1S87 



GLEANINGS IN i3EE CULTURE. 



4H!> 



TRANSFEHRING AVHEN BEES ARE 

 IDLE. 



A littIjK advice. 



aN the 18tli iiist. I transferred a colony of 

 bees at Langhornc, Pa. The weather was 

 very warm, the bees were idle, and hang- 

 ing out of their hives. First I set the 

 old box hive on a piece of carpet and set 

 a two-story Simplicity hive in its place. Next 1 

 opened the bo.x hive, and the bees liew around me 

 as if three or four colonies were swarming at once; 

 then for the first time I used a bee-veil. It was 

 very useful. The bees from 3 colonies flew so thick 

 I could not see what I was doing. I used my smok- 

 er for a few minutes, which settled the bees I was 

 transferring, but robbers then became more troub- 

 lesome; and when 1 opened the old box hive they 

 grew still more vicious. They clustered around the 

 new hive as if they were swarming. For a time 

 smoke would not check them; and after they were 

 checked they would repeat as soon as the smoker 

 was idle. I looked to see where they came from, 

 and found many of them came from two adjoining 

 hives, so I gave each of them a little smoke, which 

 stopped the robbing. Not only honey-bees, but 

 even bumble-bees made a visit to the box hive. ' 

 They had a good share of the smoke too. The i 

 combs were soft, like dough. I could not help let- j 

 ting the honey run, because the combs were not 

 tough enough to hold together. I managed to get 

 the brood-comb in nicely, but the honey-comb was 

 very hard to bo made to stay in frames. I put 

 what honey I did not transfer, into a wash-boiler. 

 The robbers flew about the boiler, watching for a 

 chance to pop in; and whenever I would open the 

 boiler, a lot would rush in. The hive was small and 

 had no place for hot air to escape. I suppose the 

 cause of the combs being so soft was because the 

 bees were packed inside and outside of the hive. 

 The honey of this hive was the exact color of buck- 

 wheat. Can any apiarist tell what kind of honey it 

 is? I could not find the queen. The}- were black 

 bees. They bunched so much that it was impossi- 

 ble for any apiarist to And her. It took me three 

 hours to transfer that one colony of bees. I will 

 never transfer a hive again when bees are idle. I 

 will wait until they commence working, and I ad- 

 vise all bee-keepers to do the same. I never have 

 any trouble in transferring when bees are busy; 

 but let them alone when they are idle, unless you 

 have a bee-tent. E. E. Gray. 



Yardley, Pa., May ii, 1887. 



Friend G., I have been through just about 

 such experiences as the one you mention, 

 and I long ago decided that I never wanted 

 to transfer any more bees when they were 

 not working. The combs were softened, as 

 you suggest, by the heat developed by the 

 bees in that srnall close hive. I pity the 

 man who gets into such a fix as you were. — 

 Now a word about smoking bees to prevent 

 robbing : Every time we get a new man at 

 work in our apiary, I have quite a time to 

 make him understand that he can not stop 

 robbing by the use of smoke. When a colo- 

 ny is being robbed, the first thing to be done 

 is to induce them to defend themselves ; and 

 how can they repel their assailants, or or- 

 ganize themselves for a good square fight, 

 when smoke is being continually blown in 



their eyes V A few days ago they had some 

 trouble at the Swamp Apiary. Some bees 

 just purchased were set in a warm place, 

 and they began passing the honey through 

 the wire-cloth frames over the top of the 

 hives. Robbers soon came in great numbers 

 and made desperate attempts to force the 

 entrances of several hives that had just been 

 located. One of the boys said he kept the 

 robbers away by smoking them for half an 

 hour, and then he was obliged to stop in or- 

 der to replenish his smoker, and he had to go 

 quite a little distance to get some rotten 

 wood. I told him that I very much pre- 

 ferred he should have no smoker around 

 when bees were robbing. If you can find 

 the hives from which the robbers are com- 

 ing, it will do very well to smoke them ; but 

 by no means smoke the bees that are being 

 robbed. Make the hive tight, contract the 

 entrance, shut up or get out of the way eve- 

 ry bit of loose honey, and then get tiie be- 

 sieged colony to defend themselves. Where 

 robbers are hovering around the hive trying 

 to get in, you will often start robbing right 

 speedily by driving the sentinels of the hive 

 back into their home, with a smoker. 



A LETTER FROM OUR OLD FRIEND 

 A. BUNKER. 



He Reports Further in Regard to Apis Indi- 

 ca and Apis Dorsata. 



H(JNEY FIFTY CENTS PER POUND. 



fRIEND ROOT:— My long silence has not been 

 caused by loss of interest in the great " bee- 

 family " or the bees; but the many cares of a 

 large mission, in time of war, have called for 

 all our strength. Over a year ago the British 

 army marched to Mandalay and easily dethroned 

 King Theebaw, and thought the work of subjecting 

 Burmah complete. But, how mistaken I During 

 the last rains, where troops were shut up in towns 

 near the large rivers, almost the whole Burmese 

 fighting population in the interior formed them- 

 selves into bands, numbering each from ten to three 

 thousand, fairly armed. This alarmed the authori- 

 ties, and at the close of the rains troops were rapid- 

 ly brought into the province, till the British forces 

 of all arms here numbered fully 35,000 men. These 

 troops were broken up into small bands also, and 

 scattered all over the country to meet the many 

 bands of dacoits, so called, now ravaging the coun- 

 try with pillage and fire. The larger bands were 

 first attacked and broken up, and at this date the 

 official bulletins announce the country as "■ pacified 

 throughout its whole extent." This, however, is 

 not apparent to those who dwell among the peo- 

 ple. The countrj' swarms with small bands of 

 tens and fifties who move rapidly from point to 

 point, and burn, kill, or rob, as they will, wherever 

 they can do so without fear of English guns. The 

 object of these marauding bands seems to be plun- 

 der, and they care not what destruction they work 

 in securing it. Being great cowards, they seldom 

 attack the English or the Karens, but] they are^ter- 

 ribly cruel where they have the power. The most 

 cruel tortures are inflicted, even on their own 

 countrymen, in order to force them to reveal their 

 bidden hoards. The helpless of every age are 



