298 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



October 



you need not bother thera. But if they 

 need food place a comb of honey from 

 last year, or a comb of syrup in the 

 brood -chamber. Then let them alone, 

 packed warm till June. Prepare the 

 supers with sections and starters of 

 light foundation some rainy day. 



The first week or ten days of June 

 you may walk by the strongest colony 

 and turn back the corner of the cluth^ 

 and if they are not whitening the up- 

 per edges of the combs with new comb, 

 you can go to your plowing. But if 

 they are, you must put on two supers 

 of sections right away. It only takes 

 one-half minute to do this, looking to 

 one hive every day during the first of 

 June. 



If the sections are on and half filled, 

 you should lift the supers and place a 

 new one under, and go about your 

 plowing. 



If working for extracted honey, 

 you simply place the upper story on 

 full of empty combs, and go your way 

 rejoicing. But if they swarm you 

 should hive the swarm in a new hive 

 on the old stand, and give them the 

 sections from the parent colony. Don't 

 put any empty combs in the brood- 

 chamber in the new hive. Give only 

 full combs and frames with starters. 



When your honey season is over you 

 can take it some day if you wish, but 

 if for home use I would leave it on the 

 hive. It gets a little travel-stained, 

 but has a richer hive-flavor, and is al- 

 ways new and fresh tasting. When 

 winter comes, take it off and close the 

 bees down in the brood chamber; 

 place some inverted wooden butter 

 dishes over them; see that they have 

 plenty of honey by lifting the back 

 end of the hive, and cover with duck- 

 ing, fill the top box with clover chaff, 



and let them go till March. Be sure 

 that mice can't get into the hive. 



You need a few tools about the 

 apiary— smoker and a veil for four or 

 five colonies. I roll up carpet paper 

 for my smoker. 



There is no reason why most of the 

 families of Indiana should not thus 

 with a little care and tact enjoy the 

 richest luxury the sweet world can 

 afford. 



(From Southland Queen. I 



POISON HONEY. 



BY L. STACHELHAUSEN. 



A question very much discussed in 

 the last year is: "Do bees gather 

 poisonous honey?" I would rather 

 express the question in a somewhat 

 different form, because it is a well- 

 known fact that bees, under certain 

 circumstances, will gather poisoned 

 sweets. The question should read: 

 " Do bees gather poisonous nectar, or, 

 will they prepare poisonous honey out 

 of pure nectar of any poisonous 

 plant?" 



In my practice of many years I 

 have never heard nor read of a single 

 approved case that the bees had gath- 

 ered poisonous honey from the nectar 

 of any plant. I never observed any 

 poisonous honey in my apiaries; never- 

 theless I know my bees gathered honey 

 from the following poisonous plants in 

 Germany: Daphne, Mezerum, Atropa 

 Belladonna and Euphorbia. Here in 

 Texas are hundreds of acres of moun- 

 tain laurels quite close to my home- 

 apairy, and the bees gather honey 

 from these plants nearly every year, 

 but I never had any poison honey. 

 More than this, I know of one ap' 

 proved case where little children eat a 



