160 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



General 

 Correspondence 



PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR 

 BEGINNEKS. 



How I Became a Successful Manager of 

 Bees on a Large Scale. 



BY E. D. TOWN SEND. 



One day in June, 1876, my younger brother 

 and sister coming from school saw a swarm of 

 bees fly overhead. I can remember it as well as 

 though it were yesterday, how 1 found fault with 

 them for not telling meiintil after the swarm was 

 out of sight. Probably fifteen or twenty minutes 

 had elapsed after the bees had pass' d over the 

 road; and since colonies in movable-frame hives 

 were worth $10.00 in those days, and since I had 

 had the bee fever for some two years, 1 made up 

 my mind to locate that swarm. I was shown 

 where it c ossed the road and the direction it took. 

 Before 1 had gone into the woods ten rods I heard 

 the bees entering a tree, and I soon saw them, for 

 many were still on the outside, while others were 

 circling around making a great noise. They en- 

 tered a limb well up toward the top of a large 

 elm 



That night I asked a bee-keeper when it would 

 be best to transfer the bees from the tree to a 

 frame hive, and he told me that I could do no 

 better than to do it immediately, for the reason 

 that, if the tree were fell'^d before the bees had 

 time to build any comb they could be hived like 

 a natural swarm, without the inconvenience of 

 transferring sticky combs, etc. A third of a cen- 

 tury has elapsed since this took place; and if I 

 were asked to day how to manage in such a case 

 I would give the same answer that this bee-keep- 

 er gave me Well, the tree was cut while the 

 bees wereflyingduring the next day; and although 

 their entrance had been 60 ft from the ground 

 not a bee was lost; for as soon as those in the tree 

 started into the new hive, all of the bees heard 

 the "homing hum " and entered the new hive 

 with the rest. 



As soon as the tree was down, and before the 

 bees got over being demoralized, the bee-keeper 

 who was helping me ran toward the top of the 

 tree; and as soon as he could locate the entrance 

 he smoked the bees so that they could be handled 

 without fear of stings. By sawing in on each 

 side of the entrance, and splitting off a portion of 

 the limb, we opened the cavity where the bees 

 were. The hive was then placed with the entrance 

 as near as possible to the part where most of the 

 bees were, and with a tin dipper the greater part 

 of them were dipped up and emptied at the hive 

 entrance. By the time we had most of the bees 

 dipped out of the tree in front of the new hive 

 there was this loud " homing " call as the bees 

 commenced running in. At this point of the 

 procedure the few bees that were left in the tree 

 were smoked until they took wing, and then we 

 stepped back so as to be out of the way. All of 

 the flying bees, attracted by the loud hum, soon 

 entered the new hive, which was moved home 

 that night when all flying was over for the day. 



It occurs to me to mention here the fact that 

 any beginner noticing a swarm issuing should 

 not rush oflf to a neighbor for a hive, leaving the 

 swarm clustered, for, as likely as not, the bees 

 will be gone on his return. The better way is to 

 hive them in a soap-box or any thing else, for 

 that matter, that can be used temporarily, and, 

 when hived, the box should be set on the stand 

 where it is to remain until the new hive can be 

 brought. Then, as soon as the new hive is ob- 

 tained, he should go to the swarm in the box and 

 blow some smoke in at the entrance in order to 

 avoid stings. (A beginner should wear a veil 

 until he is thoroughly acquainted with the bees, 

 simply so that he will not be nervous.) 



As soon as the new hive is ready the box should 

 be removed from the stand and the empty hive 

 set in its place, with a board slanting up from the 

 ground to the entrance. Now the swarm may be 

 hived just as though it still hung on the tree or 

 limb where it clustered at first. By carefully 

 lifting the box off^ the bottom-board, and carry- 

 ing it to the new hive, most of the bees can be 

 shaken out on to the alighting-board with a quick 

 jerk, and they will run in just as though they had 

 been shaken from a limb. 



To return to my swarm taken out of the tree, 

 I will simply say that it was divided that season, 

 both colonies gathering sufficient honey to win- 

 ter well. My next step after getting the bees 

 home was to subscribe for Gleanings. It began 

 coming in July, and has been coming regularly 

 ever since. 



TOOLS FOR BEE-KEEPERS. 



An indispensable tool in the apiary is a good 

 smoker. After using all of the different sizes of 

 smokers made I recommend the larger sizes as 

 being far superior to the smaller ones. A smok- 

 er of the 3)4 or 4 inch size is the proper one to 

 buy. They cost a trifle more than the smaller 

 ones, but this extra cost is offset many times, for 

 they burn longer and give off a more dense smoke; 

 in fact, there is no argument that can be advanc- 

 ed in fivor of the small smoker. A common 

 mistake that most beginners make is to buy small 

 or cheap tools and hives. I believe that the main 

 reason why the eight-frame hive is more univer- 

 sally used than the ten-frame is becau e the first 

 cost is less, and those who start with the eight- 

 frame hesitate to make the change. 



HOW MANY COLONIES TO START WITH. 



The first things to decide upon are the number 

 of colonies to buy, the size of hives, and the sea- 

 son of the year when the start should be made. 

 When I began bee-keeping, many of the colonies 

 around me were in hives of a size and style not 

 to my liking; in fact, there was no standard frame 

 in use then as there is now, and the beginner 

 simply followed some one of the leading honey- 

 producers, adopting his hive and frame. All 

 these things are now changed, and the beginner 

 will have no trouble in finding bees in hives con- 

 taining regular Langstroth frames. 1 h's frame 

 has more points in its favor than any other at the 

 present time, and I would advise the beginner to 

 adopt it. 



There is a great diversity of opinion as to the 

 proper number of frames to use in a hive. The 

 majority use eight frames; but quite a number 

 use ten frames to the hive, and a few think that 



