418 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



July f . 



bees. My, ray ! It is too bad to contemplate, much less to be 

 a real actor in the scene. 



We, of course, had the hive ready. His plan was to jar 

 the bees off with the axe into the sheet, then we were to close 

 it up and carry it to the hive. 



Just as he struck the limb, a few bees fell on Mr. C, who 

 dropped his end of the sheet and ran for dear life, thus throw- 

 ing the whole swarm on top of my head. This rough treat- 

 ment of course angered them very much. They stung me 

 considerably, but nothing to compare with what they did Mr. 

 Anderson, who still staid in his position and let them settle 

 again, meantime tying the rope around the limb, aud securing 

 it in another place so that he could let them down easy-like, 

 after sawing the limb off. 



After so long a time we got them down, but hadn't yet 

 gotten them into the hive, for they again took wing, this time, 

 however, settling on an old stump near by. Mr. Anderson 

 this time succeeded in finding the queen, and in getting them 

 into the hive all right. He then called for the camphor bottle, 

 and bathed his hands, neck and face freely with it. I haven't 

 a doubt but what he had received a hundred stings, but Mr. 

 C. said that he never grunted, and told a good joke on him 

 about hiving the widow's bees, saying that he didn't believe 

 that he would have grunted if every bee in the whole swarm 

 had stung him ! 



After this experience, I decided if I eyer expected to make 

 a success with my bees 1 must learn to depend more upon my- 

 self, and less upon others. I also learned that there were 

 Italian bees which were said to be far superior to the little 

 blacks, and much more easily handled, not being so vicious. 

 I sent to Ohio for an Italian queen, hunted and found the 

 black one, which I killed, and introduced the Italian queen in 

 her stead. This was in one of the American hives that I had 

 made. With what anxiety I will leave you to imagine rather 

 than try to explain, did I wait the full three weeks, with a 

 few days over, to see whether I had succeeded in introducing 

 her royal majesty or not. Ah ! what joy and exultation there 

 was when I first saw the young Italians ! I could have been 

 seen at almost any hour of the day when I had leisure, look- 

 ing at them through the little glass door in the back of the 

 hive. Oh ! how proud I was of those bees, and in being suc- 

 cessful in Italianizing them. They were to me a great source 

 of pleasure and enjoyment. In a word, I was full of enthusi- 

 asm on the subject of bee-culture. 



In the meantime I had gotten a copy of "The Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Text-Book," which I took great delight in reading and 

 studying. By this time I had run out of hives, so I looked 

 around to see what I could use as a substitute until I could 

 order and get them here. I found several kerosene cases 

 which I decided to use, and with saw, hammer, nails, and a 

 case-knife, I proceeded to turn them into temporary movable- 

 frame hives, which I succeeded in doing very nicely. There 

 was one thing, however, at which I failed utterly, and that 

 was in getting my bees to store surplus comb honey in the 

 rear of the hive in which I placed three of my 9-pound boxes. 

 This decided me at once in favor of putting the surplus ar- 

 rangement above the brood-nest — an idea to which I still 

 adhere. 



When my hives came, it was very nice to lift out tha 

 frames with adhering bees, and place them thus in the new 

 hives. 



Well, you needn't laugh so about those primitive frames 

 that I made, for they are still good, and doing service yet. 

 The old adage says that '• where there's a will there's a way." 

 You see, I had the will, and made the way. Where an edge 

 wouldn't cut, I whetted it and made it cut. I was determined 

 to succeed. I would work and think about my bees during 

 the day, and dream about them at night. Often afraid to 

 move lest I should kill a fine queen, I would sometimes think 



that they were all over the bed. There, now, did you ever 

 know any one more enthusiastic ? 



The second queen I got came from the same dealer, with 

 one frame of hatching brood. This was sent by express, and 

 had to come 22 miles on the stage. The charges were enor- 

 mous. When it got to the post-ofHce here, a magistrate took 

 it upon himself to deliver it in person. He thought it was a 

 most unheard-of thing, that live bees could be sent in that 

 way. I still have the little, single-frame box in which they 

 came. I had it made into a little two-story wren-box, with ten 

 little doors and a perch in front of each, and have reared one, 

 and sometimes two, broods a year, but they are too cross to 

 use each little division at the same time. 



The hives that I ordered were the " New American." I 

 bought them of a dealer in New York city. I got one ready 

 nailed and painted, with starters in the section-boxes, and 

 heavy comb foundation for the brood-chamber, which was 

 wired. I very soon decided that I much preferred it without 

 wire, and have never had any occasion to change my ideas in 

 regard to it. My bees would cut out the wire in many places, 

 and would not as readily accept and draw it out as that which 

 I got later on without wire. Bell County, Tex. 



[To be continued.! 



Black or Honey Locust — Other Items. 



BY P. J. SCHARTZ. 



Black or honey locust, as some bee-books say.is a very good 

 honey-tree with only one exception, and that is that it blooms 

 but once in three years. We have a grove of about 90 locust- 

 trees, and I have known them to bloom every year for 13 

 years without fail, but the bloom is of very short duration. It 

 is a good honey-tree, the honey being of very fine flavor, but is 

 a little too dark for No. 1 honey. The trees also make a de 

 sirable shade-tree, but the wood is very brittle, and the 

 branches break off very easily, and therefore it is not a very 

 good looking tree. It blossoms when but four or five years 

 old, coming iuto bloom about one week after late fruit-bloom, 

 which keeps the bees out of mischief somewhat, and keeps up 

 brood-rearing. It is very easy to cultivate, and grows very 

 quickly. 



Bees Puncturing Fruit. — On page 291, Mr. W. S. Pultz 

 says that bees puncture fruit. Now, we have about 18 acres 

 of fruit, and I have been connected in that very branch of 

 business for 13 years, and have kept bees for only four years. 

 Without doubt bees can puncture fruit as well as wasps and 

 hornets, but do they ? — that is the question. Now. will Mr. 

 F. answer why grapes and fruit are punctured when there are 

 no bees at work on them ? If the bees have plenty of forage 

 he will find that they will not bother fruit at all. Why is it 

 that cherries are punctured when the bees have plenty of 

 forage? Why is it that pears are punctured with nary a bee 

 in sight ? Why not say that the wild bees and flies puncture 

 fruit as well as domesticated bees ? 



There are thousands of birds, wasps and hornets here 

 that work on fruit during the season, and in my estimation it 

 is the birds that peck the fruit which starts the juice to run- 

 ning, and the bees gather it in. Some years, when forage is 

 scarce, bees work on fruit, while some years they won't touch 

 it. But when they do work on fruit, I must say they are a 

 perfect nuisance. One has to be careful not to get stung 

 while bunches of grapes are fairly covered with bees. Give 

 them plenty of forage, and there won't be any trouble with 

 bees puncturing fruit. 



What Ailed the Bees? — On page 326, A. C, of Pol- 

 lock, Mo., wants to know what ails his bees. I have had a 

 bad case of the very kind, or rather my bees had it, and I 

 don't wonder that A. C. was alarmed. When bees come out 



