1878. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



179 



decided to the best of my judgment, that did 

 you know of the heavy express charges you 

 would have to pay, clear to Ala., you would 

 certainly thank me for sending it by mail. 

 It is not at all unusual for us to have orders 

 for goods, directing them to be sent to dis- 

 tant points by express, when they could be 

 sent by mail for only a few cents, and in 

 such cases I take the liberty of disobeying 

 orders, and send by mail, just because I 

 think you would thank me for so doing, if 

 you knew the circimistances. Usually I do 

 get thanks, but, some times, I fail in judg- 

 ment, and then ''how I do catch it." Some- 

 times, I think I will obey orders hereafter, 

 and let them take the consequences of not 

 lieing posted in regard to ex])ress charge's 

 compared with mails, but, pretty soon, some 

 poor innocent friend has, unwittingly, had 

 an express charge to pay, so much more 

 than the value of the goods, that I repent, 

 and conclude I will, as before, try to consult 

 the greatest good, for the greatest number. 

 If you will return the fdn., by mail, my 

 friend, I will return your money, and pay 

 all expenses. 



TRANSFERRINO AND KOBBING. 



A BEGINNER S TROUBLES. 



f"BEE" in trouble, how I came to "bee" so, the 

 following- story will tell. I always loved honey, 

 ^ was always taught to respect the "busy little 

 bee," and did so, until I learned that th« greedy lit- 

 tle rascals work themselves to d^ath in about six 

 weeks. To "bee" or not to "bee,—" that is the ques- 

 tion that has been troubling- me this spring-. Last 

 spring- I had 11 hives; they increased until they 

 numbered about 30. The worms got into several, 1 

 was brimstoned, and carried off one nig-ht, ^ or 3 ap- 

 pear to have been robbed by their fellows, leaving 

 me this spring with 20 good lively swarms. Some 

 are in rude boxes, some in box hives with caps or 

 drawers, 2 in the "House" patent hive, and 1 in a 

 "Buckeye." (The last, however, was one that was 

 robbed by the other bees, and ns it is the second 

 time I have lost the bees in that hive, I have thrown 

 it away.) 



' Well, I have had some experience in transferring 

 ard handling bees, had read and studied bee books 



' till I understood the theory of bee-keeping pretty 

 well, and was considered, by my neighbors, as being 

 able to do most anything with bees. My bees were 

 promising a large increase this summer. So far, so 

 Kood. But, I was afraid to undertnke the extra 

 work, because we raise small fruit, and bees and 

 honey come .iust when berries do; then, monev 

 was scarce to fit up with. To "bee" or not to "bee," 

 was considered a long time. Finally, I concluded to 



' "bee." I thought I was cautious, but I had to lay 

 out money to the amount of nearly S20. for bee 

 ware. I sent to you for a sample hive. I purchased 

 a "Novice" extractor, some comb fdn., a lot of 

 frames, lumber, &c., in Cincinnati, and before I 

 hnrdly realized it, I hadn't the dollar left with 

 which I meant to pay for Gleanings. 1 hired a 

 carpenter, and we made up about a dozen hives. 

 Sweet visions of long rows of jars and bottles, be- 

 sides ii barrel full in the cellar, to sweeten our 

 buckwheat cakes with next winter, were before my 



\ eyes. 1 set apple blossom time for transferring. 

 One day, I fixed up my transferring table, out of 

 doors, as I had done before. I drove the bees out 

 of a large box hive, heavy with honey, pried off a 

 side, and began. Soon the robbers begnn to come. 

 1 tried smoke, more smoke, but alas! it did no good. 

 Tt Was too "fat" a thing. The bees got excited; 

 perhaps I did, a little; I thought I kept cool, but 1 

 remember I sweat some. Finally, I picked up my 

 traps, went into the smoke house, and by liberal 

 use of smoke, made a finish of it. I put the hive on 

 the stand, put my bees in, and as soon as I could, 

 <'ontracted the entrance; but hardly had I done so 

 l)ef'>rethe robbers were after us. They rushed in 

 and out the entrance, and explored everj' crack and 

 crevice. I x^lugged up holes, covered the hive 



with a sheet, smoked, and with the aid of coming 

 darkness, got matters quieted down. That was 

 about 10 days ago. Now apple blossoms are gone, 

 but the weather is pleasant and clear. 



To-day I made another attempt; I fitted up my 

 carriage house for a transferring room, .and with 

 the doors well closed, and a good fire smoking, and 

 care to keep all honey neatly cleaned up, I got 

 through the first one nicely. I think the work was 

 well done. I carried the hive to its old stand, 

 poured out the bees before it, and they had mostly 

 gone in, when I was called to dinner. Before sit- 

 ting down, however, I went to see if all was right. 

 I found even their nearest neighJwrs rushing in, ail 

 excited, and not even saying "by your leave." I 

 smoked awhile, and then plugged them all in, rob- 

 bers and all together. How they settled it in there, 

 I can't tell. 



This is not all. After dinner I took off the cover 

 of one of the "House" hives, and took out about a 

 dozen lbs. of nice honey that was in the small 

 frames in the top, as I had often done before. The 

 broken honey drew the robbers there, and before I 

 Avas done, they were in force; and they didn't quit 

 when I did, but rushed en masse, for the entrance; 

 so I had to "plug" it up. Pretty soon, I looked at 

 my transferred hive. No. 1, and tjiey had "raided" 

 it; so I plugged that up too. 



Now, wh.at can I do with such a demoralized set? 

 Is there .any kind of a bee penitentiary, where I 

 can put these robbers? Is there any way or any 

 hope of reforming them? How can I outwit them, 

 and get my transferring done? Will it be best for 

 me to wait till clover blossoms, and finish when 

 honey is plenty, or could I do any better after they 

 have swarmed? I confess myself puzzled now. 



Lindale, O., May 1st, '78. Wm. C. Coombs. 



I think, my friend, it might have been bet- 

 ter to have bought less wares, and more bee 

 journals ; but as you have given us a very 

 faithful account of your troubles, that may 

 prove a good warning to others, we will send 

 you our journal a year gratis. Your story 

 shows conclusively, that the bees were get- 

 ting very little honey from the fruit bloom, 

 or they would not ifiave been so thievish. 

 The remedy is, with bees, as well as humani- 

 iy, "deliver me from temptation.-' As soon 

 as you saw how things were working, you 

 should have closed everything up, and 

 ceased operations. To push ahead, under 

 such circumstances, is very dangerous ; for 

 when the bees once get demoralized and ex- 

 cited, there is quite a prospect of your ruin- 

 ing your whole apiary. After such a "raid," 

 as you justly term it, you should not think 

 of opening a hive, not even for a minute, 

 for at least 2 hours ; and where they get 

 very bad, it may be unwise to do so for sev- 

 eral days. If something needs attention 

 very badly, such as removing queen cells 

 or the like, you should do it just at dusk, 

 when the bees are all at home, or even after 

 dark. AVith a good smoker, in good trim, 

 you can handle bees after dark very well. 

 Your idea of driving away robbers Avith 

 smoke, is a very mistaken one ; it prevents 

 the defenders from keejung their posts as 

 sentinels, makes them all one scent so they 

 cannot tell friend from foe. <iud gives the 

 robbers a chance to overi>ower that they could 

 not get otherwise. Wait until clover is out. 

 so that they will not rob. and ao slowly ; if 

 they get troublesome by the lime you have 

 finished one hive, wait until all is quiet be- 

 fore you try another. At any time when 

 you are working among the hives, if you 

 start the honey to running, and see bees 

 loading it up, close, and clean every drop up, 

 before they have time to get back for anoth- 

 er load, and you will have no need of a bee 

 penitentiary. 



