144 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Dec, 



be moved at any time when they are all in the 

 hive, eithei" at nioht or in the day time. It is 

 dit3[icult to move bees at any time, without loss, 

 unless they are moved from three to four miles. 

 New swarms should be moved immediately on 

 hiving, to their jjermanent stand. It is well to 

 move while some ai-e on the wing, as they will 

 follow suit and attract one another to the hive. 

 If any should get bewildered, they will return to 

 the parent hive. If left where hived until dark 

 and then moved, as the general practice is, large 

 numbers flying out next day will I'epair to where 

 they were hived, and from there to the old stand ; 

 and such are generally destroyed by the bees. 

 Yes, friend Novice, that is right ! Pitch into the 

 hen-roost moth-trappers, and those that kill bees 

 in June, or in any other month in the year, for 

 their honey. Yes, clean them out. Root and 

 branch ! And I will tell you how to manage 

 those queen cells. Kemove the queen two days 

 before inserting the cells ; then place the cell in 

 the comb surrounded by unhatched brood, and 

 place it near the centi-e of the brood chamber. I 

 do this for two reasons ; First, the bees will not 

 be so liable to destroy the cell ; second, the queen 

 cell may be kept in a uniform temperature, that 

 the queen may become rightly and fully devel- 

 oped. Cells placed upon the top of frames, or 

 outside of the clustering bees, are more apt to be 

 destroyed by the bees, or to get partially chilled 

 and thus not mature perfectly. Next, we come 

 to Price's Natural Prolific and Hardy Queens. 

 But as I have an "axe to grind" in this queen 

 business, I will just simply say, that all queens 

 I have seen are natural ones, and I claim that 

 bees do not know how to make artifieidl (lueens. 

 Next, G. M. Doolittle has smoked his bees to 

 death with tobacco. I hope he has learned a 

 lesson, and that no one else will allow his bees to 

 be smoked with tobacco. It makes them cross 

 and irritable for weeks after. Next comes Igno- 

 ramus and the looking-glass. It seems this, 

 like a sun dial, would not work on a cloudy day ; 

 but as he says he writes for the Bee Journal for 

 a purpose ditt'erent from the object of a teacher, 

 we will let hini pass, hoping to hear from him 

 again. Next Posel says that if a colony of bees 

 has suffered from hunger for twenty-four hours 

 the fertility of the queen is impaired. Posel is 

 correct. All queens chilled till they are dormant 

 are worthless. Although most of them will 

 afterwards, when revived, lay a few eggs, they 

 will soon be superseded. My friend, Thaddeus 

 Smith, of Pclee Island, I see is pretty well satis- 

 fied as to bee-hives. Then comes the Thomas 

 hive, by George Cork ; Shallow or Deep Hives, 

 by Calvin Rogers ; Wintering Bees, by R. Bick- 

 ford — all of which I let pass, as "doctors disa- 

 gree." Gallup on Ventilation. Yes, that three- 

 inch hole is all right, so there was no other hole. 

 But how would it have been, had there been a hole 

 at the bottom of the gum, with this one at the 

 top ? My doctrine is, give bees plenty of venti- 

 lation ; but only at one place, so as to avoid a 

 current of air. Levi Fish thinks Alley's im- 

 proved hive is just the thing, and thinks we had 

 better all try it. Next in notice comes J. M. 

 Price's rag-smudge. I differ with him in regard 

 to smoke. Don't smoke your bees with rags or 



tobacco. Rotten wood answers every purpose, 

 much better. Of course, Gallup will help H. 

 Nesbit out of his misliaps with the queen nursery 

 and fertilizing cage. I can do nothing for him, 

 being a disbeliever in such fixings. My plan is 

 to keep two or tliree queenless colonies, giving 

 them brood from time to time, from my breeding 

 queens, so as to have queen cells of suitable 

 age to transfer whenever needed. These cells 

 I use for rearing queens and making artificial 

 swarms, giving a queenless part a cell. It is 

 much cheaper than to furnish them with fertile 

 queens, and altogether better than to let them 

 rear queens from the egg. 



One word more, and I am done. In regard to 

 our National Bee-keepers' Convention, to be held 

 at Indianapolis on the 21st and 22d of December, 

 I hope all who can will attend, and bring with 

 them their improvements, hives, honey ex- 

 tractors, and in brief everything that will be es- 

 sential in practical bee-culture. We expect to 

 see men there, too, whose judgment will do to 

 rely upon. So bring along all the fixtures, and 

 let us see who has the best. In regard to the 

 controversy about the National Convention, I 

 for one am free to say that I believe the Michi- 

 gan Convention acted fairly and honorably, 

 giving all a cordial invitation to attend their 

 Convention, and have a voice in determining 

 where the National Convention should be held. 

 If we failed to attend their meeting, I think we 

 should hold our peace ; and we hope that friend 

 King and others, if others there be that do op- 

 pose, will yet see i^rojier to act in good faith with 

 the Michigan Convention. 



A. Benedict. 



Binnington, Ohio. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



The Looking-Glass— Concluded, 



!Mr. Editor : —I see on pages 102 and 103 of the 

 current volume of the Journal, that Mr. Doo- 

 little and Mr. Ignoramus bring conclusive jn'Of'f 

 against my theory in regard to the looking-glass 

 stopping decamping bees ; so I will have to give 

 in, but have the satisfaction of having caused the 

 proof to be produced, which will undoubtedly 

 convince many others who thought as I did. 



I have seen so many erroneous articles in 

 print, that I am inclined to look upon many 

 things I see written about bees with some doubt, 

 until they are fairly proven to be true, by such 

 evidence as j\Ir. Ignoramus and Mr. Doolittle 

 have adduced, sufficient to convince the most 

 skeptical. Now, Mr. Ignoramus, I think as you 

 say in the Bee Journal, that we should all put 

 our shoulders to the wheel and help on the cause 

 of bee-keeping. And in order that I may add 

 further testimony to your side of the looking- 

 glass, I will, if health permit, next season, allow 

 some half dt»zen swarms to start off for the 

 woods, fiy half a mile, stop them with the glass, 

 and report to the American Bee Journal. 



A. Nesbit. 



CyntJdana, Ky., Nov. 12, 1870. 



