434 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



July 13, 1899. 



out under the cag^e, and the outside bees are seen to be feed- 

 ing the queen thru the wirecloth, the cage can be gently 

 removed, and the comb put carefully back in the hive, and 

 there is no question but what the queen will be accepted ; 

 in fact, she has been accepted before she is thus given her 

 larger liberty. 



If the bees are seen to be angry towards the queen, 

 clinging to the cage like so many burdocks, look thru the 

 hive for queen-cells, destroying every one. Keep the queen 

 caged until all of the brood is sealed, then destroy every 

 cell before releasing her. Now that all possible hopes of 

 rearing a queen of their own are gone, they will accept the 

 inevitable. Not one colony in one hundred will drive yuu 

 to this last resort ; but you are master of the situation if 

 you follow these instructions. — Bee-Keepers' Review. 



Handling Bees— Sugg-estions for Beginners. 



BV C. P. DADAN 1'. 



A BEE away from home, or laden with honey, never 

 volunteers an attack. She acts only in self-defense 

 when closely prest. This axiom is so well establisht, 

 and so well known by apiarists, that if I were not writing 

 mainly for beginners, I should not think of mentioning it. 

 Thus, in order to render bees harmless, it is only necessary 

 to cause them to fill themselves with honey, and this is 

 done by frightening them with smoke. When smoke is 

 driven into a hive thru the entrance, the bees at once begin 

 filling themselves with honey. But with them as with 

 human beings, it is the most experienced that are the slow- 

 est to take fright. So when the old bees are all at home it 

 is more difficult, and takes more time, to compel them all 

 to fill themselves. For that reason it is much safer to han- 

 dle bees during the warmest part of the day, or at a time 

 when the greater part of the old bees are in the field. The 

 bees which compose a swarm are usually filled with honey 

 for the journey that they expect to take, and are harmless, 

 unless crusht or very much irritated by the anger of others, 

 and the smell of the poison. 



It is not absolutely necessary to smoke a colonj- of bees 

 till all the bees fill themselves with honey, in order to handle 

 them safely, but it is certainly the safest method. An ex- 

 pert may open a hive without smoke, and without danger. 

 and may handle the combs and return them to the hive 

 without getting a single sting by being quiet, steady and 

 fearless. The Italian bees especially may often be handled 

 without risk in this way, for they are quieter than most 

 other races. But this method is hardly to be recommended 

 for practical usage. It requires too much caution, and there 

 is too much risk to run. A combination of the two meth- 

 ods — using a little smoke to frighten the bees whenever 

 they show signs of irascibility, yet handling them with as 

 little disturbance as possible — is most advisable to practi- 

 cal apiarists. But the one who has no fears, and handles 

 his bees without smoke, may often cause others to be stung. 



I have a friend in a neighboring city who owns a dozen 

 colonies of bees. He had been in the habit of handling 

 them at all times of the day, and without preparations. He 

 told me once that his neighbors complained of his bees 

 stinging them, and were talking of putting a complaint 

 against him for keeping a nuisance in the city. "Yet," 

 said he, " my bees are very quiet, and I never have to use 

 smoke." 



I accompanied him to the hives, and he opened one to 

 show me their condition. One or two bees buzzed around 

 my head, and I prudently retreated a few steps, for I am not 

 at all proof against them. But he continued his investiga- 

 tion. After he had closed the hive I suggested that his bees 

 were not so quiet after all, and that perhaps if they did not 

 sting him he was in part responsible for their stinging the 

 neighbors. I advised him to act with them just as if he 

 were afraid of them, using^ a smoker and all ordinary pre- 

 cautions, and from that time on he had no more complaints 

 from the neighbors. 



It is a fact that the fearless apiarist may often be en- 

 tirely unharmed, while others several rods away may be 

 stung by the very bees which his manipulations anger. His 

 quiet, determined demeanor is his safeguard, while the un- 

 initiated strikes at the angry bee and dances till he is stung. 



When you wish to open a hive of bees, if you desire to 

 be perfectly safe, arm yourself with a smoker, cover your 

 head with a veil, and step boldly to the front of the hive; 

 send smoke thru the opening for a half minute, then stop 

 and repeat the operation after another half minute, or until 

 they make a steady hum, which will show that they have 



given up the desire to fight. Then open the hive, smoke 

 again gently, and you may lift the combs one after another, 

 shake bees on your hands, in fact, handle them like harm- 

 less, inanimate things, provided you do not press any of 

 them too hard. Avoid quick motions, do not breathe upon 

 them, and if there are other bees flying about in search of 

 plunder, do not leave the hive open too long. In case of 

 accidents the smoker should be used freely, and it ought to 

 be at hand for any manipulation in the apiary. 



It is much easier to prevent the ang'er of bees than to 

 put a stop to it after it has begun. If you mismanage a col- 

 ony of bees and rouse their anger, it is quite likely that this 

 disposition will remain with them for daj's, for weeks, for 

 months. A colony which has been thoroly angered maj- re- 

 tain this ill disposition for a long time. Even if smoke is 

 used in the manner prescribed, it becomes of no avail for a 

 portion of the bees that seem to remember former treat- 

 ment, and that simply remain passive until the smoke is 

 cleared off, and the enemy in full sight, when they pounce 

 upon him with a will. As I said in a previous article, cot- 

 ton clothing is better than wool, and all irritating causes 

 should be avoided. Mischievous boys who delight in pok- 

 ing sticks into the entrance and running away, cause more 

 stinging than a whole season of careful management and 

 handling. 



We alwajs use a veil fastened to the hat. and this may 

 be slipt on or folded in the crown of the hat as occasion re- 

 quires. 



Gloves are not practical. A careful person will handle 

 the bees so that a sting on the fingers will be rare, and the 

 clumsiness caused by gloves will cause full}' as much dang'er 

 as there is in manipulation with the bare hands. 



The most important instrument is the smoker, and the 

 best smoker is the muzzle-loader. In guns, the breech- 

 loader is a great improvement on the muzzle-loader, but in 

 smokers the reverse is true. The fire must be at the bottom, 

 at the farthest point from the nozzle, and the refilling must 

 be on top of the coals. With a breech-loading smoker you 

 must either unload your smoker from time to time, to fire 

 up again, or you must put the fuel under the fire instead of 

 over it. This is obvious. With a good smoker, after the 

 first lighting, the fire need not go out for the entire day, if 

 you have a whole day's work at the bees, provided you refill 

 it with fuel as needed, and you may even leave it sitting up 

 during the entire dinner-hour, with the certainty of finding 

 it ready for use when you return. It is not the purpose of 

 this article to recommend any one kind of smoker, there are 

 half a dozen makes sold, and constantly improved for the 

 convenience of the public. Hancock Co., 111. 



Bee-Keeping as a Specialty — Other Matters. 



BY MRS. L. C. AXTELL. 



IT seems to me that to throw out the thought that a per- 

 son can do well and prosper in life with only bees as a 

 business is misleading, and is doing damage to the in- 

 dustry, as there are so many years that the honey crop is 

 short, that persons depending wholly on bees for a living 

 will sooner or later give it up with disgust. 



Most of those who make it a specialty, make a part of 

 their living by vpriting for the bee-papers, or by lecturing- 

 on bees, or something else, rather than merely keeping 

 them for what honey they gather. Those contemplating 

 going into the business as a specialty are young people and 

 beginners, many of whom, if not the greater part, would 

 not succeed as specialists. 



The bee-business with farming will pay well ; the bees 

 will help pay for the 'farm, much of the bee-work can be 

 done in the winter, and it is something that the whole fam- 

 ily — father, mother, and all the children — can work at from 

 January to January, and during the hurried months of 

 farming there need be but little left to be done with bees 

 except what the women-folks and children can do, unless 

 there are many colonies. 



STRAWBERRIES AND BEE-KEEPING. 



These go well together. If the strawberries are prop- 

 erly cultivated there never need be a failure, and they ripen 

 and are gone before the height of the honey crop, only the 

 later ones lap on swarming-time. 



POULTRY AND BEE-KEEPING. 



The poultry business, too, goes well with bees. They 

 are a steady profit one month after another, and so are 

 hardly appreciated as they should be. Many make a failure 



