1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



911 



wagon; and if these are inclined to come 

 out while loading, a whilf of smoke is given 

 to them to keep them in until all are loaded. 

 I then cover all with a good wagon sheet. 



NO TROUBLE AS LONG AS WAGON IS MOVING. 



Then I hitch on the team; and as long as 

 the wagon is kept in motion there will be no 

 trouble, as the bees will cluster quietly in 

 the hives, and a bee seldom tries to escape. 



I have moved them part of the distance 

 one day, and the next morning, bright and 

 early, finished the distance. Last year, in 

 February, a party in Boulder County rented 

 one hundred hives of me. When he came 

 for them I told him to try moving them 

 without closing them in. He hesitated, but 

 finally said, "If you will take the risk I 

 will." The bees were moved in three loads, 

 making the thirty miles in one day each 

 time. 



FREQUENT USE OF SMOKER. 



The days proved to be warm, and the 

 smoker had to be used some while the 

 horses were eating their grain at noon. 

 This method not only saves time, but the 

 bees seem to stand the moving better. Of 

 course, the man who tries this method must 

 be "on to his job," and understand the 

 habits of bees. If the weather is warm 

 there can be no stops on the way. 



Denver, Colo., June 23. 



[We have had reports like this, and I 

 think we may safely conclude that bees can 

 be moved without closing the entrances; 

 but I would advise every one trying the ex- 

 periment the first time to have the king- 

 bolt, or pin that goes through the double- 

 tree, so arranged that he can withdraw it 

 instantly and release the team. Then there 

 should also be an attendant on the load, 

 with a smoker, ready for an emergency. 



I know that a colony that is frequently 

 jounced or jarred will soon become quite 

 tractable. The jar frightens the bees into 

 a state of demoralization. But let the hive 

 stand still for a few minutes and the bees 

 will soon recover themselves enough to 

 make things interesting both to the man 

 and team. 



We should be glad to get reports from 

 others of our correspondents. In the mean 

 time I propose to have it tried in moving 

 our own bees in from the outyards this 

 fall. -Ed.] 



THE HOME OF THE HONEY-BEES VISITED 



By a Delegation of Schoolteachers from all over 

 the United States. See p. 914. 



BY E. R. ROOT. 



On the 8th of July a delegation of some- 

 thing like 150 schoolteachers, who were in 

 attendance on a summer school at Wooster 

 University, took the trolley line at that place 

 for Medina. The delegation was headed by 

 Dr. E. F. Bigelow, of Stamford, Ct., one of 

 the editors of St. Nicholas Magazine. The 



doctor's specialties are nature and science 

 studies, and at this particular time he had just 

 finished a coui'se of lectures before the teach- 

 ers at the university mentioned. Being an 

 ardent bee-keeper he was the means of get- 

 ting the delegation of teachers to visit the 

 Home of the Honey-bees in one big swarm, 

 and it was a swarm indeed, with Dr. Bige- 

 low as the king bee. 



On arrival at our plant the teachers were . 

 provided with bee-veils, then inducted into 

 the theory and practice of bee-keeping at 

 our home yard. The company was divided 

 up into little squads, each squad having one 

 of our apiarists as chief instructor and ma- 

 nipulator, while Dr. Bigelow himself was 

 the presiding genius of the whole thing. 



It so happened that a little swarm of 

 bees was hanging on one of our grape- 

 vines. With this as an object-lesson we 

 succeeded in showing how bunches of these 

 bees could be picked up by the handful. 

 We even went so far as to demonstrate 

 to the teachers how they themselves could 

 run their hands into this cluster of bees 

 without getting a sting. It was surprising 

 to see how many volunteered the act. There 

 were, perhaps, a dozen or m.ore who ran 

 their hands clear into the center of the clus- 

 ter, and carefully withdrew them; and when 

 one after another succeeded in the trick 

 without harm the others were rendered 

 more bold. 



So apt were our pupils that we permitted 

 them to pick the frames out of the hives, 

 to handle them, to hunt the queens, watch 

 said queens in the act of laying, examine 

 the brood in its various stages, pick out the 

 drones, and, last of all, lay the bare hand on 

 the bees as they were clustered on the brood. 

 Some exclaimed, "What beautiful little kit- 

 tens ! " "What lovely little pets!" "I 

 never had an idea they were so gentle ! ' ' 

 ' ' I did not suppose any one would be able to 

 do what we ourselves have done without so 

 much as a sting. ' ' 



I do not know who it was, but some one 

 conceived the idea of having a group picture 

 taken of the teachers, each holding a frame 

 of brood and bees. The suggestion was no 

 sooner made than preparations were under 

 way for putting the idea into execution. As 

 the bees were very gentle, the doctor sug- 

 gested that the teachers all lift their veils, 

 while he himself removed his entirely. Some 

 of the teachers had gone; but those who 

 were left formed a semicircle holding the 

 frames in various positions as here shown, 

 and which are here reproduced direct from 

 the photo. Dr. Bigelow himself sits in the 

 foreground with his left foot resting under 

 his right knee. The others are in a balf- 

 sitting posture in the foreground, while 

 those in the rear stand at full height. 



It was impossible in the limited time to 

 get in the entire group; and then, besides, 

 to tell the actual truth, we were somewhat 

 nervous for fear that a single bee might 

 cause a stampede in the company. The 

 camera was hastily, not to say nervously, 

 set up, and an exposure made, with the 



