1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



.5H1 



transferred all his bees from the old log hives yet. 

 When is the best time of year to transfer in this cli- 

 mate? E. Victor Cox, ag-e 13. 



Chocowinity, N. C, July :.'5, 1W4. 



Thank you, Victor. I should advise your 

 papa to fix his hives a little better before he 

 starts out Mdth another load. It was not 

 very many days a^o that Neighbor IL bor- 

 rowed old Jack and our one-horse Avagon to 

 move some bees home he had bought. He 

 knew when he started that he ought to fas- 

 ten the covers of the cliaff hives down ; but 

 as Jack is pretty moderate in his movements, 

 he thought he' could keep them all safe, 

 without the trouble of fastening them down. 

 They did very well until they got to the 

 railroad track, and tlie jolt of crossing got 

 one of the hives out of place. Of course, 

 the bees got out and went for neighbor II. 

 Jack backed the wagon down in a hole, and 

 Neighbor II. tried to get him unhitched ; but 

 before he got tlirough, one of the chaff hives 

 tumbled out on the ground. Jack broke 

 away from the wagon, and ran home, and 

 Neighbor II. had to hire a man to help him 

 push the wagon home afoot. He said the 

 bees stung him on the hands and face, so 

 many of them, that he just smashed them 

 up on his face, and threw them away by the 

 handful. All this trouble, broken combs 

 and murdered bees, just for the want of a 

 hammer and half a "dozen nails for five or 

 ten minutesi— Tour question in regard to 

 transferring Avill be found fully answered in 

 the A B C book, I think. 



THE CONVENTION AT FLINT LAST 

 PALL. 



Be'ported by 9-Year-Old Bee-Girl. 



ALSO SOME OTHER MATTERS. 



«S the state Bee-Keepers' Convention was here, 

 I must tell you something about it. There 

 were lots of bee-keepers here, and they kept 

 meeting- day and night. They were talking 

 about wintering bees; some winter in cellar, 

 and some outdoors; some had lost all of their bees, 

 and some not. A man wintered his bees in cellar 

 all right, and after he took them out, all died off. 

 My papa wintered his bees outdoorson the summer 

 stand in his new hives, and lost not a single swarm. 

 There were many talking about wintering. One 

 gentleman said he liked to winter outdoors, but the 

 packing was too much trouble. My papa told him 

 if that was all, he should come and see our packing. 

 Papa has a little girl nine jears old that packs a 

 hive in less than five niintucs. 1 will tell you how 

 I do it. Pa puts on the partition-board, then I take 

 a handful of straw, and wind a piece of cloth around 

 it, then put it on the bottom, then till the rest with 

 a basket of leave?, and our packing is done. My 

 papa and 1 packed 88 hives in two evenings by 

 moonlight, after supper. 



There was talk about separators; some want 

 them, and some not. We don't use them, and our 

 comb is as straight as can be; and if one is a little 

 crooked or drawn out, I pack them. I wait until I 

 have two of them, then I set an empty box between 

 them, so I can setback everyone; and if I carry 

 them to our customers, they pick them Qijt and say, 

 •" Ppf* Jl.ow nice pnf^ fu)l tliey be." 



There was a great deal of talk about every thing, 

 and one gentleman said we ought to have had 

 meetings three days; but in your report it looks as 

 if nobody said any thing. Pa says Michigan bee- 

 keepers can not be very proud of your report. 



The few gentlemen who were in your report 

 came from some other State. You spoke in Glean- 

 ings about your hall in Ohio. Pa said the hall for 

 the Flint convention was the smallest one they 

 could get. The people could not sit down; some 

 had to stand up; and the table that the exhibition 

 was on, was so crowded, if one stood near, the oth- 

 ers could not get around him. Pa wondered why 

 thej' did not take another hall, as there are plenty 

 of halls in Flint. 



Many of the gentlemen who visited our apiai-y 

 made the remark, "You have a nice lot of bees." 

 We have now 79 swarms in our yard, all alive, sweet 

 and clean. Pa gave me and my brother and sister 

 each a swarm of bees last summer. As the weather 

 was bad, we did not get much honey; Viut as all was 

 good for winter, we hope to get lots next summer. 



One day a swarm came out, and went on a large 

 oak-tree. Our neighbors said, " How will you get 

 them down?" Pa got a high ladder, and sent up my 

 brother, 13 years old. He tied a little saw on one 

 arm, and a long rope on the other, and he climbed 

 up the tree. He took a saw and cut the limb. As 

 we worked at that, another one came out; and as 

 we worked at that, another came out, and they ran 

 together; and as we hived them, my brother said, 

 " Loosen that rope I" At the same time my pa said, 

 "There is another swarm!" 



I did not know which 1 should run to; but after 

 we got them all hived, as my brother was high 

 enough, he tied the rope on a limb, and let the limb 

 down with the bees. Our neighbors wondered why 

 my brother could do it. 



Pa heard that many bees around here starved to 

 death. Now, Mr. Root, is that not awful— keeping 

 bees, and all starving to death? You have done a 

 good deal about tobacco; but would it not be good 

 to write a little more about bees starving? Pa be- 

 lieves that it is not wicked or sinful to use tobacco. 

 He doesn't use any tobacco at all, but he honestly 

 believes that it is more sinful to let bees starve. 

 Folks say they have not time to tend to them. Now. 

 Mr. Root, I think here is something for you to 

 tend to. Ella Koeppen. 



Flint, Mich., Feb. «, 1884. 



Why, Ella, you are a regular little chatter- 

 box, I should say. Didn't you get out of 

 breath when you wrote that V I shall have 

 to explain to the friends, that perhaps Ella 

 alludes to the convention at Columbus, when 

 she speaks of having it in such a small room, 

 and I guess there is an incidental allusion to 

 the saloon that was just below the conven- 

 tion hall. Now, Ella, I do not think it is so 

 very bad, even if the room (s small, although 

 if there should happen to be a good many 

 present, it seems a little inconvenient. Our 

 minister once said, that a large prayer-meet- 

 ing in a small room is a great deal better 

 than a little prayer-meeting in a great big 

 room, and may lie the same will hold true in 

 regard to Itee ('onv<>nti()ns. I am glad you 

 succeeded in getting those swarms down all 

 right, and I sliould think that your pa ought 

 to be thankful that he has got boys and girls 

 so ready to pitcli in and help wlien the bees 

 get hini into a tight place. 1 wonder if you 

 would talk to me as volubly, my little friend 

 Ella, if I should ever come to see you. as you 

 have written the above lettev, 



