314 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 16, 1901. 



a brand new smoker, and g-ot it out, but really did not know 

 what to do with it. I got some rags, lit them, and went 

 back in fear and trembling. I gave them a good smoking, 

 took the same box (with a long-handle this time) and a long- 

 handled brush, and got the bulk of them into the box, 

 dumped them down again in front of the hive, and when 

 they would not go in I smoked them in, and they stayed. 



Tennessee. 

 Answer. — It is true that when bees swarm they are 

 filled with honey, and are so good-natured that you may 

 hive them bare-headed and bare-handed. But it is also 

 true that sometimes they are cross enough, just why I don't 

 know. Very likely there was no fault on your part, only 

 you had one of the " sometimes " cases. 



Transferring Bees. 



Several weeks ago I bought 5 colonies, and found 2 of 

 them very strong, and consequently did not disturb them. 

 Two of them were ver}' weak, so that only one frame could 

 be covered in one, and two frames in the other. It hap- 

 pened that the old home-made frame fit in the new dove- 

 tailed hives which I use, and so I put them into the new 

 hives. 



1. Now, would I not better take from them both queens, 

 and unite them into one hive, then give them a new queen ? 

 I think the queens are pld. 



2. Now, the fifth hive was a mess — it was chock-full of 

 honey, and although it was a movable-frame the bees had 

 built their combs diagonally in the frames. I began to cut 

 out from one side where there were no bees, and proceeded 

 until the fifth frame, when I came to the bees, then I lifted 

 the remaining four frames bodily, and put them into a new 

 hive. How can I get those bees out on straight combs ? 

 Would you advise leaving them and gradually coaxing 

 them over on new frames filled with foundation ? 



Penn. 



Answers. — 1. As your letter is written in April, it is 

 quite possible that a colony very weak at that time may 

 build up to good proportions by the time of the honey har- 

 vest. At any rate, it is a common observation that if two 

 colonies that are very weak are in bad condition as to build- 

 ing up, the two united will hardly do any better. 



Are you sure about the queens being old ? If you are 

 experienced in such matters you may judge somewhat by 

 the appearance of the queens, but even then you may not 

 be sure. If a colony threw out a swarm last year, you may 

 know it has a young queen less than a year old. The swarm 

 will generally have an older queen, although there may be 

 exceptions. Generally, however, the bees will supersede a 

 queen before she is old enough to be worthless. Very likely 

 you will do well to leave the two colonies as they are, unless 

 you want to introduce a new queen for the sake of improv- 

 ing the stock. 



2. Yes, fill up the hive with frames filled with founda- 

 tion, and let the bees work over upon it at their own sweet 

 will. 



-^-m-^ 



Weak or aueenless Colony. 



I have 2 colonies of bees, and both seemed to winter 

 well, but I notice this morning a great many dead bees in 

 front of one of the hives, and that colony seems weak and 

 not nearly so active and strong as the other. What is the 

 trouble and the remedy ? Alabama. 



Answer. — It may be that there is nothing beyond the 

 fact that the colony is weak. A good many bees die every 

 winter, and some strong colonies will keep them carried 

 away so that you may think that none were lost, while a 

 weaker colony may leave them on the floor of the hive or 

 at the entrance. The chief question is whether there is a 

 good queen in the hive or not. Lift out the frames on 

 which the bees are most thickly clustered, and see whether 

 any brood and eggs are present. If you find nothing of 

 the kind there, they are hopelessly queenless, and the bees 

 left are so old that they are not worth fussing with. There 

 is a bare chance, however, that they have reared a young 

 queen that has not begun laying yet. In that case you may 

 find no brood except a little sealed brood. If you want to 

 make sure of it, give them a frame of young brood from the 

 other colony, and if they start queen-cells on it you may 

 believe them queenless; but if no queen-cells are started in 

 two or three days, there is still hope they may have a queen. 

 If they start cells, and they are sufficiently strong in bees. 



you may allow them to mature the queen-cell, but the game 

 is not likely to be worth the candle. If you find the sealed 

 brood in worker-cells raised like little bullets instead of 

 being flat, j-ou may know they have a drone-laying queen 

 or laying-workers, in which case the only thing is to break 

 them up. 



\ ^ The Home Circle. ^ 



Conducted bu Prof. ft. J. Cook, Clareniont, Calif. 



The Commonplace. 



" A commonplace lite,"' we say, and we sigh; 



But why should we sigh as we say ? 

 'Tis the comiflonplace sun in the commonplace sky 



Makes up this commonplace (lay; 

 And the moon and the stars are commonplace things, 

 And the flower that blooms, and the bird that sings; 

 But dark were our fate, and sad were our lot, 

 It the flow,ers should fade and the birds sang not ; 

 And God, who watches each separate soul, 

 Out of commonplace things makes this beauteous whole. 



— Selected. 



" DAD BUTTER"— HOME COURTESIES. 



This would seem a curious text for our greeting to 

 "The Home Circle " friends. Yet it suggests some valu- 

 able thoughts, as we shall see. 



I taught my first school when I was young — in my 

 teens. How vivid are some of the things of our childhood 

 and youth I How stamped upon memory was the ride — 11 

 miles — with my dear old father, as I went to try my skill at 

 the teacher's desk. Among other wise things my father 

 said was, " Start right." That might well be a text for 

 any epistle or sermon. Again, "Never lose j'our self-con- 

 trol." A man near Claremont was shot yesterday — another 

 man lost his self-control. The one will be marred through 

 life, if not worse. The other will doubtless languish for 

 months behind prison doors, and vrill have long, bitter, 

 regretful thoughts. Did I say too much in a previous arti- 

 cle ? Can we say too much to our dear children at the very 

 first, from cradle up, regarding the importance of self-con- 

 trol ? I am glad my father impressed it upon me on that 

 memorable ride, as I went to fashion the still younger lives. 



Again, my father said, " Never be called in the morn- 

 ing." I was to "board around," and such evidence of 

 energy he thought would win me favor. I think I was 

 never called, and I was often first up, and in the quiet of 

 those early hours I not only carefully read my New York 

 Tribune (which was a good school for a school-teacher), but 

 also read during the winter Irving's " Life of Washington." 

 Whatever some may think of this advice, its results were 

 certainly good in my case. 



Again, father urged that I use no words that I would 

 not use in the presence of the most refined ladies. This 

 was good advice. I hope I followed it. Were I to train 

 children to-day — were I to bring up my children again — I 

 would start urging the "yea, yea," and " na^', nay," which 

 the blessed Master enjoined upon all his disciples. There 

 is something so sweet, wholesome, and impressive in the 

 pure, direct speech, especially in these days of slang, that I 

 wonder more are not enamored of it. 



But why my text ? I often noticed as I boarded with 

 the good people, that the language of the children was not 

 always courteous, respectful, refined. The people were for 

 the most part — indeed, almost in their entirety — thoroughly 

 good peojjle ; people who would sacrifice heavily to aid a 

 neighbor who might need comfort or assistance ; people 

 who prided themselves upon their honesty ; whose word was 

 honored in matters of common report, or in business. It 

 was a neighborhood that would soon empty itself in case 

 the country should be threatened and assistance required. 

 This was proved two or three years later, when the call for 

 100,000 men was sounded by that glorious man who then 

 guided the great "Ship of State." It was a goodly folk to 

 meet, and I used my opportunity and dwelt among them 

 poor and rich alike. No home escaped my visitation. I 

 have rejoiced ever since that the poorest and least respected 



