356 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jimt i. 



extracted honey, and note which gives the most dollars and 

 cents. There are 38 colonies in two house-apiaries, part will 

 be run for comb and part for extracted honey. 



I will also make careful comparison between the house 

 and open yard, as to greatest profit. The colonies I am using 

 are the best lot of bees I ever owned — rich in bees and stores — 

 and I expect to settle facts by proved conclusions, and not 

 guesses based on prejudice. 



Mr. Editor, you perhaps remember that I, last fall, re- 

 ported my bees to be in fine condition for winter — plenty of 

 stores and plenty of young bees. Well, out of 113 colonies I 

 lost two queenless ones. I put them out April 12, and they 

 were carrying pollen in one hour, and on April l*i they were 

 working like in midsummer. Forestville, Minn. 



Transferring— Something for Beginners. 



BY J. A. GOLDEN. 



I have many letters of inquiry in regard to the wintering 

 features of my combined feeder and hive cover, from the va- 

 rious States, and I am frequently asked to give information 

 on several items in apiculture by letter, which I gladly re- 

 spond to in short sketches, referring the questioners to text- 

 books and Dr. Miller's department — Questions and Answers. 

 But here lies a letter before me which says: 



"I have bought several colonies of bees in box-hives, and 

 I want to transfer them into movable-frame hives. Will you 

 please tell me the best time, and how to do it? I take the 

 American Bee Journal now, but it doesn't tell much about it." 



I will give my plan and practices, hoping that it may meet 

 the wants of many new readers of the American Bee Journal. 



Having chosen the kind and style of hive we wish, the 

 next is the tools requisite, viz.: A good smoker, a long-blade 

 honey-knife, IJa inches wide, square point, ground sharp: a 

 board 2 feet long, 15 or 20 inches wide, dressed smooth, with 

 saw-kerfs one inch apart across the board on one side ; a ball 

 of wrapping-yarn, and an old, thin-blade case-knife, square 

 point, ground sharp ; a small box with a hand-lamp set inside, 

 that the knife-blade can be quickly heated by holding over the 

 flue; a nail-cutter and hatchet ; a light, bottomless box, 10 

 or 12 inches square. 



The best time to transfer combs and bees is, in my experi- 

 ence (and I have done quite a little at that branch of apicul- 

 ture), in this latitude, from April 15 to May 1. At this time 

 the combs are light and free of new honey, and brood-rearing 

 Is but fairly started, consequently the work is quickly accom- 

 plished, without the loss of brood and a dauby mess of wasting 

 honey, as is the case when combs become filled with new 

 honey, and brood-rearing is in an advanced stage. 



I use a table or bench to work on, and with everything 

 ready, I cut enough wrapping-cord in lengths to put one 

 strand in each saw-kerf of the transfer-boards. With the 

 smoker give two or three puffs of smoke at the entrance of 

 the box or hive to be transferred, and then carry the hive to 

 the transfer-table, turn it upside down, and by the time I cut 

 the nails off the side to be taken off, and with the long-bladed 

 knife cut the combs carefully from the side to be removed, 

 the bees will have filled themselves with honey. I set the 

 bottomless bos on top of the hive, and with the smoker smoke 

 is applied at the bottom, and the queen and bees hastily 

 scamper up into the bottomless box, which may be fastened in 

 its place or set to one side. 



Now, the long knife pushed end-wise under the bottom 

 of the combs, severs them, and they can be lifted out, placing 

 them on the board, and the edges straightened and squeezed 

 close together. A frame is placed over the combs, pressing 

 the top-bar against the top or thick edge, and with the left 

 hand press the frame down on the combs; with the right 

 hand heat the case-knife over the lamp, and cut clear round 



the ends and bottom on the inside of the frame, holding the 

 knife so as to cut a little under the frame. Slip out the cut- 

 tings, and press the frame down over the comb, draw the 

 frame to the edge of the board, bring over a string and tie it; 

 by turning the point around twice in tying the first knot, it 

 won't slip. Some frames will require four or five strings, 

 three usually. Clip off the points of strings, pull the frame 

 from the board, at the same time raise it up and see that all 

 is straight before placing in the hive close by. 



Thus proceed, placing the honey part of the combs at the 

 top of the frames, and the brood below, being careful to save 

 all the brood ; also putting the brood In as compact form as 

 possible in the middle combs. If there are not combs enough 

 to fill the frames desired, take strips of comb one inch wide, 

 lay against the top-bar, heat the case-knife quite hot, and 

 slide between the top-bar and strip of comb, then with the hot 

 knife cut the strip to an edge, and the bees will do the rest. 



After placing the hive on its stand, and the frames prop- 

 erly placed, raise the front of the hive one-half inch by a 

 wedge or block, then dump the bees down at the entrance, 

 and see that the queen goes in and not under the hive. Don't 

 use smoke to drive the bees in — it's bad policy ; use a small 

 broom. 



When all the bees are in, let the hive down, and close the 

 entrance to two or three inches for a day or two. In two or 

 three days uncover, and with a sharp knife cut the strings 

 and slowly pull them from the combs, and the transfer is com- 

 plete. Thus, one can transfer very speedily, and do it nicely. 



Yes, we often wonder why the bee-papers don't give the 

 transfer formula once a year — say in the January issue — 

 knowing that now bee-keepers are yearly added to their 

 readers. Eeinersville, Ohio. 



[As no one should think of starting in bee-keeping with- 

 out one of the standard bee-books (which give full directions 

 for transferring), it is hardly necessary to repeat the same 

 things every year in the bee-papers. There is quite enough 

 repetition, we think, without publishing over and over what 

 is so clearly told in the books, and upon which there is now 

 scarcely any difference of opinion. — Editor.] 



Report of the Michigan State Convention. 



BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



(Continued from page 34.3.) 

 Mr. Aspinwall then read a paper entitled, 



Tlie Requisites for Success in Bee-Keeping^. 



With the advancement of civilization various Individual 

 and local enterprises have, at times, been seriously hampered. 

 The condition thus produced has in turn been a stimulus to 

 further progress, and overcoming difficulties which were 

 scarcely apparent at times when success was attainable in the 

 hands of the unskilled. The plow and lumberman's axe have 

 greatly affected the interests of bee-culture. Climatic changes 

 have also tended to intensify the situation. However, Nature 

 is very compensating, and men, whose trust is in the Divine, 

 will see developments that can be attributed to her workings. 



Necessity is a great stimulus to progress. Many of the 

 old and abandoned gold-mines are again being worked by Im- 

 proved methods, yielding a profit fully equal to the first work- 



