204 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



and honey from the parent stock. That was the 

 end of swarmino-. 



I took something over 210 lbs. of surplus 

 honey. 100 lbs came from the top of oue prime 

 swarm. Enoaj>;h of this was sold at thirty cents 

 per pound, to jiraount to fifty dollars. My eleven 

 hives were all heavy, ready with some piotection 

 for out of door wintering;. 



Does bee-keeping pay ? Have I answered tlie ques- 

 tion ? This result was obtained in an old fash- 

 ioned way. Given, a season equally favorable, 

 Avilh all the "modern improvements," — Italian 

 bei's, a "melextractor," &c., <fec.,— and what 

 mi,i;ht not be expected ? 



i5ut my record foils to show what constituted 

 really the largest share of the summer's pmfils. 

 I did not know how to put it in figures. The 

 still bright hours when, with shawl spread upon 

 the grass, I was at home among my bees — those 

 '• singing masons building roofs of gold" — loving 

 th"m just as much when they paid friendly 

 visits to my wrapper, my hands, or my hair, as 

 Avhen they kept at a greater distance ; — the health 

 which came with those hours — the delight 

 afforded by a mns.t fascinating branch of natural 

 hist(jry — the new ideas, whose value the future 

 must determine — all this is beyond the reach of 

 arithmetic. 



Success to the Journal, and may it number 

 more and more women among its subscribers and 

 constant readers !* C. S. Eogers. 



Elvncood, III. 



* Aye, and allow us to add correspoadenU to 

 the enumeration, for they always succeed admi- 

 rabl}' both as writers and apiarians. Ecce supra/ 

 —Ed. 



[Foi- the Amei-ican Bee Journal.] 



Robbing Cheeked Promptly. 



"The first frame resists. I guess the bees 

 " have fastened it to the side of the hive. It will 

 " break, if you pull. Slip in the knife to loosen it." 

 But young Frenchmen are presumptuous (perhaps 

 young Americans are not less so). After having 

 attended to the apiary in August, while I was 

 confined to bed with sickness, my son Camille 

 was, in his own opinion, already sufficiently ad- 

 vanced in bee-culture to dispense with the advice 

 of his father. The frame was accordingly pulled 

 out by force, leaving one quarter of the comb 

 smashed in the hive, and another quarter down 

 on the bottom inside. 



This was about the last of September. For 

 two weeks previous we had nearly every day 

 emptied some combs by the melextractor, from 

 one hundred full hives, and re-inserted them 

 when emptied. The carrying to and fro of the 

 honey had already aroused the robbing impulse 

 of our bees ; and before we could procure plates 

 on which to place the smashed comb, we were 

 surrounded by a host of eager bees, ready for a 

 foray. With a spade I hastened to remove the 

 ground wetted by the dripping honey, upon 

 which the bees soon gathered. Then after direct- 

 ing my son to contract the entrance of the hive 

 on which we were operating, so that only one 

 bee could pass at a time, we left the scene, as we 

 were notified that dinner was on the table. 



When my son again left the dining-room, I 

 directed him to look after the exposed hive, for I 

 was far from feeling easj^ about it. He soon re- 

 turned in great haste, saying— "the ruchee is 

 robbed. The Italians enter it by thousands. The 

 imbecile black bees do not know how to defend 

 their hive." I inquired — "did you close the 

 entrance so as to let only one bee enter at a 

 time?" "No," replied he, "as the colony was 

 very strong in numbers, I did not contract the 

 entrance so much, ouly four or five bees cinild 

 pass at a time, but the robbers have pushed away 

 the blocks." 



After putting on our bee hats, we hastily re 

 paired to the spot. The humming of the bees 

 was as loud as that commonly made by a large 

 swarm, when issuing and on the wing. The 

 robbed bees no longer made resistance. I began 

 by contracting the entrances of the neighboring 

 hives. Then I stationed my son in front of the 

 one attacked, directing him to brush away Avith ' 

 a feather duster (a leafy twig answers as well) 

 all the bees seeking to enter, and let pass all those 

 coming out. Meantime I procured two pieces of 

 plank or blocks, about six inches square. I placed 

 one of these on each side of the entrance, bring- 

 ing two corners together so as to enclose a tri- 

 angular space or yard in fnrnt of the entrance, 

 and covered this yard with a piece of wire-cloth 

 having ^ inch meshes — taking care to adjust it so 

 close that not a bee could enter the yard from the 

 outside. — The robbers soon clustered on the wire- 

 cloth, seeking for entrance, while some pre- 

 sented themselves under it, striving to get out. 

 In eight or ten minutes, I suddenly pulled away 

 the blocks and wire-cloth, instantly brushing 

 away anew all the bees, till I was sure that no 

 robbers remained ; and then replacing the blocks 

 and wire-cloth as before. 



The hive remained thus shut up an hour or 

 two. By that time most of the robbers, tired of 

 fruitlessly seeking an entrance, had returned to 

 their ordiuiuy labor. The corners of the two 

 blocks were then separated so much as to allow 

 one or two bees only to pass at a time. The 

 inmates of the hive soon became accustomed to 

 the entrance, while the robbers vaijily endeavored 

 to gain admittance through the meshes of the 

 wire-cloth. If a few succeeded occasionally in 

 finding the new entrance, they were immediately 

 seized by the guards and summarily ejected. 



After sundown, in order to let in the few bees 

 belonging to the hive, which had not yet fcnuid 

 the new entrance, I removed the wire-cloth, and 

 replaced it early next morning. As soon as I 

 thought that simply contructing the entrance of 

 the hive would secure the colony from further 

 attacks, I removed all my devices. 



This mode of checking robbery will always 

 prove successful, if the ruchee has a queen or the 

 means of raising one, provided all the robbers 

 are got out of the hive before the bees pertaining 

 to it'are confined. C. Dadakt. 



Hamilton, Ills. 



Young queens, whose ovaries are not burdened 

 with eggs, are much quicker on the wing than 

 old ones^ and frequently fly much farther from 

 the parent stock before they alight. — Langstroth. 



