582 



GLJEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



NOY. 



think In most cases, if egg-3 and uncapped bi'ood are 

 given them, they will remain and go to work satis- 

 tif>d. This has been ray experience for the last eight 

 years. I do not ihink the brood and eggs will cause 

 them to leave; but they have In all probability 

 selected a new home, and have made up their mind 

 to emigrate to it. I had a case this pa't summer, 

 somewhat analogous, and will, I think, throw some 

 light on the subject. I prepared a double hive in 

 the spring, and put two good colonies into it with 

 perforated tin between them, to experimenf a little 

 in regard to heat. The bees could pass from one 

 end of the hive to the other, at the top of the 

 frames and under the cloth. They worked along 

 very nicely, each in their own end of the hive, until 

 one colony lost their queen, and then raised an- 

 other; but she was lost; and by this time they had 

 no eggs to raise another, and their brood soon all 

 hatched out; and before I was aware of it they had 

 gone into the other end of the hive, which led me to 

 the conclusion that, if I had given them eggs, 

 or, at least, eggs and uncapped brood, they would 

 have remained in their own end of the hive. Now, 

 as a rule I think it is the safest plan to give them 

 eggs and uncapped brood. This has always been 

 my custom, and I have never bad a new swarm leave; 

 and I shall continue it until, by actual demonstra- 

 tion, I tind them leaving on account of the eggs and 

 brood. G. T. Wilms. 



Hoopeston, 111., Oct. 3, 1883. 



Friend W., if you put sheets of fdn. right 

 down against the bottom-bar, without hav- 

 ing the frames wired, I should think you 

 would have bulging of the combs. May be, 

 however, you have improved so much on 

 our fdn. of late that it will answer to fill 

 frames close to the bottom - bar without 

 wires. How is it V— Two colonies of bees 

 can be kept in one hive, provided it has a 

 pretty wide entrance, and brood is kept in 

 each side to hold the two clusters separate. 

 It seems to me it is well settled that brood 

 holds bees where they won't stay without it. 



FROM AN ABC SCBOLAR. 



I have handled bees since March, 1883. I bought 4 

 stands in old box hives, and transferred to Lang- 

 stroth frames. I use full sheets of fdn., and increas- 

 ed to 16 stands by dividing; raised 13 queens, and lost 

 but one in fertilizing. The year 1883 was a poor sea- 

 son in Sonthern Ohio, and my surplus was but 100 

 lbs. One thing Ilearned in building up nuclei; and 

 that is, not to give them fdn. too fast, unless the 

 tlow of honey will keep them booming. When win- 

 ter came I had an average of 6 frames to the stand, 

 well filled, spreading the combs so as to leave two 

 spaces in center, at least; cut passages in combs; 

 put in division-boards, and packed with chaff; placed 

 3 strips, Vi X 54 inch, across top-frames; used two 

 thicknesses of outside coITee-sack for cover; put on 

 plenty of chaff; placed on the cap, which extends 

 down to the bottom of the stand, making a double- 

 walled hive. I left them on their summer stand, 

 packed, till apple bloom; came through the winter 

 without loss; built them up to nine frames each; in- 

 creased to 41 by natural swarming. I have taken 750 

 lbs. of comb honey and 200 lbs. extracted; sold at an 

 average of 16 cents per lb. My bees are blacks and 

 hybrids, and the comb honey is much nicer than that 

 made by the pure Italians. I used the 



SHEPARD SWARMING-BOX. 



I can hive with it in two minutes. Give them one 



sheet of brood ; put it in the shade, and no abscond- 

 ing. If two or more swarms cluster together, place 

 a newspaper down in front of the hive; shake out 

 the bees, and catch all queens as they go in. If you 

 fail the first time, continue until you get them all. 

 Then divide the bees; give them a little smoke to 

 drive them in; give each stand a queen. This never 

 failed with me this season, and I lost no queens. My 

 honey report would have been better by one or two 

 hundred pounds, if I could have had supers when I 

 needed them. I would advise every one to read up 

 on apiculture, even if he has but one stand. Box 

 hives did not give 5 lbs. of surplus. 

 Ripley, O., Oct., 1883. Mason Griffith. 



THE HONEY SEASON IN WESTERN VERMONT. 



It has been better than an average, with some 

 peculiarities. Honey began to come in in ap- 

 preciable quantities by June 5th, from raspberry. 

 White clover was in blossom before locust, and 

 whilst raspberry was still in bloom. Basswood last- 

 ed from July 13th to 25th; and in sections where 

 there was plenty of smooth sumac, honey came in 

 quite plentifully till Aug. Ist. The season was wet 

 and cold, and bees were kept at home much of the 

 time by rain. There was hardly enough fall honey 

 to keep up brood-rearing; and although buckwheat 

 was plentiful here, there was no honey in it. My 

 colonies averaged 153 lbs. of comb honey, in one and 

 two pound sections, spring count. Swarms have 

 more than doubled. The box-hive men are out of 

 luck as usual. Bees swarmed so much they would 

 not work in boxes, and their only chance for honey 

 is the brimstone pit. 



BLACKS AND ITALIANS. 



My experience with black bees is different from 

 the "Banner Apixry" man. He says, that in a 

 poor season the Italians will gather the most honey; 

 leaving it to be inferred, that in a good season they 

 will not. This season was excellent, while it lasted, 

 and 1 know of Italians and blacks side by side, and 

 subject to the same conditions, where the former 

 stored more than 3 lbs. of honey where the latter 

 stored one, and comb honey at that. 1 have had 

 several cases where Italian swarms had lost their 

 queen, and had filled the brood-chamber two-thirds 

 full of honey before I noticed their condition. I 

 gave them laying queens, and put on plenty of 

 clamps filled with empty sections, and they carried 

 nearly all their honey above. I never had any 

 trouble about Italians working in supers where 

 there was a young laying queen below. 



Fairhaven, Vt., Oct. 15. 1883. W. H. PROCrOR, 



REPORT FOR 18S3 ; 50 GALLONS OF ASTER HONEr, 



I commenced with 24 L. hives, 2-story, half in fine 

 fix. Apples bloomed in March ; warm and nice ; 

 scattered brood, which was then on from 3 to 8! 

 combs. Turned suddenly cold ; chilled brood, and 

 stopped flow of honey. I fed some the 1st of 

 May ; found hives weaker in bees and brood than 

 the Ist of March. Then came poplar, which was fine, 

 but no bees to gather it ; got about 500 lbs., which 

 ought to read 5000, if I had fed properly, since when 

 bees have got only enough to rear brood. Now 

 aster is on us in all its glory. The pastures every- 

 where look like snowbanks, and the bees are boom- 

 ing. I extracted 50 gallons of honey last week, and 

 they are now ready to extract again. If frost re- 

 mains off ten days, we shall get an immense yield. I 

 am like the negro who planted a peck of potatoeSf 



