116 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



purring in a tone which might be con- 

 strued to mean sorrow, but if a new 

 queen be placed among them, or a queen- 

 cell taken from another hive be placed 

 in theirs, there is again joy among 

 them, which any one who has listened 

 to the language of bees may readily 

 distinguish. I firmly believe that bees 

 have a language, and a method, at least, 

 if not an actual system of communica- 

 tion. 

 Holmesburg, Pa. 



How a Woman Manaps Bees. 



MKS. HENRY LOWN. 



In the Spring I clipped the wings of 

 all queens that were not clipped. Colony 

 No. 1 swarms. I hive it. No. 1 is 

 queenless. I cut all queen-cells out of 

 No. 1. When No. 2 swarms, I cage the 

 queen and lay it on top of No. 1. The 

 swarm will find their queen, and settle 

 on top of hive No. 1. I move the queen- 

 cage to the front of the entrance. Then 

 they will begin going in. When partly 

 in, I give them their queen. Then war 

 begins; I wet a rag with water, and drop 

 a few drops of carbolic acid on the rag. 

 Then I smoke them in, and push the rag 

 in at one corner of the entrance. This 

 gives them all the' same scent, and they 

 are peaceable. I manage all my colo- 

 nies in this way. I give them plenty of 

 room. 



I have 26 colonies, and work one- 

 half for extracted-honey, and the rest 

 for comb-honey. I get the honey, if it 

 is to be had. In 10 or 15 days they will 

 build queen-cells and swarm out; 1 cage 

 the queen, and lay the cage in front of 

 the entrance; then I cut out all queen- 

 cells. 



The swarm then comes back and goes 

 in, and begins to work as if nothing had 

 happened. Sometimes they will build 

 queen-cells, and swarm out the second 

 time ; I then cage the queen and cut out 

 queen-cells, when they will come back, 

 go in, and give up swarming. Some- 

 times I have o or 4 swarms a day. As 

 fast as they swarm, I cut out queen- 

 cells, so as to be ready to double up all 

 swarms that come. I had 3+ swarms 

 the past season, and doubled ui) all but 

 one, that I hived. I am 54 years old, 

 and do all the work in the apiary myself. 

 As it has benefited me in managing my 

 apiary in this way, I want others to be 

 helped by it. I found it out by experi- 

 menting. 



Coin, Iowa. 



PacMiii Bees for Winter, Etc. 



.J, A. MARSH. 



I was hopeful that some one else 

 would point out the mistakes made by 

 Rev. S. Roese, regarding my non-absorb- 

 ent ideas, on page 485 (1891). But as 

 no one has yet taken my part, I venture 

 to say that many must have noticed how 

 at variance he is when he quotes, and 

 how anxious he is that "children," in 

 this pursuit, "should be seen, not 

 heard," when he says that if the mas- 

 ters of the art have changed their opin- 

 ions on this subject, we want to know it! 



I agree that when one high in his call- 

 ing makes a sudden and decided change, 

 it makes interesting reading ; yet we. 

 should endeavor to bring about a change, 

 if they are manifestly wrong. We, 

 though mere boys in experience, may by 

 a little independent thought and trials 

 on theories and practices as taught by 

 the older heads, accomplish that in 

 which they have failed. In fact, we are 

 continually admonished against blindly 

 following our teachers, thereby expect- 

 ing to attain success. Mr. G. M. Doo- 

 little, than whom ^w, if any. .stand 

 higher, says to the beginner, "Do a 

 little thinking on your own hook." 



As a case in point, a beginner to whom 

 I sold a colony of bees, and recommend- 

 ed the American Bee Journal and 

 standard apicultural works, aptly re- 

 marked, " My bees won't go according 

 to the books." How many have noticed 

 that his bees were so obstinate that at 

 times they trespass all bounds, and 

 utterly refuse to be guided by the books. 

 Yet the books and periodicals are good, 

 very good, indispensable to success, 

 pleasure, and a broad comprehension of 

 our fascinating pursuit ; but however 

 good, essential and pleasant they may 

 be, it takes practice, thought, observa- 

 tion and adaptability to make a success- 

 ful bee-keeper. 



But to return : If Mr. Roese will re- 

 examine my article, he will discover that 

 he misquotes when he makes me say, 

 " No packing, only enamel doth ;" when 

 in reality I say that I should prefer no 

 Ijacking, which, taken in connection 

 with what precedes, means simply that 

 I prefer no packing to that which is ex- 

 posed to moisture from the bees, and 

 which will absorb that moisture; and 

 th(Mi I say, "Why not put enameled 

 clotii over the frames, and the packing 

 on top of that ?" etc. Yes, I put the 

 cloth on the frames, then lill the section 

 case with forest leaves, then the cover, 



