1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



447 



the supers. Just beforo tlu> surplus-honey sea- 

 son opens we look over all these supers and see 

 that no spider-webs or any thing objectionable 

 is pre^ent. The bits of comb, if any, are re- 

 moved, frames are put back in place, and these 

 are ready for the bees. Our queen-excluders 

 are brought from the storeroom. The smoker 

 is lighted; the bees are given a little smoke, the 

 excluders placed over the brood-chambers, and 

 one super or story is put on over an excluder on 

 all colonies to be run for extracted honey that 

 are strong enough to need extra room. Later, 

 as other colonies become more numerous they 

 are given a super each. 



Many years ago we practiced equalizing brood 

 to some extent in the spring, with a view to 

 uniformity in strength, but have not done so 

 for about twenty years. We do not believe in 

 pulling down a good colony to help a weaker 

 one. only to save a queen that we may prize. 

 After the honey-flow fairly opens we make it a 

 rule to see what is being done in the supers or 

 colonies not yet having extra room, so that, if 

 more room is needed, it may be given at once, 

 never allowing a shortage of room for storing. 

 In doing so, two objects are desired. One is to 

 discourage swarming from overcrowding; the 

 other, to secure the greatest amount of surplus 

 honey. We run all colonies two and three sto- 

 ries high, or one or two supers on each hive of 

 full-depth combs during good honey-flows. 

 When theshaking-ofif plan is practiced we have 

 two men in the bee-yard. Extra empty combs 

 are at hand. Man No. 1 opens the top super, or 

 the one with the well-ripened honey; removes 

 the combs and hands them to No. 2, who shakes 

 off the bees at the hive-entrance, brushing off 

 the few remaining ones with a brush made of 

 asparagus-tops; places the honey in an empty 

 hive-body on the cart. The one who opens the 

 hives removes the filled combs and places emp- 

 ty ones on the hives, and stands behind the 

 hives, the other in front. As soon as the bees 

 are shaken off at the hive-entrance he steps 

 back a few feet and puts the combs in the emp- 

 ty story. When the honey from the first hive 

 is on the cart it is run to the honey-room door, 

 and the honey carried in. Man No. 1, after 

 filling the first super with empty combs, shuts 

 up the hive and opens the next hive. This 

 man keeps the bees under control by using a 

 little smoke as needed. The cart is run back to 

 hive No. 2, with a set of empty combs, and so 

 the work proceeds in the yard. The one in the 

 honey-room removes the combs from the filled 

 super, which was placed, when brought in, 

 on a bench about 18 inches high, with two one- 

 inch strips running lengthwise at each side on 

 top, on which the supers are placed, giving 

 room for the fingers in placing and removing 

 under the sides of supers. Three supers single- 

 tier, or six double-tier, can be so placed if it is 

 desired. 



The one in the honey-room does the uncap- 

 ping, extracting, and pours the honey into the 

 large cans or barrels, using a cloth strainer at 

 all times, which excludes all except the honey. 

 We use an uncapping-can in principle like the 

 Dadant. When the apiary has been gone over, 

 third stories are placed on all the stronger colo- 

 nies. As stated in a former article, I now pre- 

 fer to use the escapes as there mentioned to the 

 shaking-off as herein described. 



To those not experienced, and who have no 

 escapes, the hints here given may be of some 

 value. In a small apiary the bee-keeper can 

 readily do all this work where his time is near- 

 ly all devoted to his bees. 



The use of a great amount of smoke in han- 

 dling bees should be avoided. A little at a 

 time is usually sufficient. A great amount of 

 smoke will injure the flavor of the honey. With 

 escapes, very little if any need be blown on the 

 combs when extracting, which is another point 

 in favor of their use. 



Milledgeville, 111. 



^ I ^ 



BEE-PARALYSIS. 



ANOTHER CURE ; A GLEAM OF HOPE. 



By Joseph Monnier. 



Last fall my prospects as a bee-keeper were 

 very unsatisfactory by reason of "paralysis" 

 among the bees, nearly my whole apiary being 

 infected. The bees had a greasy appearance, 

 and were dying in front of the hives by thou- 

 sands, and I thought seriously of giving up the 

 business. So, just before starting for Miami to 

 pass the winter, I doubled up several of the 

 very weakest and left them for all winter in 

 discouragement. 



About the first of last March I went to take a 

 look at them, and found about half of the colo- 

 nies entirely dead, and the others very weak; 

 but I was surprised to see the hives I had dou- 

 bled up. They were as strong as any I ever 

 saw— had a bright healthy color, and not a sick 

 bee. They were full of honey. This set me to 

 thinking, and I formed this theory: 



The bees were loath to kill off their own sick 

 brethren, but killed the sick strangers without 

 mercy, and thus threw off the disease; so I 

 went to work and put two colonies together, 

 where I thought they were too far gone; and 

 where they still had enough bees I simply 

 changed their places, putting No. 1 in the place 

 of No. 2, and No. 2 on the old stand of No. 1. I 

 did this In the middle of the day, when the 

 bees were at work, also shaking some combs of 

 bees before their entrances, so as to mix up 

 thoroughly the bees in both hives. The results 

 were astonishing. They went to work on the 

 sick bees and in a few days I saw a marked im- 

 provement; and now my apiary is as healthy as 

 any I ever saw. I have already extracted 550 



