202 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



June 



me. The yellow jassamine is in full 

 bloom, causing man3' young Italians to 

 die. I find some of the darker col- 

 ored colonies seem to be immune to 

 this poisonous honey. 



Am working for a flow from gum 

 and gallberry this spring. They failed 

 last year. B. ANDERSON. 



North Carolina. 



Death of L. C. Woodman 



The death of Lewis Cass Wood- 

 man, aged 72, occurred on May 3. He 

 was the father of A. G. Woodman 

 and had been engaged in beekeeping 

 for over 45 years, keeping as high as 

 400 colonies of bees in connection 

 with fruit farming on an extensive 

 scale. His first experience in bees 

 was a purchase of 10 colonies for 

 $150, in the fall of the year, and the 

 next spring they were all dead. He 

 immediately purchased more bees, 

 and has been in the business continu- 

 ously since that time. At different 

 times he has shipped carloads of bees 

 to different parts of Upper Michigan 

 and his last venture of this kind was 

 only 2 years ago in the shipping of 

 200 colonies to the Upper Peninsula, 

 into the famous clover land districts^ 

 which also abound in wild red rasp- 

 berry, epilobium or fireweed and 

 other honey-producing plants. 



Swarms on Foundation 



Some time ago I saw slated in the 

 American Bee Journal that full sheets 

 of foundation should never be given 

 to a swarm, and in the May number, 

 page 170, column 3, you say: "It will 

 not do in hot weather to give all 

 foundation to a swarm." Well, I have 

 hundreds of combs drawn out under 

 this very condition. It is true if a 

 swarm is forced to cluster on the 

 foundation the latter will generally 

 break down, but if an empty hive- 

 body is placed first on the bottom- 

 board and the body containing the 

 frames with foundation over this, the 

 swarm will cluster in the lower empty 

 story; the foundation will be drawn 

 out in a very short time, and the re- 

 sulting combs will be as perfect as 

 one could wish. 



Two days after hiving the swarm I 

 remove the lower empty story, and 

 if some of the outside combs are not 

 all drawn out I put them in the cen- 

 ter. A super should also be given 

 then and if it contains drawn ex- 

 tracting combs a queen excluder 

 should be used. 



The use of an empty story will also 

 help prevent the absconding of 

 swarms. 



Indiana. 



Artificial Increase in Colonies of 



Bees With Prospects for 



a Honey Crop 



By Brother Alphonse Veith, O. S. B. 

 Increase in the number of colonies, 

 either by dividing or natural swarm- 

 ing, will generally result in a shorter 

 honey crop. It can, however, be done 

 with less interference in the produc- 

 tion of honey if handled in the proper 

 way. First, colonies must be quite 



strong, covering about 16 Langstroth 

 frames, with 6 or 8 combs mostly 

 filled with brood. Next is a good 

 honey flow. If a number of colonies 

 are to be divided and the apiarist in- 

 tends to let his own bees rear the 

 queens, then the best and most pro- 

 lific colony should be divided about 

 10 days previous to the O'thers, and 

 the sealed queen cells are used with a 

 cell protector to start new colonies. 



To obtain the best results, choose 

 the time of the day when bees are 

 most busy in ga'thering honey. Place 

 your empty hive right near to the 

 colony to be treated; take half of the 

 combs with brood and bees and place 

 them in the new hive. If drawn-out 

 combs are not at hand, use full sheets 

 of foundaition. Intermingle them as 

 much as possible with the combs al- 

 ready occupied by the bees, and the 

 foundation will be drawn out quicker 

 and straighter than would be the case 

 if placed, side by side. Leave both colo- 

 nies on the same stand as near to- 

 gether as possible; let each occupy 

 half the space which the colony oc- 

 cupied before dividing. This is very 

 important, because the returning field 

 bees, not knowing which is which, 

 will enter into both, and so the work- 

 ing force will be divided more equally 

 than would be the case if one is 

 moved to a new stand. In case they 

 are moved to a new s'tand, a great 

 number of bees will return to the old 

 stand, leaving the new colony weak 

 and almost inactive for many days. 

 However, if left on the stand, as de- 



scribed, they will work more busily 

 than they would if left single. If 

 drawn-out combs can be given instead 

 of foundation, the bees treated thus 

 will store per colony, spring count, 

 nearly as much surplus honey as they 

 would have stored if no increase had 

 been made. This is especially the case 

 when there is a late honey flow. 



Withdrawn-out combs, bees treated 

 thus averaged 65 pounds of extracted 

 honey per colony, spring count, in a 

 locality less favorable for a great 

 honey harvest, and each colony was 

 well supplied with winter stores after 

 the last honey flow, in October. 



(We would recommend that the 

 colony which is to rear the queen- 

 cells be left undivided on the old 

 stand, so that it may not be weak- 

 ened, as it is very important that the 

 queen-cells be produced in a very 

 strong colony. Its queen may be re- 

 moved and used for another purpose, 

 or she may be placed in a new hive 

 with brood from another colony and 

 also given young bees from some 

 other colony. The rearing of good 

 queen-cells is of <the utmost import- 

 ance. — Editor.) 



Mary had a swarm of bees, 



Who, jtist to save their lives. 

 Went everywhere that Mary went, 



Because she had the hives. 

 Now Mary had a nice bee dress. 



Which made the men all wonder. 

 But everywhere that Mary went 



The bees would get in under. 



— Anonymous. 



BEEKEEPERS BY THE WAY 



An Old-Timer 



J. E. Pleasants, of Orange, Calif., is 

 one of the few men still living who 

 went to California during the first 

 gold excitement in 1849. As a small 

 boy he crossed the plains with his 

 father at that time and has lived^ to 

 see California change from a howling 

 wilderness to a veritable garden spot. 

 In 1873 he began beekeeping, and has 

 continued as a honey producer since 

 that time. 



Mr. Pleasants has long been promi- 

 nent among California beemen and 

 had charge of the exhibit of the Cali- 

 fornia, Association at the New Or- 

 leans exposition. For the past 18 

 years he has been in charge of bee 

 inspection for Orange County. 



When he began beekeeping nearly 

 all the honey came from sages and 

 other native vegetation. As the 

 country developed, the flora gradual- 

 ly changed until the principal sources 

 came to be such cultivated crops as 

 oranges and alfalfa, although much 

 honey is still secured from wild 

 plants on the mountain sides. He has 

 produced as high as thirty tons of 

 extracted honey in a season in his 

 apiaries. 



Although regarded as an old-timer, 

 he is by no means a back number, for 

 California beekeepers still regard 

 Pleasants as a leader, and have elect- 

 ed him President of the State Bee- 

 keepers' Association, 



One of California's original old-timers 



