1074 



(iLEANIXGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15 



have seen their eyes sparkle and to have 

 heard their exchinuitions of pleasure and 

 surprise. When we had more honey than 

 we neetled for table use I t-ut it out and sent 

 it on a plate to the neighliors for a present. 

 Perhaps the milkweed and the basswood 

 yielil had something to do with the exceed- 

 inghj l)eautiful pure white combs that they 

 built in those little frames. Why, they were 

 so handscjme it seems to me I would have 

 some bees, even if they never Jn'ought in a 

 drop of honey. To any one who loves to 

 study God's work, especially as it is mani- 

 festeil in the insect world, such a little hive 

 of bees is worth more than can be estimatetl 

 in money. When you open one of those lit- 

 tle hives and hold (jne of the beautiful combs 

 up to the gaze of the children, or, better 

 still, let them take it in their own hands, 

 and see how gentle and kind the bees are, 

 just repeat those old familiar lines: 



How doth the bus.v little bee 

 Improve each shiniriK hour. 



And Kather honey all the day 

 From every openins' flower ! 



God bless dear old Dr. Watts ! 



When I first openeil my eyes in the morn- 

 ing I went outdoors to see those gentle bees 

 at work. I watched them more or less at in- 

 tervals during the day: and before going to 

 bed I enjoyed listening to their happy hum 

 of contentment, and 1 think I may say jyram! 

 to the great Father above. I was around 

 them so often that they no doubt became ac- 

 customed to my presence. 



I am sure this is a great factor in making 

 the bees gentle; and when those new swarms 

 were building their combs I do not know 

 but I sometimes opened their little hives a 

 ilozen times a day: but I was as careful not 

 to pinch them nor hurt them in any way, al- 

 most, as if it had been a baby — say my 

 youngest grandchild. 



I want to call the attention of the Root 

 factory to the fact that they have not as 

 yet made these little hives with the view of 

 having them a two-story hive. When I put 

 a second story on the lower one the space 

 was so great that the bees would luiild l)urr- 

 combs on which to climb '"upstairs." I 

 finally put sticks in the ral)l)ets to raise the 

 top of the frames level with the sides of the 

 hive in the lower story: Init they had ac- 

 quired such a habit of Iniilding those little 

 ])ridge-combs they would not give it up until 

 I scraped every bit of wax from the tops of 

 the lower frames and the bottoms of the up- 

 per ones, and then greased the clean pine 

 W(kh1 with a little butter on the end of my 

 finger. That stopped it. The bees did not 

 seem to find the butter particularly offensive, 

 but they could not "make their putty stick." 

 and so they gave it up. After I had got my 

 hives well fixed in this manner, the combs 

 in the upper story could be lifted out just as 

 easily as those in the lower stoiy. 



Now. if you wish to avoid side fins and 

 attachments you must see that your bees 

 have room to build, and to stoi-e honey. 

 Bees have such a fashion for comb-building 



when honey is coming in that I am under 

 the impression that every colony should be 

 allowed to build some comb somewhere. 

 Perhaps raising wax cells on sheets of foun- 

 dation may be almost as good; but I do not 

 think it is quite. Let them satisfy their nat- 

 ural instinct and nature by at least a little 

 comb-building somewhere in the hive. 



Now another thing: I very much prefer a 

 hive that can be opened without any snap or 

 crack of propolis. They began cementing 

 the covers down almost at once; and where 

 there was space enough for a queen-cage he- 

 tween the top of the combs and the light 

 pine cover, they iutilt fins of comb up against 

 the cover. Making all the tops of the frames 

 perfectly clean and smooth, and then butter- 

 ing them as before, cured this. After I had 

 them fixed so there were no projections at all 

 in the way of wax or px'opolis above the top 

 of the frames I cut some little sheets of enam- 

 el cloth just a little larger than the little hive 

 each way. Now, if you have them a little 

 larger it is going to bother you somewhat to 

 have the edge turnetl up just a little on this 

 enamel sheet eJcnr around; but you can do 

 it if you take time; and after it has been in 

 that shape for a daj' or two you can take it 

 oft' and put it back without a bit of trouble. 

 It will shape itself, especially with the pro- 

 polis the bees put around the outer edge. 

 When thus arranged, when you want some 

 honey for the table remove the cover, take 

 hold of this enamel sheet by one corner, take 

 it oft' the frames, bees and all, and set it down 

 in front of the entrance. By the time you 

 have cut out your chunk of honey for the 

 table the bees will be about all oli'. When 

 you lay it down on the top of the frames in 

 closing up the hive, if there ai-e any Ijees un- 

 der it, just pass your finger along the top of 

 the frames and the liees will get down out of 

 the way. This takes a little moi'e time than 

 simply to lay on a cover; but I think the 

 time is well invested; for your covers then 

 come right oft' withcnit any snapping or stick- 

 ing. The wind can not blow the cover oft", 

 l)ecause the Neponset cap keeps it in place 

 and keeps every thing di'y. 



Now. one or two such little hives out in 

 the front yai'd, in the fiower-garden, on the 

 window-sill, or the porch, or even on top of 

 your house, are not only things of beauty but 

 a source of education and pleasure to every 

 visitor — man, woman, or child — but it comes 

 pi-etty near being a "joy forever, " especially 

 when honey is coming in every day; and up 

 at our Michigan home, so far as my experi- 

 ence has gone, there is some honey coming 

 every day in the year when it is warm 

 enough for the liees to fiy. Perhaps if I had 

 a large apiary in that locality, siich would 

 not l)e the case. It seems to me I should like 

 the fun of Iniilding up an apiary with those 

 little hives and nothing else. »When a colo- 

 ny gets too large for a two-story hive, let it 

 swarm. 



It has been suggested that the C'aiu-asians 

 have lieen given to too much swarming. 

 Well, just now that would suit me all the 

 1 letter. If thev keep on until there is only 



