THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



11 



unsuspecting traveller would drown as certainly 

 as if lie stepped into a deep pool of water. 

 From ihe mouth of every individual would pro- 

 ceed a stream of this invisible liquid, which 

 would flow downward like a rivulet and collect 

 in every hollow. The first sleep of the babe in 

 its cradle, would be its last, for the exhalations 

 of its own lungs would gather around its head 

 and smother it. But all these results are avoid- 

 ed by the curious law known to chemists as the 

 diffusion of the gases. By means of this law 

 the poisonous gas produced by our breath is 

 carried away from us, by a peculiar and special 

 force of most wonderful power. Carbonic acid 

 19 not removed from the air of the hive by ab- 

 sorption, as Mr. Adair states. The comb has 

 no power to absorb it ; and if it had, it would 

 not turn it black. Mr. Adair here confouods 

 carbonic acid with carbon — two very different 

 things. We have no reason to believe that car- 

 bonic acid is ever decomposed in the hive. The 

 comb blackens by age and heat. 



The agency of this curious law in the ventil- 

 ation of the hive, must form the subject of a 

 future article, as we see our space is exhausted. 

 J. P. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



How to make Natural Swarms Artifi- 

 cially. 



First : blow in a little smoke at the entrance 

 of the hive ; then take off the honey-board and 

 blow in a Utile more smoke at the top. Use 

 but little smoke at any time when operating 

 with bees. Take your jack-knife and uncap a 

 considerable number of the honey cells at the 

 top of the frames. Now give five or six smart 

 raps on the hive with a small stick. Blow a 

 little more smoke on the bees at the top; replace 

 the cap of the hive, and let them rest about five 

 minutes ; they will be filling themselves with 

 honey in the meantime. Blow a little more 

 smoke in at the entrance, and then, with a stick 

 in each hand, commence rapping quite smartly 

 on the sides of the hive. In about ten or fifteen 

 minutes you will have the queen and a swarm 

 of bees in the cap. Have another cap in readi- 

 ness ; lift off the one with the bees in gently 

 and turn it over, and place the empty one on it, 

 so as to prevent the bees from flying. Let them 

 remain thus five or six minutes, wh'le you are 

 replacing the honey-board and adjusting the old 

 hive. Now take your two caps and carry them 

 five or six rods, to where you want your new 

 swarm to stand. Take off the upper cap, turn 

 it over, and set it up leaning against something 

 convenient. Now take the other cap and shake 

 all the bees out into the one that is leaning up, 

 so as to have the bees there all together. Let 

 them set for about forty minutes, while you are 

 getting a hive ready for them. Then go back 

 to the old hive and take out a frame that has 

 considerable honey and some brood, and put it 

 in the hive intended for your swarm ; for it is 

 bad policy to set the young folks to keeping 

 house without some provision for supper or a 

 rainy day, whether it be a natural or artificial 

 swarm. At the end of your forty minutes your 

 bees will be all clustered and quiet, provided 



they have a queen, You can now hive them 

 the same as any natural swarm, and the}- will 

 work precisely like one in every respect. 



But this perfornvncc must be done about 

 swarming time, and when the bees are gather- 

 ing honey. After the first swarm you will have 

 queen eells to give to the old stock. Introduce 

 one the next day after taking out the swarm. 



In box hives, smoke your bees, turn over the 

 hive, and give it two or three sudden jars on 

 the ground to start the nectar or unsealed honey 

 out of the cells, and use boxes fitting the bottom 

 of the hive instead of the caps. 



In all cases the bees must be perfectly filled 

 with honey. We prefer to leave the old stock on 

 its old stand. Some recommend removing the 

 old hive and setting the new one in its place. In 

 that case you leave none of the old working 

 force in the old stock. 



If done just right and at the right time, it will 

 be just as near natural swarming as any method 

 can possibly be. If you hive them immediately 

 after dividing, without letting them cluster, 

 they will nearly all go back to their old stand. 



Suppose you fail to get the queen the first 

 time, why, try again. You are almost sure to 

 get her the second time. 



In hiving a swarm, I always make it a point 

 to see the queen. 



I practiced this method for years, and some- 

 times practice it even now ; especially if the 

 season is an early one. 



Elisha Gallup. 



Osage, Iowa. 



» 



[From The London Gardeners' Chronicle, March 24, 

 1808.] 



Disease among Bees. 



The subject of bees and bee-keeping being 

 frequently treated of in your columns, it may 

 be of some importance to inquire into the causes 

 and effects of a disease now prevailing iu my 

 own and some other apiaries. The first time it 

 came under my own notice was four years ago, 

 since which it has been increasing both among 

 my own stocks and those of my neighbors. It 

 appeared first with me. in a strong stock in a 

 new hive. About Christmas the bees began 

 crawling out at the entrance, unable to fly ; 

 hundreds were dragged out by the living. They 

 had a darkish appearance, and many seemed 

 ready to burst. A clean new s f and was given, 

 in the hope of checking the mortality, but thou- 

 sands of bees lay on the floor, some dead, others 

 in a torpid state. They continued to die until 

 May of that year, (1864). 



In 1865, the bees of a hive well stocked with 

 honey and bees, began to crawl out and were 

 dragged out, as before. In 1866, I had four in 

 the same condition. One, which stood many 

 yards distant from the other diseased ones, was 

 affected in a like manner, and died ; and what 

 to me appeared strange, was that in a short 

 time, those hives on either side that stood near- 

 est to this stock also died from the same cause, 

 proving the infectious nature of the disease. 



I have tried giving free ventilation to some, 

 and keeping others more close ; but there seem- 

 ed to be no difference in the result. Another 



