1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUi^TURE. 



815 



,Xli/'"' 



FIG. 1.— A BEE-KEEPER'S TRANSFERRING PARTY AT LUNCH. 



winter hive to hold four colonies, packing 

 all around with kiln-dried planer- shavings. 

 I leave them in this packing until nearly 

 swarming season, when they are placed on 

 the summer stands. 



I am looking after some 215 colonies this 

 spring, but I expect to increase to 500 right 

 away. The photograph shows my home 

 yard of about 160 colonies. I find that, with 

 a little help, I can manage a greater num- 

 ber. 



I might write a long article on how I sell 

 my honey, but will not take up space here; 

 but let me say, don't be careless and put 

 your honey on the market unless it is the 

 best and the package the neatest, and live 

 up to every agreement you make with your 

 purchaser. 



East Jordan, Mich. 



A TRANSFERRING EXCURSION. 



Transferring Sixty Colonies from Boxes to 

 Modern Hives. 



BY WM. A SEISER. 



I enclose four pictures of a transferring 

 excursion that we made to Salem on the 1st 

 of May. Fig. 1 shows the party under one 

 of the apple-trees, with the lunch spread out 

 on boxes, the ladies sitting on the grass and 



seats, and the gentlemen standing in the 

 background. 



You will notice in Fig. 2 a box hive turned 

 upside down. The super on the old box was 

 a soap- box, and you can see the printing on 

 the box, as it is inverted. The box into 

 which we are drumming the bees is made 

 exactly to fit flush on the inside of the bot- 

 tom of the hive. Norman Mattson is to the 

 right, drumming with two sticks on the one 

 side, and the writer is on the left, drumming 

 with two sticks on the other side, with one 

 of the guests assisting, holding the drum- 

 ming-box down. My plan is to have each 

 one of the sticks hit the side of the box with 

 a slight jar at different times — not simul- 

 taneously. I have gotten better results 

 from this than from any other way. 



I have forgotten exactly, but think we 

 transferred, in all, fifteen colonies that day. 

 We had some sixty colonies in all to trans- 

 fer. The other picture shows the beautiful 

 apple-blossoms and the tree under which 

 our operating-table was placed; a pile of 

 drone comb as we threw it in a heap, and a 

 barrelful of combs in which there was no 

 honey nor brood, to be melted, and some of 

 the cans into which we could put the chunk 

 honey, and about a dozen of the hives in the 

 apiary on the other side of the wire fence. 

 I am sorry this picture did not take in the 

 operating- table and some things on the oth- 

 er side of it. The last picture shows one 

 corner of the apiary, which we have enclosed 

 on two sides with a board fence. 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



