388 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



June 21 1900 



amount of brood, put over this an jexcluder, next an ex- 

 tracting-chamber, and above all the section of the hive 

 having the tnosf brood. This would then be recorded as 

 "dry — brd — extra — brd," entering- also the date of record. 

 This means that, counting from the ground up, thej' have a 

 set of dry combs, a set of combs of brood, an extracting- 

 super, and on top a set of combs of brood — three shallow 

 sets and the super. 



I have used full-depth hives in this manner except that 

 it would be a set of dry combs on the bottom, brood-nest 

 next, and extracting-super on top over an excluder. This 

 being done before the colony gets ready to swarm, has a 

 very decided tendencj' toward no swarming by colonies so 

 treated. For tremendoOs colonies the two regular brood- 

 chambers are all right, but in this case there can not be a 

 hive of brood on top. Brood above the extracting-combs 

 draws the bees well up, and the honey is stored in the super 

 and that top brood-chamber. Such arrangement without 

 the dry combs beneath will go far toward keeping them 

 from swarming, but not in so satisfactory a degree. That 

 brood on top I leave until I have occasion to look into the 

 hive again, or for a week or two, when it can be used in 

 making increase or adding to nucleus colonies. If the 

 brood is in shallow frames, two sets put together in a new 

 colony and supplied with a queen make a very nice colony ; 

 the hatching bees promptly populate it, and the honey 

 stored as brood, hatcht while yet on the parent hive, makes 

 them at once almost ready for winter. 



My field supplies little nectar outside of June, July and 

 August — from about June ISth to Aug. ISth — and I find that 

 these big hives, composed sometimes of three or four shal- 

 low sections, or two deep chambers, or one deep and one 

 shallow, give me the best colonies. Colonies in single-story 

 hives I have to feed in May or early June, but the big ones 

 not. 



I do not want this article to be read as a boom for shal- 

 low chamber hives, but one fact stands prominent — the 

 shallow frame enables us to contract or expand the brood- 

 nest without adding too much, and gives us a chance to 

 place brood quickly above the super to stretch the colony, 

 yet that brood on top having served its purpose can be 

 quickly placed back in the brood-nest. The shallow hive 

 makes easy the application of other principles where the 

 deep one would be too bulky or expensive. This system is 

 not suitable for comb-honey work, but is a success in the 

 production of extracted honey. Larimer Co., Colo. 



A Plag-ue of Bees in Africa. 



BY C. V. A. PEEL. 



I HAD been enticed into the Haweea country, N. E. 

 Africa, by reports of elephants. From the time I set 

 foot in that miserable country to the day I shook off the 

 dust on leaving it I was pestered by a perfect plague of 

 bees. The country was nothing but a wilderness — stony 

 ground covered with thin thorn-bushes. The afternoon of 

 mj' arrival, after a terribly tiring march over stone and 

 rock, I pitcht camp by the side of a deep well in the solid 

 rock. When my tent was up I threw myself on my bed — 

 for I was dead beat — hoping to find rest. Not a bit of it. I 

 jumpt up quicker than I lay down, stung in the back by a 

 bee. " No peace for the wicked," I said to myself as I took 

 up my sponge, intending to have a bath, only to be stung 

 in the hand by a swarm of bees which had settled upon the 

 damp thing, and were eagerly sucking up the moisture. It 

 was becoming more than a joke. I poured out the water into 

 my India-rubber bath amidst a buzz of approval from my 

 thirsty companions. I took off my clothes, being stung in 

 the attempt by a bee which had crawled thru my stocking, 

 and got into my bath. This, apparently, was the signal 

 for a combined attack upon me. After the first spongeful 

 of water had gone over me, a perfect swarm of the pests 

 attackt my head, whilst dozens crawled all over my naked 

 body. Twice was I stung in the head, and three times I 

 pickt out the stings from my body. 



At length I could stand it no longer. I ran amuck, 

 threw bath, pail, water, sponge, towels, and bad language 

 in every direction, dasht out of my tent and fled naked out 

 of my zareba, followed by a grinning crowd of natives in- 

 quiring if I had taken leave of my senses. I sat for the 

 rest of the afternoon in the shade, and as far from any 

 water as possible, until the sun set, not venturing back to 

 my tent. When the golden orb at length disappeared, I re- 

 turned to camp in my birthday garments, feeling rather 



chilly, and anointed my numerous stings with ammonia. 

 Upon my tent floor I discovered with my bare feet there 

 still crawled the little demons, but they had mercifully 

 ceast to fly for the night. 



The next day was destined to be the most miserable I 

 spent in this detestable country. From the very moment 

 the sun peept up over the horizon until it set like a great 

 ball of fire in the west, an enormous army of bees pestered 

 and annoyed me. I could not eat, drink, sit, sleep, stand 

 nor walk, but they would crawl all over me and sting me. 

 It was all very fine to say, " Do not touch them, and they 

 will not sting you," but the plagues tickled me so dreadfully 

 as they crawled up my breeches, down my socks into my 

 shoes, round my head, and over my whole body, that it was 

 impossible not to keep brushing them away. I was stung 

 almost everywhere. 



I was driven from my tent into a native tent, from 

 there to the shade of a tree, from the tree to my tent again, 

 but all to no purpose — the villains still pursued me. At 

 length, in despair, I sat in the heat of a roaring fire. The 

 scorching rays of the sun, the blinding heat of the fire, and 

 the poisoning heat developt by my numerous bee-stings 

 nearly drove me into a frenzy. All day long I waited on 

 the chance of the men I had sent out in every direction com- 

 ing back to camp with news of elephants, but they came not. 



The bees appeared to attack me and my " boy," and no- 

 body else. Poor Deria stampt and jumpt, and curst and 

 swore from morning till night. But then Deria was always 

 in hot water. If a man threw a stone, it was always Deria's 

 head which would intercept it. Whilst on the march before 

 daylight, if the branch of a tree protruded beyond the rest, 

 Deria's face would feel its thorns. If a camel fell, and 

 store-boxes flew in all directions, who was always found to 

 be underneath but Deria ? No wonder he wore such a dis- 

 agreeable expression. The only thing against the willing 

 boy were his looks. 



At night all my men returned reporting only old ele- 

 phant spoor. 



Next morning I sent them all out again in different 

 directions, while I determined to wage war upon my enemies, 

 the bees. Accordingly I started off, accompanied by some 

 half a dozen of my men, in search of their dwellings. We 

 had not proceeded more than a few hundred yards when we 

 came upon a huge ant-hill about 12 feet in height. In and 

 out of a hole, high up on the ant-hill, came bees by the 

 thousand. We held a council of war. I suggested we 

 should make a large fire close to the ant-hill before com- 

 mencing the attack. My men, who were very anxious to 

 get at the honey without the slightest delay, pooh-poohed 

 the idea. No, they vpould throw stones at the huge pillar, 

 make a breach of it, and abstract the honey. 



No sooner suggested than attempted. We attackt the 

 stronghold with stones until a gaping hole was made in the 

 fortress, when out issued thousands upon thousands of the 

 enemy. The attacking force fell backwards into the 

 bushes, and were literally covered with the enemy's pois- 

 oned arrows. Those who had not fallen rusht madly thru 

 the bushes, swinging their arms about and tearing their 

 sides with the thorns as thej' dasht panic-stricken thru the 

 bushes. For a moment I stood still and fairly shrieked 

 with laughter, but the instant I took to my heels I was fol- 

 lowed by the enemy, who wounded me in the head in sev- 

 eral places. With the utmost difficulty I gathered together 

 my scattered forces, some of the men having run a distance 

 of a quarter of a mile away. Oh ! how I laught when I saw 

 the swollen faces of my men. One of them had both his 

 eyes bunged up, and his under-lip was swollen and pouted 

 out to such an extent as to make him barely recognizable. 

 The groans and " Allahs " emitted on every side betokened 

 our utter defeat. 



We now set to work to collect wood, which we piled at 

 the base of the ant-hill, and set fire to it. Sending back a 

 man for a piece of rope and a couple of axes, we attacht 

 the former around the center of the pillar, and with one 

 united pull the wall of the stronghold fell with a crash. An 

 enormous swarm of bees shot up into the air. but the heat 

 from the fire was too great for them. The citadel was 

 taken. Attacking the earth with an axe, we at length got 

 at the hard-earned spoil. Every now and then a shriek 

 would go up as one of us got stung ! but when the great 

 heat from the roaring furnace at last drove us back, we had 

 filled two large bucketfuls of most excellent honey. 



As no fresh elephant spoor could be found, I packt up 

 next morning and marcht, heartily glad to get out of the 

 country, and its plague of bees. I laught afre.sh at the 

 sights of my men as I applied ammonia to their poisoned 

 wounds. — The Field. 



