THE AMERICA!^ BEE JOURNAL. 



507 



of us, having been hard at work, per- 

 spired freely. As most persons know, 

 there has been barely any surplus 

 honey this season, but I was so much 

 used to good-natured swarms, ihat I 

 failed to take my bee-hat with me. A 

 rope to let down the limb, also a band- 

 saw and pruning-shears were taken, 

 however. We soon arrived at the 

 spot. The tirst thing I did was to 

 saw down a small walnut tree and 

 make a very strong fork. I next as- 

 cended the cedar (slow and disagree- 

 able work) ; after cutting a free pas- 

 sage for the loaded limb, 1 told my 

 partner to prop one end with the 

 fork. Then I took the rope, let it 

 slide along a branch above the one I 

 intended taking off, and carefully 

 began sawing. I was stung several 

 times while doing so, and might and 

 ought to have taken the hint ; but 

 still I proceeded, being deceived by 

 mistaking the offending parties to be 

 a squad of improvident stragglers. I 

 even now fairly shudder, thinking of 

 what a remarkably narrow escape I 

 had ; and under hardly any circum- 

 stances would I incur such danger 

 again. 



The man holding the fork became 

 restless, for, though there had been 

 no serious jars, the bees directed 

 their attention to him, too, treating 

 him liberally to stings. But, foriu- 

 uately for me, he stood to his post; 

 had he let loose my life would prob- 

 ably have been the forfeit. Very 

 slowly and carefully the limb was 

 lowered ; as soon as it fairly touched 

 the ground my assistant took to his 

 heels. I descended as quickly as I 

 could ; ere reaching terra finna a large 

 number of bees assailed me, but run- 

 ning through some bushes, I was 

 safe. After some minutes I ap- 

 proached the limb, but, if anything, 

 the bees were fiercer than before, and 

 remained so till sundown. 



We then carried the limb home. A 

 Langstroth hive filled with clean, 

 empty combs had been prepared for 

 their reception, during my absence. 

 All attempts to coax them into their 

 future home were unavailing that 

 night. Next morning I took from a 

 strong colony two frames with un- 

 sealed brood and replaced them with 

 empty combs ; the brood was then in- 

 serted into the hive. The brood I 

 gave had a pacifying influence, for 

 the bees went in, and have done well 

 ever since. 



The question arises, what caused 

 the bees to act so fiercely V ily 

 theory then was, and to a certain ex- 

 tent still is, that our perspiring had 

 something to do with ii ; also that 

 perhaps the bees had left their pre- 

 vious habitation long enough to have 

 consumed the rations they loaded 

 themselves with. But a few days 

 afterward I saw that these conclu- 

 sions were mainly, perhaps entirely, 

 wrong after all. 



About one week ago, shortly after 

 a rain, a colony that never had given 

 me a drop of honey this year (I had 

 examined it but a few days before), 

 cast a swarm. They fortunately set- 

 tled rather low ; at any rate, at a far 

 more convenient place than the one 

 first spoken of. But, though I had 



not worked any that day, owing to 

 the rain, and had on a fresh shirt, 

 they were just about as ill-tempered 

 as their colleagues. Of course they 

 had not consumed their honey, hav- 

 ing barely started. This made it rea- 

 sonable that there was not a suffi- 

 ciency of lioney in the hive to go all 

 around, consequently a great many 

 were mad and sliowed their disposi- 

 tion whenever and wherever a chance 

 offered. ]5ut clean, empty combs, 

 also two slieets of unsealed brood, 

 exerted a beneficial effect. They are 

 well at work now, and though late, 

 owing to the moist atmosphere pre-, 

 vailing, the white clover lasting 

 longer than usual, the assistance de- 

 rived from the brood, and last, but 

 not least, that of the other combs, I 

 think will do well, and, in case of an 

 ordinarily-favorable fall, give me a 

 fair surplus of extracted honey. 

 Shelbyville,© Tenn. 





Good Crop of Basswood Honey.— 



Frank McNav, Mauston,© Wis., on 

 Aug. 3, 188.5, writes : 



Basswood has yielded a good crop of 

 honey in tliis locality, but on account of 

 the hard winter and spring, there are but 

 few bees to gather it. I have run two of 

 my apiaries for comb honey, and have 

 about 6,000 sections nearly filled. I also 

 rnn one apiary for extracted honey ; they 

 have averaged 100 pounds per colony, and 

 I will have to extract once more from 

 basswood. 



Speak a Word.— 18— S. McLees.May, 

 *o Mich., on Aug. 6, 1885, writes : 



My bees wintered well ; they were put 

 into the cellar on Nov. 1.5, and I placed 

 them on the summer stands again on 

 April Ifi, which was ten days too early 

 (they were in the cellar nearly l.'JS days). 

 The brood became chilled, so I have to 

 make the above figures. I have at the 

 present 35 fair colonies, and intend to in- 

 crease them to 40 ; I am working them for 

 increase. I liave extracted' nearly 300 

 pounds of honey. The season, so tar, has 

 been tlie best for many years for honey, 

 and yet has the appearance of continuing. 



Speak a word, now, for the workers, 



While buildinp their snowy-white combs : 

 To hold all the golden nectar, 



For '■ stores " in their marvelous homes. 

 Speak a word, too, for the mother. 



Who gently the esgs deposit ; 

 Without her there soon would be none 



To till up the honey closet. 



Without me no home is complete. 

 Declares the loud ' hum " of the male ; 



Defenseless, despised, rejected. 

 And harmless— no need of a Tell. 



Now speak a word, too, for their rights. 

 Which cheerfully, all should defend ; 



While bee-keepers toss in their *' mites," 

 And a bluff to the " sheep " man send. 



Behold ! " in union there is strength," 

 Shown by mother, worker, and male : 



So, freely, now loss in your mites. 

 That justice and right may prevail." 



Yet Hoping.— P. P. Nelson, Man- 

 teno,(£ Ills., on Aug. 1, 1885, writes : 



I am yet in the bee-business ; but they 

 went back to 13 colonies, last winter. I 

 have now 30, and several hundred pounds 

 of nice honey; the "survival of the fittest." 

 Most of the bees in these parts died last 

 winter. 



Feeding Bees and Honey Crop.- J. 



II. Andre, Lockwood,? N. Y., on 

 Aug. 3, 1885, writes : 



July was a poor month for honey. I 

 .secured 100 poiiii<ls of surplus in .June, 

 from .5 colonies (mostly from 3 colonies). 

 1 had 13 swarms ; doubled some ; 1 have 

 13 yood ones in all now. Mine is the only 

 honey in market yet, for miles around ; 

 40 pounds of syrup fed early in the spring, 

 tells its own story. In regard to hives 

 being upset by the wind, 1 have had 

 empty box-hives here stand through the 

 worst wind we liave ever had, without 

 upsetting. 1 believe a frame hive, set low 

 down, will stand against a wind,when it is 

 full of honey (and It usually is full at 

 such a time), that would blow down a 

 brick building. 



Swarming and Robbing. — J. P. Mc- 

 Millan, IIealy,<^ Ills., on July 30, 1885, 

 writes : 



I have 35 colonies of bees. They have 

 commenced swarming agaui. I extracted 

 the honey on June 17, as the queens had 

 no room to lay. 1 have two-story hives 

 with two-pound sections on, and when I 

 open a hive to talie off any honey tliat is 

 finished, or cut out the queen-cells, the 

 bees from the other hives rob as though 

 they were starved. (Bees work but an 

 hour or two in the day, and cluster on the 

 outside of the hive). 1 want to know how 

 to prevent swarming and robbing. 



[I think you would have done much to 

 prevent this re-swarm iug if you had kept 

 on emptying the combs of honey. It is 

 likely that they needed emptying every 

 few days, until the queen got full posses- 

 sion of them. Now you must either clip 

 the queen-cells or give plenty of room and 

 shade, and trust to a natural turn of af- 

 fairs to check swarming. To prevent 

 robbing, do not let your bees get a taste of 

 ill-gotten sweets. Do not open the hives 

 when and where robbers are flying. When 

 you must open them, let it be during that 

 hour or two when the bees are at work, or 

 carry the hives into some protected place. 

 —James Heddon.] 



Working on Red Clover.— B. J. 



Miller & Co.. Nappanee,6 Ind., on 

 July 30, 18S5, write : 



We liave had a splendid season for bees 

 to increase, and for a large yield ot honey. 

 We had an abundance of wiiite clover and 

 basswood. Bees are doing well now on 

 red clover. 



Wonderful Honey-Yiehl and Increase. 



—Smith & Smith, Kenton,*o O., on 

 July 28, 188.5, write : 



Although the past winter was a very 

 iiard one on bees, and the loss in this part 

 ofOliiowas about 90 per cent., still we 

 have again quite a number of coloniesiu 

 fine condition in this (Hardin) and adjoin- 

 ing counties. The season since May 10 

 has been tlie best tliat we liave had for a 

 longtime.- Both the clover and the bass- 

 wood bloomed bountifully, the weather 

 was just right, and the bees put in full 

 time. It is wonderful how they rolled in 

 the honey. Although colonies were weak 

 on May 1, swarming began very early, and 

 has been kept up all through the season. 

 The increase also has been wonderful. 

 Mr. H. Hastings started in May with 3 

 colonies, and he now has 34 from them. 

 Mr. Martin started-with 17 colonies, and 

 he now has 51 in good condition, and 1,000 

 pounds ot comb honey. Who, in Ohio, 

 can beat this? 



