^ 



^-rS0^ 



bees, and carefully lay them on the board 

 l^repared for them; remove all the combs 

 froiiiithe old hive as soon as possible, as 

 robber bees are apt to wish a share in the 

 feast. It is well to have a table-spread, to 

 keep the combs covered up. The robbers 

 often trouble so much as to make it neces- 

 sary to take the bees into a building uutil 

 the combs are in a new hive. Ilavinj^cut 

 out ail the combs and laid on a board, take 

 a trame from. the hive you are puttiuf^ them 

 in, and carefully lay it on the comb and cut 

 to lit the frame. Keep it tiie same side up, 

 as in the old hive, if convenient; if not, no 

 harm. Go through with all the combs, 

 fitting them to the new frame. Save every 

 piece and fasten into tiie frame. Soon as 

 all the combs are fitted to the frames, have 

 wax ready, (not too hot), gently dip the 

 edges of the combs into the wax; (it nuist 

 be done quickly, as it cools so soon). Place 

 combs in the new hive as fast as fitted. — 

 Gently place the bees at the entrance of the 

 new hive, which they will enter at once; 

 when all are in, contract the entrance for a 

 few hours, when the bees have disgorged 

 their honey, they will protect their home.— 

 It is well to place the hive where the old 

 one sto(id, while you are tran,sferring; this 

 will keep many bees there as they return 

 from the tields, while tiie transferring is 

 being done. This operation is plain and 

 simple; we can transfer 2 swarms sooner 

 than we could write how to do it. ■ 



At the Georgia State Fair for 1874, a .'BIO pre- 

 mium was offered for the best method and 

 quickest time for transferring a colony. We 

 transferred them, putting in all tiie comb, 

 bees and honey in 31 minutes. We liad no 

 competition. In 1875, we made the transfer 

 in 19 minutes. In 1876, we did it in 1(5 min- 

 utes. The committee pronounced it a 

 scientitic job, one of them saying that I was 

 entitled to the "champion lielt of the 

 world," and wonld be for generations to 

 come. A similar statement was made by a 

 bee-keeper from Milan, Italy. 



liome, Ga. A. F. Moon. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Two Queens in One Hive. 



Fjuend Andrews:— I have just had a 

 few stings in each hand and feel better! I 

 bad some curiosity to see the inside of a 

 hive that seemed to be busy about some- 

 thing. They are bringing in pollen from 

 pyrus Japonica and Forsythia. The 

 latter are blooming quite freely. Isn't it 

 wonderful, at this date? I opened the hive 

 and found 4 combs with brood. Two had 

 sealed brood circles about (1 inches in diam- 

 eter. Finding the queen, she appeared 

 small and barren. This surprised me very 

 much, for there was too much brood for 

 such a mother, but upon further examina- 

 tion, I found another tine, large, light color- 

 ed, young queen. The old queen is dark, 

 and mated with a black drone. Now, what 

 botliers me is, where did the other one come 

 from? The old queen can't be her mother. 

 I'll just wait and see what kind of workers 

 hatch out. Here is another case of two 

 queens in one hive. The old one has ber 

 wings clipped. I'll clip the other one's 

 "Wings too, and see what will become of 

 them; especially in swarming time. 



S. G. Dodge. 



[I have a large number of the pyrus 

 Japonica plants in my yard. Mine too was 

 full of buds, nearly ready to burst open, but 

 a killing freeze came and they went " where 

 the woodbine twineth." Bees in this local- 

 ity were flying every day, up to that date. — 

 I observed that mine were busy carrying in 

 something, not pollen. A confectionery 

 pedler, with a wagon, was manufacturing 

 candy in one of our streets, and my bees 

 were getting a " free lunch " at his stand. — 

 One day, they attacked him in such force 

 that he surrendered to them, and they took 

 all. Quite a number of our citizens col- 

 lected about his wagon to witness their 

 "bold robbery," and many comments were 

 made about their golden beauty. Some 

 advised resistance and a general slaughter, 

 but the gentleman positively declined to 

 kill a single one of them. 



Two queens in one hive occurs quite 

 frequently. A number of such instances 

 are reported in the Bek Journal. I had 2 

 colonies last season, each containing two 

 queens. From one, I removed the young 

 queen as soon as discovered. In the other, 

 I let them both remain for about 6 weeks, 

 then removed the old one, and gave her to 

 a friend. In both these instances, I think 

 they were preparing for the demise of the 

 old queens, one had her wings clipped, and 

 the other a leg. \v. J. a.] 



GLEANED BY FRANK BENTON. 



Translated from "Bienenfreund'' by F. Benton. 



The large Bee, Apis dorsata, of Java. 



BY EDWARD CORI, BRUEX, BOHEMIA. 



(Continued from Dec. number.) 



Were I still young and in possession of 

 the necessary time and means. I would, in 

 my inclination toward, and love for bee- 

 culture, regard the importation of this race 

 of bees as a noble life-work, and with great 

 pleasure would undertake to penetrate the 

 primitive foi'ests of Java, to seek out and 

 capture a colony of these bees, then increase 

 them there, and finally bring them alive to 

 Europe. With the greatest confidence in 

 its success, I would undertake and proceed 

 to execute this work. 



When intelligence and practical qualifica- 

 tions for an undertaking, and an earnest 

 will, with great pcrseverence in its execu- 

 tion are united, it rarely happens that a 

 reasonable aim desired, cannot, with the 

 help of God, be reached. 



By means of rope ladders I would surely 

 be able to reach the lodging of Apis dorsata, 

 even though the same be in the high trees 

 of the primitive forest. 



Against the ugly sting of this bee I 

 would protect myself and my Javanese 



