THE JKMKRICKPi BEE JOURJHKi:,. 



487 



ber of queen-cells that their inmates 

 had latelj- left. All bees tliiil. hail been 

 working in the fields flew to tlie old 

 stand and joined the swarm. 



I put back the frames and carried 

 the hives to where the loafing- eolony 

 had stood, and di])ped out tlic bees 

 with a long-handled spoon from the 

 crowded portico, and gave tlicni to the 

 new liive. The bees that were working 

 in the fields, as the}' returned, entered 

 the hive upon their old stand. There 

 are now two good working colonies in 

 lieu of one loafing one. 



Ilouey Plenty. 



Bees are as good-natured to-day as 

 a fat alderman after dinner, fanning 

 himself and calling to his fellows, 

 "We are rich, and folks know it." I 

 took oft" sections and emptied the case 

 upon a board placed upon an adjoining 

 hive, selected those that were sealed, 

 and put back those that were not, and 

 filled up the case with empty sections. 

 In the operation some honey leaked 

 out upon the board, and I placed it in 

 front of the hive, thinking that the 

 bees would gather it up, but they 

 would not look at it. 



I would like to see those persons 

 who think that honey is glucose fed to 

 bees. Try the experiment of feeding 

 them now. The Creator never in- 

 tended bees to sip syrup, like flies, but 

 to gather the juices of plants. When 

 honey is as plentiful as it is to-daj-, it 

 is a pleasure to work with bees ; they 

 can be brushed from their combs, or 

 switched oft" with little twigs, and they 

 do not even take any umbrage at it. 



Removing Sections. 



When sections are sealed, they 

 should be removed so that they will 

 not get soiled by the travel of the bees. 

 They should be put into a tight box, 

 -o that the moths cannot get at them 

 Id deposit eggs. Shipping cases are 

 just right for this purpose. I first 

 make a sort of pan of manilla paper, 

 fitting it nicely into the bottom of the 

 case, and, after the sections are scraped 

 free of propolis, fit them in nicelj-, 

 cover them securely, and pile them up 

 ready for market. 



Packat^es tor Extracted Honey. 



I do not like wooden recejitaeles for 

 extracted honej', for several reasons. 

 It is difficult to get barrels tliat will 

 not leak, and when honey granulates, 

 it is hard to dig out. Those who pro- 

 duce honey largely, must of necessity 

 use barrels or large tanks, but it is dif- 

 ferent with those who only produce a 

 few hundred pounds in lieu of thou- 

 sands. Large jars that are glazed as 

 smooth as glass make good recepta- 

 cles, as they can be set in tanks of 

 water to melt the honey when it is 



granulated. Tin cans, of dimensions 

 of eight or ten gallons, are a pet pack- 

 ago with me, as they are lighter than 

 jars. If jai's of extracted honey are 

 exposed to a very low temperature, 

 they will burst with the expansion of 

 the honey. 



Many bee-keepers are opposed to 

 the idea of straining honey, as all bits 

 of comb or bees will rise to the to|), 

 and can be removed ; but I prefer to 

 tie cheese-cloth over cans or jar's, and 

 let the honey, as it runs from the ex- 

 tractor, pass through it. When a jar is 

 full, remove this strainer, and tie a 

 fresh piece of cheese-cloth over it, so 

 that it can cure and evaporate. 



Some of those who produce ex- 

 tracted honey largely, have run-ways 

 covered with wire-gauze to keep out 

 insects, so that the honey is boiled 

 down by the sun's rays in passing 

 along to its final tanks or store-house. 

 I have a few glass jars of very fine 

 extracted honey, covered with ehcese- 

 eloth, kept in place with rubber bands, 

 daily in the hot sun, to evaporate and 

 thicken. 



Peoria, Ills. 



HEAT. 



The Reason AVIiy Bee§ Leave 

 tlie Hive — Smoker§, etc. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY CHAS. II. WIELE. 



Dr. C. C. Miller is right when he 

 says that heat will make the bees leave 

 the hive. My bees are mostly in the 

 shade of plum-trees, which are trim- 

 med high, so that the limbs will not 

 interfere with the working amongst 

 them. If I am forced to place a new 

 swarm in the sun, I try to get an arm- 

 ful of grass or weeds, and cover the 

 whole hive with it, then they will sel- 

 dom leave. 



What I have never seen before is, 

 that colonies would swarm again after 

 5 or 6 days, having received an empty 

 hive and all the surplus boxes of the 

 old colony nearly filled with honey. 

 The brood-frames were built half way 

 down, with no other than di'one-corabs, 

 and the rims of the combs covered 

 with queen-cells — as many as fifty, per- 

 haps ; of course the liees were returned, 

 all the drone-combs taken away, and 

 then I put in some empty combs of 

 worker-cells, which made them stay 

 and go to work with a will. 



Eveti with experience, a man lias to 

 learn evei-y day. There will always 

 be something to turn up that he did 

 not see before. 



The " Doctor" smoker is a real com- 

 fort ; it smokes away for almost half a 

 day, and with nearly 200 colonies it is I 

 a necessity to have a good smoker. ' 



Bees are booming, and there will be 

 a big crop of clover honey. I have 

 about 2,(1(10 pounds. They have slacked 

 oft' a little with swarming, but will 

 surely commence again when golden- 

 rod and other fall flowers commence 

 blooming; the hives are overflowing 

 with bees. 



Stoddard, Wis., July 18, 1889. 



TRANSFERRING. 



How io Proceed Wlieii About 

 to TraiiKrer Bees. 



Written for the American Bitral Home 



BY <i. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A correspondent writes, saying : "I 

 have several colonies of bees in box- 

 hives ; how am I to get them out of 

 these hives into movable-frame hives, 

 as I wish them ?" 



The first thing to do, is to get things 

 in readiness for the work, which will 

 be to bore some small holes through 

 the end-bars, and top and bottom bars 

 of the frames, so that when the combs 

 are fitted into them, small wooden 

 pegs or wire-nails of suitable length 

 can be pushed tlu-ough these holes into 

 the combs, to hold them in the frames 

 until the bees have made them secure, 

 when tlie nails or pegs are to be drawn 

 out ; some prefer to wind twine or 

 wire around tlie frames, but I do not 

 like this plan, for wherever the wire 

 comes over the brood, the bees gnaw 

 the brood out, which hurts the i-ombs, 

 besides spoiling so much brood. 



Besides having the frames and wire- 

 nails ready, a board will be needed 

 that is about two feet .square, and a 

 barrel or box of convenient height for 

 the operator to place the board upon. 

 On one side of the board should be 

 tacked three or four thicknesses of 

 cloth, so that the brood and combs will 

 not be injured by being placed upon it. 

 There are only two really favorable 

 times for transferring, although it can 

 be done at any time, by using care. 

 The first is during fruit or apple bloom. 

 If done in fruit bloom, but little brood 

 and honey are in the way, while honey 

 is coming in to prevent robbing, as 

 well as to enable the bees to promptly 

 repair their combs. The second, is 21 

 days after the first or prime swarm 

 issues. 



When done 21 daj-s after swarming, 

 there will be no brood in the hive ex- 

 cept a little drone-brood, so there will 

 be no loss from cutting through it, as 

 all the bees from the eggs laid by the 

 old queen will now be hatched, while 

 the young queen will have only just 

 begun laying. 



Having the things above alluded to 

 in readiness, together with a long- 



