THE BHH-KKJJPERS' REVIEW. 



119 



(vlliir. to detei'iiiino, if possible, why 

 his exjiorience juid ours should be so 

 (liauietrically oposite to each other." 



HANDLING BEES. 



The Right and the Wrong Way of Opening 

 a Hive. 



'I'lie seasou for handling bees is 

 ajiiiiu upon us, and it behooves us to 

 .U(>t all possible comfort out of this op- 

 eration, for. at best, it is somewhat 

 lieset with stings. Many of these are 

 brought upon us by the manner in 

 which the hive is opened. Thei'e is 

 more in this operation than some of 

 us dream. There is a right way and 

 a wrong way, and Mr. Geo. Shiber 

 tells about these two ways, especially 

 the former, in the American Bee- 

 Keeper. He says: 



"A good many Ijeginners don't learn 

 how to open a hive properly. Many 

 te.xt books don't give the best of in- 

 structions on this point. I was both- 

 ered for some little while before I got 

 on to the best way. Occasionally one 

 sees directions given by a bee-editor. 

 Such directions are all right for gentle 

 Italians, but for blacks, do not usually 

 work. When James Heddon publish- 

 ed his book, 'Success in Bee Culture,' 

 I found in that a method for opening 

 a hive of bees tliat will work. 



Take the average colony of blacks 

 or hybrids, have your smoker in good 

 trim, blow smoke across the entrance, 

 a.nd. if no honey flow is on, into the 

 (Mitrance: then noiselessly pry up the 

 cover and pour two or tlu'ee good puffs 

 of smoke into the top of hive, when 

 you can liaudle your frames rapidly. 

 But half smoking such a colony will 

 make perfect terrors. Witli the gentler 

 bees less smoke is needed, but the 

 method should be the same. This can 

 be done quickly, and one will soon get 



so that before one has a chance to 

 think twice the liive is opened and a 

 frame out. In fad, a hive should be 

 opened (piickly. Smoking the I'utraiice 

 starts the i»anic, and the smoke on top 

 of the frames coni]iietes it, and also 

 gains the complete surrender of the 

 crossest hybrids. 



I have had experience only with the 

 blacks, Italians, Carniolans, and their 

 crosses. Always perform the act of 

 smoking the entrance, under cover, and 

 opening the hive ipiickly— very fast; 

 don't wait for the lie(>s to fill with 

 honey; let them lill afterwards, while 

 you are manipiUating, or not at all. 

 Operating in this wa,y you will not 

 have a lot of cross bees to bother your 

 neighl)(>rs. 



At times, when at work opening a 

 number of hives, one will accuni'date 

 a "guard of honor' in the shape of a 

 dozen or so of cross l)ees, whose ire 

 has been aroused by some accident. 

 Now don't leave tlie apiary and leave 

 this guard to keep this thing up as 

 long as they live, for they will. But 

 pick up a fence separator and 'knock 

 the stutting out ot them,' then you 

 will have a yard of peaceable bees. A 

 'fence' makes a dandy weapon to kill 

 bees. Try it." 



FORCED OR "SHOOK ' SWARMS. 



They may not Work with Quite the Vigor of 

 Natural Swarms, but They are a Neces- 

 sity in Out-Apiaries. 



One of the wonderful things 

 brought out in tlie "shook-swarm" 

 discussion is the fact that it has been 

 practiced so universally, and yet its 

 advantages did not receive the pub- 

 licity that their merits would seem 

 to warrant. Such veterans as Captain 

 Hetherington and P. H. Elwood, of 

 New York, have been practicing fore- 



