332 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1 



way. Their presence causes the combs to be 

 more or less soiled, transmitting the trouble 

 to other bees. Nature has provided that a 

 diseased bee always seeks to get out of the 

 hive. This is absolutely essential to the well- 

 being of the colony, for such bees will pi'ob- 

 ably never return. 



The ground cork referred to is, perhaps, 

 the best packing material that has thus far 

 been suggested; but for most bee-keepers it 

 is too expensive to use. Other and cheaper 

 materials will give practically as good re- 

 sults. — Ed.] 



BEE TREE HUNTING. 



Why it Does Not Always Pay; a Plan for 



Getting Two or Three Colonies from 



One Colony in a Tree. 



BY JOHN B. LOCKARD. 



In looking over some back numbers of 

 Gleanings I notice a controversy in regard 

 to bee-hunting. One party claims that it 

 does not pay; another, that it does. Now let 

 me say that I believe both writers have rea- 

 sons for their belief. Bee-hunting for pleas- 

 ure and profit has been a pastime with me 

 since boyhood, and I am not a young man 

 any more. I have found and cut bee-trees 

 in "all months of the year except in the win- 

 ter, when this is out of the question. The 

 mode followed by old-time bee-hunters, and 

 in my earlier days by myself, was to find the 

 bees, and, if not too late in the season, cut 

 the tree, take what honey there might be, 

 and smoke the bees into an old box hive. If 

 they gathered sufficient stores' to tide them 

 over the winter (which was seldom the case), 

 the one so manipulating would think he de- 

 served some praise. But if starvation over- 

 took them it seemed to cause no remoi'se. 

 More often the tree would be left until late 

 in the fall, then cut, all honey taken, and the 

 bees left to starve or freeze to death. I don't 

 believe any one was ever benefited financial- 

 ly or morally by following the above meth- 

 ods. Nor does any one deserve success who 

 has no more sympathy for the bees than to 

 take all stores from them and leave them to 

 freeze and starve. This system of handling 

 bees is on a par with a man who would pen 

 up his domestic animals and take away all 

 means of sustaining life. Morally it is the 

 same. I am still a bee-hunter, but do not 

 practice the methods described. If bees are 

 properly handled, bee-hunting pays big. 



1 have read Mr. Fisher's article, on how 

 to take bees without cutting the tree, p. 998. 

 The man deserves praise, for very few peo- 

 ple have the nerve to climb, say, from twen- 

 ty to sixty feet in order to better the condi- 

 tion of the bee. There are two things about 

 the method that I do not like. I don't think 

 it safe to climb. I have known of some sad 

 accidents to happen in this way, and I don't 

 like that sulphur that he uses. This is get- 

 ting back to the primitive way of taking hon- 

 ey from the bees. 



It has been my plan for a number of years 

 to find bee-trees during the summer or au- 

 tumn months, and cut them the following 

 spring. One of the methods practiced was 

 to have a box some two feet in length, eight 

 inches square, wii'e screen fixed stationary 

 on one end; a lid, the center being of the 

 same material, for the other end. The tree 

 would be cut, the bees rwa. into this forring- 

 box, the brood taken home in a basket, and 

 the pieces suitable would be placed in frames 

 of an eight-frame hive, the kind I use. The 

 bees would then be shaken in front of the 

 hive, and placed on their pei'manent stand. 

 I have had fair success by following this 

 plan, yet this method has its drawbacks. 

 Very often the brood would perish in bring- 

 ing it home, while cutting the tree; and in 

 taking out the brood thousands of bees would 

 take flight and circle around, hunting for 

 their lost home. These bees would be lost, 

 and, while the financial loss might not be 

 gi'eat, our conscience tells us that, if possible, 

 we should not let one bee perish. 



Later on I tried taking a frame hive, and, 

 after cutting the tree, taking honey and 

 brood out, putting the brood in frames. Then 

 I set the hive on the log, run the bees in, put 

 a stone on top so it would not blow over if 

 a storm should come, then I would leave it 

 there for a week or two and bring it home. 

 This is, perhaps, a better plan than the for- 

 mer. But this plan has its drawbacks also. 



I don't need to tell the bee-hunter that, to 

 carry a hive and other necessary articles 

 through pathless woods, is a hard job. Then 

 we must make another trip after the hive 

 that we left. We must have a helper; and 

 if the ground is uneven and rocky, as is oft- 

 en the case, we shall do well if some of the 

 combs are not loose by the time we get 

 home. 



We get all the bees by this method; but if 

 we pay fair wages for the help necessary in 

 most cases it cuts the profits away down. 

 There is nothing new in the above methods, 

 nor do I claim that the following plan is 

 new; but, taking all things into considera- 

 tion, I find it the most satisfactory, and I ex- 

 pect to follow the plan until something bet- 

 ter bobs up. 



The present year I had five bee-trees stand- 

 ing, found the year before. On account of 

 other work I have cut but two of them. The 

 others will have to wait until next spring. 

 May 3 1st I cut one. and for bees, honey, and 

 Ijrood ifc was one of the Ijest I ever saw. 

 The side of the log was split off, and the 

 brood-combs and honey taken out; the forc- 

 ing-box was placed over the main body of 

 bees, and in a short time the box was nearly 

 full of bees, but they seemed to be inclined 

 to run out on looking over some of the brood 

 that was lying on the log. I saw the queen 

 crawling around. In a moment she was in 

 the box, and the bees seemed contented. (I 

 wish to remark that she was the smallest 

 queen I ever saw; but from the amount of 

 bees and brood in the tree I supposed she 

 was worth taking. Since bringing her home 

 she has kept up her good record. ) 



