513 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15. 



dwindling. When the queen was crowded for 

 room to lay in these strong colonies (they usu- 

 ally had from (3 to 8 frames of brood before she 

 Avas crowded much), we went to each of them, 

 first found the queen, placed the frame with 

 her on in an empty hive, then took one or two 

 frames of brood with adhering bees, generally 

 taking only one frame, unless very much crowd- 

 ed, giving them empty combs in place of those 

 taken, returned the frame with the queen, 

 when they were all right for aboilt a week, 

 Avhen we had to take from them again. 



When colonies have only two or three frames 

 of brood they build up very slowly, often seem- 

 ing to stand perfectly still. When they have 

 only a little patch of brood in one or two 

 frames, as a general rule they may as well be 

 broken up, for they do not pay foi' the time you 

 spend on them. It took me" a good while to 

 learn this; and how I used to beg that they 

 might be turned over to me! Now 1 experience 

 quite a feeling of relief when they are disposed 

 of. Mrs. Harrison expressed my sentiments ex- 

 actly when she found that the bees of her 

 weakling had "betaken themselves to pastures 

 new." 



The best colonies to build up are those having 

 five frames of brood; but the trouble is. you 

 will be obliged to take from them so soon that 

 it makes a great deal of work; and if left en- 

 tirely alone they will be all right in time for 

 the harvest. We wished to avoid all extra 

 work, so we decided to begin with those having 

 brood in three frames. Going to the first colo- 

 ny that had only three bi'ood, we removed all 

 the combs until we came to the brood, and gave 

 It four frames of brood with adhering bees. 

 After we had strengthened all the colonies that 

 had only three brood, we filled up those having 

 only four. 



We have never experienced any difficulty in 

 uniting bees in the way I have mentioned, and 

 in no case has the queen been harmed by it. 

 We have always taken the precaution, however, 

 never to put two frames, taken from the same 

 hive, together. If they were put in the same 

 hive, we always placed a frame taken from an- 

 other colony between them. Sometimes, if it 

 was dift'cult to find the queen, the frame of 

 brood was taken without the adhering bees, in 

 which Case it was given to a colony having four 

 or five brood, so that it should be well cared for. 



Mrs. Harrison, I should like to know in what 

 condition your combs are when you want to use 

 them, that you set in your cellar to wait for 

 that swarm. I very much fear that, if they 

 were left in our cellar until swarming time, we 

 should find them pretty well riddled with 

 worms, besides being somewhat musty. I won- 

 der whether the difference is in the cellars, or 

 does swarming time come earlier at Peoria? 



Just as soon as we can, after our bees are out 

 of the cellar, we see that our extra combs are 

 all given to the bees to take care of. An extra 

 story is filled with these combs, and placed 

 under one of the strongest colonies. The bees 

 clean them up nicely, and they are soft and 

 sweet when we want to use them. 



Marengo, 111. Emma Wilson. 



[My good friend Emma, I have been through 

 the same kind of experience; and after having 

 practiced it two or three years, it became quite 

 questionable to me whether robbing Peter to 

 pay Paul was just the thing or not. There is 

 one thing certain, however: We can. by this 

 means, often save valuable queens that would 

 surely be lost otherwise; and we think it always 

 pays us, without question, to watch carefully, 

 that neither our imported queens nor our select 

 tested are suffered to die. Years ago somebody 

 suggested that the queens that let their colonies 



down to a teacupful did not amount to much 

 any way. But I know this is not true; for 

 queens rescued from these little remnants often 

 prove to be equal to any in the apiary.] 



THE USES OF AN UMBEELLA AMONG THE 

 BEES. 



HOW TO HIVE A SWARM WITH IT. 



Mrs. Harrison's umbrella on a staff is a good 

 thing to use if it is not too windy; but an um- 

 brella to catch up and carry around with me 

 whenever my hands are at liberty, is one of my 

 greatest comforts. On extremely hot days we 

 always have them handy, and I often make use 

 of them in swarming time to hive bees. Our 

 queens are all clipped, bat the swarms will 

 sometimes cluster; and although I know they 

 will return in time, I don't wait long, but take 

 a few from the cluster and start them in. As 

 our trees are mostly small, they can usually be 

 reached from the ground, or with a step-ladder. 

 I often turn my umbrella upside down, and 

 shake part of the cluster in it, ^nd take them 

 to the hive where the queen is. 



One day last summer a swarm came out just 

 as a shower was coming up; and instead oi re- 

 turning to find their queen they clustered close- 

 ly on a small apple-tree. The rain came im- 

 mediately; it was cool, and the bees were being 

 washed off on the ground. I thought they 

 should go home, but they could not fly. They 

 had no umbrella, so I loaned them mine. I 

 shook them into it. and, taking it to the hive, I 

 poured out what I could, and turned the um- 

 brella down on the hive and left them to 

 go in at their leisure, which they did, and I 

 presume were much obliged, for they made no 

 more trouble, and were one of my best colonies 

 that season. 



THE RECORD-BOOK A GREAT CONVENIENCE. 



Another great help is the record-book. It 

 saves much opening of hives, and from it much 

 of the work can be planned in the house. I aim 

 to know, as nearly as possible, the exact condi- 

 tion of each colony during the working season. 

 I shall be glad to have suggestions for simpli- 

 fying this record, especially in numbering, as I 

 start out this season witli a new book, and a 

 new hundred in numbers. I have been in the 

 habit of giving the new number to the prime 

 swarm; but as the old hive is moved to a new 

 location, it changes the number of location and 

 queen. Now, it seems to me the old hive, with 

 its young bees, young queen, and new location, 

 should be the new colony. To be sure, you 

 would have to change the number on the old 

 hive; but that should never be affixed perma- 

 nently, as we are apt to change them about for 

 one reason or another, and that would be easier 

 than to remember that this stand and queen 

 used to be No. 40 and now is No. 80. How do 

 you do it. any way ? S. M. Stow. 



South Evanston, 111., May 27. 



[Dr. Miller or Miss Wilson can doubtless tell 

 a good deal about lecord -books. Dr. M. has a 

 peculiar system, and a code of shorthand of 

 his own. He explained the whole to me while 

 at Marengo last fall. Perhaps he or his assist- 

 ant will tell us about it. Say (Mrs.) S.— ex- 

 cuse me if I put you in the wi'ong department — 

 you have origiiuited a new and useful function 

 for the umbrella. Why don't you patent it-- 

 not the umbrella but the function? Joking 

 aside, the umbrella might answer excellently 

 for catching a cluster of bees just shaken oif a 

 limb.l E. R. 



