370 



THE BEE-KEEPERS uLv. 



board, not with a wooden wedge, which will 

 be glued iu so tight you can't get it out, but 

 with rags ( not too tender ones ) which can 

 always be pulled out with a wire hook. L. 

 L. Skaggs page 94. 



And here's a bee rumpus the like of which 

 most of us certainly never saw. Mrs. Atch- 

 ley has a large out-apiary which depends 

 wholly on a wind mill for water ; no other 

 water within flying distance. Unknown to 

 any one the water got shut off until a num- 

 ber of colonies had perished. When the 

 trouble was remedied, and the poor bees 

 found out that there was water to be had in 

 their tub, they came with such a rush as to 

 pile up three inches deep. A little later they 

 began to come in swarms, queen and all. 

 Que queen was drowned, and two or three 

 more fished out alive. The total loss was 

 about twenty colonies. Page 100. As this 

 is a very instructive incident, in that it 

 shows what bees will do in unusual circum- 

 stances, will Mrs. A. tell us whether the bees 

 of the colonies which perished were mostly 

 found dead in their hives, or whether the 

 appearance was that they had swarmed out 

 and gone en-masse in search for water. 



Instead of forceps for the work of trans- 

 ferring larvte cradle and all, W. H. Pridgen 

 has invented a peculiarly shaped stick con- 

 caved at the tip which you insert into the 

 cell ( after the cells are shaved down till 

 you almost shave the babies ) and whisk the 

 little chap out on the remnant of cocoon 

 with " just a twist of the wrist. " The Atch- 

 leys have tried it, and find it excellent for 

 its intended purpose. Page 100, thus little 

 by little the small but necessary details of 

 the craft get into shape. 



Only two or three hours is all the time 

 usually required to starve a queen to death 

 according to Mrs. Atchley. Page 102. No 

 match for Dr. Tanner "at all at all." I 

 presume that in winter when not laying they 

 would endure much longer than this. And 

 it is pretty clear when torpid from joint hun- 

 ger and cold, as often found in the spring up 

 north, life holds on for several days. 



Why a bee docs not [ usually ] loose its 

 sting when stinging another bee, is a ques- 

 tion wrestled with editorially by two differ- 

 ent persons. According to the answers that 

 pleased me best it is this. The surface of 

 a bee's body is a shell, in some places very 

 thin, and iu some places thicker, but every- 

 where very tough and horn-like. The thrust 

 of a sting penetrates it, but does not pene- 



trate but a little way — not far enough to have 

 the heaviest barbs take hold. Neither bee 

 is heavy enough to favor immediate tearing 

 loose. And if the sting does not twist out 

 speedily it breaks short off at the spot where 

 it goes through the armor. Mrs. Atchley 

 says she has often noticed bees [ not torn ] 

 acting as if in pain after stinging another 

 bee. Supposes tliey get over such pains all 

 right. Page 103. 



Golden's method of hiving for immediate 

 honey storing is given, page 115. Very 

 likely it will be found excellent in some 

 yards. Hive the bees right in two tiers of 

 sections ; and put the queen among them 

 caged, a section being removed to make 

 room for her cage. Next get the rest of the 

 flying bees by placing this super on the old 

 stand. Then mount the old hive ( super and 

 all, if it happens to have a super ) on top of 

 the whole business. Let them work thus in 

 the sections till the fifth day, and then re- 

 arrange things, with brood combs at the bot- 

 tom. At this rearrangement cut out care- 

 fully all cells but one, and take the queen 

 away. Several brethren fear pollen will 

 work mischief : but friend Golden says it 

 does not in his experience. No larvae there ; 

 and it is not next to the queen but next to 

 the larvie that bees store pollen. 



Texas honey customers some of them put 

 their honey on ice as soon as they get it. 

 The result is that it candies in a week's 

 time ; and then they refuse to believe be- 

 lieve that it is a genuine article. Page 122. 



How doctors disagree ! Dr. Miller thinks 

 a super with honey in it makes a new swarm 

 desert. Dr. Ernest thinks the practice 

 alluded to safe enough for general use — only 

 that an occasional colony is so resolute 

 about changing their conditions, and the 

 super of honey makes them think the change 

 is not complete enough. Mrs. Dr. Atchley 

 is respectful to the other views — but — sure a 

 super of partly filled sections does not cause 

 desertion. Page 123. Dr. Hasty must 

 needs put in his pill too. If honey is com- 

 ing in at the time, and the partly filled comb 

 is their own make, Mrs. Atchley is probably 

 right. But if the swarm is hungry ( a com- 

 mon state of things at my apiary ) and 

 furthermore if the honey you give them was 

 putup by other bees, and so strikes them as 

 plunder, then Dr. Miller is right. They get 

 too much excited over it to settle down just 

 then. Sometimes before leaving they let 

 robbers come right in and take a share ; and 



