THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



■ 427 



honeys are of difEerent quiilities. and 

 one has greater powers of lieating, 

 etc., than another, and as bees change 

 from one honey to another, it causes 

 a certain amount of undue excite- 

 ment, lowering tlie physical powers 

 of the animal to resist disease. We 

 should be very cautious to pronounce 

 either one way or another; no doubt 

 there is much to be learned, and in 

 order to progress we must be willing 

 to learn, and not imagine that we 

 know it all. 

 Brantford, Canada. 



Prrtirie Farmer. 



Hints to Beginners— Swarming. 



MRS. L. HARRISON. 



Whether the owners of few or many 

 bees, all apiarists need good, clean, 

 movable-frame hives in readiness for 

 the reception of swarms. Many 

 valuable colonies yearly " emigrate," 

 while their owners are getting ready 

 to hive them. Some bee-keepers, on 

 the spur of the moment, put them 

 into nail kegs, or salt barrels, where 

 they are of little or no value. If 

 placed in old hives, with combs in- 

 fested with larvte of the bee-moth, 

 and foul from diarrhea, the bees may 

 seek more agreeable quarters, and 

 when they leave, may not cluster 

 again, in which case no amount of 

 bell-ringing will stop them, for scouts 

 that have been sent out to Hnd a 

 home have returned, and will conduct 

 them directly to it. Sometimes a 

 swarm will remain in a hive over 

 night, and if the morning sun shines 

 very hot upon it, leave for other 

 quarters without clustering. Hives 

 must be free from bad odors, and have 

 plenty of ventilation. 



Where swarms are expected, the 

 location of the future 'colonies must 

 be chosen, and the stands arranged 

 for them ; tliis is very important. It 

 the hive leans to one side, or is lower 

 at the back than at the front, all sorts 

 of mishaps may be expected,-such as 

 the building of brood and surplus 

 combs cross-wise, so that they can be 

 lifted out. Some bee-keepers make a 

 hard place for the hive to stand on, or 

 spread on quantities of sawdust to 

 keep down weeds and grass. If the 

 foundation is built of brick, with two 

 bricks high at the back of the hive, 

 and only one at the front, moisture 

 will run off, and the dead bees and 

 debris can be readily carried out. Let 

 everything be firm, so that there will 

 be no rocking in a storm. Have an 

 alighting-board, resting on the front 

 edge of the brick, so as to join on to 

 the bottom of the hive, thus forming 

 an easy entrance, This is quite im- 



Eortant, for time means honey to the 

 ees, so that if one heavily-laden falls 

 exhausted, it is not obliged to again 

 take wing, but can crawl up the 

 alighting-board into the hive. When 

 the hive is placed upon the stand, 

 have the frames arranged at regular 

 distances. I have been requested to 

 examine colonies, and when the 

 frames were uncovered, found that in 

 hiving the bees, and carrying them to 

 their stand, the frames had all been 



shaken over to one side, and not one 

 of tliem could be removed without 

 regular transferring. The frames 

 should he covered with muslin, en- 

 ameled cloth, or a board, so that no 

 bees can crawl up. These things 

 should be attended to before the hive 

 is ready for a swarm. 



When a colony has clustered, if it 

 is on a limb of a tree of little value, 

 cut it off and carry to tlie hive ; shake 

 the branch gently at llrst, and when a 

 few bees have entered tbe hive, more 

 can be jarred off. If they are sliaken 

 off violently at first, they may take 

 wing again. When it is not desirable 

 to cut off a branch, the bees can be 

 shaken into a hiving basket or large 

 dish-pan and carried to the hive. 

 When a swarm is very large and rich 

 in wax, sometimes large clusters fall 

 to the ground, in which case, it is 

 better to caiTy the hive to them ; as 

 soon as the bees are in, replace upon 

 its stand, lest when the scouts return, 

 they lead them to a home of their 

 own choosing. Some let the hive 

 stand until evening before replacing ; 

 this is poor policy, as bees sometimes 

 go to the fields as soon as hived, and 

 take their bearings to the new place, 

 and the next day will return there, 

 and not finding their hive, vent their 

 spite on any one coming within reach. 

 In very hot weather, take care that 

 the hive is cool when bees are put into 

 it, and that the sun does not shine 

 directly upon it until the colony is 

 firmly established in its new quarters. 



Peoria,© Ills. 



For the American Bee Joiu-DaL 



Preparing Bees for Winter, etc. 



E. p. CHURCHILL. 



Who ever thought of bees driving 

 any kind of stock from their pasture? 

 My bees are within 5 feet of the gate 

 to the pasture, and I have no fears. 

 In the first place, sheep would feed so 

 close that there would be nothing for 

 the bees, and sheep also have the very 

 best protection from bees. It is sheer 

 ugliness to say that bees trouble stock 

 or man while away from the hive. I, 

 too, do approve fully of Mr. Heddon's 

 plan. 



I could not live, it seems to me, 

 without bees, if for no other use than 

 to fertilize my fruits, as I grow them 

 quite largely,' and I well know that 

 the bees are a great benefit to them. 

 I never had so good a set of straw- 

 berries as now; and the bees just 

 swarmed on the blossoms, as the 

 weather was such this spring that 

 they could. Bees never did so well 

 here as they are doing this season. If 

 I had .500 colonies I think there would 

 be enough for them to do, as they 

 cannot work fast enough. 



I had 9 colonies packed in chaff- 

 hives, with mostly sugar syrup stores 

 in n and 7 frames, according to the 

 strength of the colony, whicli were all 

 strong except one which died, being 

 the only one of the 9. I spread a 

 thick woolen cloth on the frames, or 

 on the rack, ^.j of an inch above the 

 frames. The cloth was well gummed 

 by the bees through the summer, and 



over this I spread sheets of news- 

 paper, and packed large, coarse bags 

 of leaves and pine-needles so as to 

 nearly lill the hive. As I expected to 

 go to the South in .January, I decided 

 to iiack the hives in a warm stable. 

 I set them in the nortliwest part on .S 

 inches of hay. I then paekedfi inches 

 of hay back of the first row of hives, 

 and placed slanting boards over the 

 entrances, and put one row of hives 

 in front of the first. I put slanting 

 boards over the entrances of all and 

 packed 4 feet of hay over the hives, 

 and the same amount in front. I 

 darkened all tie windows, so that it 

 was perfectly dark. 



This was done about Jan. -5, and 

 they were taken out on April 20 in the 

 the very best condition, except the 

 one that was dead with 2-j pounds of 

 feed. I think that they would have 

 been all right if they had been left 

 there for two weeks longer, but as I 

 was in Florida where I could not tell 

 how cold it was liere, I had them re- 

 moved, and now they are extra strong, 

 as I have kept them from swarming. 



I have found that every time I use 

 considerable covering inside the hive, 

 the bees do the best. I know that 

 some differ, but I find in my case a 

 way of my own. I want my hives, if 

 wintering out-doors, to be where snow 

 will drift over them, then I slant a 

 board in front, and over this tack a 

 coarse bag and draw it around the 

 upper sides of the hive and tack it to 

 the same ; then the longer the snow 

 remains over the hives the better. I 

 do not want any shovelling of snow 

 there, but let it come naturally and 

 slowly. Even walking about hives 

 on the snow is an injury to bees. Give 

 them feed enough, and let them en- 

 tirely alone. The entrances to my 

 hives were left open S inches by %, 

 and this was their ventilator. As to 

 moisture collecting over the bees, I 

 believe that the heat retained by the 

 heavy packing dries out and drives 

 the moisture above ; for tlie cloths 

 and paper always comes out dry, and 

 the leaves or chaff is always damp on 

 the top but dry next to the frames ; 

 and does not Nature teach bees that 

 warmth is for their safety 'i' or why do 

 they close every crack and place where 

 air or cold could creep in y 



As to frames : How can we get one 

 so well suited to uniform wintering 

 as the sandard Langstrotli ? for on it 

 the bees can travel or move on one 

 line, right where the feed is. and not 

 break the cluster by being obliged to 

 get their feed all around it, as they 

 are apt to do in a deep frame ; and, 

 also, how easy it is "to handle in 

 every way. While many are mourn- 

 ing the loss of bees, they may learn a 

 lesson, thougli expensive, as I did 

 once by winter feeding, when I lost 

 30 colonies. But our motto is " On- 

 ward," and let us fight it out at all 

 events. 



North Auburn. ? Maine. 



tW The Cortland Union Bee -Keepers' 

 Association will hold a basket picnic at the 

 apiiiry of Mr. Miles Morton, at Groton, N. Y., 

 on Tuesday, Aug. 18, ISS.-*. All bee-keepers, 

 with their families, are cordially invited to 

 be present. W. H. Beach, Sec 



