362 



'Fmm mwmmRiGMM wmw jq-'ummmi^. 



spring, and are continued until the 

 bees are snug for winter. Then an 

 occasional trip is made on a warm day 

 when the bees can fly, to see that all 

 the entrances are clear. 



inovine; <Joloiiies, etc. 



Mr. Manum has, at present, about. 

 700 colonies in eight difl'erent yards. 

 The number in each is limited to 125 

 in the fall. The colonies in excess of 

 this number are either sold or carried 

 to a new location. For this work a 

 double and single team are used. By 

 the use of racks which hold a second 

 tier, the former takes 50 colonies and 

 the latter 23 colonies. Before loading, 

 the frames are immovably fixed, and a 

 sheet of muslin is tacked over the 

 brood-chamber to give air, while in 

 very warm weather a rim covered with 

 wire-cloth is necessary to their safety. 



Mr. Manum's bees are mostly Ital- 

 ians, although in some apiaries there 

 is a trace of the black and Holy-Land 

 races. He is about to test a few Car- 

 niolan queens. The working bees are 

 reared from the best Italian colonies, 

 which are selected out of this large 

 number as possessing unusual excel- 

 lences. I saw many fine, large queens, 

 a shade darker than the average Ital- 

 ians, having very plump and thick-set 

 bodies. 



In each yard, distributed among the 

 regular hives, were many nucleus col- 

 onies — the temporary quarters of sur- 

 plus queens. 



Mr. Manum has planted honey-pro- 

 ducing crops on a limited scale, but he 

 is not yet certain that they can be 

 made to pay. 



SWARMS. 



The Proper Time to Have 

 Increase. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY L. W. LIGHTY. 



"A swarm in May is worth a load of 

 hay," and so on, as the jingle goes, 

 should go with the gum and box-hive. 

 The time to have swarms depends upon 

 the latitude, and upon the season. The 

 bee-keeper should know when his sur- 

 plus honey-flow commences, and then 

 he can work to an advantage. 



Fruit-bloom and very early spring 

 flowers will tend to encourage the bees 

 to rear much brood, and, if not prop- 

 erly managed, they will often swarm 

 right after fruit-bloom ; and that is to 

 be deplored, with me. 



When the bee-keeper sees that the 

 bees incline to swarming, or are 

 crowded, he should give them room in 

 the brood-chamber, and hold back the 

 swarms as much as possible ; but 



get everything crowded with brood ; 

 then, when white clover and locust 

 comes, crowd in the bi'ood-chamber 

 and put on sections, when a swarm 

 will shortly issue. Hive that on the 

 old stand, and it will be in trim to get 

 honey, and will be " worth a load of 

 hay," even if it does not jingle with 

 June. 



Swarms right after fruit-bloom, when 

 the honey is scarce, generally do no 

 good for me, but spend their time in 

 building drone-comb, and often crooked 

 comb ; putting propolis where I did 

 not want it, and were a general nui- 

 sance. By the time that clover was 

 i-eady, they wei-e not in a condition to 

 work ; the old bees had considerably 

 dwindled, and the young ones were 

 not yet ready to work. 



Fruit-bloom honey can be secured 

 by doubling up colonies, but it is 

 hardly worth the while, as the honey 

 is generally inferior. It would be bet- 

 ter to get ready for the fine white 

 honey harvest. 



Mulberry, Pa. 



Xlie noon of Sleep. 



Written lor the American Bee Journal 



BY JOHN ANDREWS. 



The boon of sweet, refreshing sleep. 

 Unbroken by an anxious care. 

 Where sweet repose its vigils keep. 

 And peaceful quiet everywhere, 

 Is treasuied still, and while we rest, 

 Contentment reigns within our breast. 



We feel no toil, we see no ill ; 



We grasp the present, ask not why ; 



Nor have we aught within to chill 



The moments, as they pass us by. 

 As we have sweet and calm repose. 

 Unharmed by passion or its woes. 



'Tis sweet to let all care go out, 

 And take in place unharmed repose— 

 Unmarred by any fret, or doubt, 

 Or clouded by the least of woes : 

 A peaceful sleep, of harm bereft, 

 Restoring Nature's balmy gift. 

 Patten's Mills, N. T. 



EXPERIENCE. 



The Success with One Colony in 

 Xebraslia. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY FRANK S. JOHNSON. 



Years ago my father used to keep 

 bees on the farm in Wisconsin, in box- 

 hives, and let them winter or not, as 

 it happened. Although Mr. Jonathan 

 Grimm, of Jefterson county. Wis., was 

 then a very .successful bee-keeper, most 

 of the farmers who kept bees paid no 

 attention to them, and all of my father's 

 bees finally died. 



Ever since then I have wanted to 

 try my hand at the business ; so, two 



years ago, in Julj', I received a three- 

 frame nucleus with a tested Italian 

 queen, from Michigan, costing me $6. 

 I read "ABC of Bee-Keeping," and 

 as I studied and watched my bees, I 

 became enthusiastic. I made a hive, 

 and the bees filled it the first season. I 

 took only one frame from them, leav- 

 ing nine American frames of solid 

 honey for their winter food. 



During the first winter I put a large 

 box over them, and as the weather 

 grew cold, I put them into the cellar ; 

 but I think that it was too warm, for 

 they wiere very uneasy, and tried to 

 get out. As soon as the weather be- 

 came a little better, I put them back 

 on the summer stands. 



During the next summer (1888) they 

 did finely. I gave them plenty of 

 room in a new chaff hive, packed with 

 ground cork, and they stored over 200 

 pounds of honey. I sold honey to the 

 amount of 123.00, besides having 15 

 pounds for spring feeding, and eight 

 frames of solid honey in the hive. 



They wintered nicely on the summer 

 stand, in the chafl:" hive, with a thick 

 cushion over them, and were so strong , 

 in bees this spring that I was afraid i 

 that they would swarm ; so I gave 

 them a sheet of foundation in the mid- 

 dle of the brood-nest, and as soon as 

 there were eggs deposited in the cells, 

 I divided them, placing the new swarm 

 in a chaflf hive in the place of the old j 

 hive, and removing the latter a few ' 

 feet. In a few days there were a 

 dozen fine queen-cells started. 



Early this spring 1 obtained a colony 

 of hybrid bees from a farmer here, in 

 exchange for two hives, which I made 

 for him. I took them out of the bo.K- 

 hive in April. In a short time they 

 were rearing brood rapidly. 



On May 17, as the queen-cells in my 

 other hive were about to hatch, I 

 divided the hybrids, giving them one 

 frame from the other hive, having a 

 fine cell. They all seem to be working 

 well, and I am delighted with my suc- 

 cess, so far. 



I mean to work my two Italian colo- 

 nies for honey this season, and the 

 hybrids for increase ; then in the spring 

 I will Italianize all hybrid colonies. 



I am experimenting with them dur- 

 ing mj' spare moments out of the store, 

 and I find it very interesting, besides 

 being profitable and instructive. 



I think that those bee-keepers who 

 let their bees starve in the spring, 

 are like some farmers that I have 

 known, who allow their cattle and 

 horses to become so poor that they die 

 in the spring. If my bees should be 

 hungry, I would feed them the same 

 as if my cow or horse was hungry ; and 

 I shall continue to leave the hive solid 

 full of honey during the winter, for if 

 it is not used, it will come handv in 



