THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



553 



tliough it would be hard to prove, Mr. 

 Freeborn's. Mr. P. also notices that 

 liis sheep run from the clover to the 

 fence corners. Who lias not noticed 

 the same thing in the summer when 

 that dreaded enemy, the sheep bot-fly 

 {(E-slriis ovis) attempts to attach its 

 ejigs to the nose of the sheep V Ignor- 

 ant of the trne cause, this Wisconsin 

 shepherd blames the bees, and thus 

 brings suit against Mr. F. for heavy 

 damages. 



Perhaps no point in science is more 

 fully proven than that bees are of 

 great value in fertilizing such flowers 

 as they visit tor pollen and nectar. Jf 

 Mr. Powers understood the case 

 aright, he would feel very kindly 

 towards Jilr. F. and his bees, and 

 would, instead of prosecuting, kill the 

 fattest and plumpest lamb in the 

 flock and send it as a just reward to 

 Mr. Freeborn. 



The bee keepers of the country have 

 become thoroughly aroused because 

 of this unrighteous procedure, and 

 have organized and raised hundreds 

 of dollars to insure a just verdict in 

 this case, in which they all feel a deep 

 interest. That bees may sometimes 

 become a nuisance about cider-mills, 

 vineyards, etc., there is no question ; 

 that they are ever anything but a 

 signal advantage to plants in visiting 

 the (lowers, is also beyond question. 

 Of course tliere can be no doubt as to 

 the results of this suit. A verdict 

 against the bees would be a sad com- 

 ment on our nineteenth-century civi- 

 lization. 



Agricultural College,? Mich. 



For tbo American Bee JournaL 



Sheep vs. Bees in Germany. 



C. J. n. GRAVENHORST. 



I have read with interest the arti- 

 cles ill the Ameuican Bee Journal, 

 on the sheep-bees lawsuit. The arti- 

 cle entitled, " Can 13ees Commit Tres- 

 pass i"' I have translated for the Sep- 

 tember issue of my lllustrierte Kienen- 

 Zeitung. 



Some years ago we had a similar 

 suit in Germany. There were two 

 landlords, brothers, in one province 

 of Prussia, who had a sheep-pasture 

 that was covered with Erica vulgaris, 

 or common heath. (If I do not err, 

 in America it is called sourwood). 

 The bee-keepers of the surrounding 

 country would take their bees (many 

 hundreds of colonies) to this place, 

 in a neighboring wood, from which 

 they could reach the heath. 



The landlords would not endure 

 this, claiming that the bees drove the 

 sheep from their feeding-place. In 

 order to stop it, the landlords ordered 

 one of their servants to make some 

 wooden-boxes, and besmear them on 

 the inside with honev ; as soon as 

 thousands of the bees lilled the boxes 

 he killed the bees with sulphur. In a 

 short time all the bees were dead. 



The bee keepers then made the 

 landlords defendants in a suit, the re- 

 sult of which was that the landlords 

 had to pay all the damages and the 

 costs of the suit— about $1,500. 



Glowen, Prussia, Aug. 5, 1885. 



ror the Anierlcun 13eo JouroaL 



Among the fiees in Summer. 



17— G. II. DOOLITTLE, (-50—100). 



Continuing the subject of my last 

 article on page ")02, 1 wish to say a 

 little more regarding swarming. 



As the season advances to the com- 

 mencement of the basswood honey- 

 harvest, I operate differently with all 

 swarms which issue at this time, and 

 later, adopting the following plan : 

 As soon as a swanu is seen issuing, 

 1 take six frames of comb and two 

 wide frames of sections, putting the 

 same into a box or hive which is con- 

 venient to carry, and when I arrive 

 at the hive from which the swarm is 

 coming out, 1 take the frames from 

 the box and place them down by the 

 hive. The hive is now opened, and 

 all the frames of brood and honey, 

 with the adhering bees, taken out and 

 put into the box, after which the two 

 wide frames are placed one at each 

 side of the hive, and the six frames of 

 comb put between them. The hive is 

 now re-arranged and closed. 



It the weather is warm, and there 

 are many bees on the frames of brood 

 in the box, about one-third of them 

 are shook off in front of the hive, 

 when the box is placed in the shade a 

 rod or two away, so none of the bees 

 from the swarm will (indit while they 

 are being hived, which is the next 

 thing I do— hiving them in the re- 

 arranged hive on the old stand. If 

 the weather is cool, or but tew bees 

 are on the combs of brood, omit the 

 shaking off, for it will want all of 

 them to keep the brood in good con- 

 dition. 



Now take the box and place the 

 combs in an empty hive, placing the 

 hive where you wish it to stand, and 

 after all is nicely fixed, leave them 

 until the next morning. At any time 

 during the forenoon give them a vir- 

 gin queen or a queen cell just ready 

 to hatch, and you will have no trouble 

 with after-swarms, for the bees feel 

 so poor at this time that they are glad 

 of anything in the shape of a queen. 



However, if the delay is longer than 

 18 hours, they often get so strength- 

 ened by the rapidly liatctiing brood, 

 that they will destroy the queen cell, 

 or kill the virgin queen, and after- 

 swarming will result. Do not give 

 them a laying queen, unless you wish 

 a prime swarm from the colony in 

 two weeks or so. By this plan I get 

 a powerful colony on the old stand, 

 which will do as much, if not more, 

 in the sections than they would if 

 they had not swarmed, for a swarm 

 will work with a vigor not known to 

 bees under any other circumstances. 



In ten days, if the honey-harvest 

 continues, sections are given to the 

 colony which has rapidly increased to 

 such, from the combs of brood carried 

 in the box, and as the young queen 

 has now commenced to lay, the bees 

 will at once go into the sections, often 

 giving a good yield of honey. 



From such a colony I have just 

 taken off 42 pouixls of honey, in sec- 

 tions, while the swarm hived on the 

 old stand has given 71 pounds, nuk- 

 ing 113 pounds from what was a weak 



colony in the spring. As all will note, 

 this is only carrying out the same 

 principle I spoke of in the other arti- 

 cle, which is, to have the bees as free 

 from the swarming-fever as possible 

 during the honey harvest. 



As I am now taking off honey in 

 sections, perhaps I cannot do better 

 in concluding this article than to tell 

 just how I do it. The larger part of 

 my hives are boxed at tlie sides and 

 top. the top boxes being putonlirst, 

 so as to have them filled first. Again, 

 the top sections were filled with foiin- 

 daticm while only starters were used 

 in those at the side, so that as a rule 

 the top sections are all completed 

 while those at the sides are only filled 

 with comb which is two-thirds full of 

 honey, the bees just commencing to 

 seal it at the top of each section. I 

 explain this so the reader can readily 

 see the shape the honey is in, also the 

 plan of working. 



Being ready, I lift off the cover to 

 the hive, and then take off one of the 

 side boards covering the first wide 

 frame at the top (I use wide-frames, 

 not cases), when I bh)w a little smoke 

 on the bees. This causes the'n to run 

 down into the hive, and over into the 

 next wide frame of sections. I now 

 lilow sniok*' through the holes which 

 the bees always leave in the upper 

 corners of tlieir combs, next the sec- 

 tions, puffing it quite hard, which 

 causes the smoke to go nearl.^ across 

 the whole number of wide-frames, 

 filling each space between the sec- 

 tions with smoke, which causes the 

 bees to leave them and run below. 

 After giving them a half moment of 

 time to get below, I commence taking 

 off the wide-frames, one after the 

 other, until past the centre, when 

 1 again blow a little more smoke in 

 at the holes, so as to send it through 

 to the opposite outside wide-frame 

 from where I commenced, when the 

 rest are taken off. In this way the 

 whole top is taken off with scarcely a 

 bee left on the wide-frames of honey. 



I now raise the nearly filled wide- 

 frames, from the sides of the hive to 

 the lop, putting in wide-frames of 

 sections having starters in them, at 

 the sides. In a week or so the same 

 operation is repealed, in the mean- 

 time having emptied the filled wide- 

 frames, putting the honey in the 

 honey-room, and filling the frames 

 with sections again, ready to take the 

 place of those raised from the sides. 



Many seem to think this wide- 

 frame system a laborious plan, but 

 after carefully testing it with other 

 plans given, I cannot see that they 

 have as much labor-saving to recom- 

 mend them over this, as some would 

 have us think; while I firmly believe 

 that the principle 1 have here given, 

 regarding the using of wide-frames, 

 will secure a belter yield of honey 

 than any other known. 



Borodino,© N. Y. 



iW The ne.vt meeting of ttie " Patsalaga 

 IJee-Kecpers" Society" will l>e held at the 

 residence of the President. Mr. J. H. McLen- 

 don, at Ramer, Ala., on Sept. 10. 188.'). It ia 

 hoped that tbe membership will be largely- 

 increased at this meeting, and that all who 

 can will attend. M. G. RusuTON, Sec. 



