1873.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
289 
fast. Near the centre of the middle comb cut out a piece 
near three inches long on the upper side, two inches on 
the bottom, and a little more than an inch in depth. 
Now take a comb from a hive that is breeding con¬ 
taining eggs or larvae just hatched from the egg—new comb 
is best—cut out a piece of the same shape half the depth 
of the space cut out of the comb, and just long enough to 
fit in the upper side closely, and it will appear as in the 
figure. The bees will wax it fast in a few hours. Near a 
pint of bees is wanted to reat the queens. If they can 
not be had from any place a mile or two away they may 
be taken from a hive at home by taking young bees. 
Young bees are best. Obtain them by taking two or three 
BROOD COMB INSERTED FOR REARING QUEEN. 
combs without the queen in the middle of the day from a | 
hive from which abundant brood is hatching—you have j 
movable combs of course—and put them into an empty | 
hive or box a few feet from the old stand. In an hour or 
two the older bees will return to the hive. The bees , 
that remain may be brushed into an empty box and shut 
up. Now set the box prepared for rearing queens over 
it, and let the bees creep through a hole left for the pur¬ 
pose up into it. Finding the brood they at once commence 
enlarging one or more of the worker cells into such as 
are required for raising a queen. If very warm give a lit¬ 
tle water in a sponge. They may be allowed to fly out in 
48 hours. 
If there is no honey in any of the combs, they should 
be fed a little while shut up, as well as afterward, unless 
they can obtain it from the flowers. On the tenth day, 
if they finish more than one cell, the supernumeraries 
may be cut out carefully, if situated so that they can be 
without mutilation, and given to another little box of 
bees prepared in the same way, except that the cell is 
put in instead of brood. If more than one cell is left, 
the first queen that hatches makes it her business within 
a few hours to destroy all rivals ; she bites a hole in the 
sideof the cell, and thrusts her sting into the mostvulner- I 
able part of her calmly reposing sister, which in a few ; 
minutes proves fatal. The queen when rid of all rivals 
will fly out to meet the drone in about six days; if suc¬ 
cessful will begin to lay in about two days more. The 
eggs may be seen in the bottom of the cell. She is now 
ready to introduce into the full colony that is queenless; 
but can remain in the little box several days if none are 
ready to receive her. The old hive having swarmed, the 
new colony should be put on the stand of the old one, 
that being moved a rod or more to a new stand. All the 
old bees return to their old place in a day or two. Open 
the old hive and cut out all the queen cells. Take the 
mature laying queen from the little box, and if you 
wish to be absolutely certain that she will never lead off 
a swarm to the woods, cut off one wing to prevent her 
flying ever afterwards. With some honey in a spoon 
smear her completely. Turn her over a few times with 
a feather, or something that will not harm her, and then 
drop her among the bees at the top of the hive, who 
will clean her off the first thing and accept her as 
mother. Prof. Agassiz is reported to have said in a 
lecture given at Cambridge recently, that the young 
queen matures and endeavors to force her way out of 
the cell, and is kept back by the bees, before the first 
swarm with the old queen leaves. Those who have full 
confidence in his statement will doubt the propriety of 
introducing a queen to the old hive as I have directed. 
But I will assert, without fear of contradiction from any 
one fully acquainted with the subject, that not one first 
swarm in fifty, or even five hundred, will issue under 
such circumstances. Erroneous teaching leads to 
erroneous practice. 
Artificial swarms can be made, if their condition is 
right, later in the season. To make one, do it, if you can, 
in the middle of the day. Lift out combs carefully, and 
find the one that the queen is on. Put that, with the 
bees on it, into the new hive with frames, and set that on 
the old stand, and remove the old one away as before. 
Two days after introduce the fertile queen, as in the 
other case, without taking the trouble to cut out cells. 
Two days is all the time that is lost in breeding. There 
are bees enough always left in a good stock to nurse the 
brood. In a few days, or weeks at most, they are as 
strong as the old one was. By making swarms artifi¬ 
cially, and introducing fertile queens in this way, five or 
six strong colonies may be secured in one season, pro¬ 
viding the yield of honey is good. All should be kept 
strong. If tbe old queen could have empty combs in¬ 
stead of empty frames it would facilitate operations 
greatly. If the flowers do not yield honey plentifully, : 
they should be judiciously fed, especially toward the 
last of the season. More about feeding next month. ; 
With the movable frames it is, in a measure, optional 
with the bee-keeper whether he has increase of bees 
mostly or surplus honey. We can not have both largely, 
any more than we can have plenty of eggs when 
biddy is hatching a brood of chickens. If the ener¬ 
gies of the bees are devoted to the increase, and pro¬ 
viding their stores for winter, they can not get much 
surplus. We can choose that which we want most, or 
divide the product and have a moderate increase and 
some surplus ; that is if the season is favorable like the 
present up to July. 
Foul Brood. — For the last few years we have been 
exempt from foul brood in this vicinity, yet I would recom¬ 
mend an examination of every old stock, and if it is found 
in any—it is fully described in “ Bee-keeping Explained,” 
page 210—take out the bees and put them into an empty 
hive like a new swarm at once, and suffer none of the 
contents of the old hive to be taken with them. If the 
honey they have in the old hive will be needed for 
winter stores, it should be thoroughly scalded and skim¬ 
med, to destroy whatever poison it may contain, before 
feeding it. 
Surplus boxes taken off this month and next on 
account of greater scarcity will be likely to need more 
care to prevent bees taking out the honey and carrying 
it back to the hive. If the quantity is not much, the 
boxes may be set into any empty barrel, right side up if 
possible, in a manner that the bees may get out of them. 
If turned on one side, have all the sheets of comb vertical. 
Throw a thin sheet or cloth over the barrel, to prevent 
outside bees from getting in. Those on the inside will 
creep up to the underside to get out. Take off the 
sheet and shake ofi' the bees a few times, returning it 
quickly to prevent others getting in. When honey in 
the flowers fails greatly, as it does in many sections this 
month, the bees will begin to take it out of the boxes on 
the hives. That in the unsealed cells will be carried 
down. Close watch is needed to save it. In sections 
where buckwheat honey is obtained, it is generally 
stored this month, and boxes part full of clover will be 
finished out with the darker honey, and appear like all of 
that quality. If not wanted mixed take ofi' the clover 
boxes early. Clover honey sells much the best. 
A Swarm in a Hollow Tree.— E. W. Taylor writes: 
“ On the 28th of May a swarm of my neighbor’s bees 
came over near my house and went into the hollow of a 
large chestnut-tree. It will be next to impossible to get 
them by cutting the tree. They are in one of the largest 
branches. The tree is easy of ascent, and branches near 
the hollow. A bee-hive could he placed near the hole 
with but little trouble, if they could be induced to come 
into it. If there was any way to make them swarm the 
hole could be stopped, and they might be hived easily. 
It is a very nice, large swarm. They are not wild. If you 
will tell me how to get them, I shall consider it a favor.” 
Reply.— I get such inquiries frequently. An answer to 
this one will apply to many others. The instincts of bees 
should be understood. Bees after they get combs made and 
occupied with brood never voluntarily leave a tenement 
that will possibly answer, even for one much more com¬ 
modious. They never desert it as long as healthy. If this 
were understood it would save much idle speculation, and 
sometimes money. A year ago we sold a lady a stock of 
bees in the improved hives. They were lost in the winter. 
She added another in the spring. To save the expense 
of a hive she was advised to take only combs, frames, 
and bees, sent in a rough box, and transfer to her empty 
hive. It could have been done in five minutes. But the 
operator, probably, bad never read tbe directions for 
transferring, or bad any experience in avoiding stings. 
The bees were received in good order. Her manager not 
understanding the above-mentioned principle or instinct, 
and supposing that tbe brood sealed up in the combs 
was of more value than all else sent, thought if he 
j opened the box that contained the bees, that they would 
go right into the offered hive of their own accord and 
abandon all. They did not go. They were then dumped 
into the hive in bulk—hurriedly, I suppose for fear of 
stings—all the combs were broken and spoiled but two 
combs, and they were bottom up. The mature bees 
were nearly all destroyed. I attended and set matters 
to rights. They had the queen yet, and may recover by 
fall, yet there will be a loss of at least $25 for this season, 
if tbe yield of honey should continue as it has com¬ 
menced. This is in consequence of not understanding 
principles. 
The man with the swarm in the chestnut-tree can not 
expect the bees to come out voluntarily any more than 
they went to the hive from the rough box. They havo 
brood in a week after they are located. The bees can 
be got out of the tree only by force. An important 
question to consider is. Will it pay? Are they worth 
anything as they are in the tree? How much would it 
cost to get them out? It might, perhaps, take a man 
all day. How much would they be worth in a good 
hive ? If worth nothing in the tree, and $15 or $20 in the 
hive, will the difference in value pay for the trouble ? 
The value in any case will depend greatly on the yield of 
honey after they are out. In estimating the expense, it 
would be well to consider the necessity of obtaining t> 
assistance of a skilled mechanic, and one who has . d 
some experience with bees, that he may work wit’ at 
constant fear of stings. Theymustbe transferred, b ood 
and combs. The tree may be left standing if it is best. 
A scaffold can be made in the place where a hive can be 
placed with little trouble, on which a man may work to 
make the examination. The first thing to do is to as¬ 
certain which side of the cavity the shell is thinnest, and 
its extent up and down the tree. With a brace and bit, 
or auger, bore a few inch holes through the shell to as¬ 
certain the extent of the cavity. Make two rows of 
holes close together at the top and bottom of the cavity, 
across the body of the tree. With mallet and chisel 
split out the piece between the holes, or if the grain of 
the wood will not allow of its splitting, bore another 
row of holes up and down, and the slab can be readily 
taken out, exposing the whole surface of the combs. 
The bees by this time will not be disposed to sting, and 
the work may progress without fear. The combs will 
probably be new and tender. Those which are filled 
with honey only may be cut from the others and saved 
for the table. Those containing brood must be put into 
frames, and held just as described in transferring in the 
May number of the Agriculturist. If the weather is 
warm—it ought to be—the combs will be very soft, and 
care will be needed to keep them straight. They may 
be laid on a board and brought to the ground and fitted 
in tbe frames. When all is arranged, set the hive as 
near as possible to the entrance in the tree and put in 
the frames. Probably the bees will have crept off the 
combs upward as soon as the work commenced, and will 
be in a cluster not far off, either out or inside. They can 
be dipped into the hive as easily as so much sawdust. 
When the queen is once in, the bees will follow without 
fail in the course of a few hours. Shut the hive and 
leave it until cold weather. 
The Patrons of Husbandry—The Granges. 
Several have written to ask if we should ad¬ 
vise them' to join the Patrons of Husbandry, 
and others to ask what we think of the organi¬ 
zation. There are certain things upon which 
we do not care to give advice. If we are asked 
by a correspondent if lie should join a particular 
church, if it is best for him to belong to this or 
that political party, or if he had better unite 
himself with the Masons or Odd-fellows, we 
reply that these are matters in which each one 
should judge for himself. So, in regard to the 
Patrons of Husbandry, we have not felt it 
within our province to advise persons to join or 
withhold themselves from the association. 
Much depends upon the character of such an 
organization at any given point, and many other 
things which those at a distance can not judge 
of. In a pretty wide experience, we have in 
one place known a certain very popular and 
generally worthy organization to include all the 
meanest men in the town, and in another place 
the same body had all the best men among its 
members. So it may be with the Patrons of 
Husbandry in certain localities; and we advise 
each one to judge for himself, As to what we 
