American Hee Journal 



September, iqio. 



Our Bee-Keeping Sisters 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson. Mareneo. III. 



^ 



Preparing Bees for Winter 



This is my first year of l)ee keeping. Would 

 you give me some advice in the American 

 Bee Journal as to preparitiK mv bees for 

 winter? They are in chaff hives, and must 

 stay out-of-doors. 



1 have 4 colonies. 2 with young queens asd 

 2 with queens at least a year old. There 

 has been a drouth here most of the summer, 

 and the bees are not getting much. 



.August 3. Illinois. 



Perhaps the greatest advantage 

 claimed for chaff hives is that that they 

 are already prepared for winter, or very 

 nearly so. The double walls are already 

 packed with some loose material, such 

 as chaff, forest leaves, or planing-mill 

 shavings, so that no attention need be 

 paid to them. But you must see that 

 the top is covered up warm. A cush- 

 ion containing packing material is 

 needed on top, although some think a 

 tray better than a cushion. Then the 

 entrance must be contracted. In sum- 

 mer it can hardly be too large, but in 

 winter it should be only about ^ of an 

 inch deep and about 8 inches wide for 

 a strong colony, and smaller for a 

 weaker colony. Not a bad rule is to 

 allow an inch of entrance for each 

 frame in the hive covered with bees. 

 With the top covered over warm, the 

 entrance of the right size, and the bees 

 located where the blasts of winter do 

 not blow upon them too fiercely, you 

 may leave them with the hope that the 

 winter may not be too severe, and that 

 they may have an occasional chance 

 for flight. But the likelihood is that if 

 you keep in the business many years 

 you will plan some way to cellar your 

 bees in winter. Still, some winter out- 

 doors successfully in very cold places. 



Dividing Colonies ~ Melting Comb into 



Beeswax—Workers Killing Off 



Orone&— When to Take 



Off Honey 



1. I had a hive in which there were a very 

 great number of bees, so I took the upper 

 section and put it on an empty hive. I left 

 2 supers of honey in the section. There are 

 very few bees in the new hive, and they do 

 very little work. They arenot working down 

 in the hive. Shall I get a queen to put in 

 this hive ? 



2. How can I melt the wax-combs? I put 

 them on the stove, but they would not melt. 



3. Do the drones kill the workers, or do 

 the workers kill the drones ? 



4. Is August a good time to "rob" the 

 bees? Mrs. R.Smith. 



Detroit, Mich.. Aug. 4. 



]. If there was no brood in the upper 

 section, and you took only the bees, of 

 course they could do nothing. If you 

 wish to divide the colony, take .'? or f 

 frames of brood with the adhering bees 

 and put them into the empty hive. In 

 a day or two give them either a sealed 

 queen-cell or a queen. 



The probabilities are that you had 

 better have left the colony just as it 

 was. It is the strong colonies that give 

 the best results. 



<i. Take a dripping-pan and split one 

 corner open. Pu your combs in this, 



and put it in the oven of the cookstove 

 with the split corner projecting out. 

 The opposite corner — the one farthest 

 in the oven — raise slightly by putting a 

 pebble or something of the kind under 

 it, so the melted wax will run outward. 

 Set a dish under to oatch the dripping 

 wax. This does very good work when 

 only a small quantity of wax is to be 

 melted. 



■i. At the close of the honey harvest 

 the workers drive the drones from the 

 hives. The drones never make any at- 

 tack, nor indeed do the poor things 

 ever make any defense when attacked. 



4. As soon as your honey is capped 

 over it can be taken from the bees. 

 This may be even in June. 



Tea-Potfor Melted Wax to Fasten Foun- 

 dation 



"My John "used the pan and spoons, too. 

 but in moving to a new location pan and 

 spoons were left behind. So when John's 

 " better half " was asked to get some hives 

 ready she found pan and spoons lacking. O, 

 what will she do ? The babies will wake up 

 soon. O. there is an extra tea-pot, and with 

 a wooden handle, too. So hive after hive 

 was filled without setting the tea-pot down, 

 as the cover on the tea-pot helped hold the 

 heat. 



Now some kinds of "spooning" are all 

 right, but for fastening foundation in frames, 

 give me a tea-pot. Mrs. M. W. Parker. 



We formerly used with considerable 

 satisfaction a tin cup with a spout, 

 which would be much the same as a 

 tea-pot. Your tea-pot had the advan- 

 tage of a cover. Something depends 

 upon the kind of spout the tea-pot has. 

 A short and rather open one is good. 

 One that is long, with a small orifice, 

 allows the wax to cool at the extremity 

 and fill up so it will not run unless the 

 wax be kept too hot for best work. 



Beeswax and Salt for Flat-Irons 



"Beeswax and salt will make your 

 rusty flat-irons as clean and smooth as 

 glass. Tie a lump of wax in a rag ; 

 when the irons are hot rub them first 

 with the wax-rag, then scour with a 

 paper or a cloth sprinkled with salt." 



" Why Bees Fear Smoke " 



Dear Miss Wilson : Such is the heading 

 of an editorial on page 214, and it is a ques- 

 tion which has been touched upon many 

 times, and is designated as a conundrum. 

 They say a whole lot about bees /r.ir/m' 

 smoke, and want to know the why and the 

 wherefore, but "have not yet the true an- 

 swer." 



In my opinion, there is no answer, simply 

 because there is no fear. I don't think the 

 bees fear smoke any more than we do: they 

 just simply can't stand it. The smoke 

 strangles them, however little is used, and 

 Ihcy try to get away from it (if they are gen- 

 tle), or tight the cause. If a medium amount 

 is used they get busy and try to gather up 

 their jewels and put them in a safer place. 

 If too much is used, and they have no time 

 to protect their stores, they go to fighting 

 the author of the disturbance. 



The idea of our plucky little bees being 

 .i/r,i:,/ol anything! They may be ahiimed: 

 smoke may warn them of approaching dan- 



ger. Xo condition of life is free from the 

 visitationsofalarm.no life can exist with- 

 out it It is not fear, we may know no craven 

 shrinkiiik'fromdanger.yet be greatly alarmed. 

 I he fireman will know no fear as he rushes 

 through the flames to save a life, but he will 

 feel alarm when he sees a human figure in a 

 flaming building. The soldier knows no 

 fear as he arouses the sleeping camp to re- 

 sist an invasion, but he is alarmed at the 

 sight of the enemy in the still night watches. 



I have heard it said that bees are afraid of 

 thunder, thumping on the hives, and a thou- 

 sand and one different ghosts. Don't you 

 believe it. They are only alarmed, and 

 ready at all times to protect their home, 

 their baby sisters, and their hard-earned 

 stores, at the slightest sign of danger, even 

 to the giving up of their hives. Heroines, 

 they are. every one of them, as courageous 

 and self-sacrificing as vou will find any- 

 where, and should awaken not only an ad- 

 miration, but the desire for emulation. 



If the fear of smoke could be inbred, or 

 did associate it with the destruction of the 

 colony, I think that man would have a very 

 small chance of procuring any honey at all: 

 for would not the "fear "of man be inbred 

 with a far deeper impression than that of 

 smoke ? 



"Fortunately it does not so greatly mat- 

 ter,"' says Ye Editor, but then research after 

 these smaller matters has resulted in the 

 discovery of deeper things. It is these little, 

 insignificant matters that make up the mon- 

 strous ones in every walk of life. 



Eola, Tex.. July 21. Mrs.) M. E. Pruitt. 



Bee-Stings On a Greenhorn 



My first bee-sting was received this 

 summer, after I had walked, without a 

 veil, barefaced and bareheaded, all 

 through an apiary where I was a 

 stranger, and had examined the popu- 

 lated hives both externally and inter- 

 nally. After doing so, I requested the 

 bee-keeper to let us sit in the shade 

 some 3(1 feet in front of the first row of 

 hives. We had not remained sitting 

 over 5 minutes when a watcher became 

 suspicious of us, circled our heads a 

 few times, sounded the alarm, struck 

 the bee-keeper in the face (although he 

 wore a veil, as he said, "to intimidate 

 the bees "), but not stinging him, 

 turned like a flash and stung me on the 

 small front lobe of the ear. Miss Bee 

 was immediately joined by others that 

 refused to permit us to remain on the 

 spot, and finally drove us away. Which 

 proves that they are more suspicious 

 of a loiterer than of one who fearlessly 

 goes into their midst. 



My next sting was received on the 

 left ankle (ah, ye provident deliverer! 

 that ankle had been a chronic rheu- 

 matic for years) one night recently, 

 about 11 :;30 o'clock, while I was at- 

 taching some feeders by the light of 

 a lantern, which attracted, and I acci- 

 dentally crumpled the gentle little las- 

 sie, which she decided was either dan- 

 ger or insult enough to risk her life 

 for in her excitement ; so she shot into 

 me the fatal harpoon, which Nature 

 gave her for defense. 



Later I bought some colonies from a 

 " blacksmith," or perhaps more appro- 

 priate, a "carpenter," because when 

 preparing to attach an .Alexander feeder 

 which necessitates sliding the brood- 

 chamber backwards, while leaving the 

 bottom stationary, I found the bottom 

 securely attached with nine 8-penny 

 nails driven from beneath and with 

 heads sunk. Well, when my husband 

 finished ringing down plagues upon, 

 and subjecting the " blacksmith " (who 

 was .5 miles away) to the witherin.L; 

 torments of fire and brimstone (for 

 me), we prepared to extract the nails. 

 Bv the time we had succeeded we were 



