The Pearce new method of bee keeping

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CHAPTER I How I Discovered My Present Method of Bee Keeping

Twenty years ago I began to put bees in buildings. One of the first I put up in a stable loft. I had known for some time that bees had been kept in small rooms or large places prepared for them and left to themselves to build their combs as they pleased. I was told that they would eventually fill these upper rooms or boxes, and stay there from year to year without swanning. The people of the house could go up in the winter when the bees were dormant open these places and cut off honey for themselves as wanted. This looked attractive to me, but it was said that the moths would get in and destroy the bees, and I did not like this chunk honey, as it would not be neat and nice, so with this much information I started in to see if I could devise something with our movable frame hives, large enough so the bees would not swarm and the moths could not destroy them, and that we might get the honey in nice one-pound boxes, as we were getting it out in our bee yard.

The first outfit that I put up was three hives set side by side. I cut holes into these outside hives from the middle one, for the bees to go through. Then I let the bees fly out doors from the middle hive, and put my surplus cases on the middle hive. The bees soon began to fill these cases, but to my surprise and regret. I could not get the bees to go into these side hives. This, I saw was of no use so I took away these side hives, shut up the openings and put one of them on top of the middle hive. Very soon the queen began to fill this body with brood instead of swarming out, and I soon had seventy-five pounds of nice comb honey in the cases and was delighted. I then saw that I had been making a mistake in making my hive broad instead of high to enlarge it. Many of our bee-keepers think, that they should have a larger hive than the eight frame, and add ten, twelve or even fourteen frames in width instead of putting two of the eight-frame hives, one above the other, as I did twenty years ago, making a tall hive more like a hollow tree — the natural home of the bee.

This hive is about a quarter larger than the Quimby hive and is about the right capacity for a queen to deposit all the eggs she wishes for the colony, so there will be no swarming, if sufficient surplus cases are put on in time so the honey may be carried above, to leave adequate space for the queen. Then again it is about the right size e PEARCE METHOD OF BEE-KEEPING

and form to enable the bees to store an ample supply to carry them through any Winter and Spring without danger of starvation. Now, after twenty years' use, I do not see any need for changing to anything different. This, then, is the hive I use and recommend.

You will please notice, then, that all that is necessary to procure the results that we get from this method, is doubling the size of the hive and placing these hives in buildings where they can be amply protected. This makes all the other things possible which we will tell you about later.

In handling bees by bee keepers in general, there has been about four ways resorted to for the purpose of getting the bees through the season in a successful manner. The first that I will mention is to put the bees in a single hive body, with 8 to 12 frames, of the Langstroth or regulation dimension. This hive is left on the summer stand or place where it stood all through the year without much of any protection. Others not being satisfied with this method, resort to some kind of packing about the hives, either put about the hives in the Fall and remove it in the Spring, or by having a permanent case attached to the hives to remain through the whole year, such as the original Root double hive and the modifications of it that have come down to the present time. Then some few, but this class has not been large, have tried burying their bees in a trench somewhat as they would for vegetables.

Then another and much larger class, put their bees into cellars, below ground. All of these people use a single hive body for keeping their bees in. And without saying anything about the merits of any of these four methods for the present, I wish to bring to your notice the four places and ways that I use in my method of handling bees, which is known at the Pearce Method of Bee Keeping. The first place I will mention where they may be kept is in a barn or stable loft. The next is in house attic as kept in cities, next in poultry houses. Then in a house or shell, built especially for the bees. In all these ways, the bees are kept in two of the regulation hives, each hive being the same size and shape as the hive used by those who keep their bees below ground and out of doors. Thus you will observe that I use a hive with just double the capacity of my brother bee-keepers generally. These two hive bodies are used one above the other, making a tall hive that is divisable and may be made into two hives and used by others or put together as we usd" it.

Our hives in orchard at Author's home.

CHAPTER II The Hive We Use and Why We Use It

I think it is plain to you by this time the we use a hive made of two of the ordinary Langstroth hives, that we formerly used and that is still used by the great mass of bee keepers, generally. In this article I will tell you all about it and why we used it. The first great reason is because the small hive we formerly used did not hold an adequate supply of honey to carry the bees throug'h the winter safely and it was just as inadquate to give the queen sufficient room to deposit all the eggs she would in the spring up to the honey harvest. Two very great defects. The one caused tremendous winter losses and the other prevented the queen from giving us the enormous swarm of bees early for the honey harvest that she would have given us if she could have been supplied with a more spacious hive. In talking over winter losses with that veteran bee keeper, Geo, E.Hilton, he remarked that he felt sure that nine-tenth of the bees that have died have died of starvation. The cause for this was the hives were too shallow. They do not in any way provide space enough above the bees to hold enough stores for a winter's supply. When we think the matter over in regard to these shallow hives, we wonder that as many have lived through the winter without starvation in these hives as there have. Bees as every one knows, store their honey above them, and they should be given a hive of sufficient height to allow them to store a full supply to last them through any winter and spring and this is just what this tall hive made up of two bodies that I use and recommend, does. It is well known now that bees in the fall drop down to the bottom of any hive they are in, get into a circular mass and eat upward and do not or cannot see that it is well filled with winter stores. Then place these hives in shelters such as we recommend where you can give them the protection they should have from all storms that blow, where you can see that their entrances are opeil at all times so they will have proper ventilation and have a flight at any time in the winter when the weather is suitable. For it has been starvation and want of ventilation that has been two of the great causes of mortality in our bees. Many of our hives weighed in the fall around a hundred pounds. A hive that weighs a hundred pounds in the fall, is good for 100 to 200 next summer.

This hive is in the home of State Representative George W. Welsh. It gave him $50 worth of comb honey the first year it was installed, and is still doing as well.

OUR HIVE.

To procure our Hive, send to any dealer of Bee Supplies for the following:

1. Plain bottom board, with V-jiiich opening.

2. Standard dove-tailed 8 frame hives.

1. Plain Higginsville Cover.

2. 4 Super Cases.

16. Hoffman Brood Frames, (8 in each hive.) 24. One-pound Boxes for each Cuper,

Chapter III

When and How to Change from the Single to the Double Hive.

If you are keeping your bees in a hingle hive as you probably are and would like to change to our double method, you can do so most easily as we use no new fangled appliances and our hives are of the latest pattern in use. The best times to change in our latitude would be in the spring l^efore the honey flow about the last of April, and again at the time of taking off your white honey in July. Then you can fit up another hive body the same as the one you have. Set these on your parent hives and have them build up. If the season is good and there is fair fall flow, they will build up enough but if it is not it may be well to feed some as it is so important to have them have plenty of stores for winter. If you should think well to feed, you can put another hive body on top. In this put a 10-pound pail nearly full of syrup well dissolved into water and perforate the lid with fine holes, not too many. See that the lid is well put on and invert the pail on the frames right over the bees. It is the most natural way for bees to get their stores right above them. Invert the pail and the suction will hold the syrup in only as fast as the bees suck it out. When all is done cover up well with some porous material, old cloths or quilts or a tray filled with dry chaff is the best. If you should ever think this double system not the best and wish to change back all you have to do is to set your top hive off again, and all would be just as before. But none that have tried it feel like going back to the old way. If you put another body onto the hive, as you already have it will prevent swarming, which is such a nuisance; your bees will be held together through the honey season without swarming and the results in honey are liable to be as large or larger than if they are worked the other way and allowed to siwarm. At least that was our experience the year when I moved a load of bees home from an apiary where the location seemed much more favorable than where mine were placed. I doubled mine right up while those in the more favorable yard were left single yet mine filled the top hives and gave considerable more surplus than those in the single hives and were fine for winter. This is a fine plan, as where they are doubled in this way in the spring, they are sure to be alright for winter or to be set apart at the end of July to make increase at the end of the white honey flow, if you wish.

Changing- from the single to the double hive.

Making my first swarm by setting the two bodies apart as shown.

CHAPTER IV. The Pearce Method of Making New Swarms

Theabove cut shows us making first public demonstration showing how easy it is to make swarms by the Pearce Method of dividing, i. e., by just setting the two hive bodies apart.

By this method of handhng bees in double height hives, we are enabled to hold our bees together until we take off our white honey, about the first of August, without loss from swarming. Then if we determine to make increase, this is the time to act. Prepare a hive with empty combs, or full sheets of foundation, in wired Hoffman, or other movable frames. Prepare one of these hives for each hive from which you intend to make a new swarm. You should also have a good queen for each hive thus prepared. These queens can be procured from any queen breeder for a low price at this time of the year. Or, if you are used to raising queens by some of the methods now used, you could have raised them for yourself. I believe you had better buy your queens unless you are well equipped and experienced.

Now we will suppose that you have your empty hives placed by the side of each full one, from which you intend to make increase; that you have just removed your surplus honey and have a queen ready for each new hive. Pull back you old hive and place the one prepared where the old one stood. Then remove four outside frames from the new hive. Replace these thus removed by four frames from the old hive, preferrably two from each side, as they have more honey and are less liable to have brood. Place four frames from the new hive in the center of the old, by prying the frames left in the old hive to the outside. Drop the new ones in the center. In this way the four empty frames are in the center of each hive. Now raise up the top frame of your new hive, and place the new queen which is caged, in the middle and on top of the bottom set of combs. Replace top hive, and cover up carefully. This leaves the new queen and new hive, and a little honey where the old hive stood.

The old bees in this full hive will return to the new hive at the old location.

Now carry the old hive to its new location, about one or two rods away if possible. The queen and young bees will not go back to the old hive, as will the old bees that have had a flight, but will remain with the brood in the old hive at the new location. They will be strong enough to care for their brood. The old bees that you have got to forsake their old home for the new hive on the old stand would have died before winter. But they will answer the purpose of building up this new hive, and caring for it, until the young queens' progeny is on the stage of action, which will not be long, for if she were put in this new hive today. I would expect her to be laying by morning.

This completes the very best way I know of to make increases and get a large honey supply easily. It will be of great value to our fellow bee-keepers, and others, as soon as known and practiced, because you do not have to go thru the hive to look up the old queen, but simply carry her away with the old hive. You have all of August and September to see that these hives get propo/rly prepared for winter. If the fall honey is not coming in as it should, it would be well to look to the bees at this season, and if not building up rapidly, feeding might be resorted to, as it is important that they should have sufl[icient properly sealed stores for winter. It should always be in order in early fall to give the bees a thorough examination, to ascertain their real condition as regard to stores, and also to detect any sign of disease.

When you take off the white honey, if you determine you do not care to make increase, it would be well to put on some supers, or full bodies till later, so as to give the bees room to secure surplus that might be coming in.

A little German straw hive in the High School, which is of value to show how small a hive was formerly used. One of our large, swarms in our large hive woul .fill this little hive in two days on a good tiow and be obliged to swarm out.. In this cut we show the method of transferring from small Old Style German hive to removable frame hive, giving more room to bees and making them produce straight combs.

CHAPTER V The Cause of Swarming and Swarm Control

It is very probable that the cause of swarming, and its control is not very well understood by many of our beekeepers, and I feel sure that these two things are of greater importance than almost anything else in our pursuit, for so many other things are affected by them: It would seem as if on these "hang all the law and the prophets" of beekeeping. It is generally supposed that swarming is the natural and legitimate way of increase for the Bee family, and therefore it is not much use to try to prevent it, or iind out the cause.

View of bottom of Old Style German Hive. Bees were transferred to regular moveable frame hive. While this hive is filled with honey, it is almost useless as there is no way to remove it without destroying contents.

It has been noticed that usually when there is a big sudden honey flow there is a spell of excessive swarming and therefore these two conditions seem to be in some way connected. So then bees do not swarm at all times alike as might be expected if they were just fulfilling the law of increase to perpetuate the race. It also has been observed that when bees swarm, about all available space in the hive is filled up. It does not necessarily follow that all the combs are wholly filled or sealed up, for as soon as ever so little honey is placed in the cells they are of no more use for the queen to deposit eggs in until this honey is moved. Then if a sudden large honey flow comes on and all available space in the hive is filled, there is nothing for the bees to do but start queen cells and swarm out as there is no place for the queen to deposit eggs. Bees will not cease gathering honey for any cause if any is to be had, therefore if there is a goodly number of bees in a hive and a large honey flow comes on and the queen is depositing from one to two thousand eggs in a day with pollen being brought in to feed the bees, it is only a question of a very short time till there will not be an available cell left for the queen to deposit eggs in. Then swarming is inevitable as it is the only way to make more space for the queen to deposit eggs whether we want swarming or not. Therefore, it seems as if the lack of space for the queen to deposit eggs is the prime cause of swarming.

If this is so it would be an unwise thing for a bee-keeper not to provide a queen with adequate space to deposit all the eggs she is capable of, especially in early spring when a big stock of bees are so essential. It is no use raising bees after the harvest comes. It is said that no bee carries in more than a spoonful of honey in her life time. If so, it is only by securing a great number of bees early that we can be assured a large honey crop. Several different ways have been adopted to give the queens more room.

Our veteran Bee Keeper, Alexander, used to extract from the brood chamber in the spring to give his queen room and feed back as needed. But this was a great deal of trouble and would not fill the bill as a very prolific queen might soon overflow a small hive with eggs alone. Then others run for extracted honey and extract from the surplus cases in order to give more room. But this is not much use if the brood chamber is too small and unless the queen is allowed to go above, swarming is liable to occur. None of us want swarming as early as fruit bloom, it is an intolerable nuisance. A large bee-keeper a number of years ago, I do not now remember his name, said if he "could only control this everlasting swarming he would surely have a great thing." Many devices at different times by different men have been gotten up to prevent swarming, but nearly all have failed as it did not provide for the making of increase artificially if increase is needed. Therefore it seems almost certain that the great cause of swarming is the queen becoming hampered by inadequate space to deposit eggs. If this is the cause, what is the remedy? Everything points to a larger brood chamber. More and more I feel sure beekeepers are making up their minds to this. When we look at the little straw hives used in Germany and other countries we see clearly that our forefathers did not realize the capacity needed for their bees, why a good swarm such as we now have in our large hives would fill one of these little hives in two days on a good honey run and have to swarm out.

To prevent this, we use and advise a very much larger brood chamber and find that two of these hives that we formerly used is none too large to hold an adequate winter supply of honey and is just as much needed to hold all the brood a good queen can supply up to the honey harvest. And surely it would be the height of folly to not supply the queen with all the needed room at such an important season. And then we find it is the thing to prevent natural swarming; not one of all these 200 hives here have swarmed this year to my knowledge and I believe I would know if they had. It has not been as bad a year for swarming as last year, but a lot of fellows have had to chase around after swarms and climb trees. All of this might have been spared by just putting another hive body on the one the bees were in about the first of May and then putting on some honey cases early so the bees could carry the honey up out of this big brood nest to give the queen room, then go about your business till you take off your honey. If you want increase, you can have it by setting these hives apart and putting two more hives on these, one on each and a queen in the queenless one. Both our hives used are alike and interchangeable, 8 frames dove-tailed hives, and both bodies "boiling over with bees, no loss from ascending or other cause, no climbing trees as these large hives control swarming naturally, give us the honey and save us untold labor and annoyance, enable us to get unlimited quantities of comb honey of the highest quality, a most valuable things, as the production of comb honey is most desirable in so matiy ways. It is clean, it is nearly double in price, and honey in the comb is by far better flavored than extracted honey, and further, its production should greatly assist us in eliminating foul brood.

Of all the things that I have found out about bee-keeping there is none of near so much value to the bee-keeping world as this method of swarm control, as it is accomplished by the use of two of the regular Langstroth hives used as one. No new fangled things are brought in or are necessary. And not only is this made possible for extracted, but we can produce, as you see, unlimited quantities of fine comb honey without having the bees swarm naturally and then later if we want increase we can have it easily, quickly and cheaply in three or four ways.

Our Method adopted by State of Michigan for its Prison Farm at Jackson. One of three Apiaries, each holding 68 Colonies at t^e West Farm, at Jackson Prison.

CHAPTER VI Some of the Advantages of Having Bees in Buildings

Of the first I will mention is, the less liability of bees stinging when properly placed in buildings during the handling of them. The operator being shut away from the active flying bees from the hive entrance is not much disturbed by the few bees that leave the combs while handling them. If the windows are provided with suitable openings, all bees will rapidly escape and make no trouble. Then bees in buildings do not have to be moved in winter or summer. When we used to place our bees in the cellar in the late fall and remove them in the spring, it was always attended with a good deal of anxiety to know just when to make these movements, without much disturbance and considerable loss to the bees. Besides the advantage of a much superior wintering and healthier condition of the bees in the spring. When it comes to working with the bees in the house, we have them elevated about 20 inches, which makes it much easier to work Outside on the ground, we are without the shade that the house affords, which reminds me of what a relief such shelters would he in the far south where the houses could have shutter to open on the sides for air and light. And working under such a canopy must be greatly valued by our southern bee-keepers, lumber also being much cheaper there than here. The advantages of having a shelter at hand with the bees, where we can keep our appliance, to work with, cannot be too highly appreciated, as we do not have to go back and forth to a honey or supply house to get the fixtures we need. The A^alue of this alone and the benefits of the shelter from storms and the shade afforded would go far towards paying for the construction of the shelter. And when we look at our bees so nicely housed away from all the severer storms, it makes one wonder that any one should ever leave their bees out most of the time where it is impossible to keep the entrance of the hives open for proper ventilation that is so •essential.

One of the greatest benefits from the shelter is that we can work with our bees in almost all kinds of weather, when if they were outside we would not think of working with them. I looked through a light colony the 15th of March and saw that they had a queen and brood, but I would not have thought of this if they had been outside, so I feel sure if our bee-keepers will carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages of these three prominent ways of keeping bees, they must become convinced of the vast superiority of building an inexpensive shelter for the T&ees where they are safe at all times from storms and marauders and where you can examine them at any time and keep the entrances of the hives open at all times from Avithin and without, which is so very important for the wellbeings of the bees. And the bees can remain winter and summer, no lugging up or down stairs twice a year, no packing, fall and spring, nor trouble and annoyance with doublewalled hives during the working season. I feel sure if you reflect on these things, you will wonder that we all have not housed our bees before instead of keeping them in the different ways that we have, subjected to so much uncertainty, annoyance and inconvenience.

Two outfits put up a dozen years ago in a stable loft for a Banker, They are still doing well.

CHAPTER VII Bees in House Attics and Barn Lofts

House attics and barn lofts are about the only places where bees can be successfully kept in the cities. As there, on account of the proximity of the neighbors it would be impossible to keep them on the ground. It may not be known to every one, that bees when placed anywhere above the second floor do not give any annoyance to anyone on the ground, but this is a fact, and so it enables the people in the cities to keep bees and get a supply of this most pure and luscious sweet as well as their neighbors in the country. As about all the city dwellers have spacious unused attics, which make very good places to install a few colonies of bees on this plan, which gives them a good deal of pleasure and profit, for there still remains a strong love in these city dwellers for something that resembles the farm from which many of them have come to take up the more artificial life of the cities. Brick walls and asphalt pavements do not quite satisfy them, and a few colonies of bees with their busy hum, seems to go a good ways towards filling this longing in their nature for something that reminds them of the old farm. Therefore, I hope those that are better acquainted with the business will hear me while I make a minute explanation in this chapter for the use of these people who have perhaps never kept bees before. Then I want to say that bees when properly placed seem to get equally as much honey in the city as those in the country. And now I want to caution everybody that attempts to keep bees inside of rooms or attics or lofts, to look well to their windows and make them so any bees that do accidently get in, can readily get out. Bees do not purposely come into a room, but if they do get in through some hole, they go on the windows and die there. It you take out all windows, all bees will go out immediately and no more will come in, so the way to fix all windows that you do not darken, is to cut the glass about half an inch short at the bottom of the window, or to darken all windows that are not so cut at the bottom. Be particular about this, for I feel sure that bees dying on windows was the prolific cause for the abandoning of old time house apiaries. And I feel sure that of the things I have found out, nothing has been of more importance to me than making this half inch cut at the bottom of the windows. This matter is of such importance that it would pay to have a carpenter or glass man, for in a half day or less they could fix all windows in the attic perfectly.