A. 



[,Vo/e. — Strangely enough, some of our ABC schol 

 ars have attempted to take up each subject iu this 

 work in its consecutive order. As this is a cyclopedia 

 on bee culture it should no more be read in this man- 

 ner than a dictionary or a cyclopedia. As a guide 

 to the beginner we would suggest that he take for his 

 course of reading the following subjects in the order 

 named: Beginning with Bees; Hives; Frames, how 

 TO Manipulate ; Anger of Bees ; Stings ; Rob- 

 bing ; Apiary ; Transferring; Nucleus ; Feeding; 

 Swarming and Absconding of Swarms ; Comb 

 Honey ; Extracted Honey ; Queens ; Queen-rear- 

 ing ; Uniting ; Wintering. Other subjects may be 

 taken up as deemed best, for then the learner will be 

 able to read any thing in the book understandingly.] 



ABSCOrTDirra SUTARI^S.— Per- 



liai)s nothing is more aggravating in bee 

 culture than to have our bees all on a sud- 

 den abscond for parts unknown, without 

 so much as stopping to give us a parting 

 word of farewell, or a single token of recog- 

 nition of the debt they owe us, in the shape 

 of gratitude for our past kindnesses in pro- 

 viding them with a home, shelter, etc. Per- 

 haps no part of animated creation exhibits a 

 greater love of home than does the honey- 

 l)ee. No matter how humble or uninviting 

 the surroundings, bees seem much attached 

 to their home; and as they parade in front 

 of their doorway after a hard day's M'ork, 

 plainly indicate that they have a keen idea 

 of the rights of owner.^hip, and exhibit a 

 willingness to give their lives freely, if need 

 be, in defense of their hard-earned stores. 

 It is difficult to understand how they can 

 ever be willing to abandon it altogether, 

 and with such sudden impulse and common 

 consent. Xo matter if they have never seen 

 or heard of such a thing as a hollow tree, 

 but have for innumerable bee generations 

 been domesticated in hives made by human 

 hands, none the less have they that instinc- 

 tive longing that prompts them to seek the 

 forest as soon as they get loose from the 

 chains of domestication. It is possible that 

 the bees, as they go out foraging, keep an 

 eye out for desirable places for starting new 

 liomes, and it may be that they have the 

 hollow trees picked out some time before 

 they decide to leave. Many incidents have 

 been reported that pretty clearly show this 

 to be the case. We once found our bees 

 working strongly on a particular locality 

 about a mile and a half from the apiary, 

 where the white clover was blooming with 

 most unusual luxuriance. Very soon after, 

 a colony swarmed, and the bees, after pour- 



ing out of the hive, took a direct line for a 

 tree in this clover-field, without so much as 

 making any attempt to cluster at all. Did 

 they not figure out the advantage of having 

 only a few rods instead of over a mile to 

 carry their honey, after having patiently 

 gathered it from the blossoms, little by 

 little? Perhaps it will be well to remark 

 here, that it is very unusual for a swarm to 

 go to the woods without clustering; the bees 

 usually hang from 15 minutes to an hour, 

 and many times several hours ; in fact, we 

 have known them to hang over night; but 

 perhaps it would be well to take care of 

 them inside of 15 or 20 minutes if we would 

 make sure of them. Long before swarming- 

 time, hives should all be in readiness, and 

 they should also be located near where the 

 new colony is to stand. If one is going to 

 have a model apiary, he should not think of 

 waiting until the bees swarm before he lays 

 it out, but take time by the forelock, and 

 with careful deliberation decide where every 

 hive shall be before it is peopled with bees, 

 if he would keep ahead and prevent his bees 

 from taking '' French leave." 



But they sometimes leave, even after they 

 have been carefully hived in modern hives 

 on frames of foundation. If the swarming 

 mania gets well under way in a bee-yard, a 

 swarm is more apt to come out the second 

 time, even when hived in a new location in 

 a different hive, than where there is only a 

 very little swarming. It was once thought 

 that giving a frame of unsealed brood to 

 these second-time absconders would hold 

 them. While this, no doubt, acts as a re- 

 strainer, yet when a swarm leaves its new 

 quarters we would recapture it, hive it back 

 into the hive, and thjen carry hive, bees, and 

 all down cellar and keep them there several 

 days until they get over their mania. They 

 may then be set out on their permanent 

 summer stands. 



The plan of holding the bees with un- 

 sealed brood does very well if one can get 

 them into the hive; but it is necessarily 

 somewhat like the one of catching birds 

 with a handful of salt ; how are we to obvi- 

 ate losing the occasional swarm that goes 

 off without clustering at allV or the quite 

 frequent cases of coming out unobserved, or 



