558 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Aug. 29, 



overcome, except in the case of out-apiaries. When only a 

 few colonies are kept they can be placed so near the house 

 and in such a readily observable position, that they cannot 

 swarm by stealth, while in a large apiary a watcher can be 

 afforded during swarmiug-time. The other diificulty, that of 

 clustering in inaccessible places, can be overcome by having 

 no tall trees in the immediate vicinity of the apiary. A model 

 apiary will be surrounded by low-growing trees, and to recom- 

 mend the planting and cultivation of such is the main object 

 of this article. 



When I began to keep bees, I was living on about an acre 

 of land, on which fruit, shade and ornamental trees had been 

 planted about three years. It came the nearest to being a 

 model apiary of any I have had during the 30 odd years that 

 have transpired since. Among the shade and ornamental 

 trees there was a liberal sprinkling of evergreens, for I had 

 an ambition to collect specimens of all the conifers that would 

 flourish in my locality. For a number of years during which 

 I occupied that place, only one swarm went outside of my 

 fence, and every swarm I had clustered on the evergreens, in 

 preference to the fruit and deciduous trees. I am strongly 

 inclined to think that where bees have a choice they will 

 select evergreens to swarm on. Whether it is the fragrance 

 of such trees that is particularly grateful to the bees, or 

 whether the foliage facilitates the formation of the cluster in 

 any way, I do not know, but in all my experience as a bee- 

 keeper I have noticed a most decided preference for ever- 

 greens as clustering-places for swarms. 



In my model apiary, if I were to start one, I would plant 

 only dwarf fruit-trees and various kinds of conifers. The lat- 

 ter should be branched close down to the ground, and the up- 

 ward growth repressed. Dwarf fruit-trees are not apt to 

 grow more than ten or a dozen feet in height, and should be 

 kept within bounds by judicious finger and thumb pruning. I 

 cannot imagine a more beautiful sight than an apiary might 

 be made to present embowered in a somewhat sparsely-planted 

 grove of dwarf fruit-trees and evergreens, provided the hives 

 were made a little artistic, instead of being the plain, homely- 

 looking boxes which they usually are. 



Apis Dorsata. 



I think Canadian bee-keepers in general will endorse the 

 following expression of opinion in the July number of the 

 Kansas Bee Journal : 



Mr. Holt has the honor, if there's any in it, of creating an 

 interest and a desire to investigate the Giant Bee of India. 

 There is talk of raising a fund to import some of them by way 

 of experiment. Well, when this has been successfully done, if 

 it will be, some wonderful stories told of their merits, and a 

 few fellows have supplied bee-keepers all over with queens of 

 that species, as they certainly would before time had been 

 given to test those bees — well, we can look for a general sick 

 spell among bee-keepers again. It's about time bee-keepers 

 were hunting up something to fool themselves with. The 

 Kansas Bee Journal is for anything that promotes their inter- 

 est ; foolish and expensive schemes we leave to those who can 

 afford them. A bee-writer recently suggested they could be 

 experimented with nearer home. Wise idea. 



Bee-Sivarmins Hours. 



Mr. B. Taylor tells us that in Minnesota swarms frequent- 

 ly come out as early as six a.m., and as late as six p.m. He 

 adds: "Those late swarms always remain over night, and I 

 have found many a one by chance the following morning." 



In upwards of 30 years' experience in bee-keeping in Can- 

 ada, I have never known bees to swarm before eight o'clock in 

 the morning, nor later than four o'clock in the afternoon. 

 How is this 1 I know that, as a general rule, stores open 

 earlier in the United States than in Canada, and the rush of 



general business is more perceptible in the morning hours, but 

 I did not know before that the bees open shop sooner in the 

 day, and start earlier with their swarming, at the same time 

 keeping it up longer and later. 



In one case, when my family had arranged to go for a pic- 

 nic on Dominion Day (July 1), and I was loth to leave because 

 I had a colony of bees threatening to swarm, the reproach 

 that I cared more for my bees than I did for my family, led 

 me reluctantly to go. On my return, after dark, I was very 

 grumpy on finding that the bees had swarmed in my absence, 

 but to my surprise and delight I found them hanging on an 

 evergreen bush the next morning. When the bees came off, I 

 do not know. Our picnic party started at 1 p.m., and in 

 this case the bees may possibly have swarmed later than 4. 



fin}or)^ \)r)c Bee-Papers 



Gleaned by L>r, Afiiler, 



THE KEPORT OF THE ST. JOSEPH CONVENTION. 



From a communication in the American Bee Journal, it 

 appears that Frank Benton, the Secretary of the North Amer- 

 ican Bee-Keepers' Association, has not yet sent in the report 

 of that convention. Mr. Benton received .$2.5 for his services 

 as Secretary, and deserves very strong censure for his action, 

 or ijiaction. Mr. Benton will have to do very much to regain 

 the confidence of bee-keepers. When men act as Mr. Benton 

 has acted we have a right to mark them, just as we have a 

 right to mark those who act in the best interests of bee-keep- 

 ers, and reward them. — Canadian Bee Journal. 



CBIMSON CLOVER. 



A. F. Ames, of Claremont, Va., writes thus concerning it 

 in Gleanings: 



"I noticed the little clipping about crimson clover, in 

 Gleanings. It's a great bee-plant, and comes so early it gets 

 ahead of drouth. Every farmer and bee-keeper should buy it. 

 It stands several degrees below zero here with no protection ; 

 in fact, we think, with Prof. Massey, it is hardier than red ; 

 will also grow on poorer land, but land can be too poor for it. 

 It should be sown early to insure its wintering ; North, not 

 later than last of August. Home-grown seed is much hardier." 



MOVING BEES A SHORT DISTANCE. 



H. E. Hill gives the following plan in the American Bee- 

 Keeper : 



" Remove two or three frames of brood, the queen and 

 majority of the bees to a hive in the new location. Provide 

 the usual mark to arrest the bees' notice, by placing a board 

 against the front of the hive. About the sixth day following, 

 remove all queen-cells ; then, in the evening, place the re- 

 maining portion of the colony, hive and all, upon the one con- 

 taining the queen. In a few days the brood may be restored 

 to its former position, and the extra combs which may have 

 been temporarily used to fill up, removed. Loose bottom- 

 boards are presupposed, as this is one of the many " kinks" 

 facilitated by their use, which would otherwise be impossible.'' 



HOW THEY DO IN TEXAS. 



In 1894 my honey crop was 150 pounds per colony, half 

 comb in one-pound sections. I divided one colony in 189-4, 

 and ran it for increase artificially, and made eight colonies 

 from it, and I only gave each division one comb of brood and 

 honey, and one empty comb besides, and they built their own 

 combs and filled up for winter. A narrow starter on the 

 frames is all I used. Yes, I forgot to say that I took some 

 honey from them, too, and weighed the honey I took from one 

 of the eight, which was about an average, and it was 133 

 pounds, and left them about 40 pounds each for winter. Now, 

 friends, don't think we can do that well every year, for we 

 cannot. — L. L. Skaggs, in Southland Queen. 



THREE STRAY STRAWS FROM GLEANINGS. 



" The surplus will be a little whiter in appearance where 

 there is a little capped honey under the top-bar than where 

 the space is taken by brood," says F. A. Snell. That is, sec- 

 tions are darkened if too close to the brood ; and because I 



