r>li:T-OTEl> TO BEE« AiNr> H0]VIE:Y, .^>-I> H03iIE HVTERESTS. 



TERHS: Sl.OO Per Auuiim in Ad- 



A. E. KOOT. ^ Published Moiitlily. 



Puiluh->r a.!,; Proprietor, \ -^l vance; 3 Copies />»• S2.50; o/o;- S3.75: 



."^Eeclina. O. J 3i:sta"blisliecl in 1S73. ClO vr more, GOc. each. Simjle yumbcr lOe. 



Vol. IV. 



SEPTEMBER 1, 1876. 



No. 9. 



PREVE>TI>'<; AF TEK S\VAR3IIN«. 



GET'f IXtJ BOX HOXEY. STORING 



SPARE C03IBS, ETC. 



s^JRIEND NOVICE:— If any one teUs yoxi that in- 

 ii[j"' troducing young lertile queens to old stocks, 

 ^^ after they tiave swarmed once, will prevent se- 

 cond sw.Hrms, tel 1 them tUey are mistaken. I have 

 practiced doing so for a number of years past, and 

 have generally succeeded pretty well, !j;it the present 

 season it has been, almost an entire failure; as just 

 fouroiit of every live of the young queens introduced, 

 led out swannsin from one to two weeks after their 

 intrcducticn. 



For some time past I have pi-acticed a method to 

 some extent that has in every case prevented second 

 sWi.rms ; and I see the same method is now recom- 

 mended, by a correspondent of the A. B. J. It is sim- 

 ply this : As soon as you are sttrc you liave the queen 

 with the new swarm, carry the old colony to a new 

 stand, and put the new one where it stood. True, this 

 gives the old colony a rather forlorn and deserted ap- 

 pearance for a few days, as all the old bees join the 

 new swarm on the old stand, and storing honey is 

 stopped (or a few days in the old stock. But if they 

 gather nothing, the new swarm in the mean time will 

 collect a double portion and thus make up for lost 

 time, and if we only get the honey, what difference does 

 it make where it is stored ? 



If the swarm is put in a hive filled with empty combs, 

 the surplus boxes should be put on at once ; but if they 

 are put into an empty hhe, wait until they have fairly 

 commenced below, then put the surplus lx)xes on and the 

 amount of honey they will store i;i a short time 

 will be astonishing. If there are a lot of partly filled 

 lx)ses on the old stock, that you want finished, put them 

 on the new swarm, and the work will be done in a hm-ry. 

 This method remedies, in a great measure, one of the 

 evils of natural swarming ; it prevents the bees in the old 

 oolony from filling the bi-ood combs with honey before 

 the young queen has a chance to fill them with eggs. 

 Instead of being storetl there, it is put in the surplus 

 boxes en the new swarm. 



Oh Xo^ice ! How could you say I woudn't help, etc. 

 and even intimate that I did not sympathize with the 

 brethren when their lv?*s dicitidled. Didn't I wi-ite a 

 piece and say all I could in favor of dwindling, and that 

 bee disease r I have often heard that republics were un- 

 grateful, but who would have thought our esteemed 

 Editor wouli be so ? 



I would like to ask a question on the subject of spring 

 d*inclling, and it is this : Did you ever know a colony to 

 waste away by dwindlir.g. that had plenty of young bees 

 in it when taken from winter quarters ? 



"M'ho will whisper words of cheer"' to the advocates of 



extracted honey now : since No\ice is not only letting his 

 bees "fool away their time on Iwxes" (see pazeM. Vol.11.) 

 but is even furnishing sectional frames etc. to help others 

 do so ? And now to make matters worse Mr. Heddon is 

 goinir to advocate 1k)x hives and comb honej', although it 

 would have cost him the 4o00 lbs. of extracted to have had 

 the oOOlbs. of comb honev finished, a few years ago. Oh, 

 well! If he can prove that box hives, black bees etc. pay 

 best, I shall eertanly adopt them. 



I can easily see tlie point ui friend ^Martin's remarks, 

 about losing some of my l->ees ; but my hands were really 

 not folded at all, they were full of carpenter's tools and 

 farming uup'.ements. Here-.ifter I will try ar.d let the 

 above named incumbrances drop, and attend to my bees, 

 so that if I have found mv Leipsic, I will try and avoil 

 my Waterloo. 



I had several hundred frames of empty comb last 

 spring, and as much of it was bought of neighbors who 

 lost their bees last winter, aud had left the hives contain- 

 ing it stiinding on the summer stands until I bought it, 

 which in some instance«. was after the weather became 

 quite warm, it was full of th? e^irs of the moth miller, ar.d 

 worms soon made theu' appearence. For some time I 

 was at a loss as to how I could best arrange so many 

 combs to fumigate them. I finally went to work and 

 ripped out strips of inch lumber two inches wide for the 

 inside pieces and one and a halt wide for the outsideones. 

 I rabbeted H Inch square out of two corners of the two 

 inch strips and one corner of the 1 }i ihcli strips. I then 

 nailed the strips in parallel lines, with the rabbered sides 

 up, securely to the ceiling overhead, at such distances 

 apart that the top bar of m.v frames would just pass be- 

 tween the parts left after the rabbeting was done. The 

 frames hang on these strips the same as they do in the 

 hives, are out of the way when not wanted either sum- 

 mer or winter, are easily put up or taken down by simply 

 moving one end a short distance either way, and Ijest o; 

 all, are in the most comfortable place when I close the 

 ventilators, windows and doors, place a kettle half full of 

 live coals in the room, and throw a pound of brimstone 

 in it. 



In the above way by a half daj 's work I provided stor- 

 age loom for over 1000 combs and it is out of the way and 

 always ready for use, when wanted. James Bolix. 



West Lodi, Ohio, July 19ih, lS7e. 



[7\Ve have repeatedly had colorijs die of spriiig dwind- 

 ling, even with plenty of young bees, though not so man.v 

 as to make a hive fidl. AVe never knew a hive full cf 

 you no bees to suller in that way, or in any other scarcely. 

 The plan given for disposiivx of empty combs where house 

 room is s :arce, is most exciUeut, and we tender you our 

 thanks for the idea. The plan for prevention of after 

 smarming is, we believe, quite successful. — Ed.] 



