1S8!) 



(JLKAN1NGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



391 



HOW TO DRIVE ANTS OUT OP BEE- 

 HIVES-MANUM'S METHOD. 



HOW TO USE THE MANUM SWARM-CATCHER. 



^UNE 1.— "Mr. Manum, what shall wo work at 



I today? We have got the sections all filled 

 ■f^l with foundation, the new hives nailed and 

 ^ painted, and I can't think of anything more 

 to do here." 



" Well, Leslie, I have heard you and the other 

 boys talking about going trout-fishing when you 

 got the work done. It is now done, and I propose 

 we all go to-day. While Fred and I are hunting up 

 the fish-tackling, you boys may get the bait; and 

 to-morrow we will work at the bees." 

 JUNE 2. 



" Here we are, Will. To-day we are to see that the 

 queens are all laying well; and where we find any 

 with only 10 or 11 combs we will give them more, as 

 1 think they are all strong enough now to cover the 

 12 combs. However, if you find any that are not, 

 we will run them through the season with what 

 they have, unless we give them a card of brood 

 from a very strong colony that is liable to swarm 

 before we come here again; also see that they have 

 honey enough to last a week or ten days. Be sure 

 not to forget that, because this is the trying time 

 with the bees, it being the period between fruit and 

 raspberry bloom. The bees are rearing so much 

 brood now that they use up stores very fast, and 

 the bees that will hatch in the next 20 days are just 

 the bees we want to gather our surplus; hence it 

 won't do to starve them now. We will now fill 

 these carrying boxes with combs containing honey, 

 and take them along with us to save steps." 



" Here, Mr. Manum, I wish you would look into 

 this hive." 



"oh! ants! and a lot of them too! Well, just 

 wait a moment while I go to the honey-house. 

 There, I will put some of this tarred paper in the 

 hive, and by to-morrow every ant will be gone. 

 This is the simplest remedy I ever tried. Now, as 

 there are no more combs with honey in we shall 

 have to put on sections partly filled with honey, left 

 over from last fall, wherever they need feeding. 

 It makes it pretty handy to have these partly filled 

 sections on hand. We will just uncap the honey, 

 and by the time we are here again the honey will 

 all be below, and then the sections can be taken 

 off." 



JUNE 6. 



" Now, boys, I noticed yesterday that the rasp- 

 berries were beginning to blossom, and I. think it is 

 time you should go to your respective yards. Fred 

 will lake two of you to your yards. Leslie will go 

 to his by the railroad, and I will go with Scott to his 

 yard. (Henry has a family, and lives near his 

 yard.) Here we are, Scott. You will board with 

 Mr. Smith while here." 



Scott says, "Mr. Manum, I wish you would lay 

 out some work for me to do while I am waiting for 

 swarming." 



"Work! you will find there is work enough be- 

 fore the season is over. In the first place you 

 should examine every swarm, to if see any of them 

 need any thing. You may find some that have lost 

 their queen, as there are a few three - year - old 

 queens in this yard; and you know some of them 

 are not full of comb; and where you find such, if 

 they are pretty strong, and the queen laying well, 

 you can spread the brood-nest and insert a comb in 



the center. It will be safe to spread now at this 

 season." 



" What shall I do if I find any that are queen- 

 less?" 



" You will find that such colonies have queen- 

 cells, and if the bees are pure and large, with long 

 wings; and the stripes— or bands instead of being 

 light yellow are of a yellowish-brown, you may 

 leave one to hatch; but if they are not pure Ital- 

 ians, or if the bands are ol & bright yellow, or if the 

 bees are small-bodied and short-winged, you may 

 cut the cells out and give them eggs from one of 

 those hives we have marked to breed from. 



"Light-yellow bees may answer in the South, 

 where the climate is more mild than here; but here 

 in the North I find that the dark, or leather-colored 

 bees, are preferable, hence I do not breed from 

 very light-colored queens. 



" Now, when you give such a colony a card of 

 eggs for queen-cells you should cut holes in the 

 comb the shape of an inverted A, or, more proper- 

 ly, an equilateral triangle, with the point upward." 



"Mr. Manum," says Scott, " the books nearly all 

 say that a long slit should be cut In the combs. 

 Why is this triangle shape better? " 



"Because it does not weaken the combs so much 

 as a long slit does; and, besides, I think the bees 

 prefer to build cells on a nearly perpendicular edge 

 rather than on a horizontal one. Probably by the 

 time these cells are old enough to transfer, you 

 may need queen-cells in some other hive, or you can 

 use them in your queen-rearing nuclei. 



"After you have looked the bees over, the next 

 thing to do will be to level up all the hives, as they 

 are liable to get out of level during the winter. It 

 is important that they be perfectly level; for un- 

 less they are, you will be bothered to get straight 

 combs in the sections. 



" When you have done that you will want to clean 

 up the yard. Here is a rake, a hoe, a shovel, and a 

 basket. I like to see a yard kept clean, during the 

 working season at least. You can then mix some 

 paint, and paint such hives as need it. Should 

 there be a rainy day you can fasten foundation in 

 the brood-frames. I don't like to fasten it in at 

 home, as it is apt to break down when transporting 

 it over our rough roads; and, besides, I want work 

 for the boys to do rainy days, or you would get 

 lonesome." 



" Well, Mr. Manum " says Scott, "you were right 

 when you said I should have work enough to do. I 

 think I shall not have time to get lonesome— ha, ha!" 



"Now I must go. 1 shall call on you in three or 

 four days; and alter you have learned how to hive 

 bees after my method, I shall come only once a 

 week. I aim to visit each yard once a week, hence 

 I have to visit two some days, as I have eight yards, 

 and there are only seven days in one of our Ver- 

 mont weeks. Now, if I should happen to be obliged 

 to visit you on Sunday, please don't ever mention 

 it so Mr. Hoot will hear of it, for he would surely 

 give me a talking-to, and I know I could never 

 stand his reprimand. Good-by." 



JUNE 15, AT CATON AP1ARV. 



"Good-morning, Will! How are the bees doing 

 here?" 



"Pretty well for the last two days. Yesterday 

 the scale-hive gained 6 lbs." 



" If that is the ease, some of the hives must be 

 ready for the boxes. Let us open some and see. 

 Yes, this one ought to have boxes on at once. You 



