824 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



the hill ahead of me. Having- arrived at 

 the top of it, nearly tired out, I placed my 

 feet on the coasters and let the wheel g"o as 

 fast as it would down one of those York 

 State hills. Up to that time I had never 

 ridden so fast in all my life. I nearly ran 

 into various objects down the hill. Suffice 

 it to say, I landed safely, feeling- sure that 

 I had left 013^ pursuer miles behind, and I 

 had. A week or so afterward, when I ar- 

 rived home, I received a letter from Mr. 

 Franklin, stating that he had seen me, 

 mentioning the very road where he had hail- 

 ed me, and saying that, instead of stopping, 

 and being- neighborly, I just ran away from 

 him. He had read in Gleanings of my 

 proposed tour; and when he saw a chap go 

 ■ along- on a bicycle, that tallied exactly with 

 a description of me, he concluded at once 

 who I was. 



So much for an introduction. I have long- 

 since made my apolog-y to Mr. Franklin, 

 and I now wish to introduce him to our 

 readers as a bee-keeper whom I have kept 

 track of more or less ever since. He is up 

 to date, because he uses the plain tall sec- 

 tion. His package is neat and pretty, and, 

 I should judge, inexpensive. No wonder it 

 "sells like hot cakes." — Ed.] 



UNITING BKES FOR WINTERING. 



"Good evening-, Doolittle. As the even- 

 ings are getting quite long- now I came over 

 to have a little talk with you about unitiug- 

 bees, so as not to bother you during the day, 

 as I know you are verj^ busy getting your 

 honey ready for market." 



" For what reason do you wish to unite 

 your bees, neighbor Smith ? ' 



" I have several weak colonies and young 

 after-swarms which I thought would, by 

 placing two or more of them together, make 

 a less number strong enough for winter; 

 and I believe that such strong colonies can 

 stand the winter, while the weak ones, if 

 left to themselves, would most likely perish. 

 Am I rig-ht in this matter?" 



"I think you are; and if more of our bee- 

 keepers so understood things we should hear 

 of less loss of colonies in the spring than 

 we do now. The novice is quite apt to think 

 that, the greater the number of colonies he 

 goes into winter with, the greater number 

 he will be apt to have the next May; but a 

 careful looking- into things shows that such 

 reasoning is, in nearlj'^ every case, falla- 

 cious. Two or more small colonies placed 

 in one hive, with the right amount of stores, 

 stand quite a good chance of coming out in 

 the spring one good working- colon}'; while, 

 if left separate, the chances are that empty 

 hives and combs will be all that will remain 

 of the two or three the next May." 



"That is mj' mind exactl}'. But you have 

 not told me how to unite my bees." 



"Well, I will tell j'ou of a plan I have 

 used successfully for a score or more of 

 years. The first thing to do is to place an 

 empty hive where you wish a colony to 

 stand; and if j^ou can allow that to be 

 where the strong-er of the weak colonies is 

 now standing-, so i-nuch the better, as in this 

 case the bees from this one will not have 

 an}' desire to go to any other place, as this 

 is where they have marked their old hoi-ne." 



"But how can I set an empty hive there 

 when the stand is already occupied?" 



"If 5'^ou do this work as j'ou should, on 

 some day -when the bees are not fi3'ing-, and 

 yet when it is not cold enough to chill bees 

 g-enerally, sa}^ on some cloudy daj', or near 

 sundown, when the mercury stands at fi-oi-n 

 50° to 55°, 3^ou will have no trouble in set- 

 ting- this strong-er colonv* to one side of its 

 stand, and taking- 3'our time in arrang-ing- 

 the empty hive thereon." 



"Yes, I see now. But go on." 



"Having the empty hive arranged, goto 

 the severiil hives having the colonies which 

 are to be united, to form one colony, and 

 blow quite a volume of smoke in at the en- 

 trance of the hive, at the same time pound- 

 ing with the doubled-up hand, or with a 

 stick, on top of the hive." 



"What do you pound on the hive for?" 



"This pounding on the hive causes the 

 bees to fill themselves with hone}', upon 

 which filling- depends the successful uniting- 

 of bees." 



* ' How long should I pound ? ' ' 



"I pound on them for about a minute; 

 sometimes two, if it has been cool for soi"ne 

 time before, so the bees are quite compactly 

 clustered, as in this case it takes them some 

 time to cluster and fill themselves." 



" Do 3'ou keep on smoking- all the time you 

 are pounding- the hive?" 



"I smoke only enough to keep the bees 

 from coming'- out after the first few volumin- 

 ous pufts. As soon as you are through with 

 the last one, take a wheelbarrow and wheel 

 the hives to where you wish your united col- 

 ony to stand, which wheeling- helps, by its 

 jarring, to augment the fear of the bees, 

 thus causing- them more effectually to fill 

 themselves with honey. After thus wheel- 

 ing them together, do not delay in opening- 

 the hives, else the bees may disgorge their 

 load of honey back into the cells again." 



"Would not an assistant be good at this 

 time ? " 



"One would do no harm: but I g-enerally 

 do this work alone. Having- all near to- 

 gether by the hive they are to go in, open 

 the hives, and take a frai-ne of comb and 

 bees froin one hive and place in the empty 

 one; then take a frame from the next hive, 

 placing it beside the first, and so keep on 

 alternating- the frames from the difi^erent 

 hives till the empty hive is filled. In doing" 

 this, select such combs as you desire, either 

 for brood, honey, all worker comb, etc., 

 thus putting the united colony on the best 

 combs. Having the hive filled with comb. 



