Division

As a last resort, the colony attempting to swarm may be divided into two parts and the queenless part given a new queen. When making the division, it is advisable to give a majority of the sealed brood to the new queen, leaving the old queen and part of the brood at the old location. The new divide can be placed three or four feet from the parent hive and the new queen introduced. Most of the field bees will return to the old location, leaving only the new queen, the young worker bees, and the brood in the new hive. They may be run as two separate colonies during the honeyflow or may be united as one colony shortly after the start of the main honeyflow. In the latter case, frequently one queen will disappear shortly after uniting or, both queens will continue to lay until the end of the honeyflow when one of them will disappear.

Ways To Make Spring Increase

The established beekeeper is in a far better position to make increase with package bees than one who is just beginning with his first few colonies because he can use his established colonies to help his package colonies. Packages should arrive as early as possible, preferably during the first half of April, earlier or later according to location. Fruit bloom will just be starting at this time. Three weeks after the packages are hived, during the period of their lowest ebb, they should be bolstered if possible by the addition of a comb of sealed brood and the adhering bees. If old colonies can spare it, the new packages should have a second comb of brood and bees added some time during the fourth or fifth week of their growth. Packages taken care of in the above manner, and supplied with an ample amount of sirup and pollen, will garner a fair honey crop the first year.

Increase By Division

As described under "Swarm Control Methods, " strong colonies can be divided and the queenless half given a new queen. It also is possible to take combs of sealed brood with the adhering bees from strong colonies, replacing them with empty drawn combs or frames containing full sheets of comb foundation. These combs of sealed brood need not come from the same colony but may be taken from a number of colonies. Three frames of sealed brood and bees, given a new queen the first half of April, will grow into a good colony for the honeyflow. Later, divides may be made by taking four or five frames of brood and bees and introducing a new queen the first of May. It is best to place the brood and bees in the hive in a new location and to wait twenty-four hours before introducing the new queen.

Equipment Necessary For Expansion

The serious beginner will now want to expand his number of colonies from two or three on up to ten or more. For the man just starting in with bees, two or three colonies is enough to occupy his spare time. There are many things to be learned by one just starting with bees. You have finished an entire season by now and are more adept in frame and colony manipulation. Tasks which formerly took an hour to perform are now simple ten-minute jobs which come to you naturally. Brood, queens, workers, drones, all are stamped in your memory and a quick glance tells you what you want to know. The results of a good queen are quickly discernible and no longer must you ponder over somewhat meaningless words in a semitext to discover whether a queen is good or poor. All of this knowledge you have accumulated and all of your increased adeptness in manual manipulation mean that you are now able to care for at least ten colonies in the same length of time in which you formerly cared for only two.

To expand your apiary you will need, of course, a hive body, cover, bottom board, inner cover, and a complete set of frames with foundation for each additional colony. In addition to this, you will need at least three supers for each new colony. Many beginners prefer to start with bulk comb honey supers, since they do not entail the added expense of an extractor and an uncapping knife needed if producing extracted honey. The beekeeper who wishes to expand, however, should carefully consider the type of honey he wants to produce. You will find that the production of extracted honey means that more honey can be produced with the same number of colonies and that less labor will be involved for each colony in production. There is a point which should be emphasized, however. Comb honey production gives you a finished section of honey that has no competition-it is a beautiful and easily marketable product.