ust first make your colonies strong. One or more of
your best colonies must be selected to raise queens for your increase
unless you wish to buy your queen. Stimulate your queen raising colonies
by feeding and not giving them any supers. The crowded condition will
bring on an early swarming impulse, under which they will raise from
twelve to twenty large, well developed queen cells each. The queens of
your queen raising colonies should be clipped. When in due time a queen
raising colony swarms, catch the queen and remove her and let the swarm
return. Immediately after this swarm you may proceed to divide your
other colonies from which you wish to increase. Put down on a permanent
location as many empty hives as you have available queen cells in your
colony that swarmed. Into one of these you put your removed breeding
queen with two frames of brood and bees. Into each of the rest of the
empty hives put two frames of brood with all adhering bees from your
colonies you wish to increase. Be sure to leave the queens in the old
hive after brood for increase with adhering bees has been removed. Thus
you have now a number of new colonies with bees and two frames of brood
but no queen. The rest of the hive may be filled with drawn comb or
sheets of foundation. To prevent the bees from returning to the old
home, stuff the entrance of the hive solidly with grass. In two days the
grass will wilt and dry and the bees will come out automatically and
stay in the new location--at least most of them. In the meantime being
queenless they will be busy with raising queen cells on the two frames
of brood. This occupation will make them contented, then on the seventh
day cut out every one of their queen cells and give them a cell from
your breeder colony. Your queen breeding colony on the seventh day after
swarming will have ripe queen cells ready to hatch, with one queen
probably out. If by listening in the evening you hear her "sing" and
"peep" go next morning and remove all queen cells and give one to each
of your newly formed colonies. They will be readily accepted, will hatch
immediately, sometimes whilst you are removing them, but certainly the
same or next day and begin laying in due time. From such colonies you
may not expect any surplus honey, but they will build up rapidly and
will be strong colonies to put away next fall.

[Illustration: ADMINISTRATION BUILDING (MAIN BUILDING), UNIVERSITY
FARM, ST. ANTHONY PARK, MINN.]

Whil