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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 25, 1903. 



clover, and it is all in bloom. There is plenty of white 

 clover here, too. 



1. I should like to get them out of the old gums. How 

 shall we do it, and at what time ? One is about six feet 

 long and the other four feet, and they seem to be almost 

 full. We only want to keep enough for our own use, as the 

 boys are farmers and do not have much time to spend on 

 them. These are the first bees we had anything to do with. 



2. The ants are bad here. How can we get rid of them ? 

 Bourbon Co., Kans., May 21. Mary J. Hai^i,. 



Answers.— 1. Saw off at either end the part of the gum 

 not occupied with bees, so they can not fill up any more. 

 Then as soon as they swarm, hive the swarm and set it in 

 place of the gum. Three weeks later drum the remaining 

 bees out of the gum, and add them to the swarm, unless you 

 want to make a separate colony of them. Then you can 

 split up the gum and dispose of the combs. If you wish you 

 can let the bees rob the honey out of the gum before split- 

 ting it up. 



2. Generally the ants do little harm, and the bees are 

 able to take care of them. You can kill them by setting for 

 them Paris green mixed with honey. Put this on a dish 

 and cover over so the ants can get in, but no bees. 



Hiving- a Swarm from a Tree-Trunk, Etc. 



I think that the department of the Bee Journal, de- 

 voted to helping women bee-keepers, can be made very use- 

 ful. I have kept bees for more than ten years, yet some- 

 times I find some work connected with it as difficult as at 

 first, and also that we may still continue to be learners. I 

 do all the work without help, except sometimes a friendly 

 neighbor helps with a ladder. I use the Alley drone-trap to 

 catch swarms, yet sometimes the queen gets out at a place 

 not well guarded. Yet here is a difficulty connected with 

 the use of the trap. When the trap is full of drones on a 

 hot day, and I go to release them, the bees are so enraged 

 that I get many a savage sting, as was my experience yes- 

 terday. You will, perhaps, advise leaving off the traps and 

 clip the queens. Well, I have not done this, on account of 

 the great difficulty of finding the queens, being very near- 

 sighted. Yet, with all the difficulties and obstacles I do 

 take pleasure in keeping bees, and find some profit also. I 

 have IS colonies ; keep only Italians. I use some hives of 

 the Falconer make, but during the past few years have had 

 the Danzenbaker hive, and like it very well. It is the best 

 for comb honey, and comb honey is all I produce. Last 

 year I had as fine honey in appearance and taste as any I 

 ever saw. I had a good crop, and have sold all at a good 

 price here at the home market, selling for cash at groceries 

 and private families. 



My location is in the city. I keep the bees in our back- 

 yard, overlooked and criticised by many observers. I do 

 not find this so very pleasant, to be so much under obser- 

 vation ; I mean all friendly, of course. 



I have had trouble in regard to having swarms situated 

 in very inconvenient places. I have sometimes put a hive 

 above them with a small board to lead thern in. They have 

 nearly all gone in, and then all march out, and then fly off. 

 I appreciate the answers in the Bee Journal in the question 

 department. They often help me. 



1. What is the best way to hive a swarm of bees that 

 settles on the trunk of a tree or on a fence, sometimes on 

 both sides of the fence ? 



2. What is the best time of the day to work with bees, 

 in the forenoon or towards evening ? 



3. Is it advisable to shake off bees from a cluster taken 

 from a tree before another hive lacking in bees? I have 

 seen it advised, and tried it, but all the bees so shaken off 

 were killed. The greater part went into the hive in which 

 they were intended to go — a small part of the cluster, I 

 mean. S. E. Wilby. 



Dutchess Co., N. Y. 



Answers. — 1. Take the hive that you have ready for 

 the swarm, and place the entrance close up to the swarm as 

 possible. Gently smoke the bees to get them started to 

 running into the hive, or you may brush a few of the bees 

 into the entrance, either way will do ; just as soon as a call 

 is made they will all run in like a flock of sheep jumping 

 over a fence. If the swarm is within reach it is an easy 

 matter to hive them in this way. Just set the hive so the 

 entrance will reach the bees. 



2. Any time of day when the bees are gathering well. 

 During the honey harvest bee-keepers that have many bees 



usually work all day. If nectar is scarce, and bees gather 

 only in the forenoon, then the forenoon is best. 



3. Depends on circumstances. Better not try it unless 

 you have had a good deal of experience with bees. 



( 



Nasty's Afterthoughts 





The " Old Reliable " seen through New and I nreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



BREEDING FROM INJURED onEENS. 



It is asking a good deal of us, and yet we cannot alto- 

 gether blame the queen-breeders for asking it. You see, 

 our faith gets low — and when it is clubbed still lower by 

 what seems to be evidence of worthlessness, then to ask us 

 to hold on, and breed one of those " house-flies " into a 

 blessing ! Ah, so I Yet a queen that actually does carry 

 within herself valuable inheritances is not going to lose 

 them by the personal injuries she gets going through the 

 mail or otherwise. She herself may but poorly keep three 

 frames full of brood, while her daughters could furnish the 

 apiary with better bees than any it has ever had. But, 

 then, there's the chap that would send us any old queen 

 reared any old way from any old blood — perhaps we are 

 watching out even too much for him. We won't always as- 

 sume that a poor queen is valuable to breed from, Mr. Doo- 

 little. We'll call on our smellers, and smell our way to the 

 safe cases. Page 310. 



THE DAIRY AND THE APIARY. 



But there's surely this difference between dairy and the 

 apiary when we set out to improve the two : With efforts 

 and cash enough behind it, the dairy has an unlimited food 

 supply. Likely as not the apiary may be taking already 

 pretty nearly all the supply in reach. — H. L. Jeffery, page 

 312. 



HIVING A BUNCH OF SWARMS IN A BOX. 



Bad when three or four prime swarms mix. To hive 

 the great mass in a dry-goods box, giving them room to 

 store several pounds of honey — well, it is interesting to see 

 that it succeeded twice. I should not expect it to succeed 

 often. Page 315. 



A SWARM-BKATER. 



Mr. Ford's record of 32 swarms in one day beats my 

 time. And as they hummed they seemed to say, " Dance, 

 tenderfoot, dance ! " Page 325. 



ENAMELED CLOTH FAVORED. 



Surprised as well as pleased to see that enameled cloth 

 had a majority among Wisconsins. It's so handy that I 

 have always adhered to it, although sometimes I feared I 

 was a loser by so doing. If nine out of sixteen practical 

 men favor it, I can go on and feel " chipper." Page 325. 



ALFALFA THIS SIDE OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 



Still feeding us with the old story of no alfalfa honey 

 this side of the Mississippi, I see. Just wait till they get it 

 vaccinated for hay and honey. These are times of progress, 

 and five years ago must be no criterion for five years hence. 

 Page 326. 



THAT MARBLE-CAKE HONEY. 



And Mr. C. P. Dadant finds late-extracted honey 

 streaked with white and amber. I was almost tempted to 

 wonder if that was not a trouble thought out in advance in- 

 stead of a trouble experienced — but I'll say, " Wonder, lie 

 down ! don't you wonder this time." Somebody take a 

 fruit-can and get up, marble-cake fashion, the streakedest 

 can of honey it is possible to get up. Keep it in a warm 

 room a week and see whether the streaks persist or disap- 

 pear. I don't claim to know what the result will be. Page 

 326. 



THE DOOM OF THE FORESTS. 



F. Greiner, on page 327, strikes into a subject of great 

 importance to the whole country, as well as to us bee-folks 

 — the utter destruction of wood, lumber and timber. And 

 yet almost every one manages to maintain in regard to the 

 rather dire situation just in advance a sort of complete 



