e (§ee-|\eepeps' J \e\^ieCu. 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL 



Devoted to tl^e Iqterests of Hoqey Producers. 



$L00 A YEAR, 



W. Z. ^1UTCH1NS0^1, EditoP & PPOp. 



VOL, IV, FLINT, MICHIGAN, NOV. 10, 1891. NO, 



The special topie of this issue is 



Moving Bees Into the Cellar, 



That of the next issue uaill be 



Remedies for Poor Seasons. 



When and How to Carry Bees in the Cellar, 

 and How to Arrange the Hives. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



f:lE old saying "there is a time for 

 everything " is very applicable to set- 

 ting bees in the cellar. It used to be 

 thought that this time did not occur till cold 

 freezing weather arrived in the month of 

 December, but of later years the month of 

 November seems to be talcing the preference. 

 I have set bees in the cellar as early as the 

 third of November, and as late as the twen- 

 tieth of December, and after an experience 

 of twenty years, I now set them in from the 

 tenth to twentieth of the former mouth, on 

 some day when it is nearly warm enough for 

 the bees to Hy; for I find that the bees can 

 be carried in with the least disturbance to 

 them on a warmish day, rather than on a 

 d;iy when the mercury stands below freezing. 

 < )ue year I set my bees in when the mercury 

 marked 'i'2', that being seven degrees warmer 

 than the temperature in wliich they fly with- 

 out loss in the spring of the year, and yet, 

 strange to say. scarcely a bee flew in carry- 

 ing them into the cellar, and were I to 

 choose I would much ji refer the mercury 



that high, to a temperature of from 10° to 

 2,S°. At all times when it is freezing, the 

 hives come up off of their stands with a 

 creak and a jar, which always irritates the 

 bees to such an extent that nearly if not 

 quite every colony is set into an uproar, 

 wliich is detrimental to the bees and unpleas- 

 ant to the operator. If the reader of this 

 has been in the habit of carrying in his bees 

 in cold weather-, and will now make it a 

 point to carry them in with the mercury at 

 from 35° to 48° I think that he will never 

 again carry them in when the weather is 

 cold, and will be thankful to know that 

 warmer weather is better. 



I employ two methods in setting in my 

 bees. The first is as follows: I go to my 

 harness maker and have him make me a 

 strap one and one-half inches wide and of 

 the required length. To each end of this is 

 sewed a large snap, such as are usually used 

 on tlie breast or hold back straps to a heavy 

 harness. I now take out the tongues of 

 these snaps and file the hook part sharp. 

 To use, throw over the neck, take one hook 

 in each hand, guide them to the hand 

 holes of the hive and straighten ui). -lust 

 before the hive is raised from the stand, and 

 after the hooks have taken good hold in the 

 hand-holes, take hold of the hive with each 

 hand so as to balance it and keep it out from 

 the person. In this way any person of ordi- 

 nary strength can easily carry a colony of 

 bees ten to fifteen rods, while to pick one up 

 with ttie hands and carry it that far is a feat 

 few wish to undertake, especially where from 



