798 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



"I think I understand the matter so far. 

 What next?" 



"At the end of ten days from the time of 

 the caging of the queen the hive is opened 

 and all queen-cells are cut off the combs. 

 That you may not miss any, it is always best 

 to shake the bees off the combs; for unless 

 you do, one or more cells are usually so cov- 

 ered by the bees that they are not seen; and 

 the leaving of one or more cells would work 

 the spoiling of the plan by the bees swarm- 

 ing." 



"I see. But how do you shake these 

 combs— each one at the entrance of the 

 hive, as you lift them out ? ' ' 



"That is the way I used to do it; but of 

 late years I have found it far better, both 

 as to freedom from stings and in preventing 

 the bees from piling up on the unshaken 

 frames still in tne hive, to take an empty 

 hive with me, or, what is still better, an 

 empty box made of half-inch stuff, so as to 

 be very light, the same being made to hold 

 one frame more than the hive will, so that 

 there need be no crowding in putting the 

 frames in. I have three or four of these 

 boxes, and find them very handy indeed in 

 all work when handling frames, setting the 

 combs in such a box instead of standing 

 them about the hive with one end resting on 

 the ground, as I have seen many bee-keep- 

 ers do, and as I used to do myself. Having 

 the box with me I take the frames out of 

 the hive, and place them in regular order in 

 this box till I come to the last one, when it 

 is shaken in front of the entrance to the 

 hive and carefully looked over for queen- 

 cells, which are cut off if any are found, 

 and the frame put back in place in its hive. 

 The one which went next to it is now taken 

 from the box, the bees shaken from it as 

 with the other, cells cut off, and so on until 

 all are back in the hive. In this way the 

 bees are all practically out of your way; 

 you do not have them piling up on top of the 

 frames, and, still better, there is not a lot 

 of them all over the rabbets where the 

 frames rest, to kill in replacing the frames, 

 or in closing the hive, as in the old ways of 

 shaking; and as no bees are killed, the colo- 

 njr is not specially irritated, and few or no 

 stings received." 



"Good! But what about the queen? " 



"When you come to the frame she is 

 caged in, shake it the same as the others, 

 for she will not be hurt now that she is not 

 laying; and as soon as you have the queen- 

 cells which may be on that frame cut off, 

 remove the cage and set the frame in the 

 hive. Now remove the cork from the cage 

 and hold the open end of the cage near the 

 entrance where the bees are running in with 

 fanning wings, when the queen will leave 

 the cage and run into the hive with the 

 bees the same as does any queen when a 

 swarm is being hived." 



" That is easy, I am sure." 



"Yes; and, what is better, you will see 

 those bees go to work with a will, carrying 

 into the sections all honey which may have 

 accumulated in the cells from which the 



bees have emerged during the last ten days, 

 so that the queen may have room to lay A 

 without any further idea of swarming, un- "JP 

 less the season should be long drawn out." 



' ' But I shall lose ten days in bees, shall I 

 not, as no eggs were laid while the queen 

 was caged? " 



"Yes; and this might be against the plan 

 where the honey harvest is one which con- 

 tinues without interruption throughout the 

 whole season; but in any section where only 

 one or two or three sets of bloom, like clo- 

 ver, basswood, and buckwheat give the sur- ii 

 plus honey, then the stopping of the queen H 

 from laying during this period of ten days is ■ 

 a blessing rather than a curse, as the bees fl 

 from such eggs would come after the har- *■ 

 vest was past, hence would become con- 

 sumers instead of producers." 



mmBee KupjDff 



f^Lot/isscffom. 



What not to do is often as important as 

 what to do in the apiary. 



Good stock is essential to good honey crops, 

 and is cheap at any price. 



Improve your own stock, or buy the best 

 stock at four times the cost if necessary. 



One good queen is worth half a dozen of 

 the ordinary kind; so, get good ones. 



My ! "A cold spell .... now on 

 . . . . and great flakes of snow are fall- 

 ing," says editor Root, page 641— in May, 

 when the Southerners are complaining about 

 hot weather and having ' ' good old summer 

 time. " It is quite refreshing during such 

 warm weather even to read about "the 

 falling snow. ' ' 



As soon as one crop is out of the way, get 

 every thing in readiness for any other flow 

 that might come; then you will not be near- 

 ly so likely to be caught by surprise, and 

 you will have less occasion to pull your hair 

 and mutter things like "My! had I only had 

 every thing in shape to catch that sudden 

 unexpected flow of fine honey, I should be just 

 so much the richer. Now I am only wiser. ' ' 

 Yes, and next year do it all over again! 



The Weather Bureau is made for the bee- 

 keepers as much as for any one else, and 



