758 



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Amateur Bee-I€eeper!^* l^anient. 



Written by Bequest of Dr. A. B. Mason, 



BV MRS. FRED GRAHAM. 



I hardly know what is required of me, 

 When requested to write poetry on the bee ; 

 Surely, Doctor, you must be jesting, 

 And from all such pranks ought to be resting. 



The bees are workers— that I'll allow ; 

 But they sometimes cause a terrible row. 

 Years aeo, I had the bee-fever pretty bad- 

 Inherited, propably, from ray Ma or Dad. 



I hived them, and even swarmed them, too, 



Till, one day they got mad, and stung me through 



and through j 

 My hands and face swelled and swelled, until I 



thought I'd drop. 

 And still that swelling did not stop. 



I had visions of splendor, and lived at my ease- 

 All of it to come from those hives of bees ; 

 But they vanished, one by one, away. 

 And not one of them remains to-day. 

 Maumee, Ohio. 



NOT DIGESTED. 



Instances Where Bees did IWot 

 Digest Wliat tiicy Oathered. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY ALEX. ROSE. 



I am no scientists, but I will give 

 some experience that I had about 

 eight years ago. That season being a 

 verj' dry one, my bees had but little 

 honey, and I e.xpected that they would 

 starve during the winter. One of my 

 neighbors commenced grinding cane 

 and making molasses, and my bees 

 commenced working on the stalks of 

 ground cane, and tilled many sheets 

 of empty comb full of the juice — as 

 thin as it was ground, or pressed out 

 of the cane. 



I talked with some "bee-men" 

 about it, and they said that the juice 

 would sour, or freeze, and the bees 

 would all die. I supposed it would be 

 so. The juice was so thin that when 

 I would take out some of the frames, 

 and give them a quick shake, throw- 

 ing out the juice on a board, it would 

 evaporate as quickly as that much 

 water thrown on the board. But con- 

 trary to my expectations, my bees 

 lived through the winter, came out in 

 fine condition in the spring, increased 

 as usual, and gathered plenty of honey. 

 This juice was not " digested ;" that is, 

 there was no honey about it — it was 

 clear cane-juice wlien the winter set in. 



Again, three years ago, m3' bees 

 gatliered honey so rapidly that it 

 soured in the sections. The bees took 

 the sour honey out of the combs, but I 

 do not know what they did with it. 

 Some combs were left empty, while 

 others were refilled witli good honey. 



If bees digest honey, why did they not 

 digest this cane-juice and make some 

 sort of honey out of it ? 



One year ago last summer the oak 

 and hickory leaves were covered witli 

 honey-dew, so-called ; the bees filled 

 many of the sections with this honey- 

 dew, and, so far as I could tell, there 

 was no change in it ; it tasted the same 

 as that on the leaves. There was an 

 immense amount of it on the leaves, 

 so that it could be tasted without any 

 trouble ; and every one of my 29 col- 

 onies lived through the winter, and 

 gathered 700 pounds of honey in one- 

 pound sections. 



I did not increase my number, as I 

 have formally done, and so I now only 

 have 30 colonies. 



MANAGING SWAEMS. 



I adopted the following plan this 

 year, but I had used the same, to some 

 extent, before : 



When colony No. 1 swarmed, I 

 moved it to some other place, took out 

 two or more frames of comb, put them 

 in the center of colony So. 2, or in a 

 new hive placed on the stand where 

 colony No. 1 stood. I took the case 

 oflf of No. 1, put it on No. 2, and then 

 took the new swarm and put it into 

 the new hive. Then I put the old hive 

 on top of some weak colony. 



In a few days No. 3 swarmed, when 

 I drove the bees down out of hive No. 

 1, and removed any queen-cells that 

 might still be unhatched, and put the 

 new swarm into hive No. 1, having 

 replaced three or more frames, with 

 frames of foundation. I placed this 

 on the old stand of No. 3, taking the 

 cases of sections otl' of No. 3, and put- 

 ting them on No. 1, with full frames 

 of comb and some unhatched brood, 

 which the swarm never leaves, or has 

 not for me. 



By this plan the honey-gathering 

 hardly ever ceases except for a few 

 minutes, as the field-bees come into the 

 new hive on the old stand, and go 

 directly to the sections, the same as 

 before ; and the queen finds plenty of 

 empty cells in which to deposit eggs. 

 By this process I have averaged about 

 24 pounds of honey per colony, spring 

 count, while ni}- neighbor bee-keepers 

 have no surplus honey — not even for 

 family use. 



I had about 80 pounds of honey in 

 partlj'-filled sections, and some were 

 full, but not capped over. I cut this 

 out, and sold it as broken-up hone^', at 

 15 cents per pound. I have sold all 

 my full sections at 20 cents per pound, 

 except about 200 pounds, which I still 

 have on liand, but I can get the same 

 for it on anj' day that I desire. I find 

 no trouble to sell all the honey that I 

 can jjroducfs at my home town, wlien 

 I have the honey in good shape. 



My bees have plenty of the best of 

 honey for winter. I winter them on 

 the summer, stands, leaving on tlie 

 honey-boards, and filling the top with 

 dry leaves. I shall try the same plaus 

 next year, that I worked this year. 



Sullivan, Ills. 



SHIPPING- BEES. 



The Danger in mailing Bees by 

 the Pound. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BV T. F. BINGHAM. 



With solicitude I have read the re- 

 marks relating to the shipment in the 

 mail, of bees in quantities of four 

 pounds or less. It is not a question of 

 limitation of attendantswith the queen, 

 but a matter that concerns us all as 

 bee-keepers. We can, no doubt, by 

 presuming too much, bring about the 

 repeal of the law allowing the ship- 

 ment of queen-bees having even a few 

 attendants. 



My first reason for not shipping a 

 pound or more of worker bees by mail 

 is, that it is not the meaning of the 

 law that they should so be sent. Next, 

 it is not necessary to so ship them. 

 The express companies can handle 

 them as quickly, as safely, as cheaply, 

 and on such short routes as it would 

 be safe to ship such quantities by mail. 



We all understand the value of the 

 privilege of the mail shipment of 

 queens. We wish to send them long 

 distances, as well as short ones, and the 

 mail "fills the bill" perfectly. We 

 should all prize this convenience, and 

 do all in our power to bequeath the 

 same privilege to those who liappen to 

 be bee-keepers after us. 



No one can question the probability 

 that should an .accident occur, and a 

 pound of worker-bees be let loose in 

 the mail cars, or mail pouches, or post- 

 offices anywhere, that the confidence 

 reposed in bee-keepers not to abuse or 

 strain tlie law, would be at once for- 

 feited, and bees would at once and 

 forever be excluded from the mails. 



As a postmaster, I should not accept 

 a bundle of worker-bees as a queen- 

 bee and her attendants ; but I should 

 regard it as unsafe and not within the 

 meaning of the law, and should refer 

 the matter to the Postal Department at 

 Washington. 



In looking over the labors of the 

 Bee-Keepers' Union, it seems plain that 

 bees are not affectionately regarded 

 except by bee-keepers. The fact that 

 so much has to be said and done, is 

 ample evidence that if we do have any 

 rights, especially for our accommoda- 

 tion and welfare, we cannot regard 

 them to carefuUv, 



