590 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Sept. 15 



FIG. 1. — PERCY ORTON'S CAPPIXG-MELTER RKADY FOR USE. 



lower edges, making every thing tight, and 

 leaving a >^-inch dead-air si>ace all around 

 the hive. In spite of the fact that there 

 was a great loss of bees in this vicinity last 

 winter, this colony lost by actual count 140 

 bees in December, 125 in January, 134 in 

 February. 



This spring I placed the hive on a stand, 

 as shown in the second view, as the bees 

 were annoyed by the bottom of the porch 

 railing when the hive was located as in the 

 first view. At this writing, .July 15, there 

 are two supers on, the bees already working 

 nicely in the second super. 



Pittsburg, Pa. 



HUNTING COLONIES IN TREES. 



Transferring from Trees into Modern Hives, 



BY BERT ROBERTS. 



Hunting large game in the mountains is 

 great sport; but hunting bees is ahead of all 

 other kinds of hunting. I wish that some 

 of the readers might be here to go with me, 

 for it seems as though every tree having a 

 hole in it contained a colony of bees. They 

 are usually found in oak-trees from ten to 



forty feet from the 

 ground. I never line 

 bees with a bee-box. 

 I just go through the 

 woods and find the 

 bees flying in and out 

 of the trtes. I have 

 run across as many as 

 four trees in half a day. 

 When a tree is once 

 found I cairy a hive, 

 some pails, and a smo- 

 ker to the spot, and 

 then proceed to climb 

 the tree by nailing 

 strips of boards on the 

 trunk so as to form 

 a ladder. When the 

 opening is reached I 

 )3uild a platform by 

 nailing a board four or 

 five feet long on each 

 side of the tree with 

 braces from the ends 

 down to the trunk. 

 Over these boards I lay 

 pieces of strong bark 

 or more boards. When 

 this is done I lower 

 a light rope for an 

 attendant to tie on a 

 smoker, an ax, and the 

 ])ails. I blow a very 

 litt'e smoke in at the 

 entrance, and begin 

 chopping. When the 

 cavity is reached I 

 use a little more 

 smoke, and then with a 

 long - bladed knife cut 

 the combs loose from 

 the tree and remove them, brushing the 

 bees back in the cavity. I usually put the 

 honey in one pail and the brood-combs in 

 another. After the combs are all out of the 

 tree I pull the hive up to the jilatform and 

 transfer the brood-combs into the frames, 

 holding them there by means of sticks on 

 each side of the frames, the tops and bottoms 

 of the sticks being tied together to hold the 

 combs in place. The hive is then set on the 

 platform, near the opening in the tree. Aft- 

 er washing the honey and dirt off my hands 

 I carefully reach into the cluster and take 

 the bees out by the handful and dump them 

 on to the alighting-board of the hive. A 

 paddle or large spoon might be used for this 

 purpose, but there would be more danger of 

 hurting the bees. They find their own 

 brood in the hive, and run in at the entrance 

 like sheep into a barn. 



The few remaining bees in the tree may 

 be smoked out and then the cavity jilugged 

 with moss. Every thing may now be left 

 until evening, and then the hive carried 

 home and placed on the stand that it is to 

 occupy. 



The native bees of Oregon are fair-sized 

 and brown in color, and are not so likely tO 

 sting as the natives of Michigan, 

 Sheridan, Oregon, 



