GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



specs, squat down, and watcli for lier royal 

 personage. The bees will not stay in the new 

 hive without their queen. If you don't see 

 her, march back to the old hive and begin 

 drumming again. When she goes in, sigh a 

 sigh of relief and go back and restore order 

 in the vicinity of the box hive. 



After three weeks make your appearance 

 with the same kit you used before, and drum 

 out the rest of the bees from the old liive. 

 Where did all these bees come from? You 

 gave the liive a vacation of three weeks so 

 that the brood might hatch. 



If you think you have a good queen in 

 the new hive, use an entrance-gTiard at the 

 second drive. Dump the bees as before in 

 front of the hive and watch for queens. If 

 you see any, take them and give them to 

 queenless colonies. Now take the combs out 

 of the box hives. A knife and a saw might 

 come in handy here. Some of the combs 

 will be fairly straight, and some will not. 

 If you have any empty frames, bring them 

 forth. Cut out the imperfect parts of the 

 combs, leaving the best parts in the pieces 



that you tit into the frames. Take some 

 wire and wrap around the frames to keep 

 combs from falling out, and then put these 

 frames into the new hive into which you 

 have dumped a new lot of bees. 



If there is more comb than you can get in 

 that one hive, fit them to some more frames 

 and give them to weak colonies or save them 

 and give to a new swarm. You will probably 

 have some honey left now; but I am not 

 going to bother to tell you what to do with 

 it, because I know you would eat it in spite 

 of- what I told you. I like this way much 

 better than letting the bees take it out of 

 the old hive themselves. That is liable to 

 start robbing, especially if weak colonies 

 are around; and my experience has been 

 tliat the bees make too much of a good thing 

 -out of such a proposition. They go into the 

 hive, gorge themselves, come staggering out, 

 tumble out on the grass, and stay until they 

 get over their drunk. They are wasting 

 time, in my opinion. I would rather do 

 that and let them be working in the field. 



Litchfield. :Me. 



A DAY^ JOURNEY 



BY G. H. BURTON 



If one keeps bees for his own pleasure 

 and profit the information soon spreads 

 through the neighborhood that Mr. So-and- 

 So is a beeman, and many opportuni' es 

 come his way for advancing the beekee] iUg 

 cause and helloing his neighbors along. Q\ ite 

 frequently some one otfers me a beey ird 

 which has been neglected, and which I am 

 expected to take over and turn into g'.lden 

 honey and bees. 



Just recently a friend turned his yard 

 over to me to work on 

 shares, and I agreed i.; 

 ti'ansfer tlie bees into 

 new hives, furnishinii 

 every tiling, for one- 

 half the bees and one- 

 half the surplus honey 

 that was in the hives 

 at the time of taking 

 cliarge. By working 

 along this line I have 

 been able to establish 

 several good outyards, 

 and I usually agree to 

 work other yards for 

 half the honey and half 

 tlie increase if I fur- 

 nish all the supplies. 



As this particular 

 yard was distant some 



eight or ten miles it necessitated an early 

 start the next morning if we were to get in 

 a full day's work. The evening before, our 

 spring wagon was placed in front of the 

 bee-supply house, and every thing loaded 

 into it that would be needed. First the 

 tool-case was inspected to see that it con- 

 tained every thing necessary for transfer- 

 ring and for manipulating hives. This case 

 is large enough to hold the smoker, a ham- 

 mer, cold chisel for opening old box liives. 



Aliiiiulone'I bees somotiincs do astoni.shinglv well. 



