418 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



croacliinents of the incipient fruit. 

 The ho 'yhocli and the sunflower had 

 not vet ent their cards of invitation 

 to the insect world, and the bees, in 

 consequence, lounged idly in front of 

 their hives waiting for something to 

 turn up. Such a condition of ailairs 

 is always a season of anxious watch- 

 fulness to the apiarist, for 



"Satan finds some mischief still 

 For iule hands to do." 



And, when he has that kind of an 

 enterprise in contemplation, the bee 

 is an active and pliant instrumentality 

 in his hands. Suddenly, in a certain 

 locality in our neighborhood, the bees 

 were in commotion. Something un- 

 usual had taken place. The strong 

 colonies were raiding the weak ones 

 and robbing their stores. Each colony 

 seemed to be testing the courage of 

 the neighboring colony, until every 

 thing was in indiscribable commotion. 

 What could have started this tumultV 

 The cause was soon ascertained. 



A young man, utterly ignorant of 

 the first principles of bee-keeping, had 

 witnessed the transfer of a colony a 

 few weeks previous, by an experienced 

 manipulator. He had seen him cut 

 away the superabundant honey and 

 hand it over for family use, while the 

 empty comb and the young brood 

 were carefully fastened in the frames, 

 and placed in the new hive for the use 

 of the bees. The colony soon repaired 

 4lamages, built additional combs, and 

 the young man, supposing that he 

 knew just how to get the profits out 

 of that hive, proceeded to take the 

 honey by cutting out the well-filled 

 cells, throwing away the brood and 

 empty comb as worthless, and leaving 

 the yard well smeared with the spilled 

 sweets. The bees were left to get 

 back to the hive as best they could, 

 and to prepare, as he supposed, for a 

 similar onslaught a few weeks hence. 

 In place of so doing, they swarmed in 

 disgust, from their ruined home, 

 clustered under the porch of the house, 

 and indulged their stinging propensi- 

 ties with uncomfortable prodigality, 

 until the practical man was sent for 

 who, amid many unorthodox thoughts, 

 subdued and re-hived them. In the 

 mean time, the warm sun had carried 

 the odor of the spilled honey into the 

 air, and attracted tlie bees from 

 several squares around. There was a 

 grand carnival over this free lunch, 

 and the revelry kept up until the last 

 platter of the feast had been licked 

 clean. The sudden failure of this 

 bonanza left the bees wild with ex- 

 citement. They were ready for any 

 thing but honest labor, and into mis- 

 chief they went, by robbing their more 

 helpless neighbors. For a few days 

 the bee-keepers were kept busy in cor- 

 recting the trouble. Wire screens 

 had to be placed over the entrances to 

 the weak colonies, and the hives 

 moved to other stands. Entrances to 

 still stronger colonies had to be partly 

 closed to enable the bees better to de- 

 fend their treasures, which they did 

 with good effect. Feeders were 

 brought into requisition for the nuclei 

 and marauders, who lingered late 

 around ihe wire screens, were thor- 

 oughly syringed with cold water. 



These remedies, actively adminis- 

 tered, put a stop to the mischief, until 

 some ignorant or careless fellow shall 

 treat the bees to another unearned 

 feast. 



In this, there is a valuable lesson 

 for the beginner. While the fields are 

 yielding their stores of honey, bees 

 will give strict attention to business, 

 but when nothing is to be gathered, 

 they are easily led into temptation. 

 When once they have fairly entered 

 upon a system of thieving, it is almost 

 impossible to control them until many 

 of the weak colonies have been hope- 

 lessly ruined. In working about tlie 

 hives, in the times of scarcity, the 

 young apiarist, and the old ones as 

 well, should be provided with sponge 

 and water to instantly wash up every 

 drop of honey which may be spilled. 

 Pieces of comb should be carefully 

 picked up and carried away, and every 

 thing be kept scrupulously clean. 

 Hives should be opened as little as 

 possible, and only toward evening, 

 when the bees have gathered to their 

 respective hives. Careful watchful- 

 ness should be observed to detect the 

 first indications of stealing,and prompt 

 means should be introduced to stop it. 

 Feeding in the open air, in times of 

 scarcity, or, in fact, at any time, is an 

 exceedingly reprehensible practice, as 

 it is sure, sooner or later, to lead to 

 trouble. Remember, that bee-keeping 

 requires the earnest application of 

 well-matured common sens*. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Successful Honey Production. 



J. M. SHUCK. 



The main object for which bees are 

 kept is to obtain honey. " Bee-keep- 

 ing for protit," as that great gardener 

 and florist, Peter Hinderson, would 

 say. Why do we desire a standard 

 frame ? Is it so that we may produce 

 more honey ? Or, is it that we may 

 produce more bees, and, therefore, 

 more honey 'i To the trial, bee-keep- 

 ers ; the proof of the pudding is in the 

 eating, not in theories as to whether 

 that pudding is round, square, shal- 

 low, deep, tiered-up or stored at the 

 sides. 



Honey is the word that sweetens all 

 the rest. Who has it, and who sells 

 it, and who has the profits V Is it a 

 lawyer, a doctor, a clerk, a writer of 

 beautiful books, a teller of delightful 

 stories, a lecturer, an editor, or a 

 plain untitled producer of honey — a 

 bee-keeper ? 



What hive does he use? What 

 frame is provided to hold the combs 

 for his myriads of workers ? How 

 many of these master producers do 

 you know who annually make a large 

 average production of honey ? Ask 

 them what frame they use in their 

 bee yards. Do not ask, how they 

 winter the bees, or whether they store 

 at the sides or top, or underneath, 

 but how much honey V Do not ask if 

 he ever wrote a book, or contributes 

 weekly or monthly to the papers, but 

 how much honey V Ask if he is in 

 the business, and has been for years ; 

 if he does no other business, and pro- 



vides well for his family, and do not 

 forget to ask how much honey. 



Get the data, figure the result, make 

 your hives, and he happy. We will 

 never see a standard frame. We do 

 not want it ; the individuality of the 

 bee-keeper crops out in his work 

 oftener and larger, and he is happier 

 in it, than any one else in any other 

 calling. He would not be happy with 

 a frame like everybody else. He 

 would have it different, and if in no 

 other way he would paint it red. Let 

 him alone. 



Des Moines, Iowa, Aug. &, 1883. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Sweet Clover in Danger ! ! ! 



M. M. BALDRIDGE. 



"A little learning is a dangerous 

 thing." This is exemplified by the 

 following item which recently ap- 

 peared in a paper of very limited cir- 

 culation published in this city : 



" From all around us come com- 

 plaints of the sweet clover which fills 

 the highways and makes of itself an 

 unmitigated nuisance. In the streets 

 of St. Charles, and out upon the 

 country roads, and in all the waste 

 places, it grows heavy and rank, 

 choking out grass and becoming an 

 unsightly, tangled masSj through 

 which it is almost impossible to push 

 one's way. But for the travel along 

 the roads, even the wagon tracks 

 would be choked full ! To be sure it 

 makes fine food for bees, but there are 

 plenty of honey-producing sources 

 without it, and it is a mistaken idea 

 to consider it a necessary part of our 

 vegetation. Let the great nuisance 

 be in some way abated." 



The above makes a tip-top text for 

 a lengthy and interesting article, but 

 at present I willsimply say that sweet 

 clover, inasmuch as it '^ makes fine 

 food for bees,''^ may as well occupy 

 "highways" and "waste places," as 

 the worthless and " unsiglitly " may- 

 weed ! One way to abate the " great " 

 and "unmitigated nuisance" would 

 be to kill off the birds that feed upon 

 and scatter the seed ! Another way 

 would be to stop the wagons and 

 carrages from traveling the sides of 

 the roads, in muddy weather, thereby 

 picking up the seeds upon their 

 wheels and distributing it for miles 

 along the highway ! I might suggest 

 other ways to abate the " great nui- 

 sance," but at present the above must 

 suffice. 



While attending the Bee-Keepers' 

 Convention in Chicago, last fall, I 

 was under the impression that the 

 legislature of Illinois had passed an 

 act making it a penal offense to sow 

 the seed of sweet clover, or to allow 

 the \)lant to grow upon one's premises; 

 that it was regarded and stigmatized 

 as a noxious and dangerous weed, 

 being classed with castor beans and 

 Canada thistles ! Being thus im- 

 pressed, I thought it my duty to call 

 special attention to the matter to the 

 Convention, whereupon L. H. Scud- 

 der and the writer were appointed a 

 committee to examine the special acts 

 of the legislature to ascertain whether 



