222 



Tmm msmmmi^MM mmm j^i^mmmi^. 



keep our bees a part of the time on 

 pollen, even if we cannot all of the 

 time, it will be a great saving in honey, 

 and rid our comljs of so much pollen 

 that we are often anxious to dispose of. 



Keeping Wax-lTIotbs from the Honey. 



Picking up a bee-paper lately, to 

 look over while I rested a few mo- 

 ments, I read in it this sentence : "As 

 fast as the honej- is sealed, it is re- 

 moved from the hive, and all openings 

 in the boxes pasted over with paper, so 

 that the moth cannot get within to de- 

 posit its eggs." This was given as the 

 true plan for keeping the larvre of the 

 wax-moth from comb honey. I was 

 very much surprised that any writer of 

 recent date should advocate such a 

 doctrine as this, at this day and age of 

 the world, for Quinby proved the 

 fallacy of such a course, as long ago as 

 1865. In his "Mysteries of Bee-Keep- 

 ing Explained," published in 1865, but 

 wi'itten some time previous to that, he 

 says : 



" I have taken off glass jars, and 

 watched them till the bees were all 

 out, and was certain the moth did 

 NOT COME NEAR THEM ; then imme- 

 diately sealed them up, absolutely pre- 

 venting anj' access, and felt quite sure 

 I should have no trouble with the 

 worms. But I was sadly mistaken. In 

 a few days I could see a little white 

 dust, like flour, on the sides of the 

 combs, and bottom of the jar. As the 

 worms grew larger, this dust was 

 coarser. By looking closer at the 

 combs, a small, white, thread-like line 

 could be perceived, enlarging as the 

 worm progressed." 



He then continues: "The reader 

 would like to know how these worms 

 come in the jars, when to all appear- 

 ance it was a physicax impossibility." 

 To this he says he cannot give a posi- 

 tive answer, but thinks the bees cari-y 

 them among the combs on their feet, 

 where they are left to hatch. 



That all should know that combs 

 taken from the hive in the summer are 

 liable to the attack of the larva3 of the 

 wax-moth, and should be looked after, 

 as often as once a week, is the object 

 of my noticing this point here. 



Hiving Back the Sivarms. 



A subscriber of the Bee Journal 

 says that he desires to control his bees 

 so as to avoid increase, and asks what 

 I think of the "hiving back" plan 

 given by Prof. Cook, as compared with 

 " let your bees swarm — just once." 



1 have not tried the "hiving back" 

 plan thoroughly, except one season, 

 when I used it on all the swarms that 

 came, but the first one, as is recom- 

 mended by its advocates. As that year 

 we had rather a poor season for honey, 

 it might not be fair to speak of it as a 

 whole, so I will only say that, in a poor 



season I would much prefer letting the 

 bees swarm but once, to this or any 

 other plan of preventing increase I 

 have ever yet tried, and I have tried 

 nearly all so far given to the public. 



Instead of having that impetus for 

 work which a swarm has when hived 

 in an empty hive, they acted more like 

 a " driven" swarm, working no faster 

 for the first few days, than they did in 

 the parent hive. This first few days' 

 work of a new colony often decides the 

 matter of a really good crop of honey, 

 or only a fair crop, from such indi- 

 vidual colony. 



If I must really have no increase, 

 then I know of no better plan than the 

 above ; but I think it will pay in the 

 end to let the bees swarm, hiving them 

 in empty hives, even if I have to double 

 them up in the fall or early spring. I 

 am positive that enough more honey 

 will be obtained, to well pay for all the 

 trouble ; besides, it often happens that 

 we meet with a loss in wintering, 

 when we should be glad that we kept 

 our increase o\er. 



I am getting more positive evei-y 

 year, that the proper time to double 

 up bees, if we wish to do so, is in the 

 spring, rather than at any other time 

 of the year ; doing the work in May, 

 or the forepart of June. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



TRANSFERRING. 



The Best ITIelliod of Transfer- 

 rins Bees. 



Written lor the American Bee Journal 

 BY GEO. F. ROBBINS. 



The time is approaching when the 

 above subject will become one of par- 

 ticular interest and inquiry to manj-. 

 Already inquiries relating to it have 

 appeared, and the answers being, as I 

 regard them, misleading to beginners, 

 I am prompted to tell what I think 

 that I know about it. 



A few weeks ago an inquirer was 

 told to transfer during fruit-bloom. / 

 cannot do it. The idea, of course, is 

 that the combs will at that time be 

 nearly empty of honej', while at the 

 same time the bees will be so occupied 

 that the operation will not start rob- 

 bing. It may be so in some localities, 

 but it is not so in mine, and I think it 

 is so in very few. I once tried trans- 

 ferring in the height of apple-bloom, 

 and in less than ten minutes I had 

 almost the entire apiary upon me. 

 Indeed, there has never been a season 

 when I have not had to choose morn- 

 ing and evening to open hives at any 

 time before clover began to yield well. 

 Unless fruit^bloom keeps bees busier 

 elsewhere than it does with me, the 



one who attempts to transfer bees out- 

 of-doors at that time will be sure to get 

 into trouble, and may be very serious 

 trouble. 



The quickest, neatest, easiest, safest 

 and best method of transferring is, to 

 drum out the bees twice, and "use the 

 old combs for beeswax, a la Heddon. 

 I would not use the combs in the new 

 frames at all, unless they contain but 

 little honey, and can be trimmed so as 

 to fit into the frame. I do not at all 

 like these combs made of chips, with a 

 surface as rough as a cobble-stone 

 pavement. The details of that method 

 should be pretty much as follows : 



About 21 days before white clover 

 begins to yield copiously, is the time 

 to drum out the first swarm. Here 

 that time is usually from June 1 to 

 June 5, so that the time to begin is 

 about May 10 to 15. Place the new 

 hive on the old stand. When making 

 a new swarm this early in the season, 

 empty combs must be used. One or 

 two or them had better have a little 

 honey. Full sheets of foundation 

 might do in some localities, but I tliink 

 not here, although I have not tried 

 them. 



Carry the old hive to a new stand, 

 invert it, remove the bottom-board, 

 place an inverted box of the same hori- 

 zontal dimensions on top of it, and 

 wrap a sheet around the whole, so as 

 to keep light out and the bees in. 



Now drum on the sides with sticks 

 (not too heavilj-) at intervals for 15 or 

 20 minutes. As there is apt to be 

 cool weather still in May, it will be 

 better if a con.siderable cluster of b(^es 

 is left in the old hive. Butin 15 min- 

 utes the most of the bees, including the 

 queen, will have passed into the drum- 

 box. Turn the box mouth upward, 

 and carry the bees and shake them 

 upon the sheet in front of the new 

 hive. Do not have the sheet so tliat 

 the bees can crawl in clusters into 

 crannies under and around the hive. 

 Turn the old hive right end up, and 

 watch it for a day or two. If there 

 seems to be danger that they will be 

 robbed, fasten up the entrance en- 

 tirely for a few dajs, until enough bees 

 can have time to hatch to protect their 

 home. There will be no danger of 

 their smothering. 



In 21 days the bees will all be 

 hatched except a few drones, and a 

 queen about ready to lay. Now drum 

 them out again, and put them in the 

 new hive. They may now be put on 

 empty frames if it is desirable. If the 

 bee-keeper has correctly timed the first 

 drumming, there will be but little 

 honey in the combs to bother. Cut 

 those combs out, and in the evening 

 lean them in frcmt of a few of the 

 hives of the strongest colonies. Drum 

 a little near the entrance initil the bees 



