doevote:!) to bee(-?s aini> Mo^fEiiT, Aivr> hom:e hvterestb. 



Vol. VI. 



FEBRUARY 1, 1878. 



No. 2. 



A. I. ROOT, -) 



Publisher and Proprietor, 



Published I?Io;] jSaly. 



Medina^ O. 



JDBstatollstifMl In 1 «7:$ 



("TEKMS: «1.00Per Annum in Ad- 

 < vance; 3 Copies for $2.50; 6 for ftS.TS; 

 , ClO or more, 60f. each. Single Number lOc* 



JTIY EXPERIENCE. NO. 2. 



MOVING BEES. 



^ SHOULD ha\-e left the bees until spring', but 

 lij! they had no protection, and I thought it best to 

 ^^1 have them at home under mv own care. To pre- 

 pare them for moving, we spread a piece of cloth up- 

 on a platform of board^i, set the mouth of the hive 

 upon the cloth, turned the ed^es of the cloth up 

 against the outside of the hive, and fastened them 

 there by tacking on thin strips of wood. About 6 

 inches of straw was placed in the sleigh bottom, the 

 hives placed upon it, and straw was packed between 

 the hives, and all round them, to keep them in place. 

 They were moved 7 miles and came all right. 



WINTERING. 



Before going after my bees, I built a long, large 

 box. When I arrived at home, I set the hives into it 

 side by side, three or four inches apart, and psicked 

 straw all round, and between them. The boards, on 

 the side of the box whert the entrances were placed, 

 were raised four inches from the bottom, to make 

 an entrance. Three blocks, 4 inches thick, were laid 

 in the bottom of the box, and a strip of board laiJ 

 upon them, which prevented the straw from coming 

 down over the entrances; this left an entrance, 4 

 inches wide, directly to the entrances of the hives. I 

 took the plugs out (if the tops of the hives, covered 

 the holes with wire cloth, then covered the hives on 

 top with a foot of straw, and put on boards to keep 

 out the water. 



MAKING HIVES. 



"Once upon a time," when I was a "canvassing 

 agent," I stopped at the house of a friend, who kept 

 bees. It was swarming time, and he had neglected 

 to have his hives ready. He worked hard every day, 

 from daylight until dark, and yet the bees were gain- 

 ing on him all the time. Some swarms had to be 

 united, and some put back and the queen cells cut 

 out for want of hives. He begged so hard of me to 

 stay and help him make hives, that I finally con- 

 sented to stay one day. Having seen the folly of 

 not having hives in readiness, I made mine in the 

 winter. I made, by hand, just such a hive as \ want- 

 ed, took it to a planing mill, and had the lumber 

 dressed and sawed up all ready to nail together. The 

 hives were painted white. Before the last coat was 

 dry, they were marbleized by holding a liorhted can- 

 dle under the freshly painted surface, and moving it 

 rapidly to and fro. My wife did this part of the work, 

 and I must say she produced some very good imita- 

 tions of variegated marble, as well as some very 

 ' "fancifvil" ones. The hives being all alike, they 

 could be used interchangeably, thereby facilitating 

 many of the operations of the apiary. The caps were 

 painted different colors, and each cap always used at 

 the same stand. And while I am talking about hives, 

 let me advise you not to choose a complicated one. 

 Those complex affairs, with their hinges, doors, venti- 

 lators, moth traps, &c, are very nice for patent right 

 men to shov/ off and sell to some one who knows 

 nothing about bees; but once get the bees into them, 

 and these fine "fixings" will prove to be a nuisance 

 in moi'e ways than one. W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Kogersville, Mich., 



Your plan of wintering, friend H., did 

 very wellfor hives just brought liome, but 



if you were to tiike them out of your own 

 yard and put them close together, they 

 would be very apt to get lost and mixed up. 

 Many losses of colonies, have been reported, 

 under such treatment. Better protect each 

 one on its permanent summer stand. 



APIS BORSATA, 



OR THE HONEY BEE OF BORNEO, CEYI-ON AND JAVA. 



Syjp HAD a letter a few days since from Mr. H. Alley. 

 jSjl A friend of his received a Cyprian queen in Nov. 

 -^ He says the queen is dead but the workers are 

 remarkably handsome. My interest now is all cen- 

 tered in Apt» JDorsata Jan. No. of Am. B. J. will 

 contain a long article on this bee. The fact that they 

 build in the open air is not against them, for they al- 

 so build in hollow trees. I have known just such 

 cases here, using the under side of dense evergreens. 

 This would naturally occur more frequently in a 

 mild climate. I desire to follow this matter up, and 

 to get all the aid I can in obtaining information. 

 Several of my friends are helping me in this matter 

 through correspondence. Ehrick Parmly. 



New York, Dec. 3oth, 1877, 



It has always been my impression, that 

 the Apis Dorsata, belonged to the family of 

 wild Dees, that do not store any great 

 amount of honey, other than they require 

 for their own use. The natives, it is true, 

 run great risks to get at their stores, but 

 they are in the habit of eating both brood 

 and honey, which latter 1 fear would hardly 

 be relished by our American friends who 

 complain of tlie least excess of beeswax in 

 their honey comb. However, as I have a 

 great fancy for new things too, I will pay 

 $100.00 for "a colony of Api.'i Dorsata, sent to 

 me in any shaj^e from which I can get them 

 built up safely. The .1. B. ./., for Jan., has 

 a very interesting account of the way the 

 natives get the honey. As a great many of 

 our readers take both Journals, it will hard- 

 ly be best for us to give a reprint of it. I 

 would suggest to beginners, that they had 

 better be satislied at present, with the Ital- 

 ians. The Cyprian bee for which so much 

 was claimed a few years ago, now seems to 

 be little, if any different from tiie ordinary 

 Italian. The disi)osition to ransack this en- 

 tire little earth of ours, for everything that 

 it contains in our line of industry, is I think 

 commendable, when one has the means to 

 push sucli investigations. Columbus would 

 never have discovered America, had he not 

 burned to know more of this ball on which 

 we live. We bee-keepers cannot well spare 



