If we wish to secure a good harvest of honey, we must have the bees to collect it, and we must have them at the proper time, viz: when the harvest is ready. To do this we must encourage breeding to the utmost in early spring.
Early in the spring the queen enlarges the circle containing the brood; perhaps, if the stock was very strong, and everything favorable, she laid a few eggs in one or two combs near the center of the cluster of bees in January. Perhaps the cells occupied at that time were less than a dozen, all compact together in a circle, occupying less space than the size of a silver half dollar. As she progresses, this circle is enlarged, and the cells on the opposite side of this comb is used; then the next comb and so on, at the same time enlarging the circle, keeping the brood compactly together, so that the bees, by clustering around it, can keep up the required warmth to forward to maturity the brood. As the young bees hatch, the queen proceeds with her duties of laying eggs, until every brood cell is occupied, and as fast as a bee matures and leaves its cell, she is on hand with an egg to occupy the vacant place. This is kept up without cessation till swarming time, when the hive becomes crowded with bees, then, as preparation for swarming, the queen deposits eggs, from which the bees by a special course of treatment, rear queens. When they are sealed over, as shown in the plate, the old queen leaves the hive with the first swarm to seek a new home. In about ten days the young queens hatch and lead out after-swarms—second, third, etc. When swarming is over, the strongest queen destroys the others, and reigns over the old swarm till another swarming season. This is the process in natural swarming; on my plan we improve upon the process, as will be shown in the proper place.
CHAPTER II.
THE CONTROLLABLE BEE HIVE AND NEW SYSTEM OF BEE MANAGEMENT.
IT is now nearly ten years since I perfected the Controllable Bee Hive and New System of Bee Management. I commenced bee keeping with the common box hive, with no knowledge whatever, of the habits of bees. I was not long in learning that I could not make bee keeping a success with the box hive, and I also found that the thousand and one patent hives were no better, and the great majority of such hives, inferior to the simple box hive. I found there was no practical method of controlling the swarming propensities of bees. All such hives would swarm or not, as seemed to suit the caprice of the bees, which I found very perplexing. Stocks under the old plan of management, sometimes show every indication of swarming, such 'as clustering out, etc., yet they adhere pertinaciously to the old stock through the entire summer, a peck or more of them clustering idly on the outside of the hive, through the season; and if one put on boxes, it is all the same, they will do nothing. And such swarms often starve early the next winter, after passing the summer in idleness. Other stocks with apparently not so many bees will swarm several times; often swarm so much as to reduce the number of bees so low that the bee moth will effect its destruction during the summer; there not being bees enough to protect the combs from the attacks of this destructive little insect. This swarming problem I found very difficult to solve. There were so many conflicting theories, I found I could gain no positive, reliable information from any source, to aid me, and that I must solve the problem by practical experiment.
Experience is a good teacher, but often a very costly one. Some told me if I wished to prevent swarming, I must cut out the queen cells, which the bees constructed preparatory to swarming. This was simply impossible, with the box hive, sol constructed a hive with movable frames, so the bees, could build their combs in the frames, and each comb of the hive could be lifted out separately. But when I attempted to prevent swarming by cutting out the queen cells, I found if T was to thwart nature in that way, I had, to say the least, a big job on my hands. I could cut out the queen cells, but within twenty-four hours after I had done this, the bees would have others constructed, and be ready to swarm, and as I kept cutting, they would keep building. They had the advantage of numbers and position, and when I opened the hive every day and destroyed such, to them, important work, they were not long in declaring and proclaiming me to be an enemy to them, and they would attack me whenever occasion offered. I soon found that if not impossible it was certainly impracticable to prevent bees swarming by cutting out the queen cells. It was a surprise to me that this plan should be recommended by bee keepers claiming to be well skilled in bee management. After proving this plan of no value, I was told if I would contract the entrance to my hives so the queen could not pass, I could thereby successfully prevent swarming, as the swarm would not leave without the queen. This looked to me like a very nice operation, to say the least, in fact, more nice than wise. However, I determined to test the plan. I accordingly contracted the entrance to my hives, and lo! the drones being larger than the queen they could not pass! so they clustered about the entrance, and in their efforts to get out, completely blocked up the passage, so the workers could not pass. Yet this plan of contracting the entrance was claimed to be protected by letters patent of the U. S. I found this plan for preventing swarming of no value whatever. Very many other plans were tendered me and tested with like results. I was all this time pushing my experiments, and learning something from experience every day. I was determined to arrange and construct a hive which would render bee keeping successful and profitable, and I can say at the present time, my labors have been rewarded with success.
I ought to go on and write out a description of all the old methods of bee keeping, and all the patent bee hive humbugs, with the thousand and one non-patent hives and fixtures, got up expressly to swindle bee keepers out of their hard earnings, by a class of rascals, many of whom never owned a swarm of bees, and who care not one cent whether bee keeping is a success or otherwise, if they can pocket a round sum by their fraud. Were I to write out minutely these points, this work would become too voluminous and extended; besides it would be of no practical value to the bee keeper, who wishes to keep bees for profit. I will not, therefore, give such minute descriptions of all the old systems, hives, etc., but will confine myself more closely to such practical information as will be of value to the bee keeper.