American Bee Journal, 



DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO BEE CULTURE. 



Vol. XI. CEDAR RAPIDS, JANUARY, 1875. No. 1. 



Imcritan |)ce journal 



W. F. CLARKE, 

 Mks. E. S. TUrPER, 



Editors. 



Bees and Flowers at Sydenham. 



The following interesting paper is from 

 the editorial columns of The Farmer, 

 (English), of September 14th, 1874: 



Tuesday was the first day of the 

 exhibition held by the British Bee- 

 Keeper's Association. The attendance 

 at the Crystal Palace shewed that the 

 bees, the botanical show, and the re- 

 vived comedy of Wild Oats, in wliicli 

 Mr. Lionel Brough appeared, could draw 

 a numerous crowd to Sydenham even in 

 September. Suburban masters who keep 

 bees, as they plant flowers, for the grace- 

 ful adornment of their leisure, were pres- 

 ent in numbers. The Beekeeper's Asso- 

 ciation proposes to its members this 

 mission, and in one particular it specially 

 recommends the co-operation of neigh- 

 bours or the assistance of superiors. A 

 honey-extractor is the most expensive 

 machine in the beekeepers' plant. It is 

 usually dispensed willi, and the conse- 

 quence is that from certain combs very 

 pure virgin honey is got by the slow pro- 

 gress of straining ; from others nothing 

 can be obtained without relentless crush- 

 ing of the cells, and the consequent vitia- 

 tion of the honey by wax, bee-bread, and 

 the bodies of undeveloped bees. The 

 cheapest honey-extractor priced in the 

 Association's catalogues is £3, 10s., and 

 it is fair to presume that the best, which 

 obtained the prize, and has no price 

 affixed to it, is dearer. In a few minutes 

 the extractor empties all tlie combs of the 

 hive, and therefore it is not necessary for 

 every cottager to keep one. But the vil- 

 lage might subscribe for one, or some 

 benevolent person might lend it. Lady 

 Burdett-Coutts has already led the way in 

 supplying swarms of bees gratuitously to 

 labouring people on the sole condition 

 that they shall pass on a swarm to their 



neighbours when the profitable insects 

 increase after their kind. 



The principal ai)iarian operation of 

 which examples were given by Mr. 

 Abbott and Mr. Cheshire, and explained 

 by Mr. Hunter, Mr. Hooker, Mr. Syming- 

 ton, and other members of the Provincial 

 Committee, was the driving of bees, which 

 includes a great many minor processes. 

 A few puffs from a pipe caused the bees 

 to retreat among the combs, and the hive 

 was then gently inverted. Above it the 

 new and empty hive was placed with its 

 open end towards the former base of the 

 inverted hive. Then the chief bee-master 

 drummed with his fists upon the lower 

 hive and waited for the rush. At the first 

 disturbance the provident creatures, al- 

 ways (though their life in summer is but 

 six weeks) in fear of a poverty-stricken 

 old age, had hastened to fill their bags 

 with honey. Thus they were heavy and 

 good-tempered, and those who escaped 

 through the gap between the two hives 

 forbore to sting the unprotected face and 

 hands of the bee-masters. In a few min- 

 utes a rushing sound was heard, the bees 

 had begun the ascent ; the queen passed 

 up, the remainder was sure to follow her. 

 It was now safe to incline the top hive 

 backwards so that the spectators could 

 see what was passing idside. Like sol- 

 diers swarming up the walls of a beleag- 

 uered city the bees were observed hurry- 

 ing up in thousands, climbing over each 

 other's bodies several deep, without paying 

 the least attention to the facilities for 

 escape which the open hive gave them. 

 Then the combs were taken out of the old 

 and deserted hive and put in frames into 

 the " slinger " or extractor. A handle is 

 turned and the comb flies rapidily round. 

 Centrifugal action drives out all the honey 

 from the cells; it drops to the bottom of 

 the vessel, and passes thence into the jar 

 placed to collect it. The next thing is to 

 tie up with tape the old combs, some 

 emptied of their honey, some remaining 

 full, in new frames and to place them in 

 the new hive. In twenty-four hours, or, 

 at most, in forty-eight, the fastenings of 

 the tape will become unnecessary, for the 

 bees with cement and wax will have 

 built the combs into the new frames and 



