Oct. "I, 1902. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



647 



The making of the colony queenlcss, which is to be ro- 

 nioved when uniting, has much to do with the bees not re- 

 turninf,', for bees having a ciiieen, and especially ([ueenless 

 bees which have found a queen, are far more likely to ail- 

 here to the location of the colony having the queen than 

 otherwise. 



The other ijlaii that I use with smaller colonies, requires 

 the taking away of all cjuccns but the one where the united 

 colony is to remain, and this is done, as I said before, that 

 the bees may the better adhere to the place where the united 

 colony stands. In taking away these queens, I take all the 

 combs from the hives but two or three having the most 

 honey in them, the uniting of these colonies being left till 

 the brood has all emerged from their cells. In leaving these 

 two or three combs of honey they are spread about an inch 

 apart, setting them out two or three inches from the side of 

 the hive, so that the bees may all be clustered on these 

 combs, instead of hanging to the sides or any part of the 

 hive. 



The hive which is to receive the bees and the combs, 

 and the one having the queen, is also to be prepared before- 

 hand, by taking away all the combs but two or three, the 

 same as with the others, only these are left bee-space apart 

 and close to one side of the hive. 



Having all thus fixed, I wait as before for the colonies 

 having their queens taken away to realize their queenless- 

 ness, and till a day occurs when it is so cool that the bees 

 cluster together for warmth between the spread-apart 

 combs, something as they do in winter. When the right 

 day occurs, or on some cold, frosty morning, I light the 

 smoker and put on a veil, for when using this plan we can- 

 not use the hands should a stinging bee suddenly come for 

 the eyes. 



Being thus prepared, I go to the hive having the queen, 

 and uncover it, giving the bees a little smoke to keep thetn 

 quiet ; and leaving the hive open, so that 1 can set other 

 frames right in without hindrance, I go to one of those 

 from which I took the queen, blowing plenty of smoke in at 

 the entrance while 1 uncover the hive, when more smoke is 

 blown over and around the frames, doing all as quickly as 

 possible before the bees become aroused much. Quickly 

 setting down the smoker, I place the two front fingers be- 

 tween the first two frames near their ends, then the large 

 fingers between the second and last frames, while the third 

 and little fingers are placed beyond the third frames, when 

 by closing up the thumbs and all of the fingers, the frames 

 with the bees all clustered on them are lifted out of the hive 

 in a body and carried to the open hive, where they are to 

 stay, and put in it all together in a body, as thev were taken 

 from their old home, pushing all up close to the frames of 

 bees that are in this hive. 



I now go back and get the smoker, and blow enough 

 smoke on the bees to keep them down, while I arrange the 

 frames as I wish them, when I go to another hive and get 

 another lot in the same way, until two, three or four of the 

 little queenless colonies are all put into this hive having the 

 queen. 



If the day is right, and I have worked as I should, I will 

 have done this with scarcely a bee taking wing, which 

 means the loss of none. Should anv of these little colonies 

 be so strong that a few of the bees are clustered on the 

 side of the hive, this hive can be taken immediately to the 

 united colony, holding it above it, when with a little smoke 

 used on the colony below to keep them down, these can be 

 brushed down on the frames of the united colony. Having 

 all in and the hive closed, clear away all that looks like 

 home from the vacated stands, as in the first plan, and the 

 work is done. 



Both plans are very simple, and accomplish just what 

 IS desired, the latter being a little easier where the colonies 

 are small enough so that the bees can all cluster on three 

 combs well spread apart. Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



Condensed Method of Classifying Knowledge. 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



A very interesting and to me very novel suggestion on 

 bee-subjects, is the arrangement of all bee-journal articles 

 under a classification represented by number, to enable any 

 one rapidly and easily to find all that has been written on 

 any one subject. This comes to me from the Editor of 

 LApicoltore. of Milan, Italy, Mr. A. DeRauschenfels, in 

 the shape of a pamphlet, printed in Italy, in very good 

 English. The suggestion is based upon Melvil Dewey's 

 bibliographic system, employing the ten figuresof arithme- 



tic for different subjects, and subdividing the subjects at/ 

 infmi/iitH, by the decimal addition of numbers. 



It appears that this idea of the American originator, 

 Mclvil Dewey, has been adopted by the Brussels Interna- 

 tional Bibliographical Institute, and that this Institute has 

 appointed Mr. V'ermorel— known the world over by his in- 

 ventions for automatic spraying for the destruction of fungi 

 and insects, a very able and scientific agriculturist and in- 

 ventor—to prepare tables on agricultural sciences according- 

 to the above-mentioned system. This work was completed 

 and published in I'JOO, under the title of " Manuel du reper- 

 toire bibliographique des sciences agricoles, etabli d'apres 

 la classification decimale." 



By Dewy's system the entire human knowledge is 

 divided into ten groups, each represented by one of the ten 

 figures. No. 6 is taken to represent the useful arts. By 

 adding one of the ten figures to this number 6, he again 

 subdivides the arts into ten subjects, as follows: 



60 Generalities. 65 Commerce. 



61 Medicine. 66 Chemical Industries. 



62 Engineering. 67 Manufactures. 



(i3 Agriculture. 68 Mechanical Industries. 



64 Domestic Economy 69 Buildings. 



Taking the word " Agriculture, 63." this is again sub- 

 divided into 10 additional figures, and 638 is meant to repre- 

 sent the subjects of apiculture and sericiculture. The little 

 pamphlet then takes up this subject of bees, and preposes 

 to re-subdivide all questions pertaining to bee-culture in the 

 same manner. It would be too long to go into details, and 

 the reader can understand the system by what I have al- 

 ready outlined. 



The principal advantage of such a system would be the 

 ability to classify almost any subject by a few figures, and 

 this of course would enable the student to find promptly the 

 subjects he might seek, referring to classified tables. 



I don't know hnw this system will strike the readers of 

 the American Bee Journal. It certainly has some very 

 good points, but it makes one dream of the possibilities of 

 the future. It has also a funny side. Just think of the 

 possibility of some day classifying all countries. States, 

 counties, cities, and individuals, by a decimal number! 



Hancock Co., 111. 



No. 10.— Bee-Keeping: for Women. 



Cleaning- Sections for Market— How to Do It. 



BY EMM.\ M. WILSON. 



Of all the beework that has to be done during the en- 

 tire year, I don't think of anything just now that I dislike 

 to do as much, as getting the honey scraped and ready for 

 market, and it is doubtful if there is any work I feel as 

 much like shirking. 



It is a hard, dirty, disagreeable job, for all the honey 

 looks so dainty and pretty when the work is done, and I 

 often wonder, as I stand and look at the finished product, if 

 the people that eat it ever dream of the number of times it 

 has to be handled over and over, and the amount of hard 

 work connected with it before it reaches them in all its 

 beauty. 



It is for the bee-keeper's own interest to put his honey 

 on the market in as dainty a condition as possible, for its 

 attractiveness will have much to do with making a good 

 sale. 



Really good honey, if put up in a slovenly manner, will 

 go begging for a market. 



It is not an easy matter to remove all propolis and stain 

 from the sections, especially if the weather is warm, and for 

 that reason it is better to put off getting honey ready for 

 market until the weather begins to get a little cool, if your 

 market will allow of it ; but in some cases it might be a loss 

 to do so, for it might be to your advantage to have your 

 honey on the market at an earlier date. 



If the work must be done early in the season, do it early 

 in the morning when it is coolest. It will make it easier, as 

 the propolis is brittle and breaks off easily when cool, and 

 is very sticky and hard to remove when warm. 



Formerly I used only a case-knife in scraping honey. I 

 had a board just large enough to hold comfortably on my 

 lap, and a little block to set the section on while scraping. 

 I considered 1.200 sections a pretty good day's work. 



In the last few years I think we have improved a good 

 deal in our methods of scraping honey. We have not only 



