THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



73 



at it with a determination to find her 

 before giving up the job. 



All should remember that an opera- 

 tion of this kind ought not to be per- 

 formed in the apiary in the middle of the 

 day when the bees are inclined to rob. 

 It is usually safe to open a hive just be- 

 fore sunset, provided there has been no 

 robbing in the apiary for a week or longer. 

 If it is actually necessary to find a queen 

 in the middle of the day, remove the 

 hive to a room, darken all the windows 

 but one and then proceed. When the 

 queen has been found, return the hive 

 to the stand and open the window and 

 door and let the bees return. 



The bee-room— how arranged. 



A room in which to handle bees is an 

 actual necessity with me. I could not 

 get along without it any more than the 

 bees could without a hive. The queen 

 dealer must have a convenient place 

 for doing most of the work required in 

 his cell-building operations. I have 

 found that even the small beekeeper 

 has a little workshop and honey-room 

 attached, and a convenient place in 

 which to keep his bee-fixtures. A room 

 for handling bees should be kept sepa- 

 rate from the workshop or honey-room. 



The bee room should not be too large. 

 One window is sufficient to furnish all 

 the light needed. If the room or build- 

 ing has several windows, all but one 

 should be darkened while a colony is 

 being operated upon. This one window 

 should be protected from robber bees 

 from the outside by screen wire fast- 

 ened to a frame and the frame hung the 

 same as if used as a door, so that it can 

 be opened and shut as convenience and 

 occasion require. 



When a large colony is taken to the 

 bee-room and opened, nearly a quart of 

 bees will fly to the window. As no 

 robber bees can enter the room, and as 

 no trouble will be experienced from the 

 bees that take wing, there will be little 

 need of hurrying the work. When the 

 object for which the bees were removed 

 to the room has been accomplished, the 

 hive should be placed on the stand 



and these bees on the window allowed 

 lowed to go home. ^ 



How to warm the bee-room. 

 In cool weather, I find that the bee- 

 room must be warmed in order to do the 

 work properly and prevent the bees that 

 take wing and the brood from chilling. 

 In a small room a large stove would fur- 

 nish too much heat and would be in the 

 way. In order to get as much room as 

 possible, a small kerosene stove, one 

 having two wicks, is used. P^ven this 

 stove is sometimes too large and gives 

 off more heat than is required. 



Another thing in my bee-room and 

 one which I have found an indispens- 

 able article in years past, is a honey- 

 bench. This is made of matched 

 boards and is secured firmly to the side 

 of the room. All small pieces of honey- 

 comb are placed on the table, the back 

 end of which is elevated three inches, 

 so that all loose honey will run down and 

 find its way into a conductor at the front 

 end, thence into a receptacle under the 

 bench. To keep the bench clean and 

 sweet, beeswax and rosin are melted to- 

 gether, and while hot is turned upon the 

 bench, then a hot sad-iron is used to 

 burn the mixture into the grain of the 

 wood. All the work of transferring, 

 cutting combs, etc., is done on this 

 table. 



Transferring is another thing I use 

 this table for. I suppose that within the 

 past thirty years I have purchased near- 

 ly one thousand colonies of bees in box- 

 hives, and all had to go through the bee- 

 house. There is not a day between 

 May I and September i that I do not 

 take from one to six colonies of bees in 

 the bee-house to manipulate in some 

 way. 



in winter the bee-room is utilized for 

 the storage of the surplus combs, and 

 for all things used in the apiary in the 

 summer. 



What the queea-dealer and practical bee- 

 keeper need in the apiary. 



It would be folly for any one to un- 

 dertake beekeeping without a good bel- 

 lows smoker. With one of the l^esi 



