1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



495 



full combs of foundation. In those colonies 

 having old qiicons I spread the brood and gave 

 also full cumbs of foundation, but only one 

 . frame between two brood-combs. By r'oing 

 this the bees were obliged to cover all the combs 

 in that way, as they do if one or two swarms 

 have issued from a good colony. Here, I must 

 say, all my colonies with old queens were natu- 

 ral or artificial swarms, hived at first only on 5 

 or 6 frames, with starters, according to their 

 strength. If the bees had built out .5 or 6 

 frames, then I spread the brood also, and in- 

 serted foundation. All the brood-combs and 

 foundation were full of brood and honey at the 

 beginuing of July. There would be at this 

 time 9 or 10 such combs in those hives. By the 

 preparation of these colonies I took out alter- 

 nately four of the brood-combs with hatching 

 brood, and inserted them in the honey-room. 

 Also I put at the end, 3 or 4 frames full of old 

 combs, tilling the empty places with founda- 

 tion, leaving ail combs, with unsealed brood, in 

 the brood-nest before and near the entrance. 

 Right here I will say, I do not work for comb 

 honey, as we do not have in Germany so good 

 a market for comb honey as for extracted. As 

 I can lift out every frame of my hives single, 

 without iujuring combs or brood and bees by 

 pushing aside the two frames near the desired 

 oue, enlarging the spaces, 1 can do all the work 

 very rapidly. Furthermore, the hives were pre- 

 pared for the migration, as I told you in my 

 other article. Where it was necessary, a wood- 

 en stick was put between the combs, to give a 

 few shaking combs more support, and then the 

 hives were closed with a loosely woven cloth, 

 by nails or cords. 



Ou the <)th of July, 70 to 80 hives were ready 

 for migration, and on the evening of that day 

 loaded on a wagon, like the engraving showed 

 you in my previous article. The hives were set 

 on the wagun so that the combs ran at right 

 angles to the wheels; otherwise, if iheir sides 

 were turned to the wheels the combs would 

 easily break down by the jolting of the wagon 

 from one side to the other. 



At 9 o'clock I started. As all the hives were 

 covered, and closed with a loose cloth, and load- 

 ed top down, in such a way that the fresh air 

 came in contact with the cloth, I was able to 

 feel, by putting my hand over them, as I did 

 now and then, whether the bees were too warm 

 or not. The night was a wonderful one, and 

 the stars shone very brightly. I had traveled 

 only a mile from home when I was aware, by 

 touching the cloths on the hives with my hand, 

 that some of them were becoming hot and 

 damp. In such a case I knew that the bees 

 would be smothered if I did not interfere. 

 There were two of the most populous hives 

 that had become hot. These were loaded on 

 top of the wagon. This showed me what was 

 necessary to do. I uncovered at one end the 

 hives by removing the cloths a little. Of course, 



the bees rushed out of the hive and covered the 

 cloths, but none of them flew oflf or molested 

 me or the cartman or the horses. 



So we traveled on, and came, at two o'clock 

 in the morning, to an inn, called "Imkei's Hei- 

 mat" (Bee-keepers' Home). Here we rested for 

 an hour, feeding the horses and refreshing our- 

 selves. After doing this we went on at three 

 o'clock. On account of the coolness of the 

 night most of the bees of the two hives went 

 inside, and those which hovered on the cloths 

 did not move any way, though the sun soon 

 rose. Now and then, as the sun got higher up 

 the firmament, one or two bees would fly oflf. 

 Of course, they were lost. But that did not 

 matter. 



At 8 o'clock in the morning we were at the 

 place of destination, and not a bee did any harm 

 to us or the horses. These my cartmau brought 

 to the inn of the village Ummern, and I and 

 another bee-keeper, who had his apiary one 

 mile away, unloaded the bees. Setting the 

 hives on a wheelbarrow we wheeled them into 

 the bee- yard and to their stands— at first those 

 two with the bees on the cloths. With a little 

 smoke and gentle handling, all went well. 

 Every hive was laid on its stand, entrance 

 above, but so tliat the cloths faced toward the 

 bee-yard. After all the hives were in their 

 places we covered our heads with a veil and 

 placed every hive on its stand, with the cloth 

 underneath, and then opened the entrances. 

 When this was done I went to the inn of the 

 village, refreshing myself with a good dinner 

 and taking a nap for some hours. 



At four o'clock in the afternoon I found my- 

 self once more in my apiary. The bees, having 

 had a good and long flight, were peaceful, and 

 only a few flew, as the blossoms of the buck- 

 wheat had not opened, but would in the next 

 few days. Then I placed one hive after anoth- 

 er on my wheelbarrow and took oflf the cloths. 

 A few whiffs with the smoker, and I goC a peep 

 into the hive, removed the wooden sticks, and 

 placed the hive on its stand, when I saw all 

 was right. In only one of those two hives, the 

 cloths of which 1 had removed a little on the 

 journey, were two broken combs full of brood 

 and honey. I removed them, placed the hive 

 for a while on its shelf, went aside, and tied 

 with threads and sticks the combs into the 

 frames. When this was done I turned that hive 

 over, set it on the wheelbarrow, blew a few 

 whiffs of smoke into the open places between 

 the combs that the bees there made, and insert- 

 ed again the repaired combs, supporting them 

 by a few wooden sticks thrust into the walls of 

 the hive. 



After I had done this, and seeing all was 

 right, I said to my bees, ''Good-by." Let me 

 say here, that I had insured house and bees 

 against fire and mischief. 



Four weeks later, as the Erica vulgaris began 

 to bloom, on the 8th of August, I hauled an- 



