Tmm MMERieJEM mmm jowmumil. 



313 



some colonies in dry forest leaves. 

 Tlie others are in single-walled hives. 



Silver maple bloom was about over 

 when the bees were brought (jut. The 

 spring has been very backward, and 

 there have been only a few days when 

 bees ouglit to leave the home nest. 

 Bees have generally wintered well, so 

 far as I have learned. 

 Alsike and the Oliapinan Honey-Plant, 



I sowed two bushels of Alsike elover 

 seed this spring. Quite a good deal 

 was sown last spring. Our farmers 

 are beginning to believe that Alsike 

 clover will do well on wet land. If it 

 proves to be a fact, more of it will be 

 sown in the future. ■ The Chapman 

 honey-plant seed which I sowed a year 

 ago, is looking well. All who see the 

 patch think that it is thistle. 



Forest City, Iowa, April 27, 1888. 



TRANSFERRING". 



How and When to Transfer 

 Colonies of Bees. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY H. E. HILL. 



The method given by Mr. Geo. F. 

 Bobbins, on page 222, is quite ingen- 

 ious — perhaps even the " neatest, 

 safest, cheapest, easiest," etc., but I do 

 not think that it is the "quickest;" 

 and whj" it is cheaper or easier, I fail 

 tu see. The sirnjjlest effectual method 

 i.s what the beginner wants, and im- 

 proved ideas will follow experience. 



If the beginner has more than one 

 I olony to transfer (if not, try Mr. 

 Kobbins' plan on that one), have some 

 one to assist ; liave the empty hive, 

 about fifty very thin strijjs of pine, i- 

 inch in width, and of sntiicicnt length 

 to be tacked across the frame in anj- 

 i. direction desired ; two boards a little 

 larger tlian the frame to be used, a 

 light hammer, hatchet, smoker, a pail 

 of water, sponge, a couple of sharp 

 knives, tacks, and a table or bench ; 

 and last but not least, a half-dozen 

 good wing-feathei:s, to be used as bee- 

 brushes. 



If but 1 or 2 colonies are to be trans- 

 feiTed, I would select the morning or 

 evening, when other bees were quiet. 

 Smoke rather freely in the hive-en- 

 tranee at first, then tap liglitly on the 

 box with the fingers, smoking gently 

 for a few seconds at the entrance (not 

 inside) to prevent the bees from rush- 

 ing out. 



Now lift the box from the stand and 

 place it bottom upwards on the ground 

 besiile the ucav hive, which is placed 

 upon the old stand, with 2 or 3 frames 

 of foundation or empty frames. The 

 bottom is now pried off, while keep- 

 ing the bees under control by an occa- 



sional gentle puff of smoke, as their 

 actions demand. Then a side is re- 

 moved, giving free scope for business. 



It is but the work of a few minutes, 

 to cut out eacli comb and brush the 

 bees off into the new hive ; while the 

 assistant, with the combs and frame 

 upon one of the boards pi'eviously 

 prepared, "cuts and fits" the good 

 worker-comb into the new frame, tack- 

 ing tlie strips across the frame, so as 

 to support the various shaped pieces. 

 When the first side is finished, place 

 the other board upon it ; then lift both 

 boards and frame, and lay them down 

 with the other side upward. Remove 

 the top board, and tack the strips 

 across the other side. 



To remove the frame with combs, 

 do not attempt to lift it oft' the board, 

 but raise one side of the board until 

 the frame stands as it does in the hive, 

 then lift up, drawing it off without 

 displacing the comb. Leave these in 

 the hive, and fill out with empty 

 frames, or frames with full sheets of 

 foundation or starters, as may be 

 desired. 



Cover down tlie hive, sponge off the 

 table, boards, feathers and other tools, 

 remove all particles of honey that 

 might attract robbers, and if the col- 

 ony is not very strong, contract the 

 hive-entrance and slightly elevate the 

 front, to prevent any dripping honey 

 from running out, until they get 

 "cleaned up." The whole operation 

 takes about the same length of time 

 that is required to drum the first lot of 

 bees into a " drum-box." 



One advantage that Mr. Bobbins' 

 method possesses over the plan de- 

 scribed above (and the only one that I 

 can see) is, the saving of brood, which 

 is quite a consideration, especially 

 when tlie operator is a novice ; but this 

 one weak point in my plan, may to a 

 great extent be obviated, if the opera- 

 tor will remember that each cell of 

 l)rood represents a worker, and ex- 

 ercise greater care in fitting the brood 

 into the new frames. 



During the past two years I have 

 transferred more than 200 colonies of 

 bees in tlie above way, from odd-sized 

 frames, boxes, barrels, liollow logs, 

 etc., with invariable success ; and unless 

 the combs are in a worse condition 

 than any that I have met, from one to 

 eight fairly good brood-combs can be 

 saved in this way. If thej^ are of the 

 " cobble-stone pavement" kind, it is 

 the fault of the w^orkman, as any pro- 

 tuberant part nuiy be easily pressed 

 into position two or three days after 

 transferring, and at the same time the 

 sticks may be remo\ed as carefullj' as 

 possible. 



If no eggs are to be found on the 

 fourth or fifth day after transferring, 

 and the . bee-keeper has no laying 



queen to give them, destroy all queen- 

 cells but one, reserving the better 

 looking one ; tliough my loss of queens 

 in transferring would not exceed 2 

 per cent. 



I have transferred witli equal suc- 

 cess during eveiy month in the year, 

 but I prefer, and would recommend, 

 doing it at the time of fruit^bloom in 

 this locality. 



Mr. Robbins says, with reference to 

 drumming the bees into a box, "In 15 

 minutes most of the bees, including 

 the queen, will have passed into the 

 drum-box." Admitting that in tlie 

 majority of cases the queen would be 

 " included," it is by no means invari- 

 able, especially if it is a young queen, 

 or one of those nervous (?) disposi- 

 tioned ones that is " all over, and no- 

 where," at such a time. 



I think that Mr. Robbins should 

 have gone a little further with his ex- 

 planation, as the results of a beginner^ 

 being guided by the positive assertion 

 might prov(i disastrous. He might 

 follow the rules to the letter, and con- 

 clude that the new colony was all right 

 — queen included — but if, upon inves- 

 tigation a couple of weeks later, he 

 found " large white worms in the 

 combs, the bees presenting a black, 

 polished appearance, trembling, very 

 irritable and venomous, and do not 

 act at all like the other bees," the bee- 

 papers would be called upon to pub- 

 lish a report of " a terrible, nameless 

 bee-disease." 



Titusville, Pa. 



HIBERNATION. 



Reply to ITIr. Clarke's Critique, 

 on Hibernation of Bees. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY J. F. LATHAM. 



Mr. Chirke supposes, on page 221, 

 that I shall feel slighted if he does not 

 " pay his respects " to my article on 

 page 167. No, not in the least. When 

 I wrote the article in question, the 

 idea of reaching into the burrow of 

 wood-chuck, tliat I might get bitten, 

 in order to discover the whereabouts 

 of the inmate, was totally absent from 

 my thoughts ; as well as the expecta- 

 tion of being made sensible of the ex- 

 istence of my mercurial hypercritic. 

 But.as the resulting consequence of my 

 inadvertency, in not defining my posi- 

 tion, with strict regard to personality, 

 I must ailniit that 1 do experience a 

 satisfactory surprise at the explosion 

 i-esulting from unconsciously pricking 

 a bubble. 



"It well-nigh liaraboozlesme," wrote 

 Mr. Claike. Well, as my assumed 

 monitor did not get really bamboozled, 

 I presume the shock will not be fatal ; 



