T'HI^ MM1&MIC2CK mmW JO^RIfAlU. 



235 



niakfi lots of trouble getting them clown 

 and into a respectable hive. 



Ijettine a Swarm trom a Tree. 



It was a swarm that left in spite of 

 cow-bells, tin-pans, dust, sand and 

 ■water ; and after giving me a chase of 

 nearly three miles, in the middle of an 

 August day, with the thermometer at 

 98^ in the shade, it finally got away by 

 crossing a small lake ; however, they 

 were seen by one of my neighbor's to 

 enter a hollow oak-limb, about 60 feet 

 from the ground. 



So one evening, about a week after- 

 wards, father, myself, and a German 

 by the name of Joe, who was working 

 for us, went down to the lake, in the 

 woods of which the bees had made 

 their home. Joe enclosed his head in 

 a bee-veil, and with a boe-smoker well 

 lighted, and a saw and i-ope fastened 

 around his waist, started up the tree 

 with " fire " in his eye. He had " fire " 

 in both eyes when he came down 

 shortly afterward. He also had a piece 

 of wire screen to fasten over the hole 

 in the limb. 



Joe had, of his own free will, agreed 

 to lower the swarm safely to the 

 ground for $1.00, saying, " Dat vas 

 nodings." I think, however, that he 

 changed his mind before he got down 

 again from the tree. The smoker had 

 worked loose, and fallen to the ground, 

 and when he got to the bees, contrarj' 

 to what he expected, the bees were 

 crawling all around the entrance on 

 the outside. However, he succeeded 

 in getting the screen over the entrance, 

 but was obliged to leave a few dozen 

 of the guards outside, and they, true 

 to their reput^xtion, kept Joe busy. 



He succeeded in tying one end of 

 the rope around the limb, preparatory 

 to lowei'ing it when he had it sawed 

 oflf. Everything would have been 

 lovely, had it not been that in sawing 

 off the limb, he sawed into the hollow, 

 and wlien the limb fell, it seemed to 

 wake up an immense lot of bees, which 

 came out of the end of that hollow log 

 with bayonets fixed, and intent to kill. 

 Joe had neglected to unwind the 

 rope from around his waist, and with 

 the bees swinging just under his feet, 

 he slid for nearly 20 feet down the 

 tree, without once stopping. When 

 he first started down the tree, his veil 

 loosened, and the bees struck for un- 

 explored regions, which seemed to in- 

 crease the speed with which Joe de- 

 scended the tree. He, however, got 

 to the bottom in a very short time after 

 starting, and so did the bees — the one 

 exceedingly hot and inci-easing in size, 

 the other mad and vicious. 



But by the use of the smoker, which 

 was relighted, we succeeded in tying a 

 coat over the end of the log, and in 

 that way carried it home, and there it 



was left in the wagon until morning, 

 when we split the log open, and drove 

 the bees into a liive. We got nearly 

 two panfuls of nice clover honey from 

 the log. 



The bees, however, were not satis- 

 fied, and came out .several times that 

 day, and clustered every time on the 

 same rose bush. Finally, to make 

 them behave, I had to give them a 

 frame of eggs and brood from another 

 colony. From these I thought that 

 they would rear a queen, if theirs was 

 lost, but this they did not do, and I 

 know not why. 



Joe grew fat over his experience, 

 but seemed to have enough, judging 

 from the way he spoke about "those 

 confounded little bugs." 



Last spring, when I examined the 

 bees after putting them on the summer 

 stands, I found 5 of the colonies with 

 bright combs, nearly full of brood and 

 eggs, and a good lot of bees in each. 

 The sixth colony had moldy combs 

 full of dead bees, and the hive was 

 badly spotted. They evidently died 

 of diarrhea, caused, no doubt, by hav- 

 ing late and thin honey to winter on. 



The 5 colonies increased, by natural 

 swarming, to 12, and gave 500 pounds 

 of surplus honey,iu one-pound sections. 



I use the tiering-up system, and so 

 far it has been satisfactory, especially 

 when honey is coming in very rapidly; 

 but where honey is coming in very 

 slowly, I think tlial I should pi-efer to 

 take the sections out as fast as filled 

 and capped, and after removing the 

 unfinished ones to the sides, place the 

 empty ones in the middle. I say 

 empty, but they are not, for I use full 

 sheets of foundation in them. By plac- 

 ing the new sections in the middle of 

 the super, it stimulates the bees to 

 commence woi"k in them at once. 



Fastening; Foundation in the 

 Sections. 



I hiive read considerable in the 

 American Bee Journal lately, and in 

 the pa.st few months, about fastening 

 foundation in sections. The trouble 

 seems to be the fact that the bees draw 

 out much faster the side of the section 

 that the wax is spread out on, in fast- 

 ening in the foundation, thereby bulg- 

 ing one comb into another. As yet I 

 have had no trouljle of that kind, and 

 I think that none will, if they place 

 the sections in the supers as I have 

 done. 



I use a "Parker foundation-fastener." 

 My supers hold 24 one-pound sections, 

 4}x4J inches, six in each row across 

 the hive. Now the first section that is 

 put in each of the four rows, is turned 

 so that the side that has the wax drawn 

 out on the top of it from the founda- 

 tion, is next to the side-board of the 

 super ; tlie next one to it is turned the 



opposite way from the first, and the 

 third the opposite from the second, 

 and so on, until the super is full. In 

 tliat way the side of each section that is 

 liable to be bulged, is brought opposite 

 to the corresponding side of the other, 

 and the sides that the wax is not 

 drawn out oti, are also brought to- 

 gether, therebj' causing the foundation 

 of each section opposite, to be drawn 

 out with equal rapidity, and prevent- 

 ing one comb from bulging into the 

 other. 



Hutchinson, Minn. 



COISVEIVTION DIRECTORY. 



1889. Time and Place of Meeting. 



Apr. 23.— DesMoines County , at Burlington, Iowa. 

 John Nau. Sec, Middletown, Iowa. 



May 1, 2.— Texas State, at Greenville, Tex. 



G. A. Wilson, Sec. McKinney, Tex. 



May 4.— Susquehanna County, at Montrose, Pa. 



H. M. Seeley, Sec, Harford, Pa. 



May 21.— Northern Ulinois. at Pecatonica, III. 



D. A. Fuller, Sec, Cherry Valley, Ills. 



tW In order to have this table complete, Secre- 

 carles are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetinKs.— Bd. 





Jiot a Colony Lost. — O.M.Morris, 

 Hebron, Ind., on March 26, 1889, says: 



I have been in the bee-keeping busi- 

 ness for several years, and I always 

 wintered them on the summer stands. 

 Some winters I have lost quite a num- 

 ber of colonies, but this winter beats 

 tlicm all, for I had 167 colonies last 

 fall, and all have wintered nicely, 

 without the loss of a single colony. 



Sub-Earth Ventilation, etc. — 



P. H. Elwood, Starkville, N. Y., on 

 March 15, 1889, writes : 



I notice what Mr. Betsinger says on 

 page 156. He prefaces his remarks by 

 the words, " If I am not mistaken" — 

 but as is often the case, he is mistaken. 

 1 said at the New York State Conven- 

 tion that, the exit ventilators of mj' 

 cellars (thf>se canying out warm air) 

 were closed in the coldest weather. I 

 saiil further, in explanation, that this 

 did not cut oft' all ventilation, as the 

 sub-earth ventilator was always open, 

 and bringing in a large volume of 

 fresh air. This could not happen if 

 the natural ventilation was not suffi- 

 cient to carry out this large amount 

 together with that coming in through 

 crevices and porous material. I stated 

 in convention that from 100 to 200 

 colonies (the number varying in- 

 versely in proportion to their activity) 



