AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



675 



trial, on two or three hives? It is all in 

 getting used to a thing, you know." 



About six months ago I ran across a 

 man who was using the Clark smoker. 

 He had tried the Bingham, and, " ugh, 

 ugh !" he would not use one ; but the 

 Clark suited him perfectly. 



"Look here, my friend," said I, "I 

 like to hear you praise the Clark 

 smoker ; but there are thousands and 

 thousands who use a Bingham who 

 would not use a Clark. Personally (and 

 I have used the Bingham quite a little, 

 too), I think it is an excellent smoker, 

 and there are times and places when I 

 should much rather have it than the 

 Clark ; and perhaps I may be pardoned 

 if I say there are times when I prefer 

 the Clark. You do not know how to use 

 the Bingham. It is all in getting used 

 to a thing." 



A year or so ago, in an apiary where I 

 was visiting, I observed a Stanley honey- 

 extractor. " Hello, there !" said I, 

 " How does it work ?" 



" Do not like it at all," said he. " It 

 takes a barn to house it, and it does not 

 reverse worth a cent. The baskets fly 

 around and bang together, and the 

 chains get all tangled up." 



"Why, my friend, I replied, " I have 

 been in apiaries where they were very 

 enthusiastic over it. It worked just 

 splendid. You have not learned the 

 knack of reversing the baskets. I have 

 had very little experience with the 

 thing, but let me see if I cannot show 

 you how those other fellows do." I 

 grasped the handle, and performed the 

 operation quite to my own satisfaction. 



"But you have not got any combs in," 

 said he. 



"Well, put some in." But he did not 

 have any handy. . Said I : " It is all in 

 getting used to a thing. If yon re- 

 verse the baskets as easily as I, you 

 ought not to have very much trouble." 



Last Summer, and a year ago last 

 Summer, I tried several times the shake- 

 out function of the Heddon hive. It 

 worked beautifully, so far as getting the 

 bees all over the ground and up my 

 trousers legs was concerned, and the 

 queen could not be found. So far I can- 

 not make it work. 



If my good friend Mr. Heddon were 

 here, he would, to use Mr. Larrabee's 

 expression, say that it is all in getting 

 used to a thing ; and he • would proceed 

 to go through a tremulous motion that 

 would leave you and I in no doubt what- 

 ever as to its successful working. Some 

 day I hope to have the privilege of see- 

 ing Mr. Heddon perform that very 



operation — in a word, let him teach me 

 how to get used to the thing. 



It is all in getting used to a thing. 

 " Look here, young Root," some of you 

 will say ; "that is not so." 



Just wait a minute until I qualify. We 

 cannot get used to a thing unless that 

 thing has real merit. If good, compe- 

 tent bee-keepers acquire a certain knack, 

 whereby they can shorten one or more 

 days of labor in the apiary, then we can. 

 We cannot explain away all these differ- 

 ences by locality. To be more fair, and 

 to be nearer the truth, we should say we 

 have not yet acquired the knack. Per- 

 haps I cannot say, in every case, that it 

 is all in getting used to a thing ; but I 

 will say there is a great deal in getting 

 used to \t.—Read at the Ohio State Con- 

 vention. 



Prevention of Swarming. 



K. C. AIKIN. 



When I began bee-calture, my location 

 was such that I had no summer flow, 

 and for several years- my crop was all 

 Fall honey. Lateness of season, cool 

 weather, etc., at the time of honey-flow, 

 influenced the bees, so that I could keep 

 very strong colonies, and have little 

 swarming. 



Clover and basswood localities were 

 always complaining : " Bees swarm 

 right in the best of honey-flow." Later 

 I had clover honey-flow, too ; and then I 

 realized the situation. 



A September flow will cause less 

 swarming, with one-half to two-thirds 

 more bees per colony, than an equal flow 

 in June. My own and others' experience 

 proves to me that larger crops are ob- 

 tained by not allowing swarming during 

 the honey-flow. 



A good colony, in a good flow, will 

 bring in, say, 5 pounds of honey per 

 day. That is just when the good colo- 

 nies swarm, too. Fifty good colonies 

 will cast 50 swarms, and lose 50 days' 

 work at honey gathering, which, at 5 

 pounds per day, equals 250 pounds. At 

 10 cents per pound, you lose $25. 



I once had a colony of aged bees — the 

 cause being repeated failures in intro- 

 ducing queens — and when the honey- 

 flow was on, I doubt if there was a bee 

 in that hive under two or three weeks 

 old ; yet, more honey was stored in pro- 

 portion to the number of bees, than by 

 any other colony in the apiary. 



What has all this to do with the pre- 

 vention of swarming ? Why, just this : 

 If that little handful of old iDees, per- 



