Beekeeping. Rapid increase of colonies for restocking purposes

ALBERT R. MANN
LIBRARY

New YorK STATE COLLEGES
OF
AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS

AT

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

EVERETT FRANKLIN PHILLIPS

BEEKEEPING LIBRARY

EDINBURGH & HAST OF SCOTLAND COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE.

BEEKEEPING.

RAPID INCREASE OF COLONIES: FOR RESTOCKING
PURPOSES.

TuHE Isle of Wight disease, the absence of so many bee-keepers on war
service, and the recurrence of poor honey seasons, have combined to reduce
the stocks of bees in Scotland to such an extent that the honey harvest
will be small for several years to come, and all but an insignificant portion
of the honey available will remain ungathered owing to the scarcity of bees.
This alone will be a great loss, and when we add to it the reduction in both
quantity and quality of our fruit crop for want of bees to perform the work
‘of pollinating, the need for a rapid increase of stocks will be realised.

_ In these circumstances all bee-keepers should do their utmost to
vender aid in helping to restock the country by increasing their colonies as
‘fast as possible.

With the war over there is less need for intensive honey production to

‘meet the scarcity of sugar, and the honey gathered by the few stocks still
in existence can, for the present, be profitably used to produce more bees.
This would not result in financial loss to bee-keepers. Indeed, they would
probably gain by it, as the present great demand for bees has ‘resulted in
high prices being offered for stocks, swarms, or nuclei, and there is no
prospect of the supply being equal to the demand for a year or two at least.
While prices remain at or near the present level, bee-breeding will be
more remunerative than honey production. Even in a poor honey season,
‘bee-breeding can be maintained by judicious sugar feeding.
: Schemes are being devised for the restocking of parts of the country
with Dutch, Italian, or American bees. While it is recognised that com-
plete restocking may be done more quickly by this method, the wisdom of
it in the long-run is open to doubt for several reasons which obviously
cannot be fully discussed in this brief article.

None of the foreign races mentioned are immune from Isle of Wight
disease.

It has been stated by some that Dutch bees possess a certain degree of
immunity, but such statements are not supported by any scietitific proof,
and it is well known that in Scotland many cases of failure with Dutch bees
‘have occurred.

ee

Parties interested in the importation and sale of foreign bees are
mainly responsible for the statements claiming immunity for these races.

There should be clear and convincing proof, backed by scientifically
conducted experiments carried out on a suitable scale, that a substantial
advantage is to be gained by the wholesale importation of foreign bees
before such schemes are put in force.

Importation of foreign races in the past has, owing to uncontrolled
interbreeding with the native race, produced the race of nondescripts which
is now common in Britain, and which has been almost wiped out by the
Isle of Wight disease.

By importing more races further crossing will be brought about, and it
is to be feared that all that remains of the native race will be destroyed.

Bees increase very rapidly under favourable conditions. If the present
system of preventing swarming was suspended for a few seasons and stocks
encouraged to send out swarms, the colonies of native bees would hold
their own and stocks would increase quickly. The owners of apiaries would
find a ready sale for all increase at a profitable figure, and at the same time
would assist their less fortunate neighbours to restock with home-bred bees.

Where stocks show a disinclination to swarm naturally, artificial swarms
may be made by one of the methods explained below.

In making artificial swarms certain conditions are requisite. Colonies
which are to be swarmed should be very full of bees, and the swarm should
not be made until the natural swarming season is approaching. Artificial
swarms made out of season are generally failures. There should be drones
on the wing or hatching from the combs. The swarm must be made about
noon on a fine day, so that a large number of bees may be on the wing to
form the swarm. Honey should be coming into the hive in fair quantity,
or liberal feeding must be resorted to as a substitute.

The swarm may be made from one colony or from a number of separate
colonies. If only one is to be operated upon the method is simple, but
the colony must be a good one. About noon, when bees are flying freely,
the hive should be opened and the combs carefully examined until the
queen is found. The comb on which she is found should be placed in
the centre of an empty hive without disturbing the bees or queen. On
each side of this comb three or four frames fitted with foundation combs
should be hung and the hive closed. When the bee-keeper has a store of
fully-built-out combs in reserve, it is an advantage to use these in preference
to frames with foundation only. A spare comb or frame of foundation
must be introduced into the space caused by the removal of the comb with
the queen and bees from the parent hive. The hive from which the comb
was taken should be moved as quickly as possible to a new stand some
distance away and the one with the queen put in its place. The flying
bees on their return will enter the new hive on their accustomed stand and
so will form the swarm.

The hive from which the swarm has been taken will now be queenless,
but the bees which remain will at once begin to provide one from a worker

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larva of suitable age. This young queen will mature in from ten to twelve
days from the making of the swarm. Where possible, however, it is better
to introduce a fertile queen to a colony which has been swarmed, on the
evening of the same day.

A very good swarm can be made from two colonies in the following
way :—

On a fine day when bees are flying, open one of the hives and remove
therefrom half the combs containing brood. After shaking all the bees
off these combs place them in another hive, filling it, and also the hive the
combs were taken from, with spare combs or frames fitted with foundation
comb. Close up both hives, remove another full colony to a new stand,
and place the hive containing the removed combs of brood on the old
site, The returning bees will enter and form the swarm. To save time,
a fertile queen should be introduced.

Where the bee-keeper has a number of hives a very good swarm can be
made by selecting from each one or more combs containing brood, but
leaving the most populous to supply the flying bees, All bees should be
shaken or brushed from the selected combs back into their respective
hives, and the gaps made by the removal of combs filled up with frames of
comb foundation. The selected combs of brood should be put into a
spare hive, which must be at once placed on the stand of the hive which
is to supply the bees for the swarm, and which is now moved to a new
stand. The flying bees enter the new hive and form the swarm, to which
a fertile queen should at once be given,

In selecting combs from a number of hives for the purpose of making
a swarm, careful examination is necessary to make sure that none of such
combs is diseased.

Rapid increase can be made by breaking up strong stocks to form
four or five nuclei, the latter being gradually built up into full stocks.
The following method has been worked successfully in the apiary of the
Edinburgh and East of Scotland College at Nether Liberton.

Prepare.four spare hives and place them on their permanent stands.
On the evening of a fine day, when most of the bees are at home, remove
eight combs with the bees on them from a strong colony which is prepar-
ing to swarm. Most of these combs will have queen cells on them, and
two of them must be placed in each of the four spare hives, taking care to
leave the queen in the hive which is being broken up. There will then be
five divisions of the hive, or nuclei as they are termed, each with two
combs and brood. The one on the original stand has a queen, the other
four are queenless, but should have at least one queen cell each on one
of the combs. Place the two combs close up to the side of the brood
chamber in each of the four new divisions, and on the outside of them put
another comb with some honey in it so that each one has three combs,
two with brood and bees and one with honey. Cover up all four very
close and warm and plug up the entrances very tight with moss or green
grass so that no bees can get out. The one on the original stand which

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has the queen should be treated in a similar way to the others except that
the entrance must be left open. The bees should be disturbed as little as
possible during manipulation so that very few will take wing, and an equal
number be given to each nucleus. The four new nuclei should be left
with the entrances closed with the moss until the bees gnaw their way out.
By the time this takes place all will have become reconciled to their new
hives and will not desert them to go back to their old one. If no bees
appear at the end of a week, remove a very small part of the obstruction
from the entrance, but do not entirely liberate them. By the time the bees
have quite regained their liberty the queens will be ready for mating, and
after they have begun to lay, the nuclei, including the one with the old
queen, may all be gradually built up into full stocks, with the addition of
more frames to keep pace with the increase of bees.

It is important that during the time of building up the nuclei should
never be checked by want of food, and if, owing to rain or very dry
weather, no honey is being gathered, feeding with syrup should be re-

sorted to.
G. W. A.

Cornell University Library

Beekeeping.Rapid increase of colonies fo