1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



715 



the other side of the swarm, and, if neces- 

 sary, we brush or shake some of the bees 

 in front of the swarm. As soon as the 

 queen-cells are destroyed we unite again 

 as above. 



3. We find the queen of the colony, and 

 set one brood-comb with the adhering bees, 

 but icithout the queen in the hive A, on the 

 old stand; about half of the bees are shak- 

 en into this hive. The other brood-combs 

 with the queen are placed in hive B, on the 

 side of hive A. B is hereby weakened so 

 much that the queen-cells are destroj^ed by 

 the bees in about five or six days. Now 

 we destroy all the queen-cells in hive A, 

 and about half an hour later the two colo- 

 nies are united as above. This plan takes 

 less time; but the old queen must be found, 

 and a strong swarm on the old stand will 

 do better in honey- gathering than this colo- 

 ny without a queen. 



4. A few days ago I received a letter 

 from a bee-keeper in California, in which 

 he gives another plan, which I think is 

 worth experimenting with. With some 

 modifications the plan is as follows: We 

 make a forced swarm as at one and two. 

 On top of this story we set a board with 

 openings closed by double wire screens; 

 the hive with the brood-combs, and enough 

 bees to protect the brood, on top of this. 

 If no ripe queen-cell is on the combs, such 

 a one can be introduced. This hive has 

 its separate alighting-hole. When the 

 young queen is out she will get fertilized 

 over the double screen. Now the two colo- 

 nies can be united again by removing the 

 board. As they have the same scent this 

 will not be difficult. One of the queens 

 will be killed by the bees. Whether this 

 will always be the old one, as my corres- 

 pondent hopes, or not, I am not able to tell; 

 but it seems probable to me. This plan 

 can probably be used when comb honey in 

 sections is produced. 



In this way the forced-swarm method can 

 be used for extracted honey, and can be 

 done with less trouble than for comb hone}-, 

 as the old combs can be used. In my lo- 

 ■cality I do not need such manipulations. 

 Either I get no swarms at all from my 

 large hives, or I increase my colonies some 

 time before the main honey-flow, making 

 three out of two a la Doolittle. If more in- 

 crease is wanted, the following is a good 

 plan in my locality in a favorable spring: 



Some colonies are divided into small 

 nuclei, giving a ripe queen-cell to every 

 one. From the other colonies forced swarms 

 are made as above. Eight days later all 

 the bees are shaken and brushed to the 

 swarm from the brood-combs. These con- 

 tain now capped brood only, and are used 

 for strengthening the nuclei. Of course, 

 the queen-cells on them must be destro3'ed. 

 With such brood-combs containing capped 

 brood a small nucleus can be raised to a 

 strong colony in about two weeks. 



I could give the reasons for all these pro- 

 cedures, but our "practical" bee-keepers 

 and editors do not like "theory," and I 



have learned that our best men can't un- 

 derstand " theory " from lack of prelimina- 

 ry knowledge, so I hadtobevery prolix and 

 take much space. For this reason we con- 

 tinue to manage our bees according to 

 "prescriptions," and without knowledge. 

 If the conditions are somewhat different, 

 then prescriptions are "no good." Please 

 do not blame me. 



Converse, Texas, March 2. 



SMOKERS, AND HOW TO HANDLE THEM. 



A Cbat with the Editor. 



BY S. E. MILLER. 



Friend Root: — I call you friend because 

 I have heard of you, and seem to know you, 

 for the last eighteen years; for I often 

 heard your name mentioned by your father 

 long before you took hold of the helm of the 

 ship 3'ou are now steering. Therefore 

 when I approach you as a friend I trust 

 j'ou will not interpret any thing I may say 

 to or about you as being intended to give 

 offense or offered in a malicious manner. 

 At the same time, I wish to have a talk 

 with you about smokers, and how to handle 

 them; and in dealing with the subject, I 

 will use plain langnage; and if it seems too 

 harsh, you must consider that I'm from 

 Missouri. 



When I take the wrapper from Glean- 

 ings, about the first thing I do is to run 

 through it and look for illustrations. Well, 

 when I first looked over Gleanings for 

 May 15, page 432, I came across an illus- 

 tration of some one holding a smoker back- 

 ward. I thought, " Who in the world holds 

 a smoker in that awkward manner? " and 

 when I found that it was the editor himself, 

 and read his directions for handling a 

 smoker, I must %-a.y I was somevvhat sur- 

 prised. I have been wanting to say some- 

 thing about it ever since, but have put it off 

 from time to time; but when I saw one of 

 Dr. Miller's last Straws, p. 476, June 1, and 

 the editor's reply, I could no longer resist 

 the temptation of going to the assistance of 

 the other Miller. 



Now, Ernest, is it not possible that, when 

 3'ou first commenced using a smoker, you 

 acquired the habit of using it hind side 

 foremost, and have become so accustomed to 

 so using it that you have come to believe it 

 is the proper way? Your reply to Dr. Mil- 

 ler's Straw, about the axis of the arm, etc., 

 may look all right on paper, but it will not 

 do in practice. Your way of using the 

 smoker throws nearly all of the force re- 

 quired to work the bellows on the thumb 

 alone, and in every way it seems to me the 

 most awkward way that one can grasp a 

 smoker. Here is the way I use a Jumbo; 

 and I believe that, if you will call for a 

 vote on it, you will find a great majority of 

 practical bee-keepers use it in practically 

 the same manner. As the nozzle points 

 from you, grasp it with the right hand, the 

 thumb resting on the upper right-hand cor- 



