1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEJ] CULTURE. 



les 



stand, and carried the old hiv^e to a new stand. Our 

 hives were not as large and heavy in those days as 

 now, nor did we have as many colonies; so that Nel- 

 lie and I together were able to manage it, but with 

 much difJBculty, sometimes, it must be confessed. 



When I read the letter of the sister who so em- 

 phatically pronounced bee-keeping too hard work 

 for women, I inferred, from what she said relative 

 to moving hives heavy with honey, that she had 

 been making the same mistake which was being 

 made in our apiary seven years ago. For to change 

 the place of the old hive was a serious mistake— and 

 that quite apart from the question of more or less 

 hard work. 



Removed to a new stand, the brood-combs in the 

 old hive are often left quite too bare, in case the day 

 be succeeded by a chilly night. I believe, too, that 

 there may be truth in the suggestion, once made to 

 us by an experienced bee-keeper who had noticed 

 the mysterious disappearance of uncapped brood in 

 such cases, viz., that the too scanty guard, unequal 

 to the task of caring for all, adjust their duties to 

 their powers, and compassionately ( ?) save the young- 

 er larvas from being chilled or starved, by devouring 

 them alive. If the old hive be left on its stand, bees 

 returning from the field, and strays from the swarm, 

 will keep the remainder safe. 



I do not. think we. have made the mistake of mov- 

 ing the old hive to a new stand for the past six years. 

 While our regular practice with respect to hiving 

 swarms during this time has been as given in Feb. 

 Gleanings, we have had a deal of Uregular practice 

 thrown in. Nellie once cut a sturdy little beech- 

 tree nearly through with a hand-saw while an enor- 

 mous swarm quivered and swung about her head, 

 threatening to drop with every jerk caused by the 

 pinching of the saw in her unskilled hands. And 

 then, together with the help of a rope, we managed 

 to bend the tree till the swarm was safely shaken 

 off. We have taken dozens of swarms from stumps ; 

 we have gathered them from rail fences, and shaken 

 them from cherry and pear trees. I hesitate to saj', 

 but it is the simple truth, Mr. Editor, that I once 

 caught a swarm which came out just before the be- 

 ginning of a light summer shower, under an umbrel- 

 la. (There! I meant to have saved that story to tell 

 your little folks in Juvenile.) We lost two swarms 

 last season; in each case, of course, because the 

 queen had wings. One settled in the top of a tall 

 hemlock, and two men from the field, with Nellie 

 to superintend, spent half the forenoon in a vain at- 

 tempt to secure them. The other swarm also went 

 to the edge of the woods and clustered beyond reach 

 on the body of a tree. It was necessary that a stag, 

 ing of some kind be provided, and Richard was peti- 

 tioned to carry over a barrel, let down the fence, 

 and clear away the under-brush, so that Nellie and I 

 could secure the bees. But dinner was ready, and 

 Richard — just from the hay-field, tired and hungry 

 — thought the bees might wait upon his pleasure a 

 little; and, of course, the bees did not wait. 



One memorable day last summer we had eleven 

 swarms — the most swarming we have ever had in 

 one day. Two of the eleven had queens with wings, 

 and these two swarms gave us more trouble and 

 more hard work than all the rest put together. 



Although we prefer to catch our swarms on the 

 old stand, still a swarm showing a disposition to 

 cluster in an exceptionally favorable spot is in no 

 danger of being refused the privilege. We give 

 Ihem their queen, and hive them where they hap- 



pen to be. But we get through more quickly, which 

 sometimes saves strength by giving time for a little 

 rest, if the swarm returns without clustering. Mrs. 

 Harrison says that our way may be as easy as any 

 where there are two to do the lifting, but certainly 

 not where there is only one. I do not claim that it 

 is. I am very sure that for women of less than av- 

 erage strength, and especially for women who, like 

 one I know of, are about engaging in the business 

 with the hope of thereby regaining health anil 

 strength, there ought to be a far better way. But 

 this better way would not be for me, oven if work- 

 ing alone, that described by Mrs. Harrison. With 

 our surroundings, it would not do unless our bees 

 were more habitually considerate than they have 

 hitherto shown themselves to be. And there may 

 be others, similarly situM °d, whose experience has 

 led to the same conclus-^ on. But if the Brrvoks 

 swarm-catcher will do what was claimed for it when 

 first introduced to notice in Gleanings, why may 

 not the advantages of both methods be combined by 

 the woman w.ho works alone? She can avoid lifting 

 hives, as Mrs. Harrison does, and she can avoid the 

 trouble which in a location like ours would inevit;i- 

 bly result from leaving her queens' wings undipped. 



But, does the swarm-catcher d what was claime'd 

 for it? If any sister has tried il, will she plea e give 

 her experience? The objection which has curred 

 to me is this: That the appearance of the o -hive 

 must be so changed that the tendency to enter ad- 

 joining hives, sometimes manifest on the part of a 

 returning swarm, will be greatly increased. We 

 have always found it easy to guard against this ten- 

 dency; but I have feared that, with the swarm- 

 catcher, it might become a more serious difficulty. 

 If any sister has a better way of managing, will she 

 please give us her method? 



It is a practical and serious question with me; for 

 though Nellie has relented so far as to ^ny that I 

 may keep ten colonies, she gives me no pi omise of 

 assistance. Nellie reminds me that Mrs. Harrison's 

 special advice to us calls for a I ttle personal expla- 

 nation on our part. But that must wait for another 

 time. I will here only express my thanks for the 

 good feeling and kindly interest which, I am sure, 

 dictated it. Cyula LinsWik. 



March 20, 1883. 



And many thanks to you, good friend Cy- 

 ula, for so fully explaining to us the difficul- 

 ties that lie in the way of bee-keeping for 

 women. Your location is a little different 

 from that of most of us, for we have no tall 

 trees within almost a quarter of a mile of 

 our apiary, and there are, in fact, few trees 

 of any kind, except small evergreens. I oft- 

 en think of you and your forest home, and 

 I have thought, too, I should dearly Jove to 

 pay you another visit, but amiafraid I never 

 shall, if you give up the bees. I am very 

 glad indeed to hear that sister Nellie has re- 

 lented so much. In behalf of the brothers 

 and sisters, I tender her my best thanks, 

 and methinks I can see now that peculiar 

 smile of hers that I just caught a few 

 glimpses of during the brief hour of my vis- 

 it. By all means, give the juveniles that 

 story, and tell it very plainly, too, just as 

 you know children like to have stories told. 

 "With the children of to-day lies the future 

 of our country, and we don't want them all 

 to leave the country and go into the cities. _ 



