170 



Tin. AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



the bees from the skep on a platform 

 in front of each hive, first wedging up 

 the front to allow ihi lues no more 

 room to i:et in. They all went in be- 

 fore dark, ami seemed all quiet about 

 eijiht o cluck. An hour later I went 

 again to tin hive- am! listened, when 

 I found ill 'iv wasagreat uproar in No. 

 1, while in No. 2. all wn- still quiet. 

 The next morning 1 found all th>' driv- 

 en bees outside No. 1. hive <U ad or 

 dying. This slaughter ci>ntinu*-d till 

 I believe every oi>e of the driven bees 

 were killed. Bui No. 2. still remain- 

 ed perfectly quiet, and have been ever 

 since. I ! oked for the queen, but 

 have not found her. Do you think 

 she escaped she slaughter? U'hat 

 puzzle- rue i.-, that one lot killed the 

 mhI ihe other took to them quite 

 friendly. To the best of my ability, I 

 served both lots exactly alike. Can 

 you enlighten nie on the subject? 

 Also what to do to quiet them if such 

 a riling happened again ? Many 

 thanks for " Useful Hints'' in refer- 

 ence to old foundation. I find it 

 answer.- very well, and it is useful to 

 know these things. For myself, I do 

 not consider it quite honest for dealers 

 to palm off old foundation on their 

 customers.— G. Benford. 



Reply. -It is quite impossible for 

 us to account for perfect success in one 

 case and entire failure in the other. 

 The wonder, rather, is that both lots 

 of driven bees were not all killed. 

 According to the account given above, 

 the bees of the stuck in frame hive 

 were sprayed with essence of pepper- 

 mint instead of with thin syrup 

 scented with the essence ; then the 

 driven bets were apparently not spray- 

 ed at all ! so that the principle of giving 

 both lots of bees the same scent was 

 lacking. — B. B. J. 



HINTS TO HMMNNKKS. 



The harvest h< ing now fully past, 

 but few, if any, days during the next 

 three months will be so mild or invit- 

 ing as to entice the bees to leave their 

 hives. Having done [heir duty as 

 only the hem \ bee can, lhev aie pre- 

 pared to safely endure this long con- 

 finement wiih Ci mfort, being, it is 

 hoped, surrounded with plentv. Do- 

 not move ih. love.- which you intend 

 to winter in doors until winter begins 

 irnest. If ihere are any hives 

 still hit unpack* d or unprepaied for 

 winter, attend to them at o ..cc. There 

 are in.:ii_\ sections in the South where 

 October managt mei suits this 



month, [u ml casts where bees have 

 been prepared for winter, see that 

 they have perfect quiet, and do not 

 bi-turb them unless positively neces- 

 sary See thai all empty hives are 

 under cover, and all snug for winter. 

 lake goo. 1 care of any empty brood 

 frames yon may have on hand. I 

 would advise that they be kept in a 

 room where the temperature is below 

 freezing, for should they contain an}' 

 of the moth miller eggs the cold will 

 destroy the germ, while if in a warm 

 room they would hatch and soon de- 

 stroy your combs entirely. A good 

 way m keep combs is to stretch two 

 heavy wires from end to end of room 

 just far enough apart to rest the ends 

 of the frames on. Dang them on the 

 wires same as when in hive, having 

 about one inch space between each 

 one. This allows the light and a free 

 circulation of air between them, and 

 the moth seldom, if ever, hatch in 

 broad day. Frames hung on wires in 

 this way are safe from mice, which 

 are one of our worst enemies, and if 

 hung above the head are out of the 

 way'.— /i. K. J/. iN Yd 



