1016 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



the natural swarms are poorest of all. I 

 never saw colonies so strong, nor saw them 

 work more energetically through the clover 

 season. Did they swarm later? Well, two 

 or three did, but so also did half a dozen of 

 the natural swarms that came out in May 

 and the early part of June. Even some that 

 were hived on starters are swarming again 

 now. 



There are a few things, however, not 

 mentioned by Mr. A., that should be kept 

 in mind. One of these is that the brood, 

 when put up, should be carefully examined 

 and all queen-cells destroyed; otherwise the 

 young queens, hatching before the ten days 

 are up, are liable to squeeze through the 

 zinc and lead off a colony. 



Another thing to remember is that, when 

 the brood is put up, queen- cells will usually 

 be started at once in the upper hive, and 

 will be nearly ready to hatch when taken off 

 in ten days. All but one of these must be 

 removed or they will swarm. Better still, 

 destroy all of them and give them a laying 

 queen. 



One feature of this plan worth considering 

 is that, if you wish no increase but an ex- 

 ceedingly strong colony, you can destroy the 

 cells in the upper hive, and leave it on until 

 ready to extract. 



When the brood is put up, the super 

 should be placed on the top, not between the 

 two hives, or the cells will be filled with 

 pollen. 



GOOD FOR QUEEN-REARING. 



Mr. A.'s plan offers an excellent oppor- 

 tunity for raising queens. When the brood 

 is put up, take a frame with a ceh-bar and 

 wooden cups, and graft larvae from your 

 best breeding queen. Place this frame in 

 the upper hive. In ten days, when you take 

 off the top hive these cells will be all right 

 to put in the Titoff cages to hatch. I find 

 it convenient to keep a nursery frame of 

 these cages in some hive where one can dis- 

 pose of surplus cells, and where queens can 

 be found when needed. 



HOW TO LOOK FOR QUEEN-CELLS. 



Before manipulating Jbees in swarming 

 time it is advisable to look through the api- 

 ary to ascertain which colonies are prepar- 

 ing to swarm. If modern hives are used, no 

 special contrivance is necessary in examin- 

 ing for queen-cells. Just puff a little smoke 

 in at the entrance, and with the hive-tool (a 

 good i-inch chisel is best) pry up the hive in 

 front. Then pick up the hive, super and 

 all; set it forward on the bottom- board, and 

 tip back until it stands up on end. If mov- 

 able frames are used they may now be turn- 

 ed like the leaves of a book, and examined 

 all the way up. With the Hoffman frames 

 it is not quite so easy; but it can be done if 

 the division- board is left out. The rim on 

 the bottom-board prevents mashing bees; 

 the hive bridging over, as it stands on end, 

 prevents the bees from getting out at the 

 back and making trouble; and the super, 

 having a firm support, has no tendency to 

 fall off. The only difficulty comes when the 



hives get too high and too heavy to handle. 

 An assistant is then needed. Shove the hive 

 forward one inch to avoid killing bees, and 

 let one man tip back the hive from behind 

 while the other turns the combs. In the 

 swarming season it is necessary to examine 

 as often as once in five days, or some swarms 

 will be sure to escape. 



Valparaiso, Ind. 



[This method of leafing over the combs 

 from the bottom as we would the leaves of 

 a book I do not remember to have seen de- 

 scribed before. Here is a good argument in 

 favor of the unspaced frame. Nearly all 

 the bee-keepers I visit use fast bottoms so 

 that the hives may be always ready to move, 

 either to shift about the apiary or to move 

 to outyards and into the cellars, so that this 

 plan would be impracticable.— Ed.] 



AN EXPERIENCE IN HIVING SOME BEES. 



The Knack of Knowing How. 



BY MRS. BEE. 



Well, I suppose I'd better "bob up" se- 

 renely and tell our little experiences and the 

 fun we all had helping our neighbors catch 

 their swarms of bees. 



About 11:30 one morning in the latter 

 part of May, while my "wayward pardner" 

 (true sometimes) and I were proudly dis- 

 cussing our brand-new "yellow kids" (the 

 bees from the Italian queen we had such a 

 time introducing, p. 767) one of our neigh- 

 bor's little nieces came rushing breathlessly 

 up to the office door and exclaimed: 



"0 Mr. Bee! come quick! Grandma's 

 bees have come out of the coop, and part of 

 them have climbed way up a tree! Auntie 

 wants you to help her get them down. ' ' 



I was nearly blue in the face laughing 

 over the coop idea; but we flew out of our 

 office and down to auntie's, merely stopping 

 en route long enough for veil and gloves. 



We couldn't miss sport of that kind. The 

 bees were nearly in the top of a tall maple; 

 but it would never do to hesitate, so the 

 ' ' gude mon ' ' nobly shinned up the tree, 

 and with the aid of a bucksaw (such a handy 

 tool to use in a tree!) and a jack-knife man- 

 aged to butcher through the limb. The two 

 aunties had a sheet on the ground, but the 

 limb was high up and too small to risk much 

 weight on, so it made a wide sweep and 

 spilled some of the bees in the grass, much 

 to one auntie's dismay, but they soon got 

 with the rest. 



But this fair maid, in her anxiety to get 

 every bee where it belonged, got their feel- 

 ings injured, and our absorption in our task 

 was rudely interrupted by a " war-whoop " 

 from her, and we looked to see her dancing 

 frantically around one corner of the house, 

 clutching at her hair and shaking one foot 

 wildly around. 



None of us went to her rescue, however. 

 We knew she would deal gently with them, 

 as she was so afraid some would get lost in 

 the grass. Mr. Bee got them hived beauti- 



