1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



37o 



RAMBLiE NO. 6. 



f||0 the N. W. from our apiary is located the his- 

 torical town of Fort Ann. Bee-keeping: in 

 — ' this town is, or was. some thing of an indus- 

 try. Several hundred swarms were kei>t, two par- 

 tics owning each over two hundred coiinies. The 

 main supply of honey in this region is willow, of 

 which an abundant supply is found along the 

 streams. White clover, chestnut, and basswood are 

 abundant, while the moii::taln-sides that have been 

 recently cleared are covered with raspberries, and 

 a specie-* of aster. Some buckwheat is sown for fall 

 pasturage. 



The past winter made sad havoc among the hund- 

 reds of colonies of this town. Mr. Keech, owning 

 over 200 colonies, built a new bee-house for winter- 

 ing. The hives were packed in (luite closely, and 

 all in the center were smothered from the effects of 

 a Scant supply of ventilation. Many more died upon 

 being placed upon their summer stands. So this 

 man's apiary was reduced nearly one-half by the 

 first of May. Mr. Keech will have nothing to do with 

 movable-comb hives and modern fi.\tures. flis hon- 

 ey is secured in large rough bo.ves, and is sold at a 

 price in keeping with the style of package. 



Mr. Adams, in another portion of the town, harl a 

 line apiary of over 2Ufl colonies in Laiigstroth hives. 

 He has usually had excellent success in wintering 

 in his cellar, but last winter they were left upon 

 their summer stands, and this spring twenty swarms 

 arc all that are left. Mr. A. thinks h3 has bees 

 enough now. In relating his experience with bees. 

 Mr. A. gave me an illustration f>f what to do with 

 burglars or night thieves after honoj-. I was re- 

 minded of your (juestion in a past number of 

 rJiiE.\.viNG.<!. >rr. xV.'s plan was very efrecti\e. Find- 

 ing his bees tampered with, he armed himself with 

 a rifle, stationed himself behind a fence, and sat 

 down for a night vigil. About midnight two shad- 

 owy forms were seen moving toward a bee-hive. 

 Mr. A. took aim as best he could in the dark, and 

 fired. No dead bodies were found upon the battle- 

 field, l>ut some time afterward he learned that the 

 ball took effect in the young man's coat, between 

 his arm and body. It was such a close call that his 

 apiary has not been molested since. 



Bee-hunting is some thing of a business on these 

 mountains in the fall. Many swarms are found in 

 all sorts of locations. Conversing with a bee-keeper 

 in relation to these absconding swarms, he told me 

 of bis method of pre\entii)n, and how to prevent 

 swarms from settling together. In answer to my 

 question as to how he prevented it, " Why," said he, 

 "all you have to do is to hang them in the cellar." 

 If a swarm seems inclined to abscond by coming out 

 of their hive a second time and alighting, the limb, 

 bees, and all, were hung in the dark cellar; if a 

 swarm had nearly settled, and another was seen is- 

 suing, the limb was severed, and the swarm hung 

 in the cellar until he had time to hive them. Three 

 or four swarms were thus hanging quietly, waiting 

 for their turn to be hived. Swarms that had tried 

 to abscond were left hanging in the cellar two days. 

 His theory was, that by that time they were get- 

 ting hungry, and would work in any kind of a re- 

 ceptacle. "Why," said be, "you ought to see them 

 get up and dust for honey when put in a hive." 



I found another bee-keeper who didn't care any 

 thing about his bees; didn't care whether they lived 

 or died; hived them in any thing handy, and has 



good success In keeping them; winters well upon 

 their summer stands, and when they swarm they 

 hang on the tree until he comes home to dinner. At 

 least, that is about all he hives; if there are any 

 that don't wait for him he is none the wiser for it. 

 Still, he has over 60 colonies. 



Another friend we found had eleven colonies in 

 the fall. They were elevated two feet from the 

 ground, in a very exposed position. The front en- 

 trances were 2 inches by 12. The holes in the tf>p 

 surplus boxes were all open, and a rough flimsy cov- 

 er with a heavy stone on the top, complfted the 

 hive. Still, those bees wintered with the loss of but 

 one colony. The rest were strong, with drones fly- 

 ing on May 8th. This was another don't-care bee- 

 keeper. And with him we will close our ramble. 



Hartford, N. V. .T. H. Martin. 



Many tlianks for your array of facts, friend 

 M.: biit I want io protpst a little against 

 your way of trealin<.i,' burglars. The law 

 floes not sanction the taking of life for steal- 

 ing honey, if I am correct; and had our 

 friend killed his man, I hardly think he 

 would have felt happy over it. even had the 

 law made no interference. Let him now go 

 to this young man and bave a good plain 

 talk witli him. It is ignorance, or one spe- 

 cies of ignorance, that i»rompts acts like 

 these. If we can succeed in saving bis soul, 

 instead of killing his l»ody, while be is in an 

 act of sin. will it not be belterV I by im 

 means believe in letting such ff'llows off. 

 mind you ; but I think the regnlar course of 

 law better than bullets. 



^ i8i »,» 



HOAV TO REAR GCOIJ Ql EENS. 



^ OXCE said, in the North-Eastern Bee-Keepers' 

 ji|[ Ctmvcntion, that everything pertaining to prof- 

 "* itable bee-keeping centered in the queen; for 

 the queen is the mainspring of the colony as surely 

 as the mainspring of the watch is the power that 

 makes all else in the watch of use. If this is so, it i? 

 \ery easy to see that, if the mainspring is poor, the 

 whole that has this for a center will he poor also. 

 Hence, the necessity of rearing good queens be- 

 comes apparent to every one who is looking toward 

 success in apiculture. Probably all will admit that 

 no better queens can be obtained than those reared 

 under the impulse which returns to the bees with 

 each successive spring to perpetunte their soecies 

 through natural swarming; and if all cells could be 

 built bj' the bees while under this impulse, good 

 queens, as a rule, would be the result. Well, whj' 

 not rear them thus? Chiefly because of the extra 

 trouble and care it takes to accommodate ourselves 

 to the impulse of the bees; or, in other words, to 

 have the bees themselves conform to our wishes. 

 So far this season I have reared all my queens ex- 

 cept one by natural swarming, having reared over 

 200, and I will tell you how I did it. The fore part 

 of May I began giving my best stocks brood from 

 other colonies, taking the brood each time from the 

 same colony as they could spare it and not reduce 

 them too much. May 2.')th queen-cells were started, 

 when I ceased to give them more brood, not chang- 

 ing brood any more after that. Soon we had a fine 

 lot of cells sealed, and swarms issuing along at in- 

 tervals as we wished to use the cells. As I had but 

 two or three queens I wished to breed from, of 

 course the colonics containing these queens could 



