]87G 



GLE.1NINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



153 



FOR 



DEPARTMENT 

 BOX HITE BEE-KEEPERS. 



^^l^-^E rather feared uo one would volunteer 

 ^i'ijj to conduct, or rather defend this de- 

 partment ; but our old friend Heddon turns 

 up just in the nick of time, to do the talking, 

 at least. Now friend H. if j^ou don't practice 

 as well as theorize, we will never more have 



confidence in your skill. We shall expect 



you to start just such an apiary, and tell ex- 

 actly how it prospers, without letting preju- 

 dice bias your writings in the least; and if 

 you find j'ourself mistaken, to own up like a 

 man. One of your stroug props "Walks and 

 Talks" it seems has already come back to the 

 extractor with a sudd"nness that fairly "jolts" 

 a body. Please don't predict what the future 

 will be iu regard to houej-, for the future is 

 sometimes quite startling in its uufoldings. 



HEDDOX'S BEE GAKDEN. 



EDITOR GLEANINGS:— I see by June No., page 132, 

 that the "scales" are dropping from your eyes some, iu 

 regard to these "new fangled" trinkets and notions. Now, 

 I have said, that we have nothing to-day to warrant suc- 

 cess, that hee-keepers did not liave 20 years ago. 



I can establish an ajjiary, in a suitable locality, and if I 

 put enougli capital into it, and my knowledge and natural 

 tact, or adaptability to the business, is equal to tlie in- 

 vestment, I may be as sure of a suitable return as from 

 any other producinfj business. Let is not be lost sight of, 

 that producers of all classes, "earn all they get," as Jlr. 

 L. C. Root says. 



Now I propose to estabhsli this apiary (for profit) ujjon 

 very ancient principles. I want no extractors at all, no 

 comb fo'indatiDns, no queen nurseries ; no Italian bees, 

 no movable frames, and xo ajjiarian near enough to divide 

 the "field" with me. 



Since I have been engaged in bee culture, (and I have 

 made it a specialty for 8 years) I have been "through 

 the mill'" with all these appendages except the foundation 

 comb, and I mean just what I say, and can prove it. 



"Well wliat do you want ? " I liear some one say. Ans. ; 

 hiTEOXG STOCKS, a good yield of nectar, and free commu- 

 nication to the surplus receptacles. Which one of the 

 above supposed requisites, will insui-e these real advan- 

 tages r " Echo answers, "which ? " 



Do frames in hives cause the bees to become strong in 

 numbers and do golden bees keep the brood chamber full 

 of larvK, and the surplus receptacles full of white delicate 

 combs ? Djes an extractor lessen your labor and help 

 you to dispose of your surplus r In fact does taking "the 

 labor" off the bees hands and on to our own shoulders 

 seem much like "progressive Itee culture ? " Perhaps it 

 ought to be called "progressive" honey making, almost 

 without bees, but that too, is old ; especially in the line of 

 clear honey. Yes, and I may say, combs too. 



Our fathers knew nothing of frame hives. "We know 

 nothing of box liives. A box hive propcrlij made, of the 

 rifjht dimensions, and proportions, will better accommo- 

 ilate the apiarian, and assist him in doing all that he can 

 allord to do (for profit) in a 1 irge apiary, than any frame 

 hive can. 



The above are facts, as I see them, and if desired, I will 

 in a future article, tell Jiow this box hive is made, and 

 also give my favorite method of hiving, making artificial 

 swarms, examining stocks for all purposes, etc., etc. If 

 we have got to dispose of our honey at the present low 

 price, hadn't we better look up the matter of how we are 

 *i) have a steady demand for it, as for wheat, and other 

 productions? Who will pub!i^ll a manual that will shed 



ONE ray of real light (no fox fire) on "How to winter beos 

 with full success r " (Like tlie box hive men do, wlien we 

 do.) "How to sell their surplus honey for the most sicre 

 pay ? " 



The season we can't chango much, and those other 

 "progoressive" points, we will get along with, without 

 any book. 



I think of leading off on another track, and getting all 

 the "old fogies" (that would just as soon eat black as Ital- 

 ian bees' honey) to follow. James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., June 0th, '70. 



Of course you don't want any "book" friend 

 II. It would only be a great bother, and of no 

 kind of use. 



We promised last month, to tell you more 

 about working the shallow box hives; have 

 gleaned from a friend that if a box hive will 

 neither swarm nor v.'ork in boxes, they can be 

 started out by simply turning the hive over 

 and drumming a swarm out. To do this, a 

 hive of the same kind is inverted over it, and 

 the old hive is pounded with sticks on the 

 side boards until the queen and greater part of 

 the bees are in the upper hive. Now place 

 the new hive on the old stand, and give the 

 old one a new location. Our informant states 

 that these drummed out swarms will go to 

 work ot once with all the vigor of new natur- 

 al swarms, and if the season is early, will, 

 besides filling their hives, almost invariably 

 fill a set or more of boxes. But to get a large 

 yield, have the hive furnished with a full set 

 of comb ; you may then put on the boxes as 

 soon as the swarm is made. To get these 

 empty combs, save them from colonies that 

 have perished ; or, if you do not have that 

 kind of luck, buy them up of those who do. 

 If you want t?iormo(;s yields of hone}'', and do 

 not care for increase of stock, there is still 

 another plan ; and perhaps we should mention 

 that this plan is one that is used by our friend 

 Butler of Jackson, Mich. It is to get a good 

 natural swarm, aud hive it on a set of combs 

 filled with brood, taken from other hives in- 

 discriminately. By this means we get all the 

 native energy of the new swarm, and reinforce 

 this energy by multitudes of young bees that 

 take the place of the old ones as fast as they 

 wear out. This can be done with box hives 

 by drumming a swarm out as above, and put- 

 ting them into an empty hive ; as soon as they 

 get well at work, or after their hive is partly 

 filled with comb — one or two days — shake 

 them out of it, and pttt the parent hive in its 

 place, cutting out all the new comb built and 

 using it for starters in the honey boxes. You 

 will need to watch, and see that too much 

 honey is not stored, or you may have a sticky 

 job of it. If you can take the trouble to sep- 

 arate the sections aud give the new swarm the 

 brood combs from several hives, you will get 

 a much greater yield. Do not let your bees 

 idle away their time on the outside of the 

 hives, whatever they do. 



jVOXES FKOItl OUR, EXCIIANG£»i. 



2 



^.jflJHE BritisJi Bee Journal has an article en- 

 titled "The Mysteries of the Bee hive," 

 that is so spicy, racy, and so full of quaint 

 truths, that did space permit, we would like 

 to give it entire; in fact the only fault we can 



