264 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apk. 



mended, placing sections ready furnished, 

 right over the brood-frames, where the bees 

 were to build their own comli. You did, 

 however, strongly insist that the bees could 

 be made to build their own combs, and have 

 them all nice straight worker combs at the 

 same time. 



CIDER, AND ITS EFFECT ON BEES. 



HOW TO TAKE DOWN A SWARM 30 FEET FROM THE 

 GROUND. 



TN this locality cider is always made after the 

 M frosts have destroyed fall flowers. If the bees 

 ^r fly at this time they are sure to get more or less 

 ■^ of it. If they get just enough to keep the 

 queen laying, and yet no more than will be 

 used up in brood-i-earing, then it may be a benefit. 

 You know we Canucks are gi-eat on young bees for 

 winter. During the fall of 1S84, also in the fall of 

 '85, my bees gathered just enough to produce that 

 effect. A very cold winter followed the fall of each 

 year, accompanied by no serious results to the bees. 

 But this fall the weather was fine during cider time, 

 and they gathered a good deal more than they used 

 before winter. After a confinement of 90 days they 

 had a flight— Jan. 22d and 33d— hardly warm enough 

 for a good flight, but each colony flew some, and all 

 showed more or less signs of dysentery; some were 

 badly attected There is very little honey-dew in 

 this locality; and that the cider was the cause of 

 the diarrhea T have not the slightest dciibt. In 

 fact, I do not think we need doubt any more about 

 it. Any eider left in the combs after winter has set 

 in is a very undesirable addition to their stores; 

 and to make a clean sweep, keep the cider away 

 from them altogether if possible. 



CONVENIENCES FOR THE APIARY. 



The solar wax-extractor I have found a great help 

 in getting nice wax. There is nothing 1 have ever 

 tried that pleases me better. It is certainly less 

 bother, and a great improvement on the Swiss ex- 

 tractor. Mine is so nearly like one described in 

 Gleanings last summer that I shall not attempt a 

 description. 



taking DOWN swarms THAT CLUSTER HIGH. 



For this purpose I have found the Shepherd hiv- 

 ing-box two cumbersome and heavy. The hoop- 

 and-bag arrangement described in the A B C is not 

 open to this objection, but it is liable to get torn 

 when placed among the limbs. Allow me to de- 

 scribe a contrivance of my own, a trial of which I 

 think will please the readers of Gleanings. Take 

 a common stout cane flsh-pole; saw off the end 

 about 10 feet from the large end, and four or five 

 inches from one of the joints. Now fit a piece of 

 hard wood in the small hollow end; have it long 

 enough to reach the joint, and saw it ott' even with 

 the end of the pole. About two inches from the top, 

 bore a small hole through the side of the pole into 

 the plug. Now get a common wire hook, screw it 

 into the hole, clear through the pole. Next hunt up 

 those fruit-baskets that you bought fruit in last 

 fall, and have no other use for (if you don't happen 

 to have them, you can buy them for seven cents 

 each); select a good strong one. You will notice 

 that it is just about the right size and shape you 

 want— about 14 inches across the circular top, 7 

 inches across the bottom, and 12 inches high. The 

 spaces between the splints will be about U inch. If 

 you think that too much, you can stick a half-inch 



splint between the interstices, and fasten with a 

 half-inch wire nail. Now tie a stout cord across the 

 top of the basket; take your pole in one hand, and 

 with the hook pick up your basket. Can you im- 

 agine any thing lighter or nicer? In fact, the whole 

 aflair is strong enough and yet very light. If the 

 cane is not obtainable, ash or hickory makes a 

 good substitute, but not quite so light. You may 

 need another pole with a hook on it to shake the 

 limb with. If your apiary is large, one pole will an- 

 swer for a number of baskets; and with a little 

 practice you can pick them up on the run. If an- 

 other swarm comes out while you are shaking one 

 in a basket, just snap a cloth cover over the top; 

 set them in the shade, and then hive them at your 

 leisure. 



Now let me tell you how this arrangement saved 

 me a fine colony of bees last summer. A large 

 swarm clustered on a tall maple near my apiary. 

 They were about thirty feet from the ground, and 

 at the extreme end of a limb about 1.5 feet from the 

 body of the tree. I had just about given them up 

 when 1 thought, " Here is a good chance to see what 

 I can do with my pole and basket." After placing 

 a ladder against the tree I saw that I still had con- 

 siderable climbing to do; but " my blood was up," 

 and I was bound to have that swarm. I soon found 

 that I could reach the swarm, but was obliged to 

 hold my hiving-basket and pole nearly at arms' 

 length, almost horizontal, which I could not have 

 done, especially when the swarm dropped, had 

 the pole or basket been heavier. Well, I got the 

 bees in all right, pulled in the pole, detached it from 

 the basket, caught hold of the cord with one hand 

 (the limbs were in easy stepping distance), and 1 

 soon reached the ladder. Now, thought I, I will 

 hook the basket on and let it down to Mi-s. D., who 

 stood at the bottom of the ladder. I had just started 

 to lower it when off it slipped from the hook and 

 down come the basket, right side up, however. The 

 bees sat down in the bottom, but we got them in the 

 hive. Had it not been for my light hiving-basket, 

 I should have been obliged to make the return of 

 the Southern sheritt— iVou eome-atilnis in swampn. 



Ridgway, Ont., Can. J. F. Dunn. 



BEE-STING POISONING. 



A SIMPLE REMEDY IN SEVERE CASES. 



TN Gleanings of Feb. 15, 1887, Mr. Ellison, of 

 1^ South Carolina, after speaking of the serious 

 ^l effects of bee-sting poison upon two members 

 ■^ of his family, says: " It would be a great boon 

 if some of our bee-keeping fraternity who 

 belong to the medical profession would study a 

 remedy for cases of this kind, and give it to us." 



While! do not belong to the medical profession, 

 I think I can give him a remedy for the constitu- 

 tional effects of bee-poison — a remedy that can 

 have no bad effect, that is always at hand in every 

 home, that is prompt in its effects, and one that 1 

 believe will not fail to cure if quickly applied. I 

 will give a case in point. 



On a hot day in summer, some fifteen years ago, 

 my eldest son, then about two years old. was stung 

 by a bee on the back of his head. By the time he 

 was taken into the house, probably two minutes, 

 his face was considerably swollen. He grew rapid- 

 ly worse, so that in a few minutes he was much 

 I swollen; his face was a livid or purplish hue, his 



