T H E 
JOURNAL. 
Voi,. II.— No. 5.1 OCTOBER 10, 1887. lPk [( -’e bD. 
Editorial. 
HINTS FOR NOVEMBER. 
Swarming will continue lively in many 
localities throughout November, and we re- 
peat our caution to be always ready with tools, 
hives and frames, or clean new boxes. It is 
not every swarm that alights on a nice con- 
venient bough or branch ready to be shaken 
into a box, but they sometimes settle in very 
awkward places and not unfrequently close to 
the ground, in which case arrange a box or 
hive over them by propping up, or as near as 
possible over them, and the bees will generally 
find their way in ; a little coaxing and a 
gentle sprinkling of water will usually induce 
them to get under cover. 
To take swarm3 from trees or other places 
too high to get at comfortably in the ordinary 
way, a light box, bag or basket on the end of a 
pole is handy ; a bamboo pole is the best for 
it is so light. The Italian beekeepers have a 
bag made of a kind of cheese cloth, with wire 
or eane hoops to keep it stretched out, fixed 
on to a strong wire ring (like an angler’s 
la nding net ) with a socket for the end of the 
pole to go in. The ring and bag are about 
1.1 inches diameter, and the bag 30 or 3il inches 
l >ng. When a swarm settles high this ring 
and bag can be hoisted and gently passed up 
under the bees till the bulk are within the bag, 
when by a jerk or push of the ring the swarm 
can be shaken into it, and, in most cases, 
secured easily and without much dist urbance. 
If hives that have already swarmed twice cast 
another swarm, it is best to return it, for such 
swarms are generally small and unprofitable, 
'if course two or more casts of this kind can 
•e united into a good strong stock, leaving 
tlie queens to settle the question of supremacy 
among themselves, unless they be in frame 
hives, when the beekeeper can save the spare 
queens if he desires to do so, a proceeding that 
is always wise to adopt. Careful and frequent 
attention will be required this month with 
regard to the honey from the spring flow, 
which usually slackens off early in December. 
It is not advisable to let it remain in the 
combs long after it is sealed as it gets darker 
and not so attractive to the purchaser as 
when extracted from the combs soon after it is 
sealed, when it comes out pale, clear and full 
of flavor. 
Many beekeepers remove the outside frames 
of their hives as soon as the honey is capped 
along the tops of the frames and extract, re- 
placing tlie combs at once. This course keeps 
the bees busy at work in the brood chamber, 
always giving room for storage as long as the 
honey harvest lasts, and also giving the queen 
an opportunity of increasing her brood nest 
if required. This plan has a tendency to pre- 
vent swarming also. 
If working for extracted honey in the 
super, it is the best way to extract imme- 
diately a few upper rows of cells are sealed, 
replacing the same or similar combs at once. 
The honey may not be quite ripe, but it will 
rapidly ripen if kept in an open tank or barrel 
for a while. Where comb honey in sections is 
worked for, it is advisable to bestow a little 
attention to the supers as soon as the centre 
rows of sections are nearly sealed, it is advan- 
tageous to exchange them for the partly finished 
ones on the outside ; you are likely to get 
better filled and better finished sections by 
this plan. If sections are filling quickly in a 
good locality, as soon as the bees are well at 
work in the whole ot the sections, and the 
centre rows are wholly or partly sealed, tier 
up at once by placing another super with 
sections under the first super, so that you have 
your now sections between brood nest and the 
filled sections. In strong colonies this tiering 
up should lie continued as long as honey comes 
in, even should there be 3 or I or even more 
supers on each hive. 
