XH® MMEKicM'iNf MBM jeumnmi^. 



381 



A ifloi-niiisi: Tii^ion. 



BY MRS. LIZZIE A. VOIIE. 



When the shadows still were lins^oriug-, 



Ere the Sun had kissed away. 

 AVith his warm and nn-llow kisses, 



All the night-mists lioin I he day ; 

 Ere the sky with msy blushes, 



Turned rr.ioiein;^- Inwards thesuM, 

 In the sdlt li-ilit, in the halflig-ht, 



Of a day bur just liejjuu. 

 lu the pcaeetut, restful quiet 



Of ail early summer morn. 

 Did my eyelids slowly open, 



Ere anothei' Day was born. 



And I hiy and watched the now birth ; 



Watched the pearly tints of dawn, 

 Slip away into the shadows 



Where the grim nig-ht-sbados had gone. 

 Heard the drowsy, sleepy twit tering' 



Of the robins in their nest. 

 Heard the green leaves stirrinf; softly 



With the faint breeze from the west; 

 Saw the eastern sky grow rosy, 



As the Sun arose and smiled, 

 Pouring all its radiant splendor 



On the untried, new-born child. 



Then I saw a wondrous vision. 



Saw the young' Day, fair and bright. 

 Standing on time's well-worn threshold. 



In her spotless robes of white ; 

 With her pure eyes softly smiling 



On the sleeping sons of earth, 

 Innocent and free from evil 



On the morning of of ber birth. 

 Then 1 turned and wept in sorrow ; 



For I knew the coming night 

 Would find an old Day— ndyiug. 



Heart-sick, weary of the sight 

 Of earth's evil ; of its vileness. 



Of its misery, and its woe. 

 Knew the old Day would die sobbing, 



Asking nothing but to go. 

 Pasadena, Calif. 



SWARMS. 



Does Hivins on the Old Stand 

 Induce Absconding { 



Written for the AmerUian Bee Journal 



BY GEO. F. KOBBINS. 



The replies to Query 706, on page 

 309, are almost unanimous to the 

 effect that hiving swarms on the old 

 stand does not cause them to abscond. 

 I was impressed by this unanimity, 

 because after foraging around about 

 five years for a reason for the conduct 

 ■of my bees, I had settled down to the 

 ■opposite conclusion ; or at least that 

 hiving on a new stand prevents it. The 

 ■consequence of my conclusion is that 

 the editor calls me superstitious. I 

 will do nothing worse than to say, 

 -"You're another," and tell my story. 



For several years ray bees have 

 tormented me by absconding, or 

 swarming in from one to 21 days from 

 the time of hiving. In 1886 I had 

 nearly two dozen to abscond on the 

 same or the next day, and nearly that 

 many swarmed again, leaving brood 

 and queen-cells within the three weeks. 

 I sometimes looked into a hive a few 

 days after putting a swarm into it, to 

 find a lot of drone-comb. I hive on 

 frames with starters and queen-cells 



started — with the brood-chamber half 

 full of comb. For two years before, 

 and for twcj years afterward, I was 

 tormented in the same way. So far as 

 I can remember now, all these swarms 

 were hived on the old stands. I at- 

 tributed the trouble to first one thing, 

 then another, and tried to i-emedy the 

 matter, until a swarm or two would 

 come out and upset my theory. 



Last spring the same old round be- 

 gan again, and in desperation I de- 

 cided to hive on new stands. From 

 that time on I had no trouble. Those 

 are the facts in the case. Do they not 

 form good grounds for my conclusion? 



Hiving In contracted brood-cham- 

 bers may have something to do with it, 

 but I do not see why it should — at 

 least until .the brood-chamber is full, 

 when I give them plenty of surplus 

 room from the start. I think that my 

 proximity to a creek bottom, with its 

 great number of large, hollow trees, 

 may cause them to abscond, and by 

 getting the swarm away where the 

 scouts cannot find it, I save it. It 

 would seem that a new location would 

 prevent the old queen from leading 

 out another swarm in two or three 

 weeks, if the contracted brood-cham- 

 ber affects the matter. I think that 

 swarms prefer a new home, even 

 though in the same apiary. 



My object in hiving on the old 

 stand was. of course, to prevent after- 

 swarms. In lieu of that, I hit upon 

 the plan of hiving the swarm upon the 

 stand of a colony that had quite re- 

 cently cast a swarm. It worked with 

 perfect success. I obtained all the 

 benefits of the old system, and had no 

 fighting, either. In a few cases I re- 

 moved a weak colony, and put a new 

 swarm in its place. Only once did I 

 have any fighting, and that was quite 

 early in the season. During the latter 

 half of the season, 1 never hived a 

 swarm except on an already occupied 

 stand. 



Mechanicsburg, Ills. 



NEW YORK. 



Report of the Cortland L'nion 

 Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



Written Jor the American Bee Journal 



BY M. H. FAIRBANKS. 



The Cortland Union Bee-Keepers' 

 As.sociation met at Cortland, N. Y., on 

 May 13, 1890, at 10 a.m., with Presi- 

 dent J. H. Kennedy in the chair. 



The minutes of the last meeting 

 were read and approved, and the time 

 was then occupied by further business, 

 and receiving questions for the after- 

 noon session, which was called to 

 order at 1 o'clock. Opportunity being 

 offered for new members to join, the 



meeting was tlien opened for general 

 discussion. 



The first question was, " What is the 

 best plan to prevent increase ?" 



J. H. Manchester practiced putting 

 two prime swarms together. He also 

 hail practiced making colonies queen- 

 less in the heat of the honey season, 

 then in the fall killed the bees. 



Miles Morton did not not consider it 

 a sin to kill bees. 



W. L. Coggshall takes brood from 

 the strongest colonies and gives it to 

 nuclei. 



" What is the best method of win- 

 tering bees ?" 



Mr. Morton uses chaff hives packed 

 with planer shavings, with a chaff 

 cushion over the bees, and the en- 

 trances to the hives open the full 

 width — |xl4 inches. 



" Is it advisable to let strong colo- 

 nies swarm in apple-bloom, or use the 

 brood to build up weaker colonies ?" 



Mr. Morton said that he would 

 equalize his colonies, and that June 15 

 is early enough for bees to swarm. 



President Kennedy said that bees 

 that swarm too early are apt to swarm 

 again in the best of the honey season. 



" What is the best method of hand- 

 ling increase ?" 



W. L. Coggshall would sell the in- 

 crease of colonies. 



"Is it advisable to unite weak colo- 

 nies in the spring ?" 



Mr. Lansing said that he had saved 

 colonies by .so doing. 



President Kennedy had practiced it 

 to some extent, but did not have good 

 results. 



" What is the best method of getting 

 the bees out of the supers ?" 



Mr. Lansing takes them oft" one at a 

 time, and shakes the bees out. 



Mr. Morton drives the bees down 

 with smoke, then takes the supers off, 

 or as soon as possible, and then car- 

 ries them to the honey-house, and the 

 bees go out through a bee-escape. 



" Is it advisable to divide colonies 

 for increase ?" 



W. L. Coggshall said not if worked 

 for comb honey. 



J. H. Manchester would divide, if 

 increase of bees only was wanted. 



" Is it practical to use sections hold- 

 ing less than one pound ?" 



Mr. Bosworth said that he did not 

 think it was, as it is just as much work 

 to handle a small section as a larger 

 one, and dealers did not want to pay 

 any more for the small one. 



Mr. Morton said that it would take 

 one-third more foundation. 



"Is it advisable to keep bees in dur- 

 ing cold days ?" 



Mr. Coggshall had practiced stop- 

 ping up the hive-entrance just at night, 

 with a handful of sawdust, and, in the 

 morning, if the weather was favorable. 



