1904 



THE 



AMERICAN KEE-KEEPER. 141 



otherwise miscoiKluct themselves. The 

 mutter got into the courts finally. 



Cole's health became poor and he 

 concluded to give up bee-keeping. He 

 dealt in comb and extracted honey and 

 had nearby trade. None of his honey- 

 went to the Philadelphia markets. 



The apiary consisted of 17 hives of 

 various makes, including some of 

 Cole's own handiwork. The bees were 

 black and Messrs. Selzer and Hornor 

 say they were very lively when they 

 first tackled them. The idea was to 

 transfer the colonies to eight and ten 

 frame dovetailed hives and catch and 

 kill the queens and supersede them 

 with full-blooded Italians. The Phil- 

 adelphians who made the journey 

 were amply repaid for their trouble. 



Messrs. Hornor and Selzer did tl3e 

 actual work of taking the old hives 

 apart and shaking down the bees from 

 the frames in front of the new hives. 

 Each visitor was handed a frame cov- 

 ered with bees and asked to locate the 

 queen. 



"When you find her give the Indian 

 yell" said Mr. Selzer. One member, 

 whose eyes were sharp, found five. 



tion to fill the frames and surplus box- 

 es, and to be ready for all emergencies 

 the bee smoker, bee veil, and gloves 

 should also be ready so that the hive 

 can be opened if it seems necessary 

 and so that a swarm may be handled 

 as soon as it clusters. 



It may be more profitable to send a 

 long distance and pay a round price 

 for a colony of Italian bees than to 

 accept a hive of black bees as a gift 

 from a neighbor, but we should take 

 our chance with the black bees at a 

 reasonable price if near home, and 

 should then send to some reliable 

 party for an Italian queen, paying 

 what might be asked for a tested 

 queen. 



Only a few weeks would be requir- 

 ed to change a colony of black bees 

 to a colony of Italians and to two col- 

 onies as soon as they swarmed. To 

 buy a swarm in any but a movable 

 frame hive would probably be poor 

 economy, as it needs an exjoerienced 

 hand to transfer it into a proper hive, 

 and the help to do this will greatly 

 increase the cost of the colony. If 

 it is done, do not charge the expense 

 against the bees, but stay and see it These were caught, their heads pinch- 



done, learn all that it is possible to 

 learn about the bees while watching 

 the operation and consider the ex- 

 pense as a part of the cost of an edu- 

 cation in bee-keeping. 



Centerport, N. Y.. March 1, 1904. 



A QUEEN HUNTING EXPEDI- 

 TION. 



By. M. F. Reeve. 



ed and they were tossed over the fence 

 to the chickens. New queens were 

 given them or will he in a few days. 

 Several colonies were queenless. Most 

 of the hives were well stocked with 

 honey. The bees were gathering 

 white clover nectar at the time. The 

 frames not having been wired, many 

 of them were broken down on being 

 handled, and the combs, with their 

 heavy weight of honey tumbled out. 

 At least three of the hives appeared 

 to have been tenanted by swarms 

 which had been given empty frames 

 without foundation sheets or even 

 starters. As a result the bees had 

 gone back to first principles and had 

 built their combs the shortest way. 



PRESIDENT Townsend, Secretary 

 Hahman, and a few other mem- 

 bers of the Philadelphia Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, including your 

 correspondent, went down to Woods- 

 town, N. J., on Saturday, June 11, to 



help Messrs. Selzer and Honor, who crosswise of the frames 

 operate a large apiaiy in that town, 

 to hunt queen bees. 



The apiary was formely owned by 

 J. D. Coles, who gained much noto- 

 riety about three years ago by having 

 a controversy with the citizens and 

 the town authorities about his bees, 

 which were alleged to be a nuisance 

 because they were said to soil the 

 family washing, sting the children,and 



Mr. Hornor was obliged to cut the 

 frames to pieces in order to get out the 

 combs. These went into the extract- 

 ing cans. All good combs were given 

 back to the colonies. 



All containing brood were cut out. 

 Mr. Selzer says the Woodstown place 

 has been leased for a year and will 

 be used as a shipping point. 



The past winter having been so cold 



