168 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



med the bees into a state of acquiescence to the 

 inevitable. The comb was transferred to frames, 

 and the bees were divided into two colonies. Pre- 

 vious to this we had moved out of the " bee-haunt- 

 ed " house into another not far away. I had there 

 prepared a nice shady place for my ten colonies of 

 bees which I was to obtain by artificial swarming. 

 I had not then seen friend Root's plan of placing 

 the hives on bricks, and filling up to the edge of 

 the hive with sand. How the white ants would 

 like that! They would come up through the sand 

 and eat their way through bottom, sides, and top of 

 the hives, leaving only a shell where there was a 

 solid board. I had prepared a place by thinning 

 out a clump of bush, and driving down posts of a 

 native wood, a species of olive, so hard that even 

 the white ants do not eat it. On these posts I nail- 

 ed boards, and here placed the hives. It was a 

 beautiful place, and it would seem as though any 

 right-minded bees would settle down at once to 

 good honest work, on finding themselves in such a 

 home. 



I fear that my bees were not right-minded; for 

 the results did not justify the confidence that I had 

 placed in them. I transferred and divided my 

 other two colonies, or, rather, one of them, I should 

 say; for as I was about to proceed against the oth- 

 er I found that they had just sent out a swarm 

 which was waiting for me on a tree close by. I left 

 the parent colony in their old box, and hived the 

 swarm, removing both to my new apiary. So I now 

 had six colonies, and I became ambitious to get 

 ten. So I told the boys that, if they would find 

 some colonies of wild bees, I would give them a 

 sixpence for each one pointed out. I had some 

 qualms of conscience at the time for offering so 

 little, and some regrets afterward that I had given 

 so much. I completed my ten colonies with re- 

 joicings. Another year I would feast upon honey, 

 1 thought. But it is well not to count chickens be- 

 fore they are hatched, and not to eat honey before 

 it is gathered. In another letter I will tell you 

 what became of my ten colonies of bees. 



H. D. Goodenough. 



Clifton Springs, N. Y., Jan. 23, 1889. 



Friend G., you kept me uneasy during all 

 your description, because I did not find 

 anywhere that you spoke of using smoke. 

 Why in the world did you attempt to do 

 any thing with bees until you first had giv- 

 en them a good smoking, according to the 

 books ? Even if one could fix himself up 

 with gloves and veil, and every thing else 

 that has been used, to make a regular bee- 

 proof armor, I would by no means think of 

 handling bees without smoking them. They 

 will be pretty sure to find a break in the 

 armor, and get through. Even if they 

 should not, you will get them so furious as 

 to attack passers-by and domestic animals ; 

 and I do not think that anybody has any 

 right to arouse a colony of bees to such a 

 fury as trying to handle them without 

 smoke does; and this is one great reason 

 why I object to gloves or veil either ; better 

 lose the time required to bring the bees into 

 perfect subjection than to have them on the 

 wing stinging right and left. When we 

 throw away our veil and gloves, and care- 

 fully learn to judge by their behavior as to 

 what bees will do, we soon learn to handle 

 them with comparative impunity, even 



when an inexperienced person would rouse 

 them to fierceness ; and we also learn the 

 time of year and the time of day the bees 

 can be handled safely and when they can 

 not. 



BEE-KEEPING IN UTAH. 



FURTHER FACTS IN REGARD TO THE TERRITORY 

 AS A HONEY-COUNTRY. 



tEE-KEEPING in Utah, as far as I have been 

 able to judge, differs but little from bee- 

 keeping elsewhere. The hives and fixtures 

 are about the same, while the pasturage 

 seems to be more sure than in most places. 

 We almost always get some surplus, and it is gener- 

 ally through extracting too close that we have to 

 feed. Of course, the crop varies with the season. 

 If we have a dry season, and sweet clover is not 

 so abundaut, we have a light crop. 



The hives used are of various patterns and di- 

 mensions. The Kidder predominates among the 

 farmers and those not considered to be practical 

 bee-keepers; while among good bee-keepers the 

 Simplicity, Heddon, and what we call here the 

 " Short Langstroth," or a frame that fits crosswise 

 of a ten-frame Simplicity, is used. 



The bees are a cross between the black and Ital- 

 ian, with a predominance of about two-thirds in 

 favor of the latter, although we have had importa- 

 tions of other races at different times. Our best 

 honey-gatherers are generally those that are con- 

 sidered a trifle cross. 



Comb foundation plays a very prominent part 

 here among practical bee-keepers. 



The sources of honey are various, the most prom- 

 inent of which, as I have before stated, being sweet 

 clover, while the bees gather considerable from 

 fruit-blossoms, alfalfa, wild flowers, etc. The sur- 

 plus-honey flow does not generally commence until 

 sweet-clover bloom, which begins about the first of 

 July; and in most seasons it continues until the 

 first of September, although the bees generally 

 gather enough to live upon from the middle of 

 April until late in October. 



In a dry season we do not have to wait for the 

 honey to get sealed, as it is pretty thick when gath- 

 ered, therefore we can extract, generally, when 

 the frames are full, which, in dry seasons, is about 

 every ten days. In moist seasons which, by the way, 

 are very rare, we have to let the honey get about a 

 third capped. The honey taken in the above way 

 candies in a very few weeks, and becomes very 

 solid. It is then (with us) in a very good condition 

 for shipping. 



Comb honey is handled much in the same way as 

 in other places. The T super seems to be, all things 

 considered, the best adapted to our system of man- 

 agement. 



In handling bees during the season, the minor 

 points in management are as many (if not more) as 

 the bee-keepers, while the main points are about as 

 follows: 



Along in March or April, according to the season, 

 the hives get a thorough cleaning; all dead bees, 

 dirt, broken combs, etc., are removed; the hives 

 are straightened up, and the litter, etc., is raked up 

 and carried away from around the hives; and if 

 any bees are without stores, full frames from 

 those that have plenty are given them. 



