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Most ViewedAn Experiment 2An Experiment Burying Bees Expense Of Renewing Combs Time Of Greatest Irritability Remedial Experiments Bee Pasturage Bees Do Not Increase If Full After The First Year In Same Hive One Like Common Hive Preferred Not Properly Understood Least ViewedAn Experiment 2An Experiment Burying Bees Expense Of Renewing Combs Time Of Greatest Irritability Remedial Experiments Bee Pasturage Bees Do Not Increase If Full After The First Year In Same Hive One Like Common Hive Preferred Not Properly Understood |
Reasons Of Failure In Dividing HivesCategory: HIVES. The greatest difficulty with dividing hives, appeared to be here. It must be constructed with a partition or division to keep the combs in each apartment separate; otherwise, we make tearing work in the division. When bees are first put into such hives, unless the swarm is very large, and honey abundant, one apartment will be filled to the bottom before a commencement is made in the other. Mr. A.--"What difference can that make? It is necessary to have the hive full; if it cannot be all filled at once, why let them fill part." The difference is this. The first combs built by a swarm are for brood, and store-combs afterwards, as needed; one apartment will be nearly filled with all brood-combs, and the other with store-combs and honey. Now in the two kinds of cells there is a great difference; those for breeding are near half an inch in length, while those for storing are sometimes two inches or more; totally unfit for breeding; until the bees cut them off to the proper length, which they will not do, unless compelled for want of room, consequently this side of store-combs is but little used for brood. When such hive is divided, the chances are not more than one in four, that this apartment will have any young bees of the proper age from which to raise a queen; if not, and the old queen is in the part with the brood-comb, where she will be ninety-nine times in a hundred, one half of the hive is lost for want of a queen. Mr. A.--"Ah! I think I now understand how I lost one-half of nearly every hive I divided. I also lost some of them in the winter; there was plenty of bees as well as honey; can you tell the cause of this?" I will guess that they starved. Mr. A.--"Starved! why, I said there was plenty of honey." I understood it, but nevertheless feel quite sure. Mr. A.--"I would like to see that made plain; I can't understand how they could starve when there was honey!" Next: Cause Of Starving In Such Hives Previous: An Experiment
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