1802 



GLEANINGS IN HEE CULTURE. 



4G1 



HIV put h(>t\vt't>n cjisfs, soino cinpfy casos addrd, 

 then some nutrc boards, and tlio full cases, aro 

 taken otT. Tliis is pro^ricss. inori> tliaii many 

 tluiiiulit possiliii'. (iiiil the (•)((/ is iKit \n't. 

 Herliii. Mo.. Mav i:t. Gko. K. "Wki.i.kI!. 



HOW TO MAKE SWARMS CLUSTER IN ONE 

 OR TWO PLACES. 



K. < OK, Now OF Wl.NOHAM. 

 now TO DO If. 



\. Y., TKI.I.S 



Frioul Root: — In the matter of hiving 

 swarms I i-an now swing my hat, and cry 

 '■ EiircUal" I have no fiirtliei- use for hiving- 

 box and onamcl-cloth apron that have served 

 me so well in the past. This is how I do it now: 

 I have several boxes made as Doolittle recom- 

 mends in making nucU'us colonies in which he 

 conlines tlie bees. Mine are made about six 

 inches square, and 13 inches long. Two sides 

 are made of wire cloth, one of wiiich I can 

 remove at pleasuie. I have a .3).2-inch holo on 

 top of the box, in which the funnel fits, and 

 through wliich I shake the bees into tlie box. 

 Doolittle recommends taking combs witli bees 

 on. and placing them outside of the hive to let 

 the bees till themselves with honey; but I have 

 found a better way. On the inside of the board 

 that forms the bottom of the box I nail four 

 str.ps -'s inch square, so as to make a little 

 troughs inches square and ,?f^ inch deep; and 

 over this trough, in the top of the box. I make 

 a 1-inch hole, and nail wire cloth over it on 

 the inside. Now. when the bees are in the 

 boxes I can till them with honey by pouring 

 honey through the 1-inch hole, so that it will 

 fill the trough, and in that way fill all of the 

 bees with honey, Ijy using a dozen boxes, quick- 

 er than the bees will fill themselves from the 

 comb; at least, my part is done quicker, and the 

 bees can take up the honey at their leisure. 

 This matter of having the bees filled with 

 honey in some way is important, as I have had 

 more than half of the confined bees die in le.ss 

 tlian ten hours, in a cage into which the bees 

 had been shaken from the combs without let- 

 ting them fill their honey-sacs, or feeding them. 



Every morning, about 7:30 or 8 o'clock, 1 

 shake l)ees into two boxes (taking them from 

 upf)er stories over queen-excluders), pour in a 

 little honev. and hang them from tripods by a 

 siring. These I place on either side of my 

 apiary, and the bees just howl to get out. which 

 attracts swarms to them; and 1 get 14 or 15 

 swarms to cluster on them without touching 

 them. For those swarms that don't go to the 

 place where the confined bees hang, I take one 

 of the cages of bees, slip a string over one tine 

 of a potato- hook, walk out with it to the place 

 where the swarm is fiying thickest, and in a 

 few minutes the bees will begin to cluster on 

 the cage. Then I walk back and lead the bees 

 to the place where the tripod is, and let the 

 whole swarm settle on it. I now prepare the 

 hive for them by placing an empty story on the 

 stand where I am to hive them. When tlie 

 swarm is all settled on the cag<>, or box that 

 has the confined bees in, I take hold of the 

 string and carry the swarm to the place where 

 I am to hive them. I now sprinkle the bees, 

 and also the insidi-, of the empty hive, with 

 water that is one-fourth honey, using a brush- 

 broom for the purpose. Then I shake the bees 

 into the empty hive, and place the hive over 

 them. I think I have hived swarms in this 

 way in one minute, and not had over .50 bees fly. 

 This preventing bees flying and making a great 

 commotion that is likelv to call any swarm 

 just issuing. I successfully accomplish by this 

 method; and I tell you tliere is some poetry in 



seeing swarm after swarm come out and begin 

 to cluster on the cag(^ Ix'fore they are all out of 

 the parent hive, while I, witii a pail (»f sweet- 

 ened water and brush-liroom, keep back all 

 other swarms, if any are likely to issue, until 

 they ai'e settled on the cage, and tluui have 

 nothing to do but take hold of the string that 

 suspends the cage;, carry them t,o an empty story, 

 shake them into it, and place their hive over 

 them; then I return the cage to its jjlace, ready 

 for another swarm. 0. R. Cok. 



Fort Collins, Col., July 7. 



[As will be seen from the address above, this 

 article was written last summer while Mr. Coe 

 was in Colorado; but on account of the pressui'c^ 

 of matter we were not then abh; to give it an 

 insertion, and therefore held it over until tiie 

 proper season this year. If w(! undc^rstand Mr. 

 Coe correctly, his two wire-cloth boxes or cages 

 of bees were used as decoys; and these d(!coys 

 were so perfect that they attracted the larger 

 part of all the swarms in the air. Ttiis same 

 plan was, years ago, practiced and recommend- 

 ed by L. L. Langstroth. Why more has not 

 been made of it we can not say.] 



RAMBLE NO. 61. 



ONE OF VENTURA'S GREAT P.EE-MEN. 



A few years ago a young man presented him- 

 self at Mr. Wilkin's apiary, desiring to learn 

 the business of bee culture as i)racticed in Cali- 

 fornia. He had journeyed all the way from 

 New York State, and had but a few dimes left 

 in his pocket. Mr. Wilkin then allowed his 

 hair and beard to grow to great length, as a 

 substitute for a bee-veil; and the wild appear- 

 ance of the man, and the still wilder surround- 

 ings of rocky, mountainous country, gave the 

 youth, who had been used to different scenes, a 

 little touch of homesickness. But this was only 

 momentary, for the kindly manner of Mr. 

 Wilkin and family soon made the place a home; 

 and he resolutely took the position assigned to 

 him. and performed his duties so faithfully that 

 it was but a comparatively short time until he 

 graduated from the position of helper to that of 

 owner of an apiary. He is now owner of over 

 7(X) colonies, in two apiaries, and perhaps ere 

 this article is read he will have the third apiary 

 and lOOfJ colonies. Allow mc; to introduce to 

 you Mr. M. H. Mendelson. of Ventura. 



Southern California has been much infested 

 with foul brood, and heroic measures are taken 

 to stamp out the disease. As before stated, 

 foul-brood inspectors are appointed, and much 

 depends upon their thoroughness in aliating the 

 disease. Mr. Mendelson is foul-brood inspector 

 for his district, and that there is not much of 

 the disease visible speaks well for the energy of 

 the officer. 



Mr. M.'s largest apiary is seven miles from 

 Ventura, and I did not decline an invitation to 

 mount a road-cart, and go out with him. A 

 portion of the journey is very delightful, riding 

 past orchard after orchard of English walnuts 

 and fruits of many kinds. There are many 

 handsome residences in Ventura, surrounded 

 with grounds which in point of beauty ap- 

 proach your ideal of what an Ed(!n would be. 



A short distance from V<'ntura is a very old 

 and very large grapevine. In Santa Barbara 

 (the county adjoining Ventura) is the largest 

 grapevine in the United States, being 12 inches 

 in diameter, and the product of which is often 

 four tons of graju'S. This Ventura vine is the 

 next largest, is fully ten inches in diameter, and 



