
= will as soon as they find themselv,
n queenless, 60 to work and throw U
n queen cells and rear a queen, for,
y they have not yet become forsger
1t they have nothing else to oCcuT
u their time. In about six OF eig
ct days after the colony is made Il
lr apiarian should open the hive ar
L. destroy all the queen cells but on
le unless he desires to make more arl
re fetal colonies, If he does he ca
)r take out all the cells but one, an
le proceed to make as many nucli as !
has extra cells, giving to each quee
r. less part Of a colony a queen ce
le which, however, should be so +
10 advanced as to be capped over.
o. the apiarian has a dozen or mo
~ colonies he can make three or 70