712 



T'H® m'MWMi^Mm mmm jO'^mnmi^. 



alternating them as they are set in the 

 liive. 



In moving the bees they are jarred 

 by placing the hives on a wheel-barrow 

 in no gentle manner, and wheeling 

 them rapidly to the place they are to 

 stand, first having confined the bees to 

 the hive, and doing the whole on some 

 cloudy day when the bees are not fl}-- 

 ing, which causes them, in a meas- 

 ure, to forget all about their former 

 home in their anxiety for the present; 

 and also causing them to remain on 

 their combs much better in handling 

 them than would be the case were thej' 

 not thus disturbed, so that in the pro- 

 cess of uniting, very few bees take 

 wing in comparison to what otherwise 

 would, and these few are so bewildered 

 that they immediately go In with the 

 others in the new hive or united 

 colony. 



Having the hive full of the combs 

 containing the most honey, I next 

 shake the bees, which are on the re- 

 maining frames, off at the entrance, 

 taking one frame from one colony, 

 and the next from another, and so on, 

 so as to mix the bees up as much as 

 possible. When all of the bees are in- 

 side of the hive, the work of uniting is 

 done. Remove the hives, bottom- 

 boards and all from the stands oc- 

 cupied by the united colonies previous 

 to this, and no loss of bees will occur. 



What few bees go back to the old 

 stands, return after finding their old 

 hives gone ; also the mixing-up process 

 spoken of above, causes them to mark 

 their location anew, at their first flight 

 afterward, the same as does a new 

 swarm, or when the bees take their 

 first flight in the spring. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



VISITING. 



All Intcrcslins Account of a 

 Lady Bee-Keeper's Visits. 



Wrttten lor the American Dee Journal 

 BY MISS IDA HOUSE. 



The basswood flow was immense 

 ht'ie the past season, and lasteil nearly 

 three weeks. Our bees forgot to swarm 

 alter thoy began to work on the bass- 

 wiiod, so we had 160 strong colonies 

 already for work. We (ray brother- 

 i'l-l.iw and I) took otl' at least 12,000 

 pounds of honey, the most of which is 

 basswood. 



The season was so dry that we did 

 not get any fall honey to speak of. 

 After getting the bees i-eady for win- 

 ter, and packing our trunks, we left 

 the bees to the merciful care of my 

 brother-in-law, and started for my old 

 home in the southern part of tlie State, 

 where we arrived all safe ,and sound 



after spending a most delightful day at 

 the Minneapolis Exposition. 



While looking at the grand display 

 of nearly all kinds of industries, and 

 seeing the beautiful castles and palaces 

 made of grain and corn, we could not 

 help wondering where the products 

 of apiculture were, and so we built an 

 air-castle (of magnificent grandeur) 

 out of beautiful honey and beeswax, 

 and furnished it with all the articles 

 necessaiy for bee-keeping, while near 

 by was the ideal apiary with all its 

 modern improvements. 



Since our return home we have been 

 to visit a bee-keeping friend, Mr. 

 Turnbull, who may well feel proud of 

 his beautiful hillside apiary, which 

 consists of 240 colonies of bees, in 

 rows of neatly-painted hives, with 

 shade-trees, honey-house and work- 

 shop, and last, but not least, his beau- 

 tiful home and loving wife and chil- 

 dren. 



We wandered into the honej'-house, 

 where Mr. Turnbull was busy getting 

 his honej' ready for market. He has 

 about 8,000 pounds of what would 

 have been beautiful comb honey, had 

 not a careless bee-keeper ruined nearlj- 

 500 pounds of it when removing it 

 from the hives. 



The following interesting incident 

 happened while we were there : 



Mr. Turnbnll was greatly troubled 

 with the bees in his honey-house, and 

 he had spent hours in trying to find 

 where they got in ; but, alas, not even 

 a knot-hole could he find for the bees 

 to get through ; but on Oct. 11th, in 

 removing a large case of honey, he 

 saw a cluster of bees hanging from 

 the ceiling. He came to the house, 

 got a light, and said that he wished I 

 would go and see what I thought about 

 them ; and I found, to my surprise, 

 that they were clustered on pieces of 

 comb fastened to the ceiling. 



Mr. T. asked if I thought they had 

 a queen. I did not think that bees 

 would build comb without a queen, or 

 any prospects of one, and he was of 

 the same opinion. So, with Mrs. 

 Turnbull, her sister and my sister, near 

 by, to caution us to be careful, or we 

 would get stung, we put a hive under 

 the bees, took a sharp knife, and cut the 

 comb down, which fell into the hive 

 with the bees. 



(About this time our friends were 

 called ujjon to make a hasty retreat. 

 I saw no more of them until I returned 

 to the house, and then I was not sure 

 but what I had gotten into an apothe- 

 cary's shop, or liospital ; but the evil 

 spirit within me burst forth in peals of 

 merry laughter, in which they all 

 joined, until the walls gave back the 

 echo). 



We gave the bees some combs of 

 honej-, and left them. The next morn- 



ing they had a nice queen, and were 

 very quiet — in fact, I think that they 

 were tired of camping out, and felt 

 grateful to us for their new home. 



We were sorry when we had to bill 

 our good friends good-bye, but we hope 

 to visit them again in the future. 



Hokah, Minn., Oct. 25, 1889. 



WINTERING. 



Preparing Bees so as to Winter 

 Witliout Loss. 



Written for the Kansas Convention 



BY REV. J. D. GEHKING. 



In regard to wintering, I can say 

 that I have never lost a colony yet 

 from any cause. I do not think that 

 bees will freeze to death if they have 

 accessible food of a proper kind. If 

 they starve to death, or die on account 

 of bad food or want of ventilation, the 

 bee-keeper (?) ought to be punished 

 for "cruelty to animals." 



I believe that the " extractor," to- 

 gether with the effect of penuriousness, 

 are to be blamed for winter losses, 

 more than anything else. My theory 

 is this: Give them plenty of good 

 honey — that is, /effwe plenty in the hives, 

 and tuck them up snugly, and then 

 let them defy the hardships of a win- 

 ter's siege. A solid frame of honey 

 on each side of the brood-nest is, in 

 my judgment, worth more than cushions 

 or blankets. 



IIiT«-TentiIatioii in Winter. 



Another important matter is venti- 

 lation, the silly arguments to the con- 

 trary notwithstanding. Moisture, which 

 is as inevitable as it is essential in a 

 strong, health}' colony, seeks escape 

 upward — as soon as it goes the other 

 way, it has condensed, and mischief is 

 brewing. Well, superfluous moisture 

 must have vent, and nature says "up- 

 ward." But, it is just as true that the 

 escape of heat, in the same direction, 

 must be prevented by top-packing. 



I think that this theory is supported 

 by philosophy' and personal experience. 

 Allow me to illustrate : 



If I desire to keep warm in bed, I 

 want the covering just right — not too 

 heavy, and not too light. It does not 

 matter so much what kind of a bed I 

 have under me — so that it is not too 

 short or too narrow ; but I want 

 enough warm, soft, and at the same 

 time light, covering. If the covering 

 is heavy and stitt", I perspire, and get 

 colder and colder. I also want the 

 covering close to my body, snugly 

 tucked in. It would not do me any 

 good to j)ut a blanket or two on top of 

 the house that I may be in ; nor d6 I 

 want it under me, or at either side ; I 

 want it next to me, on top ! 



