1878. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



359 



The advantages are these: you can use few or many 

 on a hive, as you like; they can be picked up and 

 examined in a moment; if any hirva has been de- 

 stroved, another can be inserted and the box re- 

 turiied to its place on the hive; they can be re- 

 moved from the hive with perfect safety as soon as 

 scaled, and stacked up in the lamp nursery, or if 

 the apiarist is so unlucky as not to own a lamp nur- 

 sery, thev can be used at once in queenless hives, 

 without anv cutting- or fixing; if a cell istakenfrom 

 the hive with all the bees that are in the box, it can 

 be introduced to a hive having a fertile worker, 

 without having- the cell destroyed; when a queen 

 has hatched, the cell can be used over again without 

 any trouble. 



scovell's artificial queen cell. 



During- the forepart of the season, I had all my 

 cells built along the under side of the top bars of 

 frames, but, instead of artificial cells, I cut small 

 bits of comb containing larviv and stuck them along 

 the bar. I would often get as high as 15 perfect cells 

 on one bar. The only objection to the plan is that 

 the bees are sure to build more or less comb along 

 the bar, sometimes covering the cells entirely up. 

 The comb is always drone, and has to be cut away, 

 and is useless for anything except the wax it con- 

 tains. 



During the latter part of the season, I introduced 

 over 100 cells in these boxes. If artificial cells can 

 be made to work, it seems to me that this will be a 

 much nicer way to use them than to have them 

 stuck to the comb guide of frames. H. Scovell. 



Columbus, Kansas. 



All ri|?Iit, friend 8.; now sliow ns your 

 skill in inducing the bees to accept them. 



**^*A 



ASII^US MISSOUKIENSIS. 



TRIED AND FOUND GUILTY, 



fN Gleanings for October, you seem to think that 

 I have "exaggerated the danger" from the bee- 

 killer (Asilus Missouriensis). In the latter part 

 of .Tune, I wrote you that my bees were dying off in 

 large numbers; you said it was probably the old 

 bees, and so I found it. I then began to feed regu- 

 larly, and continued to do so until the last of July. 

 Bj' that time, my hives were crowded with yovnig 

 bees, and the combs were full of brood. 



Buckwheat bloomed the last week in July. The 

 fields swarmed with bees, and so they did with the 

 Asilus; 1 saw the Asilus darting from flower to flow- 

 er after the bees, and the ground under the buck- 

 wheat gave full proof of their success in bee-killing, 

 by the large number that lay there dead. The beC- 

 killers were never so numerous before, and I hope 

 will never be so again. W. J. Willard. 



Jonesboro, 111., Oct. 6, 1878. 



MOVING BEES SHORT DISTANCES. 



and what came of it. 



f) AST winter, I bought a swarm of bees, brought 

 ji them home, and set them on a box in the back 

 ■^^^J yard, pretty near the house. When the bees 

 began to fly, I thought they were too nearthe house; 

 so I moved them to the back end of the yard. The 

 bees came buzzing around the old stand, but I 

 thought nothing of it. 



Pretty soon, there came a cold snap, and I put 

 them into the barn for protection. The first warm 

 day, I noticed the liees humming around the place 

 from which I ha<l last moved them. After a few 

 days, I moved them back ti> the old stand; then I 

 saw them humming around in the barn. 



Well, by this time, I had them well fitted for rob- 

 bers, and'the robbers came, went at them, and soon 

 cleaned them out; .ind that cleaned me out of bees. 

 Well, I have got a little "sand," so I bought another 

 swarm, and another, until I had 9 swarms, and had 

 paid out ,5:i8.r)0. Then I sent for Gleanings, and be- 

 gan to study it and my bees together, and visited 

 and talked with others who had experience in bee- 

 keeping, vintil 1 got to be quite a bee-man. 



I have transferred 5 swarms from box hives to 

 movable frame hives, and have made a success of 

 it. 



I think I have made a pretty good thing out of my 

 bees. Here are the figures: 



Bees sold, $ 60 00 



Honey sold, 36 80 



16 swarms on hand at $10 per swarm, 160 00 



Total receipts. 

 Bees bought, 



256 80 

 38 50 



Net gain, 318 30 



The honey which I have on hand, with what I have 

 given away, will pay for the fdu. which I have used. 



C. E. Waldo. 

 Grand Ledge, Mich., Oct. 4, 1878. 



ANOTHER A B O "CHIIiU." 



and how he grew. 



fi FIRST commenced in the bee business, about 

 July 15, '78, by hiving a wild swarm wliichlit-^on 



1 



— I my'apple trees. I knew nothing of bees, and 

 looked all over the papers for some advertisement 

 by which I could get something pertaining to bees. 

 I saw vours of the ABC, sent 25c., and got a book. 



1 took the bee fever at once. I had seen honey 

 sold here for 17 years, for 25 and 30c. per lb. I had 

 the best place on earth for bee keeping, and had lost 

 $200 e\-ery year bv not raising my own honey. 



Well, I subscribed for your Gleanings, and 

 pitched right into work. 1 made me a hunting bo.x, 

 and have found and cut 13 trees and successfully 

 transferred the bees from 9 of them to hives. 1 had 

 bad luck in falling the other 4 trees and killed the 

 bees. , ,, , . ,, , 



1 immediately sent for 25 Langstroth hives, and lo ! 

 in one month, I was an old bee-keeper, with more 

 experience than 1 presume some have in 5 years, 

 for 1 worked day and night at them, fixed up my 

 yard, advertised to transfer from old hives and fur- 

 nish new hives, and warrant them. 



There are a great many bees kept here, but, 

 strange to say, I never took any notice of them be- 

 fore. I sent at once for Cook's Manual of the Apiary, 

 got mv hives and stiirtcil out. In Aug. and Sept., 1 

 transferred 39 swarms, all to L. hives, and got *1.0U 

 each for them, and furnished hives at $2.U0 each to 

 $2.25 and .*2.5!) for two-story, unpainted hives. 1 

 have now on my books, engaged to transfer in May, 

 97 swarms, for my neighbors. . 



I have used fdn. comb in most places, to help build 

 up faster, where they would buy it of me. I have a 

 wire screen cap to wear on my head and over my 

 face, and wear buckskin gloves on my hands. 



I upset the old hive, place the new one on the 

 spot, give a few puffs of smoke, and rap until 1 see 

 the queen run out; then commence by cutting the 

 nails in the old hive with a thin cold chisel, and with 

 a long bl-?ded knife, cut the combs loose from the 

 board and take it off, then lay the large slabs of hon- 

 ey down and cut them to tit the frames. , , , ^, 



'I use wire clamps hooked at both ends to hold the 

 combs in place, and sot them in the hives On the 

 third dav, 1 open and remove the wires; when ittnu 

 everything ttx"d up, 1 examine to see if any eggs 

 have been laid by the queen, and generally look her 



I'have had e.xtra good luck, and never lost one 

 swarm, neither have I had any rotibing; and 1 (Ud 

 not protect them or shut them up, though I did all 

 the work in the y;M-d near other hees. 



I usually take out from 25 to 30 lbs. of honey. 1 

 have one swarm taken from a tree, < )ct. 7, '78, which 

 I think are Italians, thouuh 1 never saw one. I have 

 sent a sample to vou to inform me. This swarm to- 

 day (Oct. 9) has two sheets of fdn. worked out since 

 transferring, and eggs deposited now at this writ- 

 ing, 5 p. m. I would not sell the swarm for $20. 



In the spring. 1 mean tn lliiliani/,e all my stocks, 

 and Italianize for as many of my neighbors as I can 



