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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



boe-keepcr to be something- oi' a mechanic; foi' 

 while ordinarily he can purchase hives and supplies 

 cheaper than he can manufacture them, still there 

 are times \\ hen the ability to construct a hive, a set 

 of frames, or a section-rack, will come well in play. 

 Many persons wholly unfamiliar with apiculture in 

 any of its parts are surprised to see with what ease 

 a skillful operator will hive a swamn or perform 

 any of the simple or complicated manipulations at 

 times found necessary; but when they learn that a 

 honey-bee when filled with liquid sweets will never 

 volunteer an attack, and that a small puff of smoke 

 blown directly into the entrance of the hive will so 

 alarm them that they will at once fill themselves to 

 the full with honey, that which to them was a mat- 

 ter of mystery becomes as plain as the sun at noon- 

 day. 



The beginner who has prepared himself by studj- 

 of the hive and ho ney-bec, and has procured two or 

 three colonies of Italians in frame hives, will wish 

 to know in the first place where ho shall locate his 

 apiary. In making this selection he should choose 

 a spot where his hives will face as nearly as possi- 

 ble to the south, and the east of south, rather than 

 the west, in case they can not face due south. The 

 hives should be set close to the ground, and the plat 

 in front should be kept clean and free from grass 

 and weeds. The location should be dry, and should 

 allow of the bees descending to their homes, rather 

 that ascending wiien coming in heavily laden with 

 nectar. A tight fence or hedge should protect the 

 noi'th and west sides of the apiary from the cold and 

 piei'cing winds of winter, and, if possible, the hives 

 should be shaded from the scorching rays of a noon- 

 day summer sun. 



After establishing the apiary in a suitable loca- 

 tion (if not done before), the liora of the whole re- 

 gion within liight-range of the liees should be 

 thoroughly studied and learned. This should be 

 done as a matter of economy, foi', if known, it will 

 be known also when to put on and take off sections, 

 or when to extract and when not to; and, also, 

 what is of far more value, to know just when to feed 

 and when to stop feeding. The rearing of brood 

 and the gathering of honey always go hand in hand 

 together. When one stops, the other stops also; 

 regular daily fading in small quantities will, how- 

 ever, keep bi'ood-iearing going on, and by this 

 means colonies are kept strong and ready to gather 

 honey when secreted, when, if they wei-e not so fed, 

 they would hardly be able to gather enough stoi-es 

 for their daily wants. It is exceedingly fortunate 

 that the honey-bee has few diseases and few ene- 

 mies, else it would long ago, in all probability, have 

 become exterminated. The ivor^t enemy of the 

 honey-bee, unfortunately, is man himself. The be- 

 ginner who skims the surface only, in his prepar- 

 atory studies, is the cause of many losses, and that, 

 too, without being aware of it. Constant manipula- 

 tion of the hive, wheieby the brood-nest is broken 

 up. is one means of injuring an apiary. Lack of 

 knowledge in regard to the fundamental principle, 

 that it is onlj' strong colonies that can be perpetu- 

 ated, and neglect of feeding at proper times in or- 

 der to keep these colonics strong, is another and a 

 great cause of loss; but it is in the matter of divid- 

 ing where failures arc largely made. The novice 

 lias learned that a colony can be divided and sub- 

 divided several times in a season, and proceeds to 

 build up a larse a()iary (in niimbers) from a few colo- 

 nies, and considers himself a bee-keeiier in so doing: 



but on the following spring he is exceedingly sur- 

 prised to find his bees a minus quantity, laying the 

 M'hole trouble to ill luck, dysentery, bad stores, or 

 some other cause of the kind, not once imagining 

 that his ignorance is the cause, and the cause alone. 



Bee-keeping, however, can be learned, and learn- 

 ed thoroughlj' and well; and when learned there is 

 no other business or occupation that will pay so 

 large a profit on the capital invested, in ordinary 

 localities even; and in some localities it will pay a 

 profit that even a Gould or a Vanderbilt would not 

 turn aside from. To obtain this profit, however, 

 will demand the whole time of the apiarist; hands 

 and brain must be kept constantly busy, both early 

 and late; and unless one has a particular aptitude 

 for the work, and has fitted himself therefor by 

 careful and thorough study and preliminary prac- 

 tice, instead of these profits he will surely "come 

 out of the little end of the horn." 



Studj-, too, should not end with the reading of 

 teit-books. The science of apiculture is progress- 

 ive and progi-essing, and unless one desires j;o be 

 constantly a tardy follower in the rear, he should 

 subscribe for and study some one or more of the 

 various bee journals now published; and among 

 which T can heartily recommend Gleanings as 

 one of the best. He should not be satisfied with 

 simply reading the views, ideas, experiences, and 

 inventions of ot hers, but should, from time to time, 

 give to the public a history of his own experience; 

 by thus doing ho will not only get good, but will do 

 good, which latter will always i)rove a source of hap- 

 Itiness. J. E. Pond, Jr. 



Foxlioro, Mass., Aug., 18S4. 



SHIPPING BEES TO FLORIDA. 



TUE WAV FRIEND ASHMEAU DOES IT. 



fItlEND HOOT:—! have again started anotJi^r 

 lot (it bees from here to my Florida apiavy; 

 and as I so frequently receive letters in ref- 

 erence to the shipping of bees, I will give you 

 a description of how I ship so successfully. 

 I ship in six-combed hives made as follows: Two 

 end-pieces, 9 x !)i4 x Vi-inch stuff; sides, 19 x 99i x ?^- 

 inch stuff; bottom and top, W^.i x 9^S x ?8-inch stuff; 

 3 end-pieces i)U x Sfa x ?a-inch stuff (these act as 

 handles as well as making the grooves for the 

 frames). In the top, or cover, I bore 3 or 4 holes 

 with an extension bit 3 inches in diameter, which I 

 cover wiMi wire cloth, as also the bee-entrances in the 

 ends of the hives. This gives plenty of air. I also 

 take the precaution to nail two small 14-inch strips on 

 the top of each hive, so in case they are piled up 

 there will plenty of air get under each. 



I use all-wood L. frames, and nail each end se- 

 curely with wire nails (I really believe they would 

 go safely to Europe packed in this way). The boxes 

 weigh about 6 lbs. each ; or a good swarm completley 

 packed, weighing from 18 to 33 lbs., according to the 

 amount of honey, bees, box, and 6 combs, without 

 honey, weigh about 14 lbs. 



WINTEHING AND BREEDING QUEENS IN FLORIDA. 



I sent mine down last fall, and had them returned 

 in June (through Uncle Sam's mail-bag), and they 

 have done well. The early breeding In Florida did 

 not stop their breeding here (for if any thing they 

 have bred too much); soon that point, queens can 

 be safely wintered in Florida, and returned north in 

 the spring. 



