1890. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



317 



the colony hanging on a limb in the 

 top of a large tree, and if it had not 

 been for the noise of the bees, we 

 would not have found them that day. 



We then came to the conclusion 

 that some one had found the colony, 

 and not caring for anything but the 

 honey, they left the swarm in the 

 Avoods, and it had settled on this tree; 

 but after looking closely we were still 

 more surprised to see the beautiful 

 white comb they had built, shining 

 through the bees. We then cut the 

 tree down, and secured between 30 

 and 35 pounds of fine honey, being 

 gathered chiefly from wild raspberry, 

 and it having built comb 2 feet long 

 and from 10 to 12 inches deep ; I 

 hived the swarm, brought it home 

 and transferred it to :i hive filled with 

 comb, and so far have it living yet. 



Hunting wild bees is a trade in it- 

 self, and it matters not how much 

 knowledge one has of bees, if he 

 never makes much headway at the 

 business. 



I find great sport and enjoyment in 

 looking thi'ough the woods in the 

 summer and fall, in hunting for wild 

 bees, and I am never so happy as 

 when working wdth these busy little 

 creatures. 



Waterside, Pa. 



From Progressive Bee-Keeperi. 



BEES NOT WOSKING IN SECTIONS. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A correspondent writes that he has 

 kept bees for three years, but they 

 have made no surplus honey. Says he 

 "has put the sections on each year, 

 and they would not work in them, but 

 would lie about the hives in clusters," 

 and as it will soon be time to put sec- 



tions on again , he wishes to know how 

 to make the bees work in the sections. 



If I knew just what his seasons had 

 been, I could answer him better, for, 

 if little or no honey was secreted by 

 the flowers during these three years, 

 no amount of coaxing could make the 

 bees do any work in the sections. 

 Then, again, I mistrust from his say- 

 ing, '•' that it will soon be time to put 

 on sections again," that it may be pos- 

 sible that he has waited about putting 

 on the sections till his honey harvest 

 was mainly past, in which case his bees 

 would not work in sections to any 

 amount, no matter how good the honey 

 harvest was during its season. It is 

 the duty of everyone who has a single 

 colony of bees to inform himself or 

 herself just where the flowers are that 

 yield honey, and then put sections on 

 when that bloom arrives, or a few days 

 before, and thus work the bees under- 

 standingly, the same as they would do 

 other work. But bees will sometimes 

 persist in not w^orking in the surplus 

 department, no matter how good the 

 season is for honey, nor when the sec- 

 tions are put on, and as it is to 

 be supposed that the reader will 

 want to know what to do in a 

 case where bees refuse to work in 

 the sections during a good honey 

 yield, I will answer from this latter 

 standpoint. 



One important part in the construc- 

 tion of a hive to be used for comb 

 honey should not be overlooked, and 

 that is, the brood chamber should not 

 be too large. If our friend has a 

 brood chamber of from 2500 to 3000 

 cubic inches, I should not wonder that 

 his bees failed to do work in the sec- 

 tions, especially if his bees were of 

 the Italian variety, as they are prone 



