658 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1. 



contrary, many reasons for still continuing 

 their use, a few of which I will give: 



First, I often wish to move the sections 

 about to a different position on the hive, and 

 exchange them with other colonies, to start 

 these colonies to work as soon as possible, be- 

 lieving that better results can be secured in 

 this way. If I did this without separators I 

 should get very uneven combs, as my experi- 

 ence has taught me. 



Second, I wish to take off the sections as 

 soon as a sufficient number are sealed over to 

 warrant the work in doing so, while they are 

 "snow-white," and not leave them on the 

 hive till all are finished, and the first capped 

 over all travel-stained by the bees.. Now, if 

 we do this, taking out one-third or more, and 

 place those partly filled or empty, except the 

 foundation used for starters, in their places, 

 unless separators are used, the bees will 

 lengthen the cells of those farthest advanced, 

 so as to crowd the others, thus making irreg- 

 ular combs, as we often have them when put- 

 ting an empty frame between two full ones in 

 the brood-chamber during a honey -yield, and 

 before any of the honey-cells are sealed. 



Third, by the use of wide frames with sep- 

 arators we need take none of the precautions 

 about the nice adjustment of the sections and 

 hive, which is alwa3'S a part of the directions 

 where sections are to be used without separat- 

 ors, but simply slip our sections into the wide 

 frames and clamp them together with no fur- 

 ther trouble. I should want to use the wide 

 frames, even did I use no separators, to keep 

 the sections clean, and free from propolis, if 

 nothing more. Were such wide frames used, 

 section honey would reach market in much 

 finer shape than it often does now. From all 

 of my experience and observation up to the 

 present time I believe that section boxes can 

 not be used to the best advantage without sep- 

 arators; hence I consider them one of the great- 

 est inventions which have been made to help 

 the bee-keeper, and expect to continue their 

 use until I am convinced that I am wrong in 

 the above conclusions. 



GETTING BEES FROM A HOUSE. 



Question. — A swarm of bees came and went 

 into our house near the roof, in the early part 

 of the season, and I wish to get them into a 

 hive. Can it be done ? If so, how ? 



Answer. — If the questioner is willing to 

 have his house torn to pieces to the extent 

 necessary for getting the bees and honey out, 

 there should be no difficulty in changing the 

 bees from the house to a hive, especially if he 

 can call to his aid some bee-keeper of some 

 experience living within a few miles of him. 

 Briefly outlined, the course to pursue would 

 be as follows: 



From the inside or outside of the house 

 (just which is most convenient to work from) 

 make a small hole through to the bees; and 

 with a bee-smoker, or by a person smoking a 

 pipe, blow smoke through the hole till the 

 bees are caused to fill themselves with honey, 

 which should be in about five minutes, when 

 you will proceed to tear off the partition of 

 plastering, clap-boarding, or shingles, as the 



case may be, till the bees and combs are of 

 easy access, when you will proceed to transfer 

 the combs to the frames of the hive, as given 

 in any book on bee-keeping. As the combs 

 will be likely to contain much honey at this 

 time of the year, more pins or transferring- 

 clasps will be needed to hold them in the 

 frames than would be necessary if the trans- 

 ferring were done when there was little or no 

 honey in the combs, else they may, from their 

 great weight, fall out of the frames. The 

 middle of a comfortably warm day should be 

 chosen for this work, unless there are other 

 bees in the neighborhood which would be lia- 

 ble to cause trouble from robbing. In such a 

 case do it toward the close of a mild day, 

 commencing soon enough to get the job com- 

 pleted before dark. After the house has been 

 torn away so the bees can be gotten at handi- 

 ly, the bees should be made to cluster in a box 

 if possible, by placing such within easy access 

 of them, just above the combs, so that, as 

 comb after comb is taken out, they may crawl 

 up into the box and be clustered there by the 

 time all the comb is fitted into the frames. 

 When all the Ijees are in the box, set the box 

 vdth the open side out, in the shade, if the 

 sun is shining hot, and leave them thus for 

 half an hour, so that they may cluster togeth- 

 er like a swarm, thus causing them to mark 

 their location anew as does a swarm when 

 leaving the parent hive. Besides, the}- can 

 then be easily hived by jarring them out of 

 the box in front of the hive after it is lowered 

 to the ground, and placed where it is to stay. 

 Fit combs of honey in the frames till at least 

 25 pounds is in, as that is about the right 

 amount for winter, after which the rest can 

 be used by the family. If there should not 

 be this amount, feed sugar syrup to make up 

 the deficiency. If from an}- cause you fail to 

 get the bees in the box they will, after a little, 

 cluster in a swarm somewhere near where 

 they were, when they can be hived in the box 

 and then taken to the ground and put in the 

 hive without the necessary precaution of hav- 

 ing them stand the half-hour; for by the clus- 

 tering of the bees in any place, without combs, 

 when filled with honey, for a half-hour or so, 

 they are caused to consider themselves as home- 

 less, after which thej^ will mark their location 

 anew and stay where put; though it might be 

 well for you to take the precaution of lean- 

 ing a wide board up in front of the entrance 

 to the hive, so that the bees will bump against 

 it in starting out, thus causing them to mark 

 their location anew, even if you do not hap- 

 pen to get every thing just right in your op- 

 erations. If, in addition to this, the house is 

 repaired before the bees fly, and a sheet, or 

 something- of that kind, is put over the former 

 place of entrance to their old abode, so as to 

 make it appear like a strange place, scarcely a 

 bee need be lost. 



CONVENTION NOTICE. 



The next meeting of the Fresno County Bee-keep- 

 ers' Association is to meet at the City Hall, Fresno, 

 Cal., at 10 o'clock p. M., Wednesday, .Sept. 14. All bee- 

 keepers invited. W. A. Gilstrap, Sec. 



Caruthers, Cal. 



