754 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Nov. 30, 1899. 



When the swarm is all in (or perhaps we wait until the 

 evening), we exchange the places of the swarm and the old 

 hive. If supers were on they are now put on the swarm, 

 with an additional one, if necessary. The half entrance 

 thru which the swarm entered is then closed, and the other 

 half opened. The trap is now taken off. All the old bees 

 that leave the old hive the next day will not go back, but 

 will unite with the swarm. 



There are many ways of managing- the colony in the 

 old hive. Some nuclei can be made, or all the bees can be 

 run in with the swarm, and the combs given to some colony 

 being workt for extracted honey, or the old hive can be de- 

 pleted of its bees by simplj' closing one half-entrance, and 

 opening the other, alternately, every 5 or 6 daj's ; the bees 

 not being able to get back by the way they came out, will 

 go into the next hive (perhaps this plan would not work 

 during a dearth of honey ;) or, the old hive can be moved on 

 the fifth or sixth day, and form another colony. 



When examining any particular hive, the shutter in 

 front is let down to admit light. The front of the house is 

 composed of 5 shutters. When the bees are inclined to rob, 

 and we wish to examine a hive, we do not open the shutter, 

 but lift the supers off, and set them on an empty hive along- 

 side, and the brood-chamber is carried to near the window 

 which has a screen running up about 6 inches outside, al- 

 lowing the bees to escape but not return ; the sash is hung, 

 and when necessary is pusht up, the bees leaving the glass 

 and escaping at the top of the screen. 



When fixing the hives for winter, 2-inch rims are put 

 underneath, the entrance being at the upper edge, thereby 

 preventing the dead bees from stopping it up during the 

 winter. The oilcloths are left on as in summer. I have 

 discarded upward absorbents. Empty hives are put be- 

 tween each colony to fill up, and a light lattice partition 

 about 2;2 feet high is adjusted behind the hives, and dry 

 leaves are then stuff in. I generally use pads made of 

 about SO thicknesses of newspaper next to each hive, and 

 like the idea. 



In the spring the lattice is lifted out and fastened up to 

 the roof, out of the way, and the leaves filled into bags for 

 next time. Packing and unpacking- in the house can be 

 done in the evening, on a wet day, or whenever convenient. 



The hives are aboutl2 inches above ground, and wliere 

 formerly I had to shovel snow very often during the win- 

 ter, the last two years I did not have any of that -svork to do, 

 but merely see, once or twice, that the entrances were not 

 blockt up. 



Hard-coal ashes are spread about 3 inches deep in front 

 of the building, so that grass does not grow over the 

 entrances. igjaf--- 



If I were building another bee-house I would, perhaps, 

 not put up as expensive a one, but would build a sort of 

 lean-to shape, and batten the sides, covering the roof with 

 felt paper. 



The materials of my bee-hovtse cost about $15, and I did 

 the work in my spare moments. 



If I were keeping 50. 100, or more, colonies, I would like 

 to have them in bee-houses, about 20 hives to a house. By 

 not having more than 5 colonies in a row, and by planting 

 a few shrubs in front, besides having the niches different 

 colors, I do not think there would be as much dang-er of 

 queens being lost, and the bees confusing their hives, as in 

 the average apiary, where usually all the hives look alike. 



Nova Scotia. 



Amalgamation — The Bees-and-Grape Question. 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



I HAVE just read the American Bee Journal for Nov. 9, 

 and I am exceedingly happy to see that steps are being- 

 taken to merge our two bee-keepers' associations into 

 one, and that in all probability the amalgamation will be 

 effected. This is a step in the right direction. In these 

 days of trusts and trades-unions the men who go their sin- 

 gle way in the world are lonely indeed, and if in union there 

 is strength, we can only gain by a thoro and compact ad- 

 hesion to one another. Let us then all unite our best efforts 

 to make this amalgamation successful, even if some of us 

 must give up some of our own ideas, or theories, for the 

 common good. 



In the same number of the Journal, I notice a remark 

 by Mr. Hasty concerning the feelings of a man who is no 

 bee-keeper and has to pick grapes when they are covered 

 with bees, owing to the stings he may have to withstand. 

 This remark is made concerning the article from me on this 



subject, and which our editor had kept so long that I had 

 entirely forgotten having written it. I must say that the 

 additional experience which I have gained in the' course of 

 two years, since that article was written, serves only to 

 strengthen me in my views as exprest not only in that arti- 

 cle, but in many other articles and essays on this subject 

 read before farmers' institutes, horticultural meetings, 

 high-school classes, and bee-keepers' associations at differ- 

 ent times. And concerning the possibility of people get- 

 ting stung by the bees on damaged grapes, I must sav that 

 altho we have a vineyard of large size, arid emplov all sorts 

 of people— men, women and children— to pick the grapes, 

 we have not, in our mind, a single instance of any one 

 getting stung, tho it is quite probable that some careless 

 people may get stung on the fingers if thev grab a bunch 

 of grapes by the handful when bees are upon" it. 



But it is well known that bees, when away from home, 

 do not sting unless absolutely molested, and therefore the 

 danger from stings to the grape-pickers is so remote as not 

 to be worth a thought. 



But it is of great importance to remove prejudices of 

 this kind, especially as they are based upon what are 

 thought to be facts by the uninformed. The average grape- 

 grower, when he sees bees in his vineyard, does not stop to 

 investigate what is the original cause of the depredation, 

 but simply charges it to the bee-keeper's pet. If he knew 

 to a certainty the limit of their depredation, and that he 

 must look elsewhere for the original and only true cause of 

 his loss, his feelings, even if he carelessly caused a bee to 

 sting him, would be altogether different from what they 

 are under ordinary circumstances when he thinks himself 

 wronged by some other man's profit. 



The proof that bees do not, cannot, injure sound fruit, 

 is easily made, but it takes some experimenting to do it, 

 and very few people will take the pains to satisfy them- 

 selves. But a teaching of this fact in our public'schools 

 will make the matter right, sooner or later. It is much 

 more difficult to demonstrate that the earth turns around 

 the sun, and yet this fact has been so thoroly taught that 

 no one is found among even the most illiterate in our civi- 

 lized countries who doubts it. 



But are there not many other things which some of our 

 farmers believe as gospel truth which are yet just as false 

 as the supposition that bees puncture grapes ? What about 

 the belief that wheat changes to cheat or chess, under cer- 

 tain circumstances ? I was even told by a very nice and 

 comparatively well educated farmer, that he would agree 

 to change wheat to cheat, and the latter to timothv in the 

 space of three or four years. His method was to cut the 

 joint of the stem during the winter so as to weaken the 

 plant. I referred him to Gray's Botanv which ranges the 

 two plants as entirely different species of the order grami- 

 nacs, so they could no more be raised from each other 

 than rye could be raised from oats. But to no purpose. 

 These beliefs come from superficial observation. A thing 

 is taken for granted which a thoro experiment would dis- 

 prove. 



There are many other such erroneous beliefs. Did not 

 our ancestors believe that the divining-rod could find not 

 only water, but treasure, and even thieves and murderers? 

 And I have no doubt that even to-day some successful gold- 

 diggers could be found who would assert that their lucky 

 find was guided by a willow twig !, Hancock Co., 111. 



91 



Propolis for Grafting- Purposes— The South Afri- 

 can Honey-Bird. 



BY S. A. DEACON. 



TO what use is the enormous quantity of propolis put 

 which the thousands of bee-keepers in the United States 



produce ? It must, if carefully collected, amount to 

 some tons. I ask this question because, in looking over 

 some old numbers of the American Bee Journal, I hap- 

 pened on an enquiry for a recipe for grafting-wax, and 

 which, I think, Dr. Miller answered. (Of course, the Doc- 

 tor knows pretty well everything, only vou mustn't ask him 

 anything about bees !) Beeswax, resin, and, I think, whale- 

 oil, was the formula given. 



Now, I have done a good deal of grafting the past 30 

 years, and have never yet found anything to come up to 

 propolis, and as long as that is to be had I would never 

 think of using anything else. Propolis is always accumu- 

 lating with me, for it is as carefully collected as wax, and 

 every year there is a demand on the store for grafting pur- 



