S90 



ture that is as important as plenty of bees 

 and plenty of super room so arranged that 

 the bees can or will use it quickly, and then 

 await developments of the honey-flow. Cal- 

 ifornia yielded the honey this year, but the 

 atmosphere harvested it. 



With the very best of intensive manage- 

 ment the colonies could have been built up 

 •so as to harvest 200 lbs. to the colony. But 

 there was lack of faith all around. Bee-men 

 were looking for something better than bees; 

 but now many of them see that there was 

 i.othing as good as bees. What they lost 

 would pay for two failures and disappoint- 

 ments. When there is such dwindling as 

 there was last winter, the big bee-man is not 

 in it. It requires skill and love for bees, 

 and attention to little details, to nurse small 

 and dwindling colonies. And the most 

 abundant honey-flows often follow directly 

 after such conditions of weather as produce 

 weakened colonies. 



Chatsworth, Cal. 



«--•-» 



GETTING THE BEES AS WELL AS THE HON- 

 EY FROM BEE-TREES. 



BY W. C. MOLLETT. 



A large part of this region is covered with 

 timber, mostly beech, oak, and hickory; 

 and it is very easy to find trees which con- 

 tain swarms of bees which have gone to the 

 woods. It is considered great sport to find 

 the trees containing bees, and cut them to 

 secure the honey and sometimes the bees; 

 but a great many bee-hunters take the hon- 

 ey and leave the bees to perish of cold and 

 starvation. I have always considered this 

 as very cruel, and will not cut a bee-tree un- 

 less I expect to save the bees. 



Last autumn I found a tree which had 

 been cut about three days, and the bees left 

 without any honey; and as the tree had been 

 split open in order to secure the honey, the 

 bees were in the open air without any shelter 

 from the cold, and it was frosty every night, 

 as it was the -iOth of November. I took the 

 bees to my home, about three miles distant, 

 and put them in a hive with some empty 

 comb, and fed them syrup made from com- 

 mon brown sugar. Tliey came through the 

 winter in fine shape, and in the spring they 

 soon became as strong as the other colonies. 

 Of course the trouble and expense amount- 

 ed to more than they were worth; but I 

 would never let bees die when it is possible 

 to save them. 



Once I had a very large swarm go to the 

 woods, and I succeeded in finding them the 

 same day; and as the weather was somewhat 

 showery I did not cut the tree for about 

 five days. By that time they had sheets of 

 comb nearly three feet long, which were 

 partly filled" with honey and eggs. I put 

 them into a hive with full sheets of founda- 

 tion, and they worked surprisingly well, and 

 gave a surplus of nearly 100 lbs., as the sea- 

 son was a very good one. As a rule it is 

 easier and cheaper to start colonies when 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



one has hives with movable frames than it 

 is to secure those found in hollow trees, and 

 I do not often take any trouble to find bee- 

 trees. I am of the opinion that not more 

 than one out of four swarms that go to the 

 woods survive the first winter; and as a rule 

 none of them live very long in the woods. 

 Stonecoal, W. Va. 



BREEDING TO PREVENT SWARMING. 



BY J. F. MUNDAY. 



Twenty years ago I had great trouble 

 with the swarming of luy bees; but con- 

 ceived the idea that, if I reared my queens 

 artificially by Alley's method, and not dur- 

 ing the swarming season, and from eggs 

 produced by queens whose bees did not or 

 were not much given to swarming, I might 

 lessen that propensity. By continuing that 

 practice I have succeeded beyond my expec- 

 tations, as a swarna rarely issues from my 

 hives. I keep the bees at work and con- 

 tented by taking their suri)lus honey from 

 them when it is fit, and by seeing that they 

 have sufficient ventilation at the mouth of 

 their hive (about Yz inch by the width of 

 the hive), also that each hive is provided 

 with a shade-board on its cover. Of course 

 each hive has on it as many supers as are 

 necessary — seldom more than two, usually 

 only one. 



METHOD OF PASTING LABELS ON HONEY 

 TINS AND BOTTLES. 



Possibly my method of sticking labels on 

 my round honey-tins, bottles, and jars, may 

 be interesting. I had a paste-pad just the 

 size of my labels, 4x5>^ inches. It is made 

 of a piece of fi board. On to the surface of 

 the sides is nailed a strip of wood % wide, 

 y% thick, and on it is tacked a piece of dou- 

 bled cloth. On the other side (the back of 

 the pad) is nailed across a piece of wood 

 (edge upward) ■2x>^ inch, for a handle. 



I have a piece of tin about two inches 

 larger than the label, on which I spread 

 thinly a little paste (which has in it a tea- 

 spoonful of honey to a cupful, rendering the 

 sticking quality greater. The labels are in 

 an even pile, face down. In my left hand I 

 have a table-knife. I place the tip of the 

 blade (flat way) on about the center of the 

 left edge of the top label. I then take the 

 paste-pad with my right hand, dab it on 

 the paste, which is on the tin, and then dab 

 the pad evenly on the toj) label, which I 

 am holding down with the knife. After 

 lifting the pad, which has left a thin layer 

 of paste around the label, I again place the 

 pad on the tin, which is spread with paste, 

 and the knife on the table. I then take a 

 bottle or jar and roll it over the pasted label. 

 I rub it slightly with a cloth to be sure that 

 it sticks properly. The operation is expedi- 

 tious, and worth practicing. The pad is 

 much quicker and better than a brush. 



Woodville, N. S. W., Aus. 



