May 25, 1905 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



375 



of their regular goods to the new converts which I am sure 

 this hive will bring to the fascinating field of apiculture. 



Profit and the spirit of commercialism in no wise eater 

 into the production of this hive. I have regarded the labor 

 spent upon it as a labor of love. To my fellow-students 

 and lovers of Nature I cordially bestow and heartily com- 

 mend "The Bigelow Educational Hive." May the study of 

 these wonderful insects afford you as much pleasure and 

 instruction as they have afforded me. 



# 



New Method of Artificial Swarming:, Etc. 



BY C. DAVBNPORT 

 (Coaclttded from page 359.) 



THE event I described in my previous article in regard 

 to a new method of making artificial swarms, took 

 place late in the season after most of the swarming was 

 over, so I had a chance to test this plan on only a few colo- 

 nies that season, but most of these I allowed to have sealed 

 queen-cells before I swarmed them. None of them appeared 

 to swarm out, and all went to work with all the vigor of 

 natural swarms. 



Last year, as I said, was a poor honey season, but more 

 than enough was secured to keep up brood-rearing, and 

 swarming was excessive. Nearly all medium to strong 

 colonies made preparations to swarm. And now, to be 

 brief, I swarmed by this new plan last season over 200 colo- 

 nies, many of which had sealed queen-cells. 



And, now, what will be hard to believe is the fact that 

 not one of these swarmed out, and all worked fully as well 

 as natural swarms. 



Another fact that I expect few to credit is, that I can 

 swarm a colony by this plan, and secure more honey, than 

 if they were allowed to swarm naturally, or than would be 

 secured if they had stayed together with no desire to swarm, 

 and this without regard to whether the colony is weak, 

 medium or strong. That is, I can, here in the North, with 

 our short flow. There is, though, in spite of all I have 

 said, one disadvantage about this method, and that is, that 

 so far I have not been able to devise any way by which this 

 method can be used to unite two swarms. Here, with our 

 short flow, more honey — especially comb — can be secured if 

 two swarms are united, but there are possibilities about this 

 method that I have not yet fully developed or worked out, 

 and I wish to experiment and handle the matter alone 

 another year before giving it to the bee-keeping world. 



REMOVING BEBS FROM CELLARS. 



I would now like to say something about removing bees 

 from cellars in the spring that may be of benefit to some 

 who have not been engaged in our pursuit long, and possi- 

 bly it may to some who have. The credit for this belongs 

 to a Mr. West, who lives somewhere in the East. It was 

 about removing bees from cellars in the evening, or at 

 night, and since reading what he said in regard to the mat- 

 ter, I have put a good many of my bees out in the evening. 

 I tried the plan in a small way at first, for it seemed to me 

 that after bees had been confined so long they would, if 

 carried out at night, fly out the next day without regard to 

 what the weather was, but I found that such was not the 

 case. The only trouble I have ever found in this respect — 

 and I remember that Mr. West mentioned this — is, that if 

 it should snow before they have a chance to fly, and then 

 turn warm suddenly, some bees may be lost in the soft 



snow. I have had this occur, but I do not think the loss of 

 bees was very serious. 



Sometimes bees become so restless and uneasy by 

 spring in cellars where conditions are not right that as 

 soon as light is admitted the air becomes thick with flying 

 bees that seem crazy to sting somebody or something as 

 soon as they get out. 



A year ago last spring a man came some distance and 

 said he would pay me almost any price I might ask if I 

 would get his bees out of the cellar either dead or alive, he 

 did not care much which. He had about 25 colonies in 

 large box-hives in the cellar under the house where all the 

 fruit and vegetables were kept, and had been disturbed 

 more or less all winter until they had finally gotten so that 

 none of the family dared open or go into the cellar. 



I told him he could remove them at night without 

 trouble, but he said they were as bad or worse at night. 

 This man knew practically nothing about bees. He had 

 bought them late the previous fall, of a neighbor who had 

 moved away. I mention the matter partly because, 

 although these bees were wintered in a cellar under very 

 unfavorable conditions, I have seen but very few bees in as 

 good condition in the spring as they were. Most of those 

 large hives were fairly crowded with bees. The cellar was 

 very warm, and the great roaring they made was what made 

 him think they would fly at night. 



But even in a case as bad as this there need be no 

 trouble in removing them at night, for after the window 

 and outside door had been opened for some time they were 

 removed and wheeled some distance on a wheelbarrow with- 

 out any bees leaving the hives. 



But often the greatest advantage about removing bees 

 at night is in regard to robbing. After colonies have had 

 their first flight in the spring I never have any trouble or 

 pay any attention to robbing. I keep the hive-entrances of 

 weak colonies contracted according to their strength, and 

 if they can not defend themselves robbers are welcome to 

 take them. But I have never yet lost one colony by robber- 

 bees, that was worth saving, and I throw out broken combs 

 or leave honey out to be cleaned up any time it suits me to 

 do so. 



I have, though, met with some serious losses by having 

 colonies robbed when they were first put out. Bees seem to 

 make no efi'ort to defend their stores when put out in the 

 daytime until they have had a good flight. And if only 

 part of the bees in a cellar are put out, and a number of 

 days elapse before the rest are removed, those first put out 

 may remove nearly all the stores from a large number of 

 those just put out. But when this is the case there is no 

 fighting and loss of bees on this account, for, as I said, they 

 make no effort to defend their stores, and if no honey is in 

 the fields they of course soon starve to death unless close 

 watch is kept and those robbed are fed. 



Now, for some reason, when they are carried out a* 

 night they defend their stores. They fly more slowly, and 

 seem to keep guard and be on the lookout for robbers. Rob- 

 bing, though, under these conditions, can be prevented if 

 they are put out in the daytime. All that is necessary is to 

 give the colonies first put out a good smoking just before 

 putting out the rest. But I prefer to put them out on pleas- 

 ant evenings, because it saves opening and shutting the 

 cellar-door for every hive, and no precaution has to be 

 taken to close the hives, for the bees will scarcely attempt 

 to fly out, no matter how roughly they are handled, at least 

 when the evenings are cool as they always are here in early 



spring. 



Southern Minnesota. 



r 



V 



®ur Sec Kcepinc^ Sisters 



^ 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



J 



Trip of a French Bee In a Bouquet 



[The following sketch, written by a sister 

 of sunny France for the French bee-journal, 

 L'Abeille de L'Aisne, and translated by our 

 good friend, Mr. C. P. Dadant, will no doubt 

 be enjoyed by the readers of this department. 



am told that there is a Mr. Dennler who is 



editor of a bee-journal, and it is not unlikely 

 that Mrs. Lucie Donnlerishiswife. — E.M.W.] 



A few days ajo I was unpacking a box of 

 exotia flowers seut to me from Nice by a lady 

 friend, when, in the calyx of a blossom, I 

 found a small boney-bee numb and almost in- 

 animate. Poor Utile one, victim of your zeal, 

 you had been slathered with the blossoms on 

 which you fo.aged! Seized with pity, 1 at- 



tempted to revive it, and while warming it 

 with my breath, I laid it by the window in the 

 rays of a March sunshine. 



1 then indulged in the charming occupation 

 of admiring the rich assortment of blossoms 

 that the surprise box contained. The table 

 was soon covered with theiu. Anemones with 

 bright and varied colors, white and yellow 

 jonquils, Parma violets, orange blossoms and 

 white lilacs, gigantic mignonettes and 

 branches of mimosa, the fine and sensitive 

 leaves of which had folded themselves during 

 the trip to take on a new life at the contact of 

 water and air. This blossoming world evoked 

 the picture of the sunny and perfumed South 

 of France. It is this rich flora which sup- 

 plies the distillers of Grasse with the pene- 

 trating perfumes they make. I read, only a 

 few days ago, in the Belgian Bulletin of 

 Arboriculture a very interesting report, show- 

 ing that the perfume of mignonette costs 



