487 



Translated from the Bienenvater. 



Fructification in Closed Apartments. 



FRANCIS JOSEPH GROHMANN. 



If the bee-keeper has the necessary 

 material with which to carry on the rear- 

 ing of queens, and has also young, un- 

 frnctified queens, then it will become 

 necessary for him, in case he desires to 

 have the fertilization accomplished with 

 certain drones, to make two indispensa- 

 ble arrangements, namely: 1. A barrel 

 must be arranged for this purpose, by 

 fastening below the bunghole, within 

 the barrel, a wire bottom or perforated 

 sheet of tin. 2. A pretty large box, 

 having 5 sides with glass doors, namely, 

 to the ends, sides and top, constructed 

 in such a manner that it will tit upon 

 the hive. When these arrangements 

 have been correctly completed, then the 

 operation itself can begin. 



One of the first queens coming out of 

 the cell is put into the bunghole en- 

 trance, then the glass box is placed 

 upon it with the opening closed, and 

 there she remains to be nursed by the 

 bees that are below the wire screen, un- 

 til the time arrives in which the queens 

 usually make their bridal trips. If the 

 weather is favorable, that is, pretty 

 warm, then the beekeeper must place 

 in the glass box the drone which he de- 

 sires to fructify the queen, open the 

 sliding door, and. as the queen has no 

 knowledge of any larger space than that 

 of her prison, she will immediately be 

 attracted by the drone and the gleams 

 of light that fall within the cage, and 

 will start on her bridal trip, after which 

 she must be replaced by another. 



Austria, April, 1880. 



[This is almost identical with several 

 experiments that have been tried in this 

 country, and pronounced impracticable 

 because of frequent failures. — Ed.] 



From the Sacramento Record Union. 



Go and Tell It to the Bees. 



ADDIE L. BALLOU. 



To my father, A. II. Hart, Sr., who 

 who passed away while out with his 

 little grandchild "on the lawn watching 

 the bees, which for many years have 

 been identified with his daily life, at 

 Appleton, Wis., in his 75th year. There 

 is a tradition among the Eastern people, 

 that when a death occurs in the family 

 some other member must rap upon the 

 hives and tell the bees, else they will go 

 away. Could the dear old man have 

 chosen the condition of his own exit. 



this glorious setting of life's sun into 

 peaceful and painless slumber would 

 have been ordered as it was, on that af- 

 ternoon in July last, when he arose new- 

 born through sudden transition. 



Have you heard the olden legend 



By the Eastern people told, 

 Of the strange old superstition, 



That when Death's dark pinions fold 

 Newly 'round some cherished loved one. 



That the dearest friend to these, 

 To the busy hive must hasten 



And must " tell it to the bees ?" 



Is it true some spirit lingers 



"1'wixt their busy hives and ours, 

 And that half the sweets they gather 



From the breathsttf human flowers ? 

 Did some other wintred thing tell them,. 



When the bees o'er drifts of snow 

 To her window came to perish 



When she died, who loved them so ? 



How distinctly I remember 



All those drear unmothered vears ; 

 Of the lake-side and the cottage 



Where I wept my childish tears : 

 How, from early-budding April 



Till the autumn seered the trees,. 

 Every twilight found my father 



Busy with his swarms of bees. 



For they loved him, and caressed him 



With their gauzy, restless wings. 

 Dusty with the yellow pollen. 



Girt about with golden rings. 

 Year by year they thus enriched him 



With the sweets from flowering trees. 

 And with each white thread that crowned him 



Dearer grew to him the bees. 



Oh, I know how they will miss him. 



All the summer afternoons. 

 When the languid perfume lingers 



O'er the lily-spread lagoons ! 

 And the angel that received him 



Must have told among the trees. 

 When the dear old man, grown weary, 



Fell asleep among the bees. 



Busy bees, cease not your humming, 



Burdened with the summer sweets ; 

 Hallowed thoughts 'round you are clustered, 



Where the past and future meets. 

 When shall come the dark-winged angel, 



And my weary spirit frees. 

 Will some loving friend or kindred 



Tell it to my father's bees ? 

 Sacramento, Cal., March, 18SU. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



About Swarm Catchers. 



GEORGE GARLICK. 



In the Sept. No. of the Journal, I. 

 C. Thorn, M. D., inquires about swarm 

 catchers. As I have made and used 

 them for a number of years, I will give 

 my experience with, and opinion of 

 them. In 1869, having trouble from my 

 bees settling on the trees of my neigh- 

 bors, and their objections to my going 

 on their property to take them, I devised 

 a swarm catcher. It consists of a tin 

 tube 10 inches long, 1 inch deep and 4 

 inches wide, the top having 10 openings 

 5-32x4 inches ; 1 inch at each end is a 

 little tapering ; one end of this tube is 

 nicely inserted into the entrance of the 

 hive, and at the opposite end is placed 

 a box 10 inches square, made of % inch 

 lumber, the end of the tube projecting 



