1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



745 



that are lovely, that are really beautiful, whose 

 names I do not know; but the orange, the lemon, 

 the lime, and the pineapple, grow in great perfec- 

 tion here; and, in fact, I never tasted any of the 

 above fruit, so perfect in form and flavor, until I 

 came to Cuba. Now while I write, not 30 ft. away, 

 and where the bees have to fly under its mammoth 

 leaves to get to their hives, stands a beautiful 

 banana-tree, loaded with the ripening fruit. The 

 great Giver of all good has richly bestowed his 

 blessings upon this country, and I have now the 

 great honor of being the first to establish and put in 

 running order the first apiary upon the improved 

 or modern plan, that some of the native sweetness 

 of this God-blessed country may be gathered and 

 tightly put Into barrels, and safely "^hipped to the 

 hungry millions of the North, and of Europe. 



A. W. OSBURN. 

 San Miguel de larnco, Cuba, Nov. 11, 1883. 



SWARmS DESERTING THK HIVE WHEN 



THEY HAVE OPEN RROOD GIViiN 



THEM. 



" OLEFOGY " COMES DOWN HANDSOMELY, AND RE- 

 NOUNCES HIS HERESY. 



tELL, Bro. Root, as there has been some dis- 

 cussion on this subject of late, I feel like 

 casting in my mite, for I have had a new 

 experience this season, and I'm afraid I'm " almost 

 persuaded." I have for several years practiced in- 

 variably giving swarms, when I hived them, a comb 

 of unsealed brood, and I always put the comb of 

 brood in the hive first, and then hived the bees on 

 it; and as I never had lost a swarm by desertion, I 

 had about concluded that there was no use in any- 

 body losing bees in that way; but, alas! it took only 

 two refractory swarms to knock the conceit clean 

 out of me. And now for the experience. 



June 1st, hive No. 24 swarmed, and I hived the 

 swarm in the orthodox way; numbered the hive 33, 

 put them on the stand, shaded them well, and went 

 on my way rejoicing. Well, they worked all right 

 for two days; but on the 3d day of June the swarm- 

 ing fever became epidemic among the bees, and No. 

 33 caught the complaint, and out they came, and 

 settled with a swarm from No. 15, which had just 

 preceded them on a peach-tree limb. Well, they 

 were both large swarms, and when united made one 

 whopper; but I didn't want to try to divide them; 

 was scarce of hives anyhow, and, in fact, I didn't 

 know but that 33 had left their hive because they 

 felt lonesome by themselves. I didn't know but 

 they'd left just to get away from the " young uns." 

 So I just put them all in the same hive 33 had left, 

 and they filled it so full that I put the super on to 

 give them room. When I had them nearly all in the 

 hive, I saw the bees balling a queen; and when I 

 took her away from them I knew her. She belonged 

 to 33, and I had called her my gipsy queen (and she 

 has a history; but, never mind that now), so I put 

 her back in 3t, where she came from 2 days before, 

 so that left one queen with a rousing big swarm of 

 bees, and a nice start of comb, honey, brood, and 

 eggs. Well, they stayed there two days, and work- 

 ed away like "good little Insex;" but on the 5th of 

 June, when I was climbing that big elm-tree, " you 

 know," to get a swarm down out of the top of it, 

 don't you think 33 came out and went right off? Do 

 you ask if they settled? No, they didn't " settle " 



icithme. Well, I shoulda't have followed them, If 

 I hadn't been up in the tree, nor tried to settle them 

 " mit a bell " either, as neig:hbor R. says ; but neigh- 

 bor C. followed them about a mile, and saw them go 

 Into a tree. Now, I call that a clear case of willful 

 desertion, and they must have had that tree picked 

 out to go to; but why they would leave a nice com- 

 fortable hive to go to a dirty old tree, is more than I 

 can understand. 



My next experience was on the 13th of July. A 

 fine big swarm of Italians came out and settled; 

 and when I went to hive them — well, there is no 

 use talking; they were the "illest" bees I ever under- 

 took to hive. " Coming bee " (?). I think I should 

 prefer them not quite so " coming." I tell you, they 

 plied their stings for all they were worth ; but then, 

 as I am no hand to run I stood my ground, with the 

 exception of jumping down otf the ladder a few 

 times, and crouching down and sticking my head 

 under some pie-plants that grew hard by, just to 

 give them a little time to consider, you know; but 

 they wouldn't "consider" worth a cent; and then 

 my better half, she got sorry for me, and took the 

 bonnet off her own head and thrashed the bees off 

 from me with it, and then she over (?) persuaded me 

 to let her fix her Sunday go-to-meetin' veil over my 

 face, and buckskin gloves on my hands, and then 

 with a free use of water and smoke we got them 

 nicely hived and on their stand, all snug and well 

 shaded, just at noon; and I went to the shop and 

 left my wife and two blue-eyed girls to watch the 

 bees; and when I came home at night they said the 

 bees were gone, and they couldn't tell how they 

 went, nor where they went to; for they were right 

 there all the time, and didn't know how they could 

 have got away without their knowing it, and they 

 did not go into any other hive there either. Now, I 

 call that a clear case of willful desertion, and that 

 with malice aforethought, for it looks to me as if 

 they did it on purpose to get even with me, because 

 I had beaten them in the first battle; for they had 

 the infallible comb of brood, and every thing neces- 

 sary to make them comfortable, and still they "don't 

 been habby." 



Well, now, I don't know what others may think 

 about it; but for me, it will not take much more of 

 such expexience as that to convert me, and then I 

 shall have to join Bro. Doolittle. Olefogy, 



Allendale, 111., Nov., 1883. F. S. C. 



Well, I declare, friend P., 1 used to think 

 that when a man once advocated a certain 

 doctrine as vehemently as you did yours, it 

 was an almost unheard-of thing to come 

 right down squarely and own up. You cer- 

 tainly ought to have a medal or a diploma, 

 or something of that sort, for setting an ex- 

 ample of frankness and ingenuousness, be- 

 fore our younger brethren. You can not tell 

 why those bees swarmed out that way. I 

 wonder if they had not heard about the way 

 folks are giving it to you through the bee- 

 journals, and concluded they would turn in 

 and add their mite to the general fund of 

 knowledge by coming right out before your 

 eyes, and demonstrating your error. — Give 

 my respects to your good wife, and tell her 

 that we think you ought to be happy, even if 

 you have been whipped out so badly on 

 the swarming business. I really am not 

 certain my wife would do as much as that, 

 lend me her Sunday go-to-meeting bonnet 

 and veil, and turn in and help fight. May be 



