TH® mm^EWLicmu mmm jauRNKi.. 



247 



If you have enough hatched queens 

 to go around, let one out in each 

 nuclei ; if not, give them a cell, and 

 shut them up until evening. 



When the swarm is hived on a new 

 stand, the queen-cells not capped in 

 the old hive are often neglected ; by 

 returning the swarm, thej' are more 

 uniformly good, and the bees are less 

 likely to give up swarming and tear 

 down the cells. 



A strong colony like this is the best 

 kind of a " lamp-nm-sery," because 

 you only need to visit it about once in 

 two days, catch the queen that has 

 hatched, and cut out all cells that have 

 a little opening where the queens stick 

 their tongues out to be fed, and put 

 them in cages ; for the queens will bite 

 open the cells, and come out very 

 quickly when the bees are driven awa)-. 



I have used one colony for a long 

 time in this way, giving fresh queen- 

 cells, and cutting out those ready to 

 hatch, every two days. 



Fillmore, Calif., March 25, 1889. 



LINDEN. 



Report of Two Season's Work 

 in the Apiary. 



Written for fheAmericaii Bee Journal 



BY F. J. KRUMII. 



Bee-keeping has been leather an up- 

 hill business in this localitj' the last 

 two seasons. I commenced the season 

 of 1887 with 21 colonies in chaff hives, 

 all hybrids except one Italian colony ; 

 during swarming time 5-1 swavms is- 

 sued, but by uniting swarms and doub- 

 ling-up the old colonies, I increased 

 my apiary to 44, and obtained 600 

 pountls of comb honey, and 200 pounds 

 of extracted honey. 



The season of 1888 I commenced 

 with 36 colonies ; 61 swarms issued, 

 and I increased my apiary to 58 colo- 

 nies ; 27 of the first swarms were ac- 

 companied Ijy virgin queens, the old 

 queens remaining with the parent col- 

 onies. Eight queens were lost on their 

 mating tours. I reared 14 queens, of 

 which only 5 became fertilized. 



The honey hatvest commenced very 

 encouraginglj-. During fruit-bloom, 

 and wild-ivy bloom, the bees stored 

 honey in the brood-chamber. White 

 and Alsike clover began to yield nec- 

 tar about June 5, and bees commenced 

 storing honey in the sections. On June 

 28 basswood opened, and yielded fairly 

 well until Tuesday noon, July 3, when 

 an east wind sot in, and no more honey 

 was gathered (with basswnod in full 

 bloom) until July 7, when the wind 

 changed to the south, and at 4 o'clock 

 it seemed as if every bee tried to be 

 the first to get to the woods. Now, 



the question is, how did the bees know 

 that just at that time basswood began 

 to yield nectar again ? But it onl}- 

 continued a few days, and that was the 

 last of our spring honey crop. 



The fall honey crop was almost a 

 total failure, but I obtained 400 pounds 

 of comb honey in one-pound sections, 

 and 300 jiounds of extracteil honey 

 from unfinished sections. So far I 

 have lost 6 colonics in wintering — 3 

 starved, and 3 were queenless. 



Pleasant Bend, O., April 2, 1889. 



Pat Cioins into Baze. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY w. g. N. 



Och, Meester Printer, yecs a moity foin man, 

 Yees raaik iverythint: si» illitjent wid j'oiir pen ; 

 It niaiks mei^eli as mail as any wit hen. 

 To see sucli unhoiy blatliering about yer baze— 

 Better be more saveinu of yes q's and pays. 



Its meself. sure, and me own wife Kithreen 

 That buuKht a foin swarm, and an iliiKent queen, 

 With worlters and droons with honey probosaonis. 

 To ate OOP the honey-dew, and throost in the blos- 

 soms, hkh ^ 



But bad luck to ine, I was just as big a foel, ES 

 As Riit,'ene Sfciu's swate kicking muel ; 

 It yer railers are iyimraiil.and don't getmynianeinpr. 

 Send for tlie liay-paper, ye'l see them in "Glaning ;" 

 They are crazy as bid-bugs, kicking for their lives— 

 Muel Doctors say its " breaking out of tiie hives," 



Now what I'm 'bout tellin'i yeesT^Onsarning my 



baze, 

 Yees may put in yer paper. Mr. Printer, if ye plaze ; 

 And bejabers, sor, its a sad thing for to tell. 

 What to me and my Kithreen lately befell. 



Its Just two years now since we two were wed— 

 Belave me, "Meester Printer, our dare Jemie, he is 



dead ; 

 And his sowi lavs slapeing in the meadow of aze. 

 His p<ior mither went and got down on her knaze 

 Crying and wapeing and told it to the baze — 

 And this is what she solemnly and riverently saldj'; 

 " Baze ! Baze ! ! Dear Baze : our Jemie is dead !" 



But thin, sure, came the rub, as Shakespeare says, 

 Bomewliere ye'l rade it in his wonderful plays : 

 " It's more noble to sulfcr the arrows and stlnas " 

 Than to stand oop with stialala to battle in the rings— 

 .\nd give them tits— Imt. ah ! a wild heilemelieu. 

 The varmints ivery last one buzzed and flew. 

 And stabbed my 'Kithreen while knaleing on the 



ground. 

 And knocked her out twice the very first round. 



I drew mvshalala. born in old Tyrone, 



1 busted three quanes :md killed three droons ; 



Kithreen was so traiti slie knaled down and prayed 



To tho Virgin, crossed, and counted ivery last bade. 



Looking up to heaven, she prayerfully said : 



" As now I lay me down to slape, 



1 pray the Lord mv sowl to kape ; 



It I should die before I wake, 



1 pray the Lord tlie baze to kape." 



Now if iver yes lie blathering so very foin, 

 Count on no baze, Meester Printer, in moin. 

 If I should bust and die, my last word would ba, 

 The best way to kape baze. Is to keep urn away. 



It's me picture I'll send yees all beautifully stung— 

 I'd rather live in Erin ami bo shot or be hung. 

 And spind in pace and haniony the rist of my days. 

 Than indure the "arrows and stings" of the baze. 



America 1 the Divel take yes land of the fray, 

 of toads and snakes, and cussed old bay ; 

 Ciive [ue ould Ireland, the land of foin praters. 

 And yees may go to blazes wid yees vile, stinging 

 crathers. 



Please read me epitaf. wiiin I am dead ; 

 " Benath this stone lies Pat of 'rynme, 

 That was kilt by a bay, and chased by a droon ; 

 And died by the swellin' of the head; 

 No, not ded, sor, but just slapeing. 

 I'd rather be In Purgatriry dead. 

 Than to spind me life in bay-kaplnif— 

 Me and Kithreen in one grave slapeing." 

 Mason City, Iowa. 



Siinmin!!!' I^oii-Swarminsr Sys- 

 tem, and tlie Ameiucan Bee Jouknal 

 for one year, for SI. '35. The subscription 

 to the Bee Journal may begin now. 



DIVIDINa. 



Advantages or Uividing Colonies 

 Over Xatiiral S^varming. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY WM. G. HE'WES. 



I was much surprised to see on page 

 69, the numlier of bee-keepers who ad- 

 vised the propounder of Query 610, to 

 " let his bees swarm." Prof. Cook, in 

 advising that way, did especially fill 

 me with wonder, as in his "Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Guide," (at least the old edition — 

 I have not the new one) he distinctly 

 states his preference for dividing. 



Eight years ago, in Louisiana, I got 

 that book, and practiced dividing, as 

 laid down therein, on my colonies. 

 The result was that I doubled mj' api- 

 ary, and obtained over 200 pounds of 

 extracted honey per colony, which 

 sold in St. Louis for some $900. 



A hundreil yards or so from my api- 

 ary, a brother had 80 colonies which 

 he let swarm naturally. His increased 

 to only about 100 colonies, and the 80 

 did not gather one-half so much honey 

 as my 50. His were blacks, with a 

 trace of Italian blood ; mine were 

 mostly pure Italians. 



I estimated then, and I still think so 

 (after some years of bee-keeping on a 

 large scale, during which time I have 

 had much experience with both swarm- 

 ing and dividing), that Prof. Cook's 

 "Guide," from having guided me into 

 the path of dividing, was worth, to me, 

 1200 that season, or $4.00 for each 

 spring colony, besides the extra in- 

 crease which I obtained. 



Three years ago I commenced bee- 

 keeping in California, with 115 colo- 

 nies (85 of them on shares.) There 

 were other apiaries located around 

 me, from 2 to 5 miles. The fir.st sea- 

 son was a good one, the second I got 

 nothing, and last year was almost a 

 failure. In the three seasons, two of 

 them poor ones.by dividing I increased 

 the 115 colonies to 357. 



Some of my neighbors, who let their 

 bees swarm, have a little more, and 

 some of them a few less colonies than 

 three years ago. Their locations were 

 all as gooil, and most of them better, 

 than my own, as mine is contiguous 

 (or was — I have moved since) to large 

 o-rain-lields and oak forests, neither of 

 which supplied any honey. 



In my apiaiy the past season were 

 20 colonies in hives with a frame 2 

 inches shorter than the rest of my ajji- 

 arv, but in all other respects — strain, 

 strength and stores — alike. As I could 

 not divide these colonies by my favor- 

 ite method, without supplying hives of 

 a like pattern, I decided to let these 20 

 swarm. 



