472 



T'H® mvmmmi^Mm mmn j@^mi«mi<-. 



JULY. 



Clover — Absconding Sivaruis- 

 Honey Crop, etc. 



Written for the WesteiTi Plowman 



BY C. H. DIBBEKN. 



Bees have swarmed a good deal, 

 and there has been a good deal of 

 trouble from absconding swarms. By 

 careful watching and good manage- 

 ment we have lost none by absconding, 

 and have captured at least two swarms 

 that were flying over and settled with 

 swarms that we happened to have in 

 the air. I now think that swarming is 

 pretty well over, and the bees will now 

 settle down to the more profitable busi- 

 ness of gathering honey. 



Abscoudins- !$M'ai-nis. 



Now what causes a desire to ab- 

 scond ? Usually when but a few bees 

 are kept, and swarms are kept entirely 

 separate, and are properly hived in a 

 good, clean hive, there is but little 

 trouble on this point. What I mean 

 by properly hived, is that the bees are 

 not only shaken in front of the hives, 

 but are kept stirred up till about all 

 have run in. It will not do to leave 

 them covering the outside of the hive, 

 or to cluster under it, as in that case 

 the queen may be outside, and perhaps 

 not know that it is a hive at all. 



It sometimes happens that when a 

 swarm issues, the queen seems to be- 

 come frightened and runs back into 

 the hive, and still the bees will cluster 

 on some branch just as thej' would if 

 she was with the swarm. Now if they 

 are hived they soon become uneasy, 

 and generally dwindle awaj', either 

 going back to the old hive, or going 

 in with some other swarm just hived. 

 Sometimes they will also go to a hive 

 that has just swarmed, or one that is 

 about to swarm. 



When a swarm that has been hived 

 a day or two comes out with a rush, 

 you may be sure that they have a 

 queen, and perhaps two or three. I 

 believe what causes large swarms, 

 that are perhaps parts of a number of 

 swarms, to desert a hive is, that the 

 question of supremacj' of the queens 

 is not decided, and one of them starts 

 to leave the hive when all the bees 

 speedily follow. 



Usuallj' when more than one queen 

 is hived with a swarm, the bees 

 speedily ball one, or all but one, and 

 the}' are soon stung and killed. Such 

 swarms usually remain without further 

 trouble. 



It is usually contended when a 

 swarm once deserts a hive it is useless 

 to put them back in the same hive in 

 the same place. That is not my ex- 

 perience, however, as I have had quite 



a number leave their hives this year, 

 and I have put them back just as they 

 were, and they have generally stayed. 

 Somehow the shaking and mixing up 

 in swarming out and being rehived 

 seems to settle the question of which 

 shall be queen. 



Xlie Honey Crop. 



Now that we are reasonably sure of 

 a fair honey crop, the question comes 

 up, what are we going to do with it ? 

 Now do not be in a hurry to get it off 

 the hives before it is reallj' ripe ; hur- 

 rying it off to town to get ahead of 

 somebody else, and sell it to the first 

 store-keeper for anj'thing he offers. 



The white honey should be left on 

 the hives till about the close of the 

 basswood harvest, to fully mature. If 

 more room is needed, add cases of 

 empty sections by putting them under 

 the full ones. Honey thus left on the 

 hives may not be quite so white, but 

 the quality is greatly improved. Then, 

 too, the bees can take care of the 

 honey much better than we oau. 



When honey is removed too soon, 

 before all the cells are capped, it soon 

 becomes leaky, the honey souring in 

 the uncapped cells, and the appear- 

 ance is greatl}- damaged. This is es- 

 pecially so in damp weather, but if left 

 on the hives till the usually dry 

 weather of the middle of July, it is all 

 right. 



Then there is the moth, always 

 present, even on our snow-white honey, 

 especially if it contains a few cells of 

 pollen. Now if the honey is left with 

 the bees, the}' will remove the moths 

 as they hatch out, and when it is taken 

 off, at the end of the white honey sea- 



hatch. 



Xbe Price of Honey. 



Bee-keepers should remember that 

 we have had almost no crops for two 

 years, hardly honey enough to sell for 

 the sugar we have had to buy to keep 

 the bees alive. If we have a good crop 

 this year, the next may again be a fail- 

 ure. Now why should we be in a hurry 

 to get rid of the finest honey that the 

 world produces ? Judging from an 

 experience of over twenty years, I 

 know that the best honey cannot 

 profitably be produced for less than 15 

 cents in the comb, or 10 ceiits for ex- 

 tracted. The late and dark honey, of 

 course, must be sold for less. Keep 

 up a reasonable price ; that is the only 

 thing that will make bee-keeping 

 worth following. It is hard work, all 

 know, and requires ceaseless watching 

 and care, and why should we not be 

 paid for all this ? 



If you have taken our advice to have 

 the honey stored only in ne.at, clean 

 new sections, between separators, you 



have something you need not be 

 ashamed to ask and get a fair price 

 for. Now before taking it to market, 

 be sure and scrape every section of 

 propolis, and pack it in new crates, 

 with glass on at least one side. 



Marking; Crates of Honey. 



Mark the gross weight, tare and 

 net. This will save much trouble and 

 quibbling. Your name and address 

 should also be stenciled on the cases. 

 Remember that if honey is properly 

 ripened on the hives, and stored in a 

 diy, warm place, it will keep ; and if 

 not all sold this yeqr, it may come 

 very handy the next. 



Milan, Ills. 



SELLING HONEY. 



Do Not Sell the New Crop Too 

 Soon or Too Cheap. 



Written for tlic American BeeJourtwl 



BY JAMES HEDDON. 



Pleased at the partial improvement 

 upon the past two seasons, many bee- 

 keepers have been praising 1889 as a 

 honey year. It begins to look plain 

 to me, that, taking the country all 

 over, we are not going to have an 

 average crop, by considerable. The 

 past two poor seasons have cleared the 

 market of honey, and got consumers 

 into the habit of paying better prices 

 than formerly. As it is a fact that we 

 need it to keep our business equally 

 profitable with other lines, let us hold 

 up to these prices. 



In this location the season is not as 

 good, up to this date, as were the past 

 two very poor years. We have not 

 one-sixth of a crop. Basswood is in 

 full bloom, all of half passed, and not 

 anything like an average yield so far. 

 Clover bloomed profusely, but yielded 

 very stingily. This ends the white 

 honey crop. 



Pleurisy-root is not yet plentiful 

 enough here to produce surplus honey 

 to much extent in so large apiaries as 

 mine. It is just getting into bloom, 

 and the bees are thick upon it, while 

 they leave every other plant for the 

 basswood. We can see the honey 

 standing in the blossoms in little 

 drops, and the bees crawling all over 

 it, rapidly loading and going home. 

 Only a few years ago we could not find 

 a dozen plants within the radius of our 

 apiaries. In a few years more, we ex- 

 pect it will yield us a good surplus 

 crop, if nothing unforeseen happens. 



Do not be in a hurry to sell your 

 honey. What you do sell early, do 

 not sell it cheap. Let us wait till we 

 see that we ha^e to. 



Dowagiac.Mich., July 13, 1889. 



