176 



THE AMERICAN APICULTUEIST. 



every beekeeper who uses them will 

 be convinced of their excellent 

 qualities. 



2. In removing the surplus 

 honey and wax, take care not to in- 

 jure the bees. 



My hive is especially adapted 

 for this ; more so, in fact, than all 

 others, even the Swiss, as the bee- 

 king to whom we have alluded could 

 not deny. It is certainly nnich 

 better to remove one, two or three 

 combs filled with honey than to re- 

 move tlie hive from its stand, cov- 

 ering it with smoke, and cutting 

 out combs which are liable to con- 

 tain both brood and honey. The 

 same Switzer exhibited extraordi- 

 nary skill and courage in handling 

 bees and removing their combs. 



Without any protection, he took 

 one colony after another, regard- 

 less of the number of bees which 

 filled the air, drove them back with 

 the tobacco-smoke which he blew 

 upon them from the pipe or tube 

 held in his mouth, cutting the lower 

 ends of the combs without being 

 stung. Sometimes he blew the 

 bees away, if there were only a few 

 that hindered him, gently with his 

 mouth. This skill and courage, 

 however, which constitute the 

 whole secret of success, are not 

 possessed by every one and not ea- 

 sily acquired. 



The Swedish beekeepers are very 

 practical in their methods of con- 

 ducting arrangements in the api- 

 ary ; their hives are round, hollow 

 logs^, about \l feet in height and 

 10 inches in diameter. On the top 



2 These Swcdibli beeliivcs are quite similar 

 to o\w bee gums. — Kd.] 



is a flat, wooden cover which can 

 be easily removed, and the entrance 

 is in the middle instead of at the 

 bottom of the hive. One of these 

 logs is placed bottom up and an- 

 other is set upon it, thus making 

 of the two one hive, resembling a 

 large hour-glass. After the upper 

 half is filled with comb and honey, 

 the cover is removed and what 

 honey can be spared is taken from 

 it ; the cover is then replaced, the 

 hive (like the hour-glass) is in- 

 verted, so that the empt}?^ half is on 

 top, and the lower entrance is 

 closed, the bees being obliged to 

 pass out through the upper en- 

 trance. The bees soon begin to 

 build their combs from the top and 

 fill the hive again. 



However practical and useful 

 these hives and systems of manage- 

 ment may be, yet they are only 

 suitable for those portions of the 

 country, where the bees gather their 

 large honey harvests late in the 

 season and where the haiden is 

 abundant, and the Swedish bee- 

 keepers would obtain far better re- 

 sults and manage their bees more 

 easily by using our form of beehive. 

 In our country, and where the bees 

 gather the larger portion of their 

 honey in the spring-time from the 

 flower blossoms and the honey-dew, 

 it is very seldom advisable or ad- 

 vantageous to cut out the honey as 

 late in the season as Bartholomew 

 (August 24) as the bees are seldom 

 able after this time to gather enough 

 honey to refill the hives and supply 

 themselves with sufficient winter 

 stores, for want of which the colo- 

 nies would perish during the winter. 



