18S0 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



127 



TRANSFERRING IN THE FALL. 



In the latter part of August, 1879, I wrote to Chas. 

 Dadant & Son, asking for their lowest price Cor 

 queens so late in the season, also asking their advice 

 in regard to transferring bees in August and Sep- 

 tember. They wrote me not to attempt to transfer 

 so late: as they had tried it so often and so of ten 

 failed, they would not advise any one to do it, and 

 they did not send me any price for queens. I then 

 wrote to W. Z. Hutchinson of Rogersville, Michigan, 

 and he wrote me to transfer, and he would furnish 

 me as many queens as 1 wanted for 75c. each. I sent 

 for 10 or 12 queens. I commenced upon my old box 

 hives, by taking them, one at a time, into a hunter's 

 tent, mosquito tight. I turned the hive bottom end 

 up, allowing the top to rest on an empty box, ami 

 chiseled the wood away from the nails of two sides 

 of the hive, and drew the nails with a neat, small, 

 claw hammer, blowing in smoke of course, to keep 

 the bees out of the way. When the two boards were 

 removed, it was so easy to cut out the combs and 

 fasten them in the Simplicity frames. I put in all 

 combs that had brood and honey, rejecting drone 

 comb, dividing- as I went along equally into two 

 Simplicity hives. When the combs were all cut out 

 of the old hive, the bees were in the empty box un- 

 derneath, of course. I then used a tin dipper to 

 divide the bees, watching each dipperful to see 

 which hive the queen went into, so as to know 

 where to put the Hutchinson Italians. I then fed 

 them every evening % to Yz ft. of honey, which I hap- 

 pened to have from 8 hives that had spring-dwindled 

 to nothing, leaving 15 to 30 ft. of honey in each hive. 

 I transferred and divided 16 old box-hive colonies, in 

 that way, and they are all right so far. I have them 

 in the cellar, on bottom board hollow side up, with 

 screen wire over the end to give air. 



Genesee, ill., Feb. 10, '80. James Morton. 



If transferring is done in the thorough 

 way in which yon seem to have done it, 

 friend M., I should have little fear of any 

 bad consequences. Especially do I approve 

 of your idea of feeding them after the oper- 

 ation until they have every thing nicely 

 built up. Broken combs are like broken 

 bones ; they will grow together sound and 

 healthy, if abundance of material in the 

 shape of food is at hand. Another point I 

 wish to commend: You say you cut away 

 the wood until you could draw the nails with 

 a neat, small, claw hammer; you took out 

 the nails quietly, as you can do with good, 

 nice tools, and a nice, line, steel hammer 

 may make all the difference between success 

 and failure, in doing such work. Let us 

 hear how the bees transferred in August 

 finally come out. 



I have lost no bees yet, but I don't expect to get 

 through the spring with my 17 colonies. Last sum- 

 mer I got only one natural swarm and 00 lb. of hon- 

 ey from 16 stands. The honey crop was a failure. 

 In 1S7S, I got over 1800 lb. of honey fn m :;i stands, 

 and increased to 43 stands. My success thai season 

 created quite a demand lor bees, and I sold or trad- 

 ed off 27 stands at $5.00 a piece. And now some of 

 those friends suspect mc of foretelling events, — too 

 much credit for one man. Don't you think BO? 



Friend Hutchinson tells us in the Dec. No. about 

 his two little "Brown Eyesc*." I won't be quite so 

 modest as friend H., and wait a year, but tell you 

 now about our little " Blue Eyes," before she is quite 



6 months old. And considering she is all the little 

 folks at our house, we could not keep house without 

 her now, even if she does dike your new baby) send 

 greetings all through the house and immediate 

 neighborhood sometimes. Friend Hoot, you got up 

 a nudley of bee-keepers; why not get up one of bee- 

 keepers' babies? Wouldn't that be "jolly"? Speak 

 quick, and 1 will send a photo of the best-looking 

 baby. A. S. DAVISON. 



Aullville, Mo., Feb. 5, 1880. 



CANDY FOR BEES. 



I received the grape sugar, and have made some 

 candy, but it is not right — it won't harden. I made 

 a \\i lb. batch, weighing the sugar and flour. It has 

 stood Lit; hours, and is so soft it will run all over. 

 Can you tell me the reason? I had trouble in mak- 

 ing candy of coffee sugar too. It would not crumble 

 in cold weather, and when cooked to a certain point 

 it would grain in less than half a minute. If I had 

 not stood over it, it would certainly have burnt. 

 Now, what was the matter with that? 



If your grape-sugar candy was made ac- 

 cording to directions, putting in the coffee 

 A after the grape sugar was cold, or nearly 

 so, it will certainly harden. If it is not hard 

 in 36 hours, wait a little longer. The softer 

 it is without running, the better; for the 

 bees can take it up much better when it is a 

 sort of a paste. Our greatest ditiiculty has 

 been to make candy that will not get too 

 hard. Your coffee-sngar candy that persists 

 m graining may be prevented by the addition 

 of a small quantity of vinegar ; but a little 

 grape sugar answers far better, and is, I 

 think, better for the bees. 



WAS IT AN ACCIDENT? 



I want to tell you about a colony that had been 

 queenless several weeks. They had made queen 

 cells, which, in duo time, had been broken open; 

 but, after waiting 18 or 20 days, I could not find any 

 queen, or see any signs of any. I procured a queen 

 and caged her, then let her out on the frames. She 

 rose and flew. I watched for her, but, unnoticed by 

 me, she came back, and pretty soon I saw her on the 

 frames. I shut the hive (this was 9 or 10 a.m.), and 

 did not open it again until about 5 p.m. As I went to 

 the hive, I glanced at a cup of water which I had 

 about 5 feet behind the hive, and, lo ! there was my 

 queen. I think they killed her, brought her out, 

 and, in flying off with her, dropped her in the water. 



IlENKY KN.U'I'. 



Oxford, Mich., Feb. 9, 1880. 



I have chosen this incident to illustrate a 

 point, giving it as my opinion that the queen 

 was not injured at all by the bees, but came 

 out for another airing, as they often do. and 

 fell into the cup of water. 1 presume, friend 

 K., you had the cup of water there for the 

 purpose of tumbling the bees into it if they 

 balled the queen, which is a very good way 

 to do. if you only pick up your cup and 

 everything else when you go away. Many 

 will say that such mishaps are the result of 

 accidents that conld not well have been fore- 

 seen. Almost all such accidents can be 

 foreseen and guarded against. A wash- 

 basin is an excellent thing about or near an 

 apiary, but it shonld never be left with wa- 

 ter in it. 1 have seen bees drowned day aft- 

 er day, right under the nose of their keeper, 

 and, although he plainly saw them buzzing 



