1028 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1 



HOW TO MOVE A WHOLE APIARY LESS THAN 

 A MILE. 



I see so many questions asked in regard to 

 moving bees that I should like to give my 

 experience in that line. While the require- 

 ments are simple, yet some of them are fre- 

 quently overlooked, and a failure is the re- 

 sult. In the last seven years I have moved 

 five whole apiaries for myself and others, 

 the distance in every case being under a 

 mile. Two of the apiaries were my own, 

 consisting of a hundred colonies, and were 

 moved a little' over fifty yards, in warm 

 weather. In all this number, less than a 

 gallon of bees went back to the old stands. 



I think March is the best month in the 

 year for moving an apiary. If you have 

 work of this kind to do, put it oflt until win- 

 ter if you can. If you are obliged to change 

 your location in warm weather, leave the 

 hive-entrances open while on the road. This 

 may seem like a dangerous matter to one 

 who has never tried it; but if the road isn't 

 too rough it is perfectly safe. Take a small 

 load, not over a dozen colonies. Let one 

 man watch the hives with a lighted smoker, 

 and another do the driving. You have no 

 idea how easy it is to smother bees by shut- 

 ting them up in warm weather until you 

 have killed a few stands that way. If the 

 temperature is below 40 degrees it will be 

 safer and easier to shut the bees in. 



Don't leave any thing but the bare ground 

 at the old location. If the distance is under 

 a mile, a large number of bees will usually 

 go back to look around; but if they have 

 marked the new home properly they will al- 

 ways return. If they are to be moved in 

 warm weather it should be done very late in 

 the afternoon, so they will have no chance 

 to fly until the next day. If it is done in 

 cool weather, leave them shut up until sun- 

 down. Put them on the new stands; leave 

 them alone until some of them begin to fly, 

 then go around and give every one a good 

 smoking so they will know there is some- 

 thing doing. Then set up a board in front 

 of each one so that a bee can not easily get 

 out without bumping its head. I believe 

 this is the most important part of the work, 

 but it seems such a little thing that it is 

 often neglected. It causes them to notice 

 that there has been a change, and to mark 

 the spot before leaving it. Many of them 

 will go back to the old stand; and if there is 

 a hive there, or any thing that looks like 

 one, they will enter it and forget all about 

 the new location. If there is none they 

 seem to remember that there is one more 

 chance, and that is the place they have just 

 come from. C. F. Bender. 



Newman, 111. 



[We have had reports before, going to 

 show that the entrances of the hives may be 

 left open; but when the colonies are first 

 loaded the bees should be smoked; for at 

 the first "jounce " of the wagon some bees 

 might offer attack. 



Other reports, too, have shown that, when 

 bees are moved, there should be no hives 



left at the old location. A beginner trying 

 the plan here described should proceed with 

 extreme caution. 



I generally advise that, where bees are to 

 be moved less than a mile, the moving be 

 deferred till early in the spring, before the 

 bees have had a chance to fly. If they have 

 been in the cellar, all the better; for they 

 can be put anywhere, and will stay where 

 they are put. —Ed.] 



THE STING OF A WASP AS COMPARED WITH 

 THAT OF A BEE. 



I notice with interest Stenog's reference 

 to what Mr. Wathelet, editor of Le Rucher 

 Beige, says about the sting of the wasp as 

 compared with that of the honey-bee. His 

 is identical with a recent experience of my 

 own, although the sting I received was from 

 a yellow-jacket, smaller than the bee, and it 

 lasted several days. While the part did not 

 become swollen, there was a painful, itch- 

 ing sensation for more than a week ; but 

 had it been the sting of a bee, an entirely 

 difi'erent sensation would have been pro- 

 duced, which would have disappeared in five 

 to ten minutes. I found the wasp-nest, 

 broke it up, and secured the queen, the re- 

 mains of whose royal highness I have kept. 

 I feel confident that the poison is quite dif- 

 ferent from that of the honey-bee, and 

 more virulent. Wm. M. Whitney. 



Lake Geneva, Wis., Oct. 10. 



A CHANGE wanted; TIN PANS AND " POUND- 

 ED SWARMS." 



If The A. I. Root Co. would manufacture 

 every thing it is asked to in Heads of Grain, 

 and incorporate in the ABC book all the 

 advice found there, what a change we should 

 find ! I want the Root Co. to manufacture 

 different sizes of tin pans to pound on when 

 a swarm is coming off; also please run into 

 the next edition of the ABC book the fact 

 that this saves clipping queens, and that a 

 pounded swarm can not abscond, never dies 

 in winter, and caps its honey whiter. What 

 can you supply foundation for with cells 4 

 inches across? L. E. Kerr. 



Germania, Ark., Oct. 8, 1904. 



[You get the four-inch bees, and we will 

 make the foundation to fit. That's easy. 

 No doubt your "pounded swarms " will beat 

 any thing on record. —Ed.] 



UNUSUAL RAINS IN CALIFORNIA. 



We have been having unusually wet weath- 

 er for this time of the year— the worst ever 

 experienced here. In this city the rainfall 

 already has been over six inches in a little 

 over two weeks. Grass is quite green every- 

 where. Much damage has been done to hay, 

 grain, beans, hops, and some kinds of fruits, 

 especially grapes, the latter being one of our 

 most important crops. Of course the bee- 

 men will profit by the early rains, as fall and 

 winter flowers will come out in redoubled 

 numbers. The real winter, however, may be 

 dry. W. A. Pryal. 



San Francisco, Cal., Oct. 11. 



