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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



September 29, 



progress Is slow. It seems very hard to give up old methods 

 and adopt new ones. But progress is there. My private cor- 

 respondence with, bee-keepers of Germany establishes that 

 fact beyond a doubt. — Gleanings. Ontario Co., N. Y. 



I Concluded next week!. 



% 



A Little Experience with Bees. 



BY CHARLE.S HOOKSTRA. 



I have had quite an experience with bees lately. I went 

 southwest of my home about six miles, and got acquainted with 

 three or four persons who keep about 5U colonies of bees. 

 They are not readers of the bee-papers, and are somewhat 

 behind the times in the latest improvements. 



A man came along there about five or six years ago and 

 sold them some newly invented hives, charging them $5.00 

 apiece, and they have made no improvements since thpn. They 

 keep most of their bees in dry-goods boxes, or any box that is 

 convenient when they swarm. A great many go to the woods 

 and are lost. 



In the fall, about Oct. 1, they dig a hole in the ground, 

 build a fire and put sulphur on it, then place the hive over the 

 fire to kill the bees in order to get the honey away. I per- 

 suaded them this year to let me have the bees and take them 

 away without killing them. I now have two colonies at my 

 home which I took away from the honey they had gathered 

 all summer. I first bored some holes in the box they were in, 

 enough to put the nose of the smoker in; then I turned the 

 dry-goods box bottom side up, and put my hive on top of that, 

 with foundation in, and a cake of honey. I then rapt on the 

 dry-goods box to get them started going up, and I gave them 

 a puff of smoke. I kept this up for about 25 minutes, until 

 I had them pretty well up. Then I placed the hive in the 

 place where the dry-goods box stood, and moved the box away 

 about 50 feet, and the remaining bees I drove out with the 

 smoker, when they flew to the new hive where the queen was, 

 and the work was done. 



I let them stand there the next night aud day, and the 

 evening of the next day they had started to work. That even- 

 ing I fastened the hive to the bottom-board, aud put mosquito- 

 netting around it and brought them home on the street-cars. 

 I put a paper on the box, and the passengers wanted to know 

 if I had pigeons. I told them I didn't know how many " pig- 

 eons" were lu the box. I had only to change cars three times 

 with my " pigeons." 



I have had the bees at my home two weeks, and they have 

 gathered 30 pounds of honey in the brood-chamber already, 

 and I consider them one of my best colonies. This was a new 

 idea to the bee-smotherers. 



Another person gave me a third swarm that was very 

 small. It issued Aug. 21. I took them out of their dry-goods 

 box or " bee-catcher," as the man called it, as it had a handle. 

 They had made quite a bit of comb, being in there three days. 

 I took a wire hive made of screening, and took the little 

 piece of comb that the queen was on and put it into my hive. 

 The other bees I shook into my hive, and brought them home 

 on the street-cars. When I got them home I put them into 

 one of my hives with foundation with a little honey in. The 

 next day I saw they were not strong enough to gather enough 

 honey to keep them this winter, so I took one of my strong 

 colonies and put it beside the weak one, and put peppermint 

 on both hives so as to kill the scent, so they would not kill the 

 queen in the weak colony. I then took a frame of bees out of 

 the strong colony and shook them into the weak one. This 

 workt all right. The next morning I fed the new colony 

 honey so they would get a little acquainted with their new 

 home. It is now the third day I have had them, and they are 

 gathering their winter stores. I now have a pretty strong 

 colony of bees. I believe in saving the last swarms if increase 

 in numbers is wanted. 



About two weeks ago I visited Mr. Watson's home, in this 

 (Cook) county, alongside the Desplaines river. It is a beauti- 

 ful home, surrounded by a natural growth of trees. I had 

 quite a talk with Mrs. Watson about bees. She said they had 

 some "tenants" in the upper part of their house that had not 

 paid any rent, nor had they received any benefit from them 

 for the last four years. The " tenants " are a swarm of bees. 

 They came in between the stone wall and the window-frame 

 in the upper story at the front of the house. They came in a 

 small crack that the builders had left. They then found their 

 way to the inside of the house between the plastering and the 

 stone wall, in a space about 3 inches wide and 10 feet square, 

 which Is their hive. When the lady of the house opens the 

 window in the room below the bees come down the pulley 

 holes, aud act as if they would like to take possession of the 



whole house. The people considered the bees quite a curiosity 

 at first, but they do not think so now. 



These bees swarm regularly every year, but the people 

 have not been able to catch any of the swarms. The bees 

 have made the corner of the window-sill black by traveling in 

 and out. There are about 50 colonies in that vicinity, and 

 the bees in the house are supposed to be some of the run- 

 aways. Cook Co., III., Aug. 28. 



CONDUCTED BY 

 £>R. O. O. AlZZ.r.BS, \LAJtETiGO, ILL, 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller dlreot.l 



Keeping Combs Filled with Honey. 



I have a few extracting-combs filled with honey, and want 

 to keep them for the bees in early spring. How can I keep 

 them away from the bees ? In what kind of a room, and what 

 temperature is required ? New York. 



Answer. — Very likely a warm cellar is the best place you 

 can conveniently have. If you can have a warmer place, all 

 the better. But a cellar that never freezes is better than a 

 room that is much warmer than the cellar in daytime and 

 then freezes at night. The best thing would be a room that 

 never goes below summer heat. It would not hurt the honey 

 to be kept at 90'-^ or lOO^. 



Sources of Pollen. 



Where do the bees get their pollen and beebread^from 

 what flowers or shrubs, and what kind of trees and flowers ? 

 The reason this question is askt, I would like to plant them, 

 and it would be of interest to me as a beginner. Georgia. 



Answer. — Bees get pollen from white clover, burdock, 

 sweet clover, plantain, buckwheat, maple, pumpkin, apple, 

 muskmellon, poppy, plum, corn, linden, dandelion, mignon- 

 ette, pear — I think you'll have to excuse me from giving the 

 whole list, for it would take up a great deal of space to give 

 all I know, and very likely your bees get pollen from some- 

 thing I don't know anything about. It is not likely that it 

 would be worth while for you to plant anything specially for 

 pollen. While it is a very important item in Mistress Bee's 

 bill of fare, the probability is that your bees will easily find 

 all they want on the plants already growing. 



Work of "Wax-Worms — Queenless Colon}-. 



1. Three weeks ago I had a strong colony of bees to ab- 

 scond, leaving plenty of sealed brood. After the young bees 

 gnawed through, they could not get out, as they were held in 

 by a web at the bottom of the cell where there was a small 

 white worm. The hive was well shaded, and the bees were 

 bringing in nectar. Ants have been between the quilt and 

 cover for some time. I put them into a new hive on full sheets 

 of foundation, and they are doing nicely. What caused them 

 to leave? How can I prevent it, and get rid of the small 

 worms? 



2. I notice white dust, or what seems to be chewed wax, 

 on the sections of honey that I have stored away in a warm, 

 dry place. What is the cause, and how can I prevent it? 



3. I have a colony of queenless bees. I gave them a frame 

 of eggs and larvae, and instead of starting queen-cells on it, 

 they build queen-cells on the comb where there are no eggs or 

 larvse. If they adopt a worker-bee as a queen, will she lay 

 eggs ? What must I do with them ? Tennessee. 



Answers. — As you report the case, it seems to have been 

 a case of swarming, in which the worms and ants had no part. 

 The best remedy for the wax-worm is a strong colony of Ital- 

 ians. Italians seem to be very much better than common bees 

 for keeping out worms. The ants probably do little damage, 

 making their nests about the hive more for warmth than any- 

 thing else. If no place is allowed about the hive to shelter 

 them where the bees cannot go themselves they will not 

 trouble. I discarded quilts and adopted a plain board cover. 



