1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



471 



elsewhere, and in consideration of the fact 

 that we had five swarms on Friday and sev- 

 en on Saturday, we thought best to so ar- 

 range the Root force and church-going so 

 that stray swarms could be secured if they 

 came out. Accordingly, of this committee, 

 A. I. Root was detailed to watch the bees 

 from aftei- breakfast till churcli time; Er- 

 nest from then till time to attend Sunday- 

 school ; John during the session of Sunday- 

 school, after which Ernest was to again 

 take the field. As it was quite windy and 

 threatening, only one swarm issued during 

 the day, that we know of, but it took two of 

 that committee to finally hive it, as it was a 

 very perverse and contrary swarm — not stay- 

 ing where it was put, and clustering just 

 where we didn't want it 



To-day is Monday. It is raining, and con- 

 sequently there is no swarming. 



A SUNDAY QUESTION. 



SHAT.r. THE BEE-KEEPER STAY AT HOME FKOM 

 CHURCH TO HIVE SWARMS? 



fllE following timely question was re- 

 ceived two or three weeks ago from 

 one of our regular contributors ; and 

 as we had already sent out our usu- 

 al batch of questions, we thought 

 best to send this along singly, obtain the re- 

 plies, and insert it by itself. The question 

 is answered by our corps of contributors to 

 the Question Box department. It reads as 

 follows : 



Il'ts/tif/y to do what is right in the sight of God, and 

 wisliing my bees to swarm no.turally, what shall I do on 

 the Salihath in swarming time—shall I put on a 

 drone-trap that day, making me lots of work, and an- 

 noyance to the hees; let the bees tahe care of themselves, 

 going to the woods if tiny wi.'ih, while [am at church 

 from 10 A. M. to 3 P. M., or stay at home and hive 

 the bees as (liey swarm'/ 



I thiuk it right and uroper to care for tbe bees at 

 any time when they need care. 



H. R. BOARDMAN. 



As the question reads, I would divide it and let 

 the last sentence be its own reasonable reply. 



L. C. Root. 



I clip all my queens. We occasionally have mix- 

 ing- of swarms and the loss of a few queens; but 

 the satisfaction of resting quietly on the Sabbath 

 compensates the occasional loss tenfold. Wishing 

 the bees to swarm naturally, they can be attended 

 to next day, as they will come out again if the 

 weather is fair, unless the queen got lost. 



Paul, L. Viallon. 



So far I have held that, in the light of the Bible, I 

 was justified in staying home from church four or 

 five Sundays during swarming time, to care for the 

 bees, if such care was necessary. This does not re- 

 quire one-fourth the time of actual work on Sun- 

 day that one cow retiuires during the year, yet no 

 one thinks it wrong to care for cows on Sunday. 

 Even friend Root lately rejoiced on Monday morn- 

 ing, for a little timely work done on Sunday. 



G. M. Doolitti>e. 



T would stay at home and hive the swarms unless 

 I could secure the services of some one who 

 would not go to church anyway. I do not believe 

 God wishes us to let valuable property go to waste 

 for the sake of attending public religious services. 

 I think God may be worshiped as sincerely at 



home as in a church, and that when church-going 

 becomes a task, inflicted on one's self from a sense 

 of duty, it ceases to be worship. "The spirit, not 

 the letter." James A. Green. 



I would not lose the bees, any more than T would 

 leave my ox in a pit. It is wrong to lose property. 

 It is our duty to keep and use it well. Why not 

 clip queens' wings, then let one person stay at 

 home each Sabbath (taking turns), and as a swarm 

 comes out catch and cage the queen and piU her 

 hack? This is verj' little work. Then on Monday, 

 attend to each of these colonies. It occurs to me 

 that each person must settle such questions for 

 himself. A.J.Cook. 



We do not believe in drone-traps; but they may 

 be of some use when a man wishes to leave the 

 bees for a few hovu-s. If we were in your place, we 

 would stay and watch the bees for the one or two 

 Sundays that it may be necessary to do so. '* What 

 man shall there be among you, that shall have one 

 sheep and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, 

 will not lay hold on it, and lift it out? Wherefore 

 it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath day."— Matt. 

 13:11,12. If any Christian has a better authority 

 than Christ on this matter let him bring it forward. 



Dadant & Son. 



A difficult question to answer, especially in the 

 space allowed. It is just possible that your two 

 premises are incompatible, and that it may not be 

 right for you to wish your bees to swarm naturally. 

 If nothing but natural swarming were possible, 

 then I should not let them go to the woods, and I 

 doubt if I should do any hiving on Sunday. Using 

 queen-traps is one of the plans I might try. At the 

 most, I should not do more on Sunday than to 

 catch and cage the queens which would be clipped. 



C. C. MlLT.ER. 



When an ox or ass falls into your well on the 

 Sabbath, don't let him drown, but pull him out and 

 take good care of him, for he is one of the jewels 

 intrusted to your care, otherwise you will be ad- 

 judged a " lazy servant." When your bees swarm 

 on the Sabbath, hive them and take cai-e of them 

 as you must do of your pigs, chickens, and other 

 stock. I am not afraid of the wrath of the Lord, 

 for he is no narrow-minded individual, and he re- 

 cognizes my prayers, even when hiving a swarm of 

 bees on the Sabbath. Chas. F. Muth. 



I stay at home and watch the bees, on the ground 

 that I am one of those that " esteem every day 

 alike." If T want more time for social, religious, or 

 intellectual uses, I drain more on the week days. 

 It is true, it is best for all of a community to be 

 free from labor at the same time, for the purpose 

 of united work in other directions. In part to pre- 

 vent the annoyance of having to watch closely 

 when only one or two swarms in a day are expected, 

 I crop all my queens' wings, so the swarms at least 

 return if they do come out. R. Wir.KiN. 



Cage your queens Saturday, and let them loose 

 Monday. We have over 400 colonies of bees, which 

 are kept in six apiaries— five of them away from 

 home. We do all the work, clip our queens, make 

 our new colonies by dividing the old colonies, and 

 have no natural swarms. We see our bees once a 

 \\%ek or ten days, and only one apiary In each day, 

 so it is Sunday all the time with us. If we were 

 obliged to go back to natural swarming I would go 

 out of the bee-business, lean not see any advan- 



