THE GENESEE FAEMER. 



29 



MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 



HOEVER expects to be successful in the man- 

 lent of the honey bee, must discard the word 



and substitute in its place good cnmmon 

 ! and untiring attention. If left entirely to 

 selves, they will be found, like many other 

 ches of rural economy, not to pay, and the 

 ieeper will unwisely conclude that he has no 

 in keeping bees. On the contrary, if managed 



diligence and skill, they wiU not only furnish 

 ^piarian with some of the " sweets of life," 

 ,vill also occasionally fiU his pockets with the 

 ful. 



RIN& Management. — Place the hive where it 

 tended they shall stand during the summer, 

 li should be where the sun can strike the hive 

 e early part of the day, and also where they 

 be easily watched by the family during the 

 ming season. Keep the entrances to the hives 

 Y well closed, to prevent the chilling of the 

 g brood. This will also guard against rob- 

 ; for it is at this season of the year that they 

 nclined to rob, which they never do when 

 have plenty of honey to gather. About the 

 )f June, raise the hives from the bottom board 

 acing blocks of wood or small stones under 

 orners. Some apiarians raise them up early 

 e spring, which is wrong, as the cold winds 

 ring will chiU the brood. Some do not raise 

 at all, but leave them close to the bottom 

 1 all summer. In this case they should be 

 ined every few days, and all worms found 

 r the edges of the hive killed — not brushed 

 n the ground, for that is where they want to 

 but give them a regular smashing. 



ARMING. — Every bee-keeper should be provi- 

 with a bee-hat, which can be made of wire 

 n doubled round like a cylinder, with the two 



riveted together and a piece of cloth sewed 

 the top or crown. Take a piece of calico the 



length of the screen before doubling, sew the 



together, making a cylinder as of the screen, 

 n the ends of the cloth and screen together, 

 it is finished. Put the hat on, let the lower 

 of the cloth come down around the neck and 

 Iders, button the coat or frock tight around 

 leck, put on a pair of woolen gloves or mit- 



and you are armed for any emergency. Let 

 ) who have never used one get one and try it, 

 they will never do without one again. Lay 

 ! boards on the ground, and spread a sheet 



them to keep the bees out of the grass, set 

 'live on the sheet with the front edge raised 

 t an inch. If the swarm has alighted on the 



of a tree that can be cut off, cut it off care- 



and shake them off on the sheet in front of 

 live, and they will soon enter. If they alight 



valuable tree, and you do not wish to cut the 

 ch off, take a pan and brush the bees into it 



a wing, and empty them in front of the hive. 

 :ey gather on the body of a tree or on the 

 3, as they sometimes do, brush them off into a 



or dipper, in the same manner. They will 

 ily enter the hive. Some have supposed that 

 jueen must always be got into the hive first, 

 ;h is not so, she being frequently nearly the 



to enter. As soon as they have all entered 

 tiive, carry it where it is to remain, and cover 



it with boards or green boughs to shade it for a 

 few days. When this precaution is taken, they 

 will not often leave the hive. If the hive is new, 

 never wash it with anything. If it is an old hive, 

 it should be scraped and washed with water sweet- 

 ened with honey or sugar. Somebody once told 

 me to wash my hives with sweetened whisky, and 

 I have never had a swarm leave when treated in. 

 that manner. Second or third swarms, if small 

 and late in the season, should be returned to the 

 parent hive, which they will do if the queen is 

 found and destroyed. 



Fall Management. — Double all late swarms 

 that have not honey enough to winter, as a large 

 swarm wiU consume but little more honey than a 

 small one ; and if two small swarms, with the con- 

 tents of their hives are put together, they wiU gen- 

 erally do well and make one good swarm, other- 

 wise they must both be consigned to the brimstone 

 pit. 



Winter Management. — See that the hives are 

 properly ventilated, that the moisture which always 

 arises from the good healthy swarm does not gather 

 in the top of the hive and freeze iji cold weather. 

 Many bees are lost in this way. After consuming 

 all the honey where they are clustered, they die of 

 starvation. The remedy is to keep them so warm 

 that the moisture wUl not freeze, or let it escape 

 by ventilation. 



Driving. — Sometimes it may be necessary, in 

 order to save a swarm that is not doing well on 

 account of the comb becoming old or the ravages 

 of the bee-moth, to drive them out into a new 

 hive. Make a box the same size of the hive, with 

 a pane of glass in the top. Turn the hive bottom 

 upwards and place the bos on top, and wind a 

 cloth around whei-e they come together. Let them 

 stand a few minutes, to give the bees time to fiU 

 themselves with honey ; then, with a couple of 

 sticks, rap smartly on the lower part of the hive, 

 and they will rush up to the light to get out. 

 When they are nearly up into the box, take it off, 

 and, having previously arranged a hive as for 

 swarming, shake them out in front of the hive, and 

 they will soon enter. Take the comb out of the 

 old hive, and what bees are left in brush off, a»d 

 they will enter with the rest. A little tobacco 

 smoke, blown into the bottom of the hive, will 

 sometimes be of assistance in driving them up. 

 The smoke of burning rags wUl also answer the 

 same purpose. Smoking them also serves to make 

 them good natured and less inclined to sting. If 

 it should be bad w eather for a few days after driv- 

 ing, they should be fed. 



Doubling or Uniting Swarms. — Drive them 

 out of one of the hives, as directed above. Then 

 take one of the hives you wish to unite them with, 

 invert it and smoke them well with tobacco or the 

 smoke of cotton rags, then sprinkle them with 

 sweetened water with a Itttle peppermint essence 

 in it. Take the box with the bees in it from the 

 other hive, shake them out into the inverted hive, 

 smoke and sprinlfie them, and set the hive where 

 it stood, with the front edge raised a little, that the 

 scattering bees may enter. Smoke them occasion- 

 ally for a short time. This will keep them good 

 natured and give them all one scent, that they 

 can not distinguish friends from strangers. They 

 will commence eating the sweetened water, and, 



