1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



263 



year. I did not carry the bottom-boards into 

 the cellar, and in carrying out I picked the 

 hives up and walked right on till the stand 

 was reached; and in thus carrying, many bees 

 would take wing, get into my clothing, and 

 " sing " and sting, as they did not know where 

 to go, having, as yet, no location established. 

 Where the bottom-boards are not carried into 

 the cellar, I now have them at the entrance 

 on the wheelbarrow, ready for the hive as soon 

 as it is brought out. Then with smoke and 

 something to place up to the hive so as to 

 close the entrance, I have no trouble. Where 

 the Dr. Miller bottom-board is used, the same 

 having a deep space on its under side, which 

 is now up and under the hive, I use a piece of 

 plank or scantling, sawed off the right length 

 so that it will slip right up in front so as 

 to close this whole aperture. Having the 

 scantling or plank of the right dimensions, it 

 is next covered with three or four thicknesses 

 of common cotton cloth, tacking the cloth 

 fast to it. The whole is now thrown into 

 water and left a few minutes till thoroughly 

 soaked, when it is taken to the cellar and 

 placed in front before the hive is touched. 

 This keeps the bees from coming out, or 

 making much effort to get out; for as soon as 

 they come in contact with the wet cloth they 

 immediately make an effort to get away from 

 it, rather than try to push by it; for if there is 

 any thing a bee detests it is a "wet rag." 

 Wet cloths are of great assistance to me in 

 many places in handling bees. 



As soon as the smoke is puffed into the hive 

 the cellar-door is shut (having an assistant to 

 close it is still better), so that the outside air 

 shall not raise the temperature and thus arouse 

 the bees inside, when the hive is wheeled to 

 where it is to stand during the summer, the 

 entrance adjusted, and the shade-board or 

 cover put on. No matter whether I use the 

 wet cloth or not, I always puff in a little smoke 

 at the entrance as soon as the colony is on the 

 wheelbarrow, for this not only helps much in 

 keeping the bees quiet, but it also causes them 

 to be slower about coming out of the hive, so 

 that swarming out and confusion are avoided. 

 As hinted at above, the bees are not all taken 

 from the cellar at once, but from five to ten 

 are set out in the morning of any pleasant 

 day, and then as many more at night, begin- 

 ning about three or four o'clock, according to 

 the warmth of the day and the earliness or 

 lateness of the season. This is to avoid rob- 

 bing and the mixing of the bees. At the out- 

 apiary they have to be set out all in one day, 

 unless I think it advisable to go two days. 

 But in all cases the hives are scattered over 

 the apiary as much as possible at first, then 

 filHng in between, so that no two colonies will 

 be in full flight at the same time, which nearly 

 or entirely prevents all mixing of bees, so that 

 one colony is not strong in bees while another 

 is weak, as often happens when no attention 

 is paid to this matter, as is the case with very 

 many who consider themselves good bee- 

 keepers. The bee-keepers who pay no atten- 

 tion to such matters remind me of the queer 

 man who has lived and toiled for a great 

 many years about the outskirts of Boston, and 



who by hard work has gathered' together a 

 good deal of property. During all of these 

 years he has never paid a dollar for rent. He 

 lives in a smoky old tent, which he moves 

 from one place to another. He owns, how- 

 ever, a very beautiful house. He has built in 

 the suburbs of that city an elegant six-story 

 house, and many well-to-do people are his 

 tenants, but he has never slept in his house 

 himself. The old man hoards up the rent 

 money which they pay him, and crawls back 

 into his gipsy tent. In his fine house there 

 are electric lights and gas-ranges, and every 

 modern convenience and luxury ; but he 

 smokes himself over the smudge in his tent, 

 and sleeps on a heap of straw. But before we 

 condemn this man, as most of us would do on 

 first thought, it might be well to ask ourselves 

 whether we are giving the best or poorest of 

 our natures to our beloved pursuit, bee-keep- 

 ing. Are there not many of us who never 

 fully enter into the high stories of the practi- 

 cal, intellectual, and scientific part of our pur- 

 suit — those who seldom meditate and muse 

 upon the things that are to our best and high- 

 est advantage, but live for the most part in 

 some smoky gipsy tent of thoughtlessness ? 

 Ever)' one of us may live in a palace, with 

 splendid windows for observation, and con- 

 servatories filled with the fragrance of flowers 

 and the rich perfume of honey. Are we living 

 there, or in the gipsy tent of don't care and 

 thoughtlessness ? 



ARTIFICIAI.I.Y RIPENED HONEY; ITS QUALITY; 

 A CLIP AT THE EDITOR. 



I have often heard the " old saw " that men 

 of sense sometimes change their minds, but 

 fools never do. In Gleanings, Jan. 1, p. 19, 

 I see an editorial on " What I call Well-ripened 

 Honey," that indicates that you belong to the 

 first-mentioned class. I am glad to see you 

 getting over on my side of the fence. I have 

 for years advocated and practiced ripening 

 honey outside of the hive; but the editor, ana 

 several correspondents, condemned the prac- 

 tice, and accused its advocates of ruining the 

 sale of honey by putting such " vile unripened 

 stuff" on the market, etc. Some years ago I 

 sent you a sample, taken before a cell had 

 been sealed, and it would shake like water 

 from the combs, and ripened in the open air. 

 You and your experts pronounced it to be as 

 fine a sample, both in color and flavor, as you 

 ever saw, but cautioned your readers not to 

 attempt to ripen honey by that process, as 

 "none but an expert could be successful." 

 Thank you for the compliment to my ability, 

 but let me hint that you and ' ' the other fel- 

 ler " can do it as well as I. You were so well 

 pleased with the sample that you wrote im- 

 mediately, offering to buy my crop; but it had 

 already been sold at a large advance over 

 prices quoted in market report. 



