106 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



July 



when the apiary is situated near the 

 residence of the proprietor. The 

 hives are painted, arranged in better 

 order, vines, fruit trees, and rose 

 bushes with a wealth of flowers and 

 tints, such as no other country can 

 produce, all surround the apiary, 

 making it a pleasure to the eye and 

 in fact to all the senses. 



Such a revolution in California bee- 

 keeping would result in more enthusi- 

 astic bee-keepers , fill our conventions, 

 make better exhibits at our fairs, and 

 place our products upon the markets 

 at a more profitable figure. " The 

 mills of the gods grind slow but very 

 fine." It may be that such a reform 

 may in time be ground out. That it 

 may is the wish of the — Rambler in 

 Review. 



{California.') 



CRAMPS IN QUEEN — FEAR ASSIGNED AS 

 THE CAUSE. 



I used to be bothered a good deal 

 by queens getting the cramps, when 

 caging them. Sometimes they would 

 appear all right when put into the 

 cage, but would keel over and lie on 

 their side motionless for several sec- 

 onds, without showing a sign of life, 

 then begin to move their legs, and 

 then would drag themselves around 

 feebly, but would soon be all right 

 again, and as spry as ever. I was 

 afraid they might be injured, and re- 

 turned several to their hives until 

 their eggs hatched and larvse were 

 well grown. Several times they would 

 be a long time in recovering, and I 

 had a few, perhaps three or four, that 

 died. One, at least, that I returned 

 to the hive never recovered. 



I think fear has a good deal to do 



with the cramps," as, in my exper- 

 ience, the queens that are hard to 

 catch are more liable to the affliction 

 than others. Queens that are picked 

 up quietly, and quickly placed in a 

 cage, seldom if ever show any sign of 

 " cramps," while if a queen is chased 

 around, and frightened, then held 

 some time before caging, she is quite 

 apt to show more or less of the symp- 

 toms. 



As 1 have caged some 600 queens 

 this spring, with but one showing any 

 sign of cramp, and that was owing to 

 my carelessness, as I was in a great 

 hurry, I will tell how I do. I open 

 the hive as quietly as I can, when 1 

 find the queen, set the frame so I can 

 pick her up, take the cage in my left 

 hand, and sprang up the wire cloth 

 with the forefinger, then pick the 

 queen up by the wings, with thumb 

 and forefinger of right hand, bring- 

 ing the cage close to the queen as I 

 pick her up and drop her into the 

 cage quickly and gently. Very sim- 

 ple, is it not ? But sometimes there 

 is a hitch. Quite often the frame has 

 to be held with one hand while the 

 queen is caught, and then while the 

 other hand is getting the cage ready 

 the queen gets terrible frightened, 

 and struggles frantically to escape 

 and goes off into a kind of fit. Un- 

 der these circumstances, as soon as I 

 have caught the queen by the wings 

 with thumb and forefinger I slide the 

 second finger out under the queen so 

 she can stand on it. When every 

 thing is " lovely" she has solid bot- 

 tom under her, and seems to lose most 

 of her fear at once. I have carried 

 queens around for some time when 

 held as above, and have never had 



