1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



253 



BELGIUM. 



Sometimes a swarm is seen either in 

 he air or after it is clustered but not 

 vlu'ii issuing from the parent hive, 

 f tlio apiarist desires to know from 

 vhich liivo it came he can talce (from 

 he chistered swarm) a t-upful of bees, 

 arr.v them to some distance, dust them 

 vith flour and turn them loose. A 

 •orlion of them will go to the old hive 

 vliich can then be identified. This 

 3 given by Dr. Debienne in the Ru- 

 ber Beige. He adds that when differ- 

 ut apiaries are close together this 

 vould be a good way to determine 

 rom Avhich a swarm came. 

 In the same paper he also says that 

 swarm settling pole or something like 

 hat is often usefuf. The best in his 

 xperience is a bunch of bushes tied 

 a pole. He quotes Chas. Dadant 

 s saying that an old dark comb tied 

 o a pole has succeeded best with him, 



enougli to melt the wax, he drops the 

 sheet of foundation on them, and 

 l)lunge the whole in a convenient ves- 

 sel of water. The wax melted by the 

 contact of the warm top-bar is cooled 

 and solidified by the water, and thus 

 fastens the sheet of foundation. 



The Rucher Beige quotes from a Grer- 

 man i)aper the following process to 

 introduce a queen: Operate in the 

 morning, when most of the bees are in 

 the field. Take the old queen from the 

 comb. Put in her place the new one 

 well daubed in honey and replace the 

 comb. The bees will proceed to clean 

 her up and never suspect that a change 

 has taken place. 



Mr. Leger in the same paper says 

 loney is the best cure for the "gout.'' 

 t is used externally, being used on the 

 »art afflicted with a bandage. 



The same paper in its editorials gives 

 the following recipe to get the bees out 

 of a hollow tree or any other incon- 

 venient place: Put a sponge impreg- 

 nated with p henic acid under the bees 

 The odor will dl'lV^ (he bees outside" 

 where they will cluster. If necessary 

 bore a hole in the tree so as to reach 

 below the bees and introduce the 

 sponge thereby. 



Sometimes in winter, a flue warm 

 lay induces the bees to come out when 

 here is snow on the ground. A great 

 nany drop on the ground right in front 

 if tlie hives and are chilled and lost. 

 ,Yhile a flying spell is beneficial, we 

 lo not want to lose our bees. Mr. E. 

 /an Hay (Rucher Beige) advises to 

 )ut some straw on the snow in front of 

 he hives. 



A plant often cultivated in Europe 

 nit not here is the "horse bean." At 

 east I think this is the English name 

 )f it. Fsually it does not produce any 

 lectar. but in one case quoted in the 

 lucher Beige, it did. Investigation 

 ;howed the presence of aphis and 

 herefore it was a genuine case of 

 loney dew. The fact in itself is of no 

 nterest to the American bee-keepers; 

 nit it may show why some plants, 

 isually barren of nectar, will occa- 

 ijionaliy yield a good crop. 



Mr. Wendel AValter describes a pe- 

 culiar process to fasten starters or 

 ;heets of foundation in frames. Over 

 I fire he places a sheet of iron. On 

 his he put the frames upside down, 

 :hat is the top-bars on the sheet of 

 ron. When the top-bars are hot 



The Rucher Beige has a monthly de- 

 ]iartment for beginners, concerning the 

 operations to be done in the apiary 

 and how to be done. Among other 

 precautions that may be useful, it says 

 that rubbing the hands with some cam- 

 phorated alcohol will pi'event stings. 

 Also that when the bees are so en- 

 raged that ordinary smoke will not 

 subdue them, the best is to add some 

 tobacco to the smoker fuel. That will 

 fix them. 



In the same department we find 

 some advice on transferrin??. The usual 

 European method is first given. Drive 

 the bees (the queen is the one especi- 

 ally needed) in the new hive and place 

 the old one on top of it with a perfo- 

 rated zinc between. All openings must 

 be closed except the entrance to the 

 new hive. After twenty-one days take 

 away and demolish the old hive. If 

 desired, its combs may be fitted in 

 frames and used. The second method 

 is to turn the old hive upside down, 

 (supposed to be a skep). and put the 

 new one, bottom included, on top of it 

 without driving the bees. A hole in the 

 bottom allows the bees to go down and 

 come up. The entrance of the new hive 

 is the one used. Practically it is put- 



