598 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



already chosen the parents of the child. 

 The child will be born and reared in 

 California. So much for the "New 

 Revelation." Why, Doctor, you are "off 

 your base " entirely about climate ! You 

 had not even looked up any authority 

 whatever on the subject, and just think 

 of your asking Gallup to "take off his 

 hat " to your climate! Couldn't even 

 think of such a thing, nohow you can 

 fix it. 

 Santa Ana, Calif., April 19th. 



gprliiE Manaiemeiil of Bees. 



Head at an Iowa Co. Farmers' Institute 

 BY C. E. TEETSHOKN. 



On the approach of spring bee-keepers 

 naturally feel desirous of getting their 

 bees out of the cellar. I have many 

 times experienced this desire, but I have 

 learned to hold myself. I want the snow 

 off the ground, mercury 50^ in the 

 shade, a still day, and the bees all out 

 by 11 a.m. 



Next examine as to the amount of 

 stores remaining with each colony. All 

 needy colonies should be supplied at 

 once. Honey is the natural and best 

 food ; granulated sugar comes next. 



I have fed a great deal by placing 

 honey or sugar about the bees under 

 the cap. If sugar is fed it should be 

 melted, but not burned, putting enough 

 water with it to make a syrup, and this 

 syrup poured into frames of comb placed 

 upon the top-bars of the brood-frames. 

 I have frequently kept my bees from 

 starvation in this way for six weeks be- 

 fore the flowers furnished a sufficient 

 amount of nectar. 



SWARMING OF BEES. 



There is nothing in the whole realm 

 of rural economy so pleasing to my eye 

 as the swarming of bees. 



Swarming, as a rule, in this part of 

 the world, begins from the first to the 

 10th of June, and continues from four to 

 six weeks. The greater number of 

 swarms issue between 10 a.m. and 2 

 p.m., but they are liable to swarm at 

 any time between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., 

 and, in exceptional cases, I have known 

 them to swarm as early as 7 a.m. and 

 as late as 5 p.m. 



Bees should be hived within 15 min- 

 utes after they cluster, as, if left from 

 J^ to % of an hour, they will take to 

 their tree in the woods to return no 

 more. 



In hiving a swarm, a good and easy 

 way, where the tree is of no particular 

 value, is to cut off the limb holding the 

 cluster, aud shake the bees off before 

 the hive, but, on the contrary, when I 

 desire to avoid mutilating the tree I 

 shake the bees into a basket and carry 

 them to the hive. 



Drenching bees with water during the 

 process of hiving is a mistake, as it re- 

 tards the natural operations of the 

 swarm. As a rule, I avoid the use of 

 water. Occasionally a refractory swarm 

 must be deluged. 



I have a sheet at hand to cover over 

 the swarm I am hiving, in case another 

 swarm issues, as they will almost in- 

 variably cluster together. In case two 

 or more swarms cluster together, the 

 work is not so easy. 



Suppose three have united ; I place 

 three hives in a triangular shape, and 

 shake the bees between the three. If 

 the bees go too much to one hive, I move 

 it a little farther away. I cage all the 

 queens I can find. If I find all, I have 

 the matter in a nutshell, but in case I 

 do not find all the queens, I have to 

 judge by the movements of the bees 

 where the caged queens are needed. 



All this requires experience. I gen- 

 erally make a success of cthis kind of a 

 performance ; while beginners find it 

 difficult to see the queen, it is surprising 

 how readily the eye of an experienced 

 bee-keeper will discover her. I have 

 never seen more than one queen with a 

 primary or first swarm, but later on 

 with after-swarms I have seen five 

 queens. 



When I deem it advisable to prevent 

 further swarming, I cage the queen or 

 queens, and in this way force the swarm 

 to return to the present colony. If, in 

 order to avoid brood in the surplus, it is 

 desired to wait a few days after having 

 a swarm before putting on a receptacle 

 for surplus honey, be sure to prevent the 

 bees going up into the cap by means of 

 a cloth or board placed over the brood 

 department, remembering that it is the 

 nature of bees to begin at the topmost 

 point and work down. Do not delay 

 putting on the receptacle for surplus 

 more than a week, especially if a good 

 white clover flow should set in, as the 

 brood department is sometimes quickly 

 filled. 



While I would not advise the beginner 

 to invest much in implements for the 

 apiary, two things are absolutely indis- 

 pensable — a bee-veil and a good smoker. 

 I have never worn gloves, but I would 

 not attempt to handle bees without a 

 i veil, as it is not advisable to take too 



