694 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. IS 



ing- swarms, we let him see them and en- 

 courag-e him to bark, by a little attention 

 on our part, until it has become a habit 

 with him, through our actions and move- 

 ments. 



His kennel is near the bee-yard; and if 

 there is a swarm issuing he is the first one 

 to discover it, and he begins to bark, mak- 

 ing a great disturbance, which calls our at- 

 tention. 



You say if bees swarm the year round it 

 might be an easy matter to teach him the 

 trick. That would make no difference. The 

 same might mean that a good watchdog is 

 not practical unless he had burglars often. 



I have found that dogs with very little 

 training and kind usage, where they have 

 confidence in their master, can be made 

 very valuable to the human race in a great 

 many ways. H. S. Ferry. 



[All of what Mr. Ferry says is very in- 

 teresting to me, as lately I have been study- 

 ing dogs, and I find there is more to them 

 that is teachable than I supposed. We 

 have an intelligent pug dog that seems to 

 understand some things we tell him, and 

 at other times he tries to communicate, but 

 it is in dog fashion, of course. Sometimes 

 he will wish us to do something or go some- 

 where, and it is really comical to see him 

 try to make us understand, and he does. 

 He will look wistfully, bark and howl. If 

 we do not pay any attention to him he will 

 grab our clothing, and pull and tug until 

 he leads us to the place or in the direction 

 that suggests what he wants. Notwith- 

 standing this dog is very intelligent I found 

 it a little difficult to make him do what / 

 wanted him to do until I began to make use 



• •f a little switch, notwithstanding" he knezu 

 well enough what I asked. By a little 

 coaxing, and sometimes administering a 

 little punishment, I got him so that, when 

 I gave him certain orders, he would mind 

 just as nicely as a well-trained child. 



Mr. Ferry says very trul.y that there are 

 some dogs as dumb as some men, and that 

 I here are others that are as bright as some 

 men. By taking an intelligent dog, and 

 the right course, one can teach him to be 

 very valuable. Neighbor H. told me how 



• me of his dogs in years gone by would go 

 for any particular cow he called for, and 

 how that same dog, when two herds were 

 mixed, would separate his cows from those 

 of his neighbor ; that he could sit in the 

 house, and when the time arrived he would 

 say in an ordinary tone of voice, "Punk, 

 it is about time for you to go and get the 

 cows," and up he would start. When Mr. 

 H. was ready his cows would be ready for 

 him at the usual milking-place; and he 

 (the dog) had trained those cows so they 

 knew they must wait until they were milk- 

 ed. Once in a while a young heifer would 

 sneak off; and the way the dog would pun- 

 ish her for her infraction of "orders" was 

 truly comical. He would grab th-e cow by 

 the tail, and pinch and bite until she learn- 

 ed that he was boss, and she had got to be 

 milked before she could go away. 



I might go on and tell incident after inci- 

 dent, as many of our readers could do, of 

 how dogs can be trained. But the case Mr. 

 Ferry mentions is the first one I ever knew 

 of a dog that could be trained to watch bees. 

 The swarming season is so short that I 

 could not understand how any man could 

 instruct his dog in so short a time what he 

 wanted of him. 



I suggest that Mr. Ferry take the dog to 

 a good photographer, and get a good por- 

 trait photo of his head. We should like to 

 look into his open countenance and his big 

 eyes, for a dog that will watch swarms, 

 and report them, as this dog does, should 

 be accorded the honor of an introduction. 



If it is possible to train a dog to watch 

 swarms there are those in our ranks who 

 have intelligent animals that could be taught 

 to perform a very valuable service in the 

 apiary. But the average dog soon learns 

 by experience that the bee is something to 

 be avoided rather than to be watched and 

 to be considered with special care. — Ed.] 



/. W. L., Ohio. — As I have before ex- 

 plained, in the case of brushed swarms the 

 Colony with nothing in it but brood will not 

 suffer during the times that such colonies 

 are brushed or "shook," for the weather 

 will be warm and the hatching brood will 

 emerge in time to take care of the unsealed 

 brood. 



A. C, Wis. — I regret to inform you 

 that you are on the wrong side of the argu- 

 ment. While it is true that bees lie dor- 

 miint, yet if they were frozen they would 

 not come to again. You can easily prove 

 the matter bj' making the experiment your- 

 self in cold weather. Bees may become 

 chilled so as to be apparently lifeless, and 

 when warmed up will be as lively as ever; 

 but if they are actually frozen solid you 

 never could expect them to come to life. 



/. JV. S., Tenn. — The best time of the 

 year to transfer is in the spring when the 

 weather is warm and the bees are taking 

 their first flight on apple bloom. A very 

 good time is in the fall when the amount of 

 honey in the combs is scant, and the bees 

 are working on some source for honey. If 

 the bees are inclined to rob at any time that 

 is just the very time that you should not 

 transfer, but you can do so at any time by 

 using the Heddon short method. For par- 

 ticulars see Transferring, in ABC, and 

 the brief digest of the method given on page 

 32 of the catalog we are sending you. By 

 this plan you can transfer at any time. 



