THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



307 



harvest. If we replace the brood comb 

 taken by an empty comb, the queen will fill 

 It with eggs, and these eggs will hatch bees 

 fit for the honey crop of August. 



Of course, in all these diviciiugs of colon- 

 ies it is understood that there is always 

 honey in the combs, to prevent bees from 

 starving and to promote breeding, in case of 

 lack of honey in the fields. Bear in mind 

 that there cannot be brood witliout honey 

 and pollen. It is also understood that if 

 these small colonies are lacking brood or 

 honey, to become strong for the fall honey 

 harvest, brood or honey, or both, are to be 

 supplied from the strong colonies; which, 

 having bees in full force, are able to spare 

 one or the other, or both, without being the 

 least weakened. 



It is also understood that, as long as the 

 honey harvest lasts, these small colonies 

 ought to be managed as comb builders; for 

 they make worker comb only. If they have 

 been well cared for, every one of them will 

 be strong enough in August to make its 

 own provisions for winter. If the fall sea- 

 son is poor, some of them will prove unable 

 to gatlier enough for winter; then an ex- 

 change of some of their empty combs with 

 full ones of a rich colony, will be beneficial 

 to both. 



We have accustomed not to make more 

 than one swarm for every two colonies win- 

 tered; i.e., 50 per cent, of the whole number 

 wintered. Our importation and the raising 

 of queens for sale prevents us from making 

 a greater number of swarms; yet with good 

 management and in good years, the number 

 of colonies could be cioubled. 



You see that by our method all our strong 

 colonies can give honey to their utmost 

 capacity; while all our weak stocks are 

 used to start swarms or raise queens. 



Another good feature of our method is to 

 raise all our queens and drones from choice 

 queens; and to replace all our less prolific 

 queens by daughters of our best, started in 

 colonies strong enough to raise good queens 

 — our aim being to always better the sale of 

 our bees. Ch. Dadant. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Notes from Kentucky. 



Friend Newman:— I enlose the follow- 

 ing article on Bee-Culture, clipped from the 

 Herald and Presbytery, by Rev. Dr. T. H. 

 Cleland, of Lebanon, Ky., thinking it might 

 be interesting to the many readers of the 



JOUENAL. 



BEE-CULTURE. 



What is sweeter than honey? Or what 

 animal, bird, or insect affords a more won- 

 derful, interesting, or profitable study than 

 the bee? " Ten Acres are Enough," is a 

 very interesting little book. But .flO in- 

 vested in bee stock will afford more pleas- 

 ure and profit than $20 in anything else. 

 Many learned men, of great intellects, have 

 devoted much of their lives to the study of 

 this wonderful insect. There is such a 

 fascination about it that it never fails to 

 make enthusiasts of those who devote their 

 attention to its culture. 



IS IT PROFITABLE ? 



_ A few facts will best answer that ques- 

 tion. Fiiding one day on the train with a 



young man newly licensed and married, the 

 conversation turned on bee-culture. He be- 

 came deeply interested. Out of a very 

 meager salary he devoted $50 in bee stock. 

 He got Quinby and Langstroth and inform- 

 ed himself about the nature and habits of 

 the bee. I presume this year the product of 

 his apiary is equal to $500. The time 

 necessarily devoted to their care is a most 

 delightful recreation. But for his bees he 

 could not live on his small income. A 

 stand of bees given to a brother in the min- 

 istry, a few years since, is now worth to 

 him several "hundred dollars, and the en- 

 thusiastic delight he takes in their culture 

 and study of tiieir habits is worth ten times 

 as much more. 



During the late war, two things the 

 soldiers always went for — onions and 

 honey. They robbed me of every hive but 

 one. At the "close of the war I bought three 

 hives — two old box hives and one Langs- 

 troth, of hybrids. That year the patent 

 hive sent out three swarms, and the first 

 swarm sent out another. In 3 or 4 years I 

 owned 35. Part of these I sold, and reserv- 

 ing 20, moved to the country. The next 

 year I realized moie money from my honey 

 than my whole farm. True, after this 

 many of them fell victims to the "bee 

 cholera." fSo that this year the season 

 opened with only 14 stands, but now I num- 

 ber 36. with "honey to sell and to keep." 

 Now how about the trouble? It has been 

 to me a living pleasure, a most healthful 

 recreation. 



BEE-STINGS. 



"Ah, but they bite— they sting me so ter- 

 riblj'— I am afraid of them." Nonsense. 

 "They have honey for their friends, but a 

 sting only for tiunr enemies." Get the 

 Italian bees, and be kind and gentle with 

 them. They will soon come to know you, 

 and you to love them. An old Shaker once 

 said to me: "If you will approach a bee 

 with a clrcAilar motion they will not sting 

 you." True, but the philosophy is not in 

 the circle, but in the del'iberateness of the 

 motion. If you are afraid of them and 

 allow yourself to become excited and angu- 

 lar in your movements, they know it in a 

 moment, and take you for a robber, and po]) 

 you. But perhaps you are ready to say, "I 

 can't help being "nervous and excited." 

 Yes, you can. You may easily shield your- 

 self against them. Take a half-yard of 

 tarleton and sew it up like a bag, leaving 

 both ends open. Now run a draw-string — 

 gum-elastic cord — in each end, and draw it 

 over your hat, anil the lower end under 

 your chin, and your face is safe. A pair of 

 gum gauntlet gloves on your hands, and 

 they are safe. And now "though they com- 

 pass you about like bees," they can't harm 

 you any more than did David's enemies. 

 You can afford now to be easy and gentle, 

 and presently, 9 times out of 10, you will 

 forget these appurtenances. You will not 

 be afraid to go out among them, and to hive 

 a swarm of 40,000 without even a hat on 

 your head. 



I prefer the Italians. 1. Because they are 

 much less liable to sting. 2. They are a 

 larger bee, with a tongue one-third longer, 

 enabling them to extract honey from flow- 

 ers the little blacks can't reach. 3. They 

 multiply faster. 4. They swarm earlier in 

 the spring. 5. Work earlier and later in the 

 day, etc. Many curious and very interest- 

 ing facts touching their natural history, 



