351 



Look after your colonies and see that 

 none are queenless, and if through with 

 your nuclei unite them so as to make 

 good colonies. We never could have 

 much success rearing queens and in- 

 troducing after the yield of buckwheat 

 honey was over, although it is advised 

 by some of our best apiarists. We 

 would rather raise and introduce five 

 queens during July than one in Sep- 

 tember. Keep things looking tidy and 

 nice about your shop and bee yard, and 

 be ready next month to fix your bees 

 for winter. 



Borodino, N". Y. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Singular Experience in Swarming. 



A. A. HARRISON. 



I wintered 68 out of 70 colonies, and 

 have all swarmed but a few. The pros- 

 pect for a fair crop of honey is dis- 

 couraging, and prices very low. I now 

 have 93 colonies and have taken off 

 only about 300 lbs., and basswoodis in 

 its prime. I have had terrible trouble 

 with my swarms not staying in their 

 new hives ; in fact, during the height 

 of the swarming season I did not think 

 of hiving a swarm and have them go 

 nicely to work. In the first part of the 

 season they would come out in from 1 

 to 3 clays and cluster nicely; I would 

 rehive them on a frame of brood and 

 eggs ; well, in working in this way and 

 clipping the queen's wings, and some- 

 times carrying into my wintering house 

 and keeping 3 days, I managed to get 

 most of them to stay with me. Some 

 would come out after being in the hive 

 8 or 10 days, and had built comb and 

 had it nearly full of eggs. But as the 

 season advanced every new swarm 

 would leave their hive, and the most of 

 them go to the woods, in spite of water, 

 dirt and a double-barrelled shot-gun, 

 which I always have in readiness, but 

 do not use unless it is the last resort. 



I tried giving brood at the time of 

 hiving, and will say I could see no dif- 

 ference, whether I gave them brood 

 and eggs or not. One day I hived 3 on 

 a frame of brood and eggs and 2 on 

 combs with some honey, which was 

 made last season. The 3 that I gave a 

 frame of brood came out of the hive 

 next day ; 2 went directly to the woods, 

 and the third might as well have done 

 so, as there were 6 of us throwing dirt 

 and water, and mvself keeping up a 

 steady fire with the gun. We finally 

 induced them to scatter and enter 

 3 different hives. These same hives 

 caught the epidemic and acted very 

 bad indeed ; some of them had been 



hived 10 days. I got so overheated that 

 I was nearly blind. The only remedy 

 I could see was to stop all swarming; 

 which I undertook at once, changing 

 places with colonies, puttiug those that 

 had swarmed in the place of strong 

 ones that had not swarmed ; cut out 

 queen cells to prevent second swarms, 

 etc. I had one swarm 7 times after 

 clipping queen's wings ; then I caged 

 her, stopping the cage with old comb. 



Some will think I did not shade them. 

 It made no difference. Some say Ital- 

 ians wont do that. I know they did, 

 and hybirds and blacks, too, in new 

 pine Langstroth hives. I forgot to say 

 that the 2 swarms I hived on old combs 

 with some honey, went right to work 

 and gave me no trouble. But these 

 hives had bees die in them last winter 

 and had just been brought 3 miles for 

 me to fill with bees, and had been but a 

 few hours in my barn, where I stored 

 my hives, and. as many store-keepers 

 do, empty refined oil barrels. These 

 barrels were, I think, the cause of all 

 my trouble. I wrote our very able and 

 gentlemanly friend, W. J. Davis, of 

 Youngsville, Warren Co., Pa., who 

 wrote me at once, " Expose your empty 

 hives to the influence of the weather 

 and shade well." No sooner did I read 

 his kind advice than I practiced it. 

 Frames, honey boards and all parts of 

 these hives were here and there over 

 the ground. As luck would have it, I 

 had no new swarms off for some 3 days, 

 and I heartily wished I would never 

 have any more new swarms. But as 

 my hives and fixtures were getting well 

 burnt by the sun and washed by the 

 rain, I thought I would like to have 

 just one more swarm to see how they 

 would act. Well, I had my wish, and I 

 have had no trouble since ; but don't 

 use a single thing about my hives that 

 has not been well purified by the sun 

 and rain. I have tried strong salt wa- 

 ter with oil of anise, but it is of no ac- 

 count. I would like to have some light 

 in regard to refined oil being offensive 

 to bees. 

 McLane, Pa., July 14, 1879. 



[Almost all kinds of oils are offensive 

 to bees, and if the hives or anything 

 pertaining to them had absorbed the 

 smell of kerosene or any rancid oil, it 

 would be apt to create an uneasiness or 

 repugnance on the part of the bees to 

 their new home. We cannot be too 

 careful in preparing nice, clean, accep- 

 table homes for our bees, and making 

 their surroundings as comfortable as 

 possible.— Ed.] 



