1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



835 



be that the passage overihe top of C would 

 be too small to let them travel back and 

 forth from the combs to the feeder. I 

 should think a colony might empty the feed- 

 er in three or four hours, and once or twice 

 full would winter them. Friend H. has not 

 mentioned the price, so you will have to 

 write to him. Probably it is given in his 

 price list. 



Now let us see what objections we can 

 find, for we always consider the objections to 

 every thing that is figured in (iLEANiNCTS. as 

 well as the good qualities. If you feed many 

 hives at once you will want quite a number 

 of Iteeders, which must be stowed away 

 somewhere. They can be tiered up like 

 Simplicity hives, it is true ; but they are oc- 

 cupying "quite a little room. Your hives 

 and covers must be made so exact that any 

 feeder will lit in the hive bee-tight. If you 

 should have warped covers tliat would let 

 the bees squeeze out and in, oh my! what a 

 robbing you would have! and I am" inclined 

 to think, that if our bees got a going they 

 would push those covers right up. unless 

 there were a pile of stovevvood or some 

 stones on top. I do not quite see, either, 

 how it is that no l»ees ever have their wings 

 daubed ; for if that feeder were chock full of 

 bees licking out the last bit of feed around 

 the bottom, and the feeder should be sud- 

 denly filled up, wouldn't the honey spouting 

 througli those saw-cuts sprinkle their backs 

 —at least a few of them? And if it boiled up 

 under that partition rapidly, wouldn't they 

 cling to tlie bottom until they were covered 

 up, a good manv of them? I have used just 

 such feeders with a glass over the top ; and, 

 in fact, the Gray feeder is on the same prin- 

 ciple; and wiien we fill it up, the bees do 

 not rise up on top of the syrup, as we ex- 

 pected to have them. A good many stick to 

 the bottom, and come up and swim after a 

 while. I do not think of any other objec- 

 tion, and no doubt these can all be easily 

 overcome. Warping covers, or covers a lit- 

 tle on the wind, I think will be found the 

 most troublesome objection. 



UNITING NUCLEI; A NEW PLAN. 

 doolittle's methou. 



AM requested to give In Gleanings my new 



Ir plan for uniting- nuclei, which I used the 

 f past fall with perfect success. Previous to 

 this my worst trouble has been, that by all the 

 ordinary modes of uniting bees, too many of 

 them would return to their old location, thereby 

 causing quite a loss of bees, while with the plan 

 about to be described no such loss will occur, pro- 

 viding the bees are caused to flII themselves with 

 honey. Also in uniting in this way, Avhether nu- 

 clei or full colonies, the bees never quarrel, no mat- 

 ter whether it is a time of scarcity or of plenty, re- 

 garding the honey secretion. 



I first make a box without sides, large enough to 

 hold the desired quantity of bees. For 3 or 4 nuclei 

 this box should hold about l:i quarts; while for 

 uniting full colonies or a large number of nuclei it 

 should hold at least 20 quarts, as the bees must not 

 be so crowded that a lack of ventilation is caused. 

 This box i{* to have each side covered with wire- 



cloth, one of which is to be nailed permanently to 

 the box, and the other is to be made removable by 

 tacking the wire cloth to a light frame which can be 

 easily put on and taken off the box. In the top of 

 the box a hole is cut, into which one of the large 

 funnels used in putting up bees by the pound is to 

 be inserted. A small hole is bored near one end, 

 through which the selected queen is to be given to 

 the bees after all are put together in the box. Some 

 means should also be provided to close the large 

 hole which is used for the funnel, as well as a cork 

 tor the small hole. Having all in readiness, pro- 

 ceed to the nuclei which are to be united, and blow 

 a little smoke into the entrance of the first, after 

 which give the hive several smart raps or blows up- 

 on its top with the doubled-up hand, when you will 

 pi-occed to the next, and treat that in the same way. 

 This is done to cause the bees to fill themselves 

 with honey; for unless thoroughly filled, some will 

 return. 



When sufficient time has elapsed (I usually wait 3 

 or 4 minutes) for the first one to get filled with hon- 

 ey, 1 proceed to open the hive and shake the bees 

 into the funnel, down through which they go into 

 ihe box. If 1 have not pre\iously disposed of the 

 queen I catch and cage her when I come to her. In 

 this way the bees are shaken from all the combs 

 into the box. When well filled with houej', even 

 the Italians are quite easily shaken off the combs. 



Right here I will tell the readers how to shake 

 bees ott' combs, as many seem to be unable to get 

 the bees off ^hort of brushing. The bee braces it- 

 self only against falling ott' the comb downward, 

 for the thought that it is possible to fall upward off 

 the comb never seems to enter its head, so it holds 

 tenaciously only from the upper side. Taking ad- 

 vantage of this fact I take the projections of the 

 top-bar to the frame, and place them on the two 

 middle fingers of each hand, letting the frame hang 

 on them, as it weie. Now raise the frame up quick- 

 ly by raising my hands six inches or more, and then 

 with a quick motion strike down. This quick down- 

 ward motion causes the ends of the frame to jump 

 from the ends of the fingers and strike the ball of 

 the hand, thus giving the comb a sudden jar with a 

 downward motion at the same time, while the im- 

 petus of the bees is all upward. This takes them all 

 unawares, and thus dislodges them from the comb, 

 while any quantity of downward shakes would loosen 

 but few of them. In this way 1 can clear a comb 

 entirely of bees in short order by giving it 3 or 4 

 such jars. Metal-cornered frames are not so easily 

 managed, but it can be done even with them. 



But, to return. As soon as all the bees from the 

 first nucleus are in the box, I proceed to the second; 

 but if more than two are to be united I go first and 

 smoke, and drum on the tnird hive, so the bees in 

 that can also be filling themselves with honey, 

 when No. 2 is shaken in the box with the first, and 

 in the same manner. And thus I keep on till I have 

 as many in the box as I wish for one colony. 



I now proceed to select the queen I wish for them ; 

 and when I have done so I lay the cage containing 

 her in some convenient place near at hand. I for- 

 got to say, that while not actually shaking bees in 

 the funnel 1 keep a cloth in it, which prevents any 

 of the bees crawling or flying out. To remove the 

 funnel I set the cage-box down suddenly, which 

 causes the bees to all go to the bottom of the box, 

 when the funnel is removed, and the hole covered. 

 I now thoroughly "li-'^ the bees by tumbling tbeqi 



