Feb. 7, 1907 



Amc*rican Hee Journal 



113 



I would scrape them down on the hive 

 with a honey-board. But most of them 

 seemed to have a fad for seeking- the 

 highest branches of the apple-trees. I 

 would mount a tall ladder, carefully 

 draw a large gunny-sack over the clus- 

 ter of bees, then break the branch off 

 and carry them down to their new 

 home in a sack. This was very ner- 

 vous work, but I soon learned that the 

 bees would not sting me if I was care- 

 ful with them. If I were nervous and 

 afraid they seemed to know it, and 

 were much harder to manage. 



One day 2 large swarms came out at 

 the same time and clustered together 

 on the topmost branch of a big tree. I 

 could not reach them even with the 

 ladder and gunny-sack, so I shook the 

 branch vigorously, and bees and apples 

 went tumbling down. I then began to 

 work my smoker as hard ' as I could. 

 Now bees do not like smoke. These, 

 however, did not seem to mind it, and 

 were bound to cluster on that branch. 

 The more I shook and smoked the 

 more determined they seemed to be. 

 This rough treatment, however, made 

 them angry, and a number of them be- 

 gan to sing a wardance around my 

 head. One angry little bee spied a 

 hole in my veil, and in she flew and 

 stung me on the eye. Then it was my 

 time to become angry. It did not take 

 me long to get down from the tree-top. 

 They had won the battle. I decided to 

 let them hold the fort until I could get 

 some reinforcements. 



When the men came in to dinner I 

 got one of them to saw the top off the 

 tree for me, and bring down fort and 

 all. My eye was swollen shut by this 

 time, and that side of my face was very 

 plump and rosy for a few days. 



I put the bees all into one hive and 

 watched for a balled queen. I soon 

 found the ball. I had never had this 

 experience before, and oh ! how I 

 dreaded to put my hand down among 

 those bees and lift out that ball of 

 bees ! But I did it. My hand shook, 

 but they did not seem to notice it. I 

 found the queen, caged her, and waited 

 results. All was quiet in the new 

 home, or seemed to be until about the 

 middle of the afternoon. Then the 

 storm began. I saw them rush out of 

 the hive-door like mad. I thought my 

 swarm was going to the tree-top again. 

 I ran to the hive and placed the caged 

 queen on, the doorstep. She must have 

 called them home again, for they re- 

 turned and lived peacefully ever after- 

 wards. 



During the whole season I received 

 only 3 bad stings. The swarming sea- 

 son is very short, lasting only about 5 

 or 6 weeks. During the last week the 

 bees had almost all stopped swarming, 

 and were working in the supers. Some 

 of the stronger colonies had the sec- 

 ond super half full of honey. 



My brother told me that Saturday 

 would be my last day in the yard. I 

 had already hived 49 swarms, and felt 

 sure of another one before Saturday. 

 Thursday and Friday passed and no 

 swarm appeared. I watched anxiously 

 all Saturday morning, but in vain. In 

 the afternoon the sky began to cloud 

 over, and I gave up all hopes of get- 

 ting my SOth swarm. I gathered my 

 things together, ready to start home, 

 but before I went I thought I would go 



down through the orchard and see if I 

 could find some ripe apples. When I 

 returned I noticed a commotion in the 

 further end of the bee-yard. I went 

 over to .see what was the matter. The 

 rain was now f.Uling and the air was 

 thick with bees returning from the 

 field, but there on one of the lowest 

 branches, in easy reach of a hive, was 

 a little afterswarm. All I had to do 

 was to get the hive and shake it in, 

 and my SOth swarm was safe I 



A Little Bek-Sister. 



Many thanks for the interesting 

 story of your experience, with the 

 hope that this shall not be the last we 

 shall hear from you. 



May it not be that those studies will 

 be iust a little more interesting be- 

 cause you earned the money for them 

 yourself ? It's much to have so good a 

 brother ; and one feels like holding 

 one's breath for fear you might not 

 get that last swarm. 



anadian 



Conducted by J. L. Bter, Markham, Out. 



North and South in Hand-Grasp 



It is with pleasure I grasp the ex- 

 tended palm of Mr. SchoU (page 70). It 

 is a case of " looking up " and " stoop- 

 ing to concur;" factors, evidently, by 

 looks of splendid photograph on that 

 first page, that did not have to be 

 taken into account when Mr. and Mrs. 

 SchoU were considering matrimonial 

 relations. 



sumption of stores is much greater in 

 the South than in the northern sec- 

 tions. 



However, I am free to confess that 

 " bees flying and 80 degrees Fahr.," 

 sounds pretty alluring just now ; and 

 from the fact that a former schoolmate 

 of mine is now domiciled in Beeville, 

 Tex., I have no doubt that if I had to, 

 I could manage to live there also. 



Comparison of Southern and 

 Canadian Weather Condition 



Honey from Cappings With a 

 Solar Wax-Extractor 



So they are having summer weather 

 down in Texas, with the thermometer 

 registering as high as 80 degrees Fahr. 

 As I read this I am wondering if those 

 " roses, violets, and carnations " have 

 not been nipped since Mr. SchoU 

 penned those lines, as this past week 

 has been our first taste of real, severe 

 weather, the temperature going as low 

 as IS degrees below zero. 



After reading aloud to Mrs. Byer the 

 nice things Mr. SchoU has to say about 

 Texas weather, I asked her, •' Now, 

 wouldn't you like to live in Texas?" 

 and the answer comes decidedly, 

 'Well, no; I guess not.'" Whereupon 

 she gives as reasons a number of ob- 

 jections to the South in general, among 

 which I might mention earthquakes, 

 cyclones, extreme heat, and drouths ; 

 snakes, fleas, and other insects too nu- 

 merous to catalog. 



Come to think of it, I guess no coun- 

 try has a monopoly of all the good, or 

 bad things, for that matter. While our 

 winters are cold, we prepare for them, 

 for we know tliey are sure to come ; 

 and from an apicultural standpoint, we 

 don't seem to have any more trouble to 

 get our bees ready for the honey-flow 

 than do our friends in the South. Win- 

 ter effectually stops the ravages of the 

 moth, and combs that are stored away 

 in moth-proof boxes in November, are 

 secure for all time to come ; and I am 

 told, and can readily believe, that con- 



In a letter from Mr. George Wood, 

 of Wesley, Ont., speaking about get- 

 ting honey out of cappings, etc., among 

 other things he says : 



" I have used a solar extractor for 

 that purpose, but it takes a lot of time, 

 and in this breezy upland country it 

 does not always work out clean." 



^r. Wood's experience is in common 

 with a great many other apiarists ; 

 and especially in wet, cool seasons like 

 the past few years, the solar extractor 

 is not much to be depended upon with- 

 out the use of artificial heat. As far 

 as I am concerned myself, since using 

 the press (of which more later), I have 

 no use for my solar extractor, as I find 

 it much better, in every way, to allow 

 the cappings to drain off all the honey 

 that is possible, then wash them to 

 secure what honey is left for honey- 

 vinegar. It is then only the matter of 

 an hour or so to melt up all the cap- 

 pings and run them through the press. 



Cold Winter and Little Snow 



Up to date (Jan. 23) we have had a 

 moderately cold winter with scarcely 

 any snow. Although a few days in 

 January were quite mild, yet none were 

 warm enough for the bees to have a 

 flight. Our bees seem to be affected 

 slightly with dysentery, judging by 

 signs at the entrances of some hives, 

 and a few colonies seem to be some 



