484 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Aug-. 1, 1901. 



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Contributed Articles, i 



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Moving Bees Into the Buckwheat Fields. 



BY F. GREIN'EK. 



PERHAPS the reader may think that there isn't any- 

 thing to be said on the subject of moving bees into 

 buckwheat for " moving bees is moving bees," and 

 vehat applies to moving to out-apiaries in the spring also 

 applies to moving into buckwheat sections. I admit, in a 

 measure, this is true, but when we take into consideration 

 that our bees toward August 1 are in altogether different 

 condition than we find them in the spring, it may not seem 

 out of place to offer some suggestions in regard to how we 

 may manage this matter. 



If there has been a honey-flow previous to buck- 

 wheat time, our hives will be found quite heavy, and the 

 handling of them is not mere boy's play ; they are also 

 overflowing with bees, making it necessary to give more 

 ventilation than is necessary in the spring moving. These 

 different conditions must be met. My friend, E. H. Perry, 

 of this (Ontario) County, N. Y., has been instrumental in 

 bringing out a plan by which the moving of these heavy 

 hives may be avoided, so that more colonies may be carried 

 on one load, etc. In the following I will give the details of 

 the plan, with some modifications : 



Let us suppose the buckwheat honey-flow commences 

 Aug. 5. We then xomraence to get ready about Aug. 1. It 

 will be necessary to have as many empty hives on hand as 

 we wish colonies to move. Said hives should be of the 

 capacity of five or six Langstroth frames, and be filled 

 with comb. We also need ventilating screens. These 

 may be made by taking hive-bodies and sawing them into 

 2'2-inch sections, nailing wire-screen over each. These 

 ventilators answer a double purpose when fastened to the 

 top of the hive. In the first place, they give plenty of air 

 while moving ; secondly, they allow the smoke to escape 

 and give ventilation while driving the bees out of their 

 old home into a new one, which is our first step in the pre- 

 paration for moving our bees into the buckwheat section, 

 for we prefer to leave all these heavy brood-combs at home, 

 and take only the naked bees. So, accordingly, we proceed. 



The "driving " requires but little time, but some skill. 

 The colony is raised up from its bottom-board and so placed 

 as to give us easy access to the underside of the frames. 

 The new hive with combs, the section-case and the venti- 

 lating screen, all fastened together, are placed on top, and 

 by the judicious use of smoke from the bottom, and pound- 

 ing on the brood-chamber, the bees are forced up into the 

 empty hive, etc., in a very few minutes. When this is 

 accomplished we lift off the new hive with fixtures and bees, 

 and place it upon the same bottom-board and stand the 

 colony previously occupied. We put on the cover and let it 

 remain thus until we are ready to move three or four days 

 later. We wish to let the bees become acquainted with, and 

 adjust themselves, to the new state of things before mov- 

 ing them, or else some might swarm out as soon as opened 

 up in the new location. Occasionally one of the colonies 

 will swarm out the next day after " driving," and must be 

 hived back with queen secured by an entrance-guard. 



The old hive full of brood and honey is placed right 

 back of the hive containing the bees, for a little while, 

 perhaps an hour, not more, or till we have evidence by the 

 ■ behavior of the bees of the forced swarm that their queen 

 is with them. When we feel sure a queen is left in the old 

 hive, we are obliged to make a search for her, and when 

 found place her where she belongs. 



The hives with their brood-comb may now be placed 

 around on other colonies, left at home, two or even three 

 upon a single colony. Excluders are used to keep the 

 queen from below to enter the brood-chambers above. We 

 manage these sets of brood-combs for increase, as explained 

 later on. 



The question might be asked. Why not furnish these 

 forced swarms only with foundation starters? Indeed this 

 might answer as well, or even better, as far as the securing 

 of comb-honey is concerned. However, it is not safe to 

 move newly-hived swarms long distances— the combs give 

 the bees a chance to cling to during the journey : and then 

 we wish some honey stored in these small brood-chambers 



for wintering. We are quite sure to accomplish this end 

 by furnishing the combs instead of starters. 



When selecting the colonies to be moved we pick out 

 such as have old queens. We may have to double up in 

 order to get all colonies in proper shape for winter ; if all 

 have old queens we avoid the possible sacrifice of young 

 queens. When the season is getting near its end, this 

 doubling-up may commence. It can better be done at this 

 time than later when no more honey is coming in from the 

 fields. Instead of this doubling-up we may re-unite them 

 with the parent colonies, providing we do not wait too long 

 before we take them back to the home yard. 



It has not been fully explained just what was done 

 with the sets of combs full of honey and brood, except 

 that they had been placed upon other colonies over queen- 

 excluding honey-boards. Our practice is to leave them 

 alone for five or six days. (Juite a good many young bees 

 will then have hatched, and the larger part of the brood is 

 sealed. We then take them off, bees and all, place each 

 one on a bottom-board and move to a new location. If we 

 have any queens on hand, we supply them with such ; if 

 not, we have taken the precaution 10 days previously and 

 started queen-cells from our breeding queens. These are 

 then just ready, or ripe, and each new-formed colony 

 receives one. In due time these will hatch, and the young 

 queens will fill the hive with brood sufficiently to insure a 

 good lot of bees to go into winter quarters. If they should 

 not be as strong as desirable, then those colonies brought 

 back from the buckwheat pasture may be united with them 

 as mentioned. We kill the old queens, of course; thus we 

 have practically requeened all our colonies that were moved 

 into the buckwheat. 



I can recommend the above plan as one giving us bet- 

 ter results in comb honey than any other, and an increase 

 in bees, if we desire the increase. Ontario Co., N. Y. 



Advertising High Values for Queen-Bees. 



BY FREDERICK E. SIMPSON. 



HAVING been much interested in the recent discussions 

 regarding high values for queen-bees, I will venture to 

 give some of my ideas on the subject, and if I am 

 mistaken I trust some one will show me wherein the errors 

 exist. 



Naturally, most criticisms have been directed against 

 the A. I. Root Co., and personally it is of course no one 

 else's business how they advertise : but from another view- 

 point their extensive business interests place them in a 

 position in which they are expected to represent all that is 

 good, practical and progressive in apiculture, and their 

 acts become a proper subject for public discussion, 

 especially as by imitation these acts become much more 

 far-reaching than would seem possible at a first glance. 



Custom has made $5.00 the standard selling price for a 

 " best breeder. " The qualifications of such a queen vary 

 greatly with the seller. For instance, I last spring pur- 

 chased one from a man who gave nie her pedigree for two 

 generations, and the honey-yield of herself, her mother, 

 and her grandmother, and also indicated where the strain 

 originated. On the other "nand, a New York breeder sold 

 me one before fruit-bloom this season, and said she emerged 

 last August (last year being the worst in 33 in this State), 

 therefore greatly restricting the opportunity for determin- 

 ing her value as a worker-mother, let alone a queen-mother. 

 I am merely pointing out the variation, as I have no fault 

 to find, for I think the buyer of such queens will average 

 fully as much satisfaction and return for his money as buy- 

 ers of any other kind of well-bred live stock. . 



I have always thought bee-keeping quite a staid, con- 

 servative and dignified calling, far removed from those 

 expensive avocations which are indulged in solely as recre- 

 ations. I have felt that the bee-keeper usually applies the 

 same amount of business abilitj' to his avocation as he 

 does to his regular calling, whereas the faddist, or he who 

 is in search of recreation only, tries to get away from his 

 business and commonly fails to make a financial success of 

 his fad. The future of bee-keeping will depend largely on 

 what is now being done, and if we are to continue to 

 advance, perhaps slowly but steadily, it is well for all to 

 look to it that they do nothing that will have a tendency to 

 make bee-keeping or any branch of it a mere fad, or to 

 allow our bee papers to make any approach towards yellow 

 journalism. 



By their 5200 valuation the Roots have obtained a great 

 deal of free advertising, but as this has been largely by 



