326 



gIEANJNGS in bee CULTtjliii:. 



Apij. 



bees you take then arc young- bees that have never 

 been out of the hive, and they will stay where we 

 put them. We now close up the new hive for a 

 week or ten days, until we come again. I don't 

 mean to coutlne the bees in the hive so they can 

 not get out, but just shut up the hive, and leave 

 the entrance open so the bees can work. We go 

 over the whole apiary in the same way, taking- from 

 one to three combs, according to the strength of 

 the old colonies, and making new colonies of six 

 In-ood-corabs and six or eight quarts of bees. In a 

 week or ten days we are back again. Now we take 

 our extractor with us, and extract all the honey we 

 can get. Our old colonies should be just as strong 

 as when here before, and have as many combs. 

 They will build two empty frames full in a week. 

 We again take two or three brood - combs and 

 bees as before, and fill out the old colonies with 

 frames or combs, if we have them. The combs and 

 bees that we have taken out of the old colonies, we 

 use; first fill out the young ones, started when here 

 before, to !) combs— that is, the full size of our hives. 

 After they are all filled out, make more new colonies 

 of six combs. This time we cut out all but one of the 

 queen-cells from the new colonies started when here 

 before, and insei'tinto each new colony, started this 

 titne, one of the queen-cells taken from those started 

 before. Some of those cells will be accepted and 

 hatch; some will be destroyed, and those will have 

 cells to use when we come again. In about a week we 

 are back, and the programme will be about the 

 same. Taking brood-combs from the old colonies 

 keeps them from swarming, and we keep the new 

 colonies strong, from the brood taken from the old 

 ones. We usually go over all about five times; but 

 the new colouies we make, the last two rounds, we 

 make 9 combs, a strong full hive; then we are ready 

 for a sudden stop. The main idea is just this: Keep 

 just brood enough with the old queens so they 

 won't swarm; keep all young colonies strong, by 

 giving them a proper amount of brood, and allow 

 them only one queen-cell, and they won't Swarm. 

 Extract about once a week, then the bees have 

 enough to do without swarming. My experience 

 with bees is, they swarm only when they are or 

 have been crowded during a good flow of honey. 

 We have no trouble about swarming; we use a large 

 hive, extract once a week, increase modei-ately, 

 keep all laying queens' wings clipped, then there is 

 no loss if they do swarm, as they will go back again. 

 Platteviile, Wis., March, 1886. E, France. 



WANTED. 



MORE MAPLE SUGAR. 



RS|EADERS of Gleanings, you ought to have 

 ^5 seen my eyes sparkle, and heard my heart go 

 '"^V pit-a-pat this afternoon when I came across 

 "^ \ the maple-sugar advertisement in March No. 

 of Gleanings, and for sale, too, by a man in 

 Vvhom I had the utinost confidence— one who would 

 not sell me an impure article if he knew it. I wish 

 I could have you all hero under the sound of my 

 voice, and could tell j'ou all about my little visit up 

 Ihere two years ago, and doit justice; then you 

 Would understand why I write this. I shall always 

 think Providence directed me there, and I expect 

 the outgrowth of that little visit to be a benediction 

 to me as long as I live. But, to return to my sub- 



ject. I must have some of that maple sugar in the 

 cake, to stimulate with ; if it will do as well as syrup, 

 it is so much more convenient. I wrote you, Mr. 

 Editor, my fears concerning my bees. I had ex- 

 amined but one colonj', iiiid found a scarcity of hon- 

 ey, and judged all the rest by that one. Mar. 16, 17, 

 18, I took out every frame hi every hive, and I 

 know their true condition. To my great surprise I 

 found plenty of stores to last for some time. Surely 

 the dear Father heard and answered the petitions 

 sent up from time to time, to " not let them starve." 

 I did what I could for them. Number of colonies, was 

 47; 1 was dead, plenty of honey, the hive leaked, and 

 they were wet; 4 were queenless; 1 united them 

 with others; all the rest were in good condition, and 

 raising brood. I clipped all the queens that were 

 not clipped. I am now ready to stimulate "with a 

 vengeance," when that maple sugar comes. 



With your consent I will now have a little chat 

 with sister Harrison. Sister, your article is just 

 what I have been wishing for, for some time. As I 

 am one of the young sisters (only four years old in 

 the business, and fifty in years), I am bashful when 

 in the company of my elder sisters; but as " over- 

 come " is one of my mottoes, I will overcome my 

 timidity, and make a suggestion to you, in answer 

 to your first question to the editor—" What are we 

 to do, who have not chaff hives, and are not able to 

 procure them?" Appropriate part of the honey 

 money for that purpose, or sell part of the bees and 

 make the rest comfortable. 



I will now give you a sj'uopsis of ray husband's 

 manner of wintering bees. He first tried the cellar, 

 then the parlor bedroom, then a south room up 

 stairs, and finally a clothes-press 8 x 10. Those four 

 years of apiculture will never be forgotten by me. 

 It was heavy lifting, anxious care, and loss, until I 

 was sorry the dear Lord ever made a honey-bee. 

 Mr. Gulp then made a chaff hive. I do not know 

 whose invention. It so far excelled the other meth- 

 ods that he was satisfied, but, like your parrel 

 method, they had to be lifted in, in the fall, and 

 taken out in the spring, and that I found to be a 

 nuisance. When I visited Bro. Root, and saw his 

 chaff' hive for the first time, I said, "There, t/iat 

 hive is complete," and I will not rest until mine is 

 as near like it as it can be made. Next to Root's 

 chaff hive, I have the best arrangement for winter- 

 ing bees I have seen anywhere; and the success I 

 have is all that need be said in its favor. I have 

 lost only one colony each winter; and when I let a 

 colony get wet, or starve, I do not blame the chaff 

 or cut-straw hive with it. 



I would say to beginners, adopt Root's chaff hive 

 every time. I have visited not less than 20 apiaries 

 within two years, and find no method of wintering- 

 equal to the Chaff-hive arrangement. It is such a 

 comfort, when thinking about your bees, to feel 

 they are comfortable-not too warm in summer 

 nor too cold in winter; and if they want a whiff of 

 fresh air they can slip down to the entrance and 

 help themselves. The very thought of confining, 

 in a cellar or bee-house, away from the sunshine, 

 any living creature, created to go at will, is repul- 

 sive to me. 



Do you not, sister, take unnecessary trouble In 

 fixing the top part of your hive? My method is 

 simply to examine the brood-chamber by taking- 

 out every frame. If too much honey, take out 

 some; if not enough, give some from surplus 

 frames saved when extracting. Put on Hill's de- 



