1873.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



35 



which the swarm makes its appearance, or very- 

 soon thereafter. Has the swarm occupied its 

 hive already for a week, and possessing brood, 

 the work of uniting will be more difficult. For 

 performing the operation, I prefer the night to 

 the day, for then the bees are at rest and all 

 gathered into their hives; during the day, 

 owing to the coming and going of the workers, 

 the strange bees are stung and killed, being 

 taken for robbers, and hence attacked. The 

 actual uniting I accomplish in this manner : I 

 destroy the sense of smell in the bees, so that 

 they will take the strange bees for their com- 

 rades. Many bee-keepers use only tobacco 

 smoke, which they blow into the hive. Better, 

 in my experience, is sprinkling the bees in the 

 Mve in which the strange bees are to be placed, 

 with thinned honey. Then the bees to be 

 united are sprinkled with the same honey until 

 they are quite wet, and thrown into the other 

 hive. Through the jar occasioned by casting 

 the strangers into their hive, the bees will be 

 so disturbed, so terrified, that they will not 

 think of the arrival of the strangers. When 

 they undertake to lick the honey from them- 

 selves they will become friends, and through the 

 honey receive the same scent. Never, since I 

 adopted this method, have I had a single bee 

 stung. Many bee-keepers, and I myself often 

 made the bees walk through fresh dewy grass. 

 The reason why the bees will allow themselves 

 to mingle by this method lies in this, that the 

 tresh, damp grass removes the individual scent 

 of the bees. To me, however, sprinkling with 

 honey appears to be the safer method. An old 

 plan now comes to my mind, that instead of 

 honey-water, wine was used. This plan has 

 certainly been proved ; the ground on which it 

 is based is apparent at once — no! the reader 

 without doubt knows what I want to say — I 

 ■would rather stick to my old plan. 



W. LUHMANN. 



Bardowreck, Oct. 4, 1873. 



[Translated from the Binenzeitung.] 



Enemies Changed to Friends. 



With beginners it often happens that, not 

 taking advantage of the counsel of old, experi- 

 enced bee-keepers, they undertake to winter 

 weak swarms and lose them. Nevertheless, 

 this misfortune happens also to experienced bee- 

 keepers wintering healthy and strong swarms, 

 as for instance, the winter of 1870-71, e-r as it 

 ■was this winter in this locality when — since 

 the 22d of October until now — not a bee has 

 been able to leave ; and, judging from appear- 

 ances, will not be able to leave for a month yet. 

 While the bee-keeper is mourning over his dead 

 pets, he should study how to make the most of 

 the leavings of the dead swarm. In the hive 

 ■will be found, especially if it contained a swarm 

 of some years standing, beautiful comb which 



can be used again after the removal of the dead 

 bees hidden in the cells. How can these dead 

 bees be removed from these combs with the 

 least possible injury to the combs? 



It is not long since I began to keep bees. I 

 have taken the Bienenzeituii,g but lately, but in 

 that time — about seven years — I do not remem- 

 ber seeing, anywhere, any plan or suggestions 

 for removing the dead bees from the cells. 

 Generally such combs were thrown into the 

 kettle and melted. This is not, however, the 

 most economical use that these combs could be 

 put. In the absence of a better and cheaper 

 instrument for cleaning these combs, I use — 

 risum teneatis, amid — mice, who, though con- 

 sidered enemies of the bees, willingly under- 

 take the office of grave-diggers; nor do they 

 hesitate to disinter the dead, and thus, through 

 willingness, they change from enemies to friends. 

 I sustain the sentiment of Dzierzon, given in the 

 Bienenzeitung for 1871, p. 6, in reply to Dr. 

 Preuss: "In nature nothing is useless, not even 

 the bee-moth. Think of the caves or crevices 

 in which the bees dwell, when wild, for hun- 

 dreds of years. They would not be able to 

 remove the old wax and renew their combs. 

 Here, now, comes the bee-moth and accomplishes 

 the work of destruction." The same is true of 

 what I have just stated. Quicker and more 

 artfully can no one remove the dead bodies 

 from the cell than do these mice. In a place 

 frequented by mice, especially near the bee- 

 hive, set the combs filled with dead bees, and 

 even box-hives containing immovable combs, so 

 that the mice can get on all sides of the combs, 

 and after two or three nights he will find the 

 combs cleaned out, and the dead bees on the 

 ground beneath the combs. This work, which 

 to us is so tedious and accomplished only with 

 great injury to the comb, the mice do with little 

 or no injury, save here and there a cell may be 

 destroyed, in which the bee may have been 

 more tightly wedged or in which there may 

 have been pollen, which they also remove when 

 there are no more dead bees to remove. Now, 

 as during this winter, many stocks will doubt- 

 less be lost. I think it would be well for the 

 bee-keepers to hand over their combs to the 

 mice, and not throw them into the kettle to be 

 melted down. I trust that mice will no longer 

 be regarded, by our writers, as enemies to the 

 living bees, but as a friendly and skillful aider 

 in cleansing the disordered household. 



T. Sliwka, Pastor. 



Tritiesch hei Teschen in Silesia, Feb. 2, '72. 



[For the American Bee Journa,] 



Sundry Items. 



The Journal looks quite tasty, and I am 

 sure its many readers will appreciate what is to 

 be found between " its covers." 



Page 225, vol. viii., Brooks — suspend your 

 combs on rabbets in a tight box, with space 



