SUPPLEMENT TO GLEANIN^GS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr 



TKANSFKHRING. 



We firmly believe evcyij one of our readers can do 

 their own transterrinar, ;ind do it nicclTT. if they will 

 only make up their minds that they n-ill succeed. If 

 you aie awkward and inexperienced, it will take you 

 longer, that is all. 



■".Ve have said so often, that the best time was during 

 i.lie perio(i of fruit blossoms.that it seems almost need- 

 less to repeat it. 15e sure that you l)avc cleared away 

 all rubbish, Irom about your box hive or gum, for a 

 space of at least (1 feet all around. We should decided- 

 ly prefer to have the hive stand ilireclly on the ground 

 with all rough and uneven iilaces filled up witli saw- 

 dust nicely stamped down. Make it so clean and tidy 

 that you can find a needle it you should drop it, and be 

 sure you leave no cracks or crevices in which the 

 ■ lueen or bees may hide or crawl. INfakc all thebC ar- 

 rangements, several days beforehand if possible, so 

 that the bees may be well aciiuainled with all the sur- 

 roundings and be full at work ; r';member we v/ish to 

 choose a time when as many bees as possible are out 

 at work, for they will then be nicely out of the way. 

 About 10 o'clock A. j\I. will probably be the best time 

 if it is a warm, still day. Get all your appliances in 

 readiness, everything you can think of that yon may 

 need, and some other things too, perhaps. You will 

 want a fine-tool bed saw, a hammer, a chisel to cut 

 nails in the old hive, tacks, and thin strips of pine, 

 unless you have the translerring clasps, a large boarrl 

 to lay the combs upon, (the cover to a Langstroth hive 

 does "tip top,'') ail old table cloth or sheet fobleilup to 

 lay under the ccmibs to prevent bumping the heads ol 

 the unhatched brood too severely, a honey knife or a 

 couple of them, if you have none get a couple of long 

 thinbladed bread or butcher knives, and lastly a ba- 

 sin of water and a towel to keep everything washed up 

 clean. Now, as we have said before, this is really, a 

 great part of it, women's work, ami if you cannot per- 

 suade your wile or sister, or some good frien(il among 

 the sex to help, you are not lit to be a bee-keeper. In 

 saying this we take It for granted, that women, the 

 world over, are rea<ly and willing to as?i> t in any use- 

 ful work, if they are treated as fellow beings and 

 equals. The operation of transferring will alVord you 

 an excellent opportunity to show your assistant many 

 of the wonders of the beehive, and in the role of 

 teacher, you may discover that you are elimnlating 

 yourself to a degree of skill that you would not be 

 likely to attain otherwise. 



A Quiuby smoker will be very handy, but if you 

 have nut one, make a smoke of some bits of rotten 

 wood in a pan ; blow a little smoke in at the entrance 

 of the hive, but do not get the sawdust on Are. Tip 

 the old hive over backward, and blow in a little more 

 smoke to drive the bees down among the combs, let it 

 stand there, and place the new hive so that the en- 

 trance is exactly in the place of the old one ; put a 

 large newspaper in front of the entrance on the 

 gi-ound, and let one edge lie under the entrance to the 

 new hive. The returning bees, laden with |)ollcn and 

 honey, are now alighting and going into the hive and 

 <nit agiiin in dismay at finding it empty. We now want 

 to get one comb in for them, to let them know that it 

 is their old hoaie. Move the old hive back a little far- 

 ther so you can get all around it, and give ihcm a little 

 more smoke whenever they seem disposed to be ob- 

 streperous; and now comes the trial of skill and in- 

 genuity. The problem is, to get those crookcil irregu- 

 lar combs out of that old hive, and then to lix ihcra 

 neatly in the movable frames. 



Your own good sense will have to dictate much in 

 Ilia matter. Saw off the cross slicks, If such there be, 



and with your thin knife cut the combs loose from one 

 side ; cut off the nails and jiry off this side, but don't 

 get the honey to running if you can help it. We have 

 as yet saiil nothing about bee veils, and notwithstand- 

 ing we keep tbeni to sell, we really do not think you 

 need one, unless you are so careless as to get the lioney 

 running and start robbers. When the tide is off, you 

 can ])robabiy gel one comb out. Lay it on the folded 

 tablecloth, take out the comb guide, lay the frame on 

 it, and let your feminine friend cut it so as to requiro 

 that the frame be sjirung slightly to go over it. With 

 the clasps she can fasten the combs in as fast as you 

 •an cut them out; if sticks and tacks, strings or rub-' 

 bers be used It will take some longer. When the 

 frame is to be lifted into a horizontal position, the 

 board, cloth and all is to be raised with it. With the 

 wash basin and towel, keep the honey neatly wiped 

 up. II robbers begin to annoy, keep a cloth over the 

 two hives. Put tlie brood as nearly together as you 

 can conveniently, or some of it may get chilled. When 

 you get near the central combs, you will probably lift 

 out large clusters of bees vFith the comb; tliese are to 

 bo shaken and biuslied off on the newspaper; if they 

 do not seem disposed to crawl into the hive take hold 

 of the edge of the i)aper and sliake them up toward 

 the entrance ; they will soon go in. A paper is better 

 than a cloth, for they cannot stick fast to it. Save out 

 the drone comb, and fix it all in a frame or frames by 

 itself. It will do well for surplus lioney, but we don't 

 want it in the brood chamber. Utensils and bits of 

 comb that have much honey daubed on them may be 

 put in the upper story for the bees to clean up, but if 

 the weather is cool, keep the quilt down over them 

 closely for a day or two. We would look them over 

 carefully every rlay or two, and as fast as they get the 

 combi fastened, remove the clasps, or other fasten- 

 ings and bend the combs into place as we mentioned 

 last month. 



Each operation is very simple and easy in itself, if 

 you go about it at tlie proper time and in the right 

 way. Bear in mind that the bees, from first to last, 

 are to be ke|)t constantly in subjection, by use of the 

 smoke, and that you must never let them get the faint- 

 est idea that, by any possibility, can thcji become 

 master. Send tliem back among the combs as often 

 as they jioke their heads out, until they are perfectly 

 subdued, and hang in quiet clusters, like bees at 

 swarming time. 



lilxtraotors. 



One important point is that all machines to work to 

 the best cadvantage, should be so made that the frame 

 may hang in them .iust as it hangs in the hive, if we 

 except the L. and Q. frames, and all having a length 

 under the top bar greater than 14 inches. It may be 

 impossiiile for us to give all the reasons for this now. 

 but we hope you will take our word for it when we say 

 there are very good reasons for standing a frame on 

 end in the Extractor when the length is much greater 

 than the depth. 



We have beiore explained that we have our castings 

 made to fit two diU'erent sized cans, viz., 17 and '20 inches, 

 and we will now farther state that we make the cans 

 also of two diflerent heights. To w^ork nicely, the 

 frame needs about the same amount of room to hang 

 in the Extractor, that it has in the hive ; to do this there 

 seems to be no other way than to make every Extractor 

 to fit the hive it is intended for. Of course you can 

 use them otherwise, but we are well satisfied that the 

 cumbrous machines now in use, are many of them des- 

 tined to be soon laid aside for the more modern kind. 



