454 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



same time smoking tliem so the queen and 

 bees smell alike. By this plan I seldom 

 lose a queen, but it is not quite as simple 

 as the first. I adopt it only where a 

 nucleus has but few bees, or where it is 

 not handy to adopt tlie first ; however, it 

 is equally as successful as the other. 



In introducing queens that come from 

 abroad, I have heretofore used the caged- 

 fraine-of-brood plan, as I gave a year or 

 two ago in the Bek Jouknal. By this 

 plan a frame of hatching brood is placed 

 in a wire-cloth cage, and the queen and 

 her few attendants let out on this caged 

 frame, when the whole is hung in a hive 

 and left for 5 or 6 days, at which time I 

 have the cage full of bees, while the 

 queen has filled the vacated cells with 

 eggs. The cage is now taken to a hive 

 where I wish a colony to stand, and the 

 bees turned lose by taking the frame out 

 of the cage. The little colony is now 

 built up by adding frames of hatching 

 brood from time to time. This plan is 

 absolutely safe, and it all who have lost 

 valuable queens will try it, we shall hear 

 no more of so many losses in introducing. 

 All there is against it is, that it talfes 

 some time to build up the colony in this 

 way, and if such a queen should come in 

 September or October the bees could not 

 be gotten in good condition for winter. 



Since using my plan of caging bees in 

 forming nuclei, as given on page 277, I 

 have struck on another plan which is 

 always safe, and by which a full col(»y 

 can be made at once. I take my funnel 

 and cage, as described in a previous arti- 

 cle, and go to any hive that can spare a 

 colony, or one that is large enough to be 

 divided, and after hunting out the queen, 

 I put the frame of brood she is on, outside 

 of the hive. I then smoke and jar the 

 hive and bees till they are well filled with 

 honey, when 1 shake as many bees as I 

 wish down through the funnel into the 

 box, when the box is placed in a cool 

 place (I u.se a cellar), and left for 3 or 4 

 hours; never less than 3, and 4 is better. 

 After putting the bees away, of course 

 the frame having the queen upon it is put 

 back in the hive, and the hive rearranged. 

 When the 4 hours are up, X take the val- 

 uable queen in a round wire-cloth cage 

 and go to where the bees are, dumping 

 them all to the bottom of the box by put- 

 ting it down suddenly, when the queen is 

 at once put into the box by letting her in 

 tlirough a hole previously made for that 

 purpose. They are now left for- 5 or 6 

 hours, or until nearly sunset, when a hive 

 is prepared tor them, having in it one frame 

 of brood if possible. 



I now bring them from the cellar and 

 hive them the same as any swarm is 

 hived. Towards fall the bees may be 

 taken from several colonies, so that a good 

 colony is formed without injuring any 

 others. If either of the last two plans 

 are followed, a queen can be safely in- 

 troduced immediately after receiving her, 

 no matter how far she has come, or at 

 what time of the year. I have never re- 

 ceived so many enthusiastic reports over 

 any article I have written, as over this 

 new caging-plan of forming nuclei. I am 

 written to for funnels, cages, etc., and I 

 wish to say here, so as to save both them 

 and myself trouble, that 1 do not make 

 supplies of any kind, practical bee-keep- 

 ing being my only business. 



Because I said, get a funnel, box, etc., it 

 does not follow that there is no other way 

 of accomplishing the same object, al- 

 though, perhaps, these are more handy. 

 If yiiu do not nave a fuimel, etc., take a 

 hive and make it tight except at the top, 

 which is to be covered with wire-cloth. It 

 is also to have a hole somewhere through 

 which you can introduce the queen when 

 you wish to. Now hang in the hive, or 

 place near by, frames covered with bees 

 to the amount yon want, and quickly 

 shake them on the bottom of the hive, 



putting on the wire-cloth before many 

 can get out, using this hive for your cage. 

 In reading any article do not think that 

 you must have every thing exactly as the 

 writer says, but take the principle of the 

 thing,puUing it into practice in a common- 

 sense sort of a way. Another thing, take 

 it cool, do not get excited and off your 

 balance if you wish success to crown your 

 efforts. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



Prairie Farmer. 



The Season, Bee-Moth, etc. 



MKS. L. HARRISON. 



To-day it is quite cool, and last 

 night it was cooler, which prevents 

 the secretion of nectar ; very little 

 white clover honey will be secured in 

 this locality. If the weather is favor- 

 able, a small amount may yet be 

 stored, as bees are in fine condition, 

 there having been just enough honey 

 to keep up brood-rearing. When there 

 is a great flow, the queen is crowded 

 out, as the bees will encroach upon 

 the brood-nest, in their eagerness to 

 save as much as possible. I have, at 

 such times, inserted an empty comb 

 in the centre of the brood-nest, think- 

 ing to give the queen some room, but 

 I found on investigating, a day or 

 two later, that every cell was tilled 

 with honey. Their motto is, " make 

 hay while the sun shines." 



The basswood or linden ( Tilia 

 Americana) is now in the bud, and 

 promises well. The honey from this 

 source is splendid and abundant. I 

 am sorry to say that this tree has "off 

 years," but I hope that this is not one 

 of them. A colony has stored more, 

 however, from linden in one day, than 

 from any other source. In this locality 

 the bloom lasts but a few days, it 

 appearing to open all at once ; in hilly 

 and mountainous countries, it lasts 

 for weeks. A Vermont bee-keeper 

 told me that in the valley where he 

 lived, the basswood opened much 

 earlier than on the mountain side, 

 and that his bees followed up the 

 bloom as it gradually opened, accord- 

 ing to elevation, for weeks. 



Now is a good time to notice the 

 value of queens, and mark those not 

 keeping up to the standard. Her 

 throne should be given to another as 

 soon as an opportunity occurs. When 

 a colony having a choice queen has 

 swarmed, after eight days it may be 

 examined, and a frame containing a 

 queen-cell, brood and bees, be re- 

 moved to an empty hive, and confined 

 to one side by a division-board ; let 

 there l)e two frames, one of honey. 

 The queen will emerge, become fer- 

 tile, and can be introduced to another 

 hive, supplanting a poor one, or be 

 built up into a strong colony. Rearing 

 (jueens in this way saves the time of a 

 tull colony. The queen to be sup- 

 planted can be laying up to the mo- 

 ment of her removal, and another 

 laying one introduced. 



The bee-moth is quite abundant at 

 present, and tries to introduce its 

 eggs wherever it can. I am daily 

 handling the comb of Italian bees, 

 but I fail to find the larvie of the 

 moth in them. If there is a crevice 

 into which the bees are unable to gain 



access, the moths may be found ; 

 sometimes under a division- board, if 

 there is not sufficient room for a bee 

 to crawl. In the evening I see the 

 moths around, and I kill them in 

 hives of empty comb in the day-time. 

 They are the color of old wood, and 

 do not fly very fast. Where there is 

 a nucleus in a hive with a division- 

 board, the empty space can be filled 

 with comb, and the bees will protect 

 it from the ravages of the larvse of 

 the moth. I noticed this spring that 

 in hives containing honey where the 

 bees had died, that robber bees de- 

 stroyed the larvfe of moths. Italian 

 bees war with them continually ; 

 black bees let them revel in their 

 choice comb. 

 Peoria,© Ills., July 2, 1885. 



For tbe American Bee JounuU. 



Defending the Assailed. 



WM. 31. BARNES. 



I must admit that I am greatly sur- 

 prised to read of the accusations 

 Drought against the honey-bee, such 

 as the puncturing of grapes, reducing 

 the yield of buckwheat, and driving 

 sheep from the pasture. I have been 

 keeping bees for 10 or 12 years, and 

 last season I had Gs colonies within 20 

 rods of a neighbor's pasture of white 

 clover, and there has been no com- 

 plaint from him, of bees interfering 

 with his stock in these pastures ; 

 neither have the bees impaired my 

 grapes on the vines which grow as 

 shades for the hives. This tiling of 

 Mr. Powers trying to collect damage 

 from JSIr. Freeborn is too absurd. 



I am well acquainted with the de- 

 fendant in this case, and know him to 

 be just such a man as we all would 

 select as a neighbor ; he is making a 

 little money out of his bees, and at- 

 tending strictly to his own affairs. 

 Knowing this of him, let us come to 

 the rescue. 



I wish to say a word here to the 

 soldier bee-keeper who was in the 

 deadly strife during the civil war— it 

 matters not which side he may have 

 espoused. I would ask him if he can- 

 not recall the battles wherein he was 

 engaged, and after fighting all day, 

 and just at evening when he was all 

 worn out with the fatigue of battle, 

 and the uncertainty of victory — just 

 at this critical moment word comes 

 along the line that re-inforcements 

 were coming. Have you not cast 

 your eye to the left, right, and rear, 

 and did you not see your friends in 

 hosts, with music filling the air, and 

 banners flying in the breeze V Brother 

 soldier, did you not feel that victory 

 was on your side ? Have you been 

 there V If you have, this is all plain 

 to you ; if not, you cannot realize the 

 situation. But we do see one of our 

 calling assailed ; now let us rush to 

 the rescue, and let us shout that re- 

 inforcements are at hand, and back 

 up the statement with our little $1.2.'5, 

 and make each other feel that we are 

 not alone in the evening of our lives, 

 after fighting the reverses of a life- 

 time. 



Boaz, p Wis. 



