210 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



tlie example of a few of our bee-keeping friends, 

 who keep all their experiments and the results 

 locked up in Iheir own breasts,to be there hoarded 

 like the gold of the miser, and finall}^ lost to the 

 world. Such men are a discredit to themselves and 

 to the community in which they live. I am only a 

 beginner, and consequent!}' have as yet nothing 

 to do but learn. If, however, anything interest- 

 ing occurs I will cheerfully report it. 



Gebharts. Pa. W. Baker. 



[ For the American Bee Jouraal.] 



Soil for Bees. 



Mr. Editor : — We want more of tlie experience 

 of bee-keepers on the quality of soil as regards 

 t!ie yield of honey. (S,;e Bee Journal for 

 jMarch, page 179 ) 



Alsike clover, grown on reclaimed wet 

 meadow soil, of course it was rich land, as it 

 yielded no honey. Page 183. Quality of soil 

 for beekeeping. E. GaHup on manuring the 

 clover pasture and currant bushes to increase 

 the yield of honey. 



Bees fly over fields of buckwheat to others 

 beyond. It may be, in that case, that the flowers 

 were not of the same age, or the soil alike. We 

 have seen stock and bees pass over low, rich 

 lands, to higher, dry and light soils, to feed on 

 clover ; the season being wet and the growth of 

 the plants large. 



In June, 18G8, we saw at Sterling, 111., a field 

 of clover, on a large portion of which the cattle 

 refused to graze. Our attention was called to 

 tlie curious case by Mr. Bressler. Will he please 

 give the readers of the Journal the cause of the 

 preference given by the cattle to a part of the 

 field to the exclusion of the other i>art ? 



J. M. Marvin. 



St. Charles, III. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Transferring Bees. 



Several persons have asked me wJien to trans- 

 fer bees, and how to transfer them. When to 

 transfer them depends somewhat on circum- 

 stances. If I had a small swarm in a large hive, 

 I should transfer early in spring, as my liive has 

 a small frame ; because I could then get them in 

 better shape to control the animal heat, and thus 

 cause more rapid breeding. But to transfer into 

 another hive of as bad shape, or even worse 

 than the original, there would be nothing gained 

 by transferring earl}' ; it might, in fact, be an 

 actual damage. The best time for such there- 

 fore is near the swarming time, or just before; 

 say, as soon as the hive is populous, and when 

 they are gathering honey so that they can build 

 comb, repair damages rapidly, &c. If trans- 

 ferred at such a time, it will put" them back only a 

 trifle. In fact, I have frequently transferred, 

 when I thought it actually set them ahead. I 

 have transferred at almost all seasons except 

 winter ; but in all cases I knew what my object 

 was, and understood the business. • 



Now for the mjdiis operandi. In tlie first 



place, we want one hive all ready, and a dish 

 full of small sized wooden pins of various lenghts 

 from one to three inches. Tlien we want our 

 frames with from one to three holes bored 

 through each side, bottom, and top. These 

 holes are to be bored, with a small sized gimlet 

 or bit, or punched with large sized brad awl. 

 Now the pins must be made enough smaller than 

 the holes to be pushed through "easily with the 

 fingers into the edges of the comb, because we 

 may want to take these pins out after the bees 

 have permanently fastened the comb in place. 

 The next performance is to drum out the bees 

 into a box, and drum them out thoroughly. 

 Now set the box on the old stand, and split open 

 the old board hive and remove the combs, one at 

 a time, and transfer or fit them into your frames. 

 To avoid robbers this performance should be 

 done in a room or sliop, with all the windows 

 darkened but one. As fast as a comb is cut out 

 of the old box, gum, or log (you want a cloth 

 folded several thicknesses and laid on a bench, 

 stand, or table, to lay your comb on, so as not to 

 injure the brood or sealed honey) lay it on this 

 cloth ; place 5'our frame on the comb, and mark 

 it, so as to cut the comb a little larger than the 

 frame ; crowd the frame down over the edges 

 of the comb, and pin it in its place. Then 

 hang it in the place in the hive and serve another 

 in the same way, until all are transferred. 

 Place your brood all together in the same relative 

 position th;it the queen would place it in, and not 

 a comb filled witli honey between two filled with 

 brood. With the first swarm I transferred, I 

 used the sticks or splints tied at top and bottom, 

 as recommended in the bee-books ; but that the 

 only one. As soon as your comb is all trans- 

 ferred place the hive on the old stand, and hive 

 your bees into it. Mr. Adair, in the Annals of 

 Bee-culture, gives this method ; but I did not 

 learn it from liim ; neither did he learn it from 

 me. Your pins can be taken out, after the comb 

 is fostened by the bees. E. Gallup. 



Orchard, Iowa. 



[For t!ie American Bee JournaL] 



Italian Queens. 



Mr. Gallup has mentioned several times, in 

 the Bee Journal, that he purchased some 

 Italian queens of an Eastern queen raiser that 

 were not very prolific, short-lived, &c. I wish 

 to inform the readers of the Journal that those 

 queens were not purchased of me ; and I Avish to 

 say, further, that I warrant all ray queens to be 

 fertile, prolific and pure, and guarantee to give 

 satisfaction in all cases. 



I make it a practice every year to purchase 

 several queens of the best queen breeders and 

 importers in this country, in order to avoid in 

 and in breeding ; and I do not allow drones to 

 mature from those quf^ens which I use to rear 

 other queens from. I do not ship queens from 

 mj' apiary until they have laid several hundred 

 eggs. All the queens that do not commence to 

 deposit eggs within forty-eight hours after being 

 fertilized, are rejected. H. Alley. 



Wen ham, Mass. 



