210 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[June, 
is argued that the fruit will he of superior quality. In 
the extreme southern part of the State the frosts this 
season have done much injury to the peach buds. In the 
Illinois fruit district apples and pears promise well. In 
the northern district pears do not succeed well. While 
in northern Ohio the men who have lost peach orchards 
are turning to pears as a safe and profitable investment, 
in northern Illinois men will hardly consider the ques¬ 
tion at all. It is certain that in the vicinity of Toledo 
we find some of the finest pear orchards in the West, but 
profits come after a long experience in the testing of 
varieties. Whether any varieties would succeed well in 
the vicinity of Chicago seems to be an open question. 
In the great Michigan fruit district there is promise of a 
rare crop of peaches and other fruits. While the spring 
has been unfavorable in a general way, it has not been 
unfavorable to the fruit interest. In northern Ohio the 
peach trees of bearing age will give not more than a 
fourth of the old crop in favorable years. Grape-vines 
will give probably a fair crop, which means a better crop 
than last year. Apples, pears, cherries, and all small 
fruits except strawberries promise well. 
Nortli.Western Dairymen’s As¬ 
sociation. —The eighth annual report of the North¬ 
western Dairymen's Association contains the addresses 
delivered and discussions which occurred at the annual 
meeting held at. Woodstock, Ill., in February last. We 
have before alluded to the interesting character of these 
proceedings, and have now only to recommend those 
dairymen who wish to read them at their leisure to pro¬ 
cure a copy from the secretary of the association, G. E. 
Morrow, of Madison, Wis., or the president, Stephen 
Favill, of Lake Mills, Wis. 
Bee Notes—Advice to Beginners. 
BT M. QUINBY. 
Many ladies have written me that they are almost per¬ 
suaded to become bee-keepers, and have been encouraged 
by what has appeared in the Agriculturist. With a little 
further direction, they see no reason why they can not 
turn their labor to more advantage, pecuniarily, than in 
fancy work. I would say once more to those with suffi¬ 
cient ambition and perseverance, learn how, and I confi¬ 
dently predict success. Fear of stings, that has kept so 
many from the undertaking, needs scarcely be an objec¬ 
tion, now that smoke (that has long been used to neu¬ 
tralize the poison of their stings and quiet their anger) 
has lately been applied so effectually that there is little 
risk. The most convenient way of applying it was to 
set a stick of decayed wood on fire without a blaze, hold 
it near the bees, and blow the smoke on them. This 
brought the face often disagreeably near, and sometimes 
there was danger of fire from sparks blown off. We 
now place the burning stick in a tin tube, and with a 
small bellows connected with the tube, held and worked 
with one hand, it is safe, convenient, and effectual. 
Mrs. A. has more than one hive of hees—they are in 
movable combs, of course. She says: “ One has ap¬ 
parently become crowded with bees ; another seems to 
work well, but there are not many bees. They have 
honey enough. What is the matter ? ” It may be they 
have no queen. Yet Mrs A. says “ they never bring in 
bee-bread if they have lost her. Have seen somewhere 
that they work just as well without a queen as with 
one.” I would advise the lady in question to look in¬ 
side the best one first. She will need a sharp-pointed, 
heavy jack-knife, or, what would be still better, a car¬ 
penter’s scratch-awl, made flat at the point, to use as a 
lever to pry the frames apart without much of a jar. 
Let it be in the middle of the day, while it is warm a»d 
the bees are busy. We will suppose the operator is 
timid, and in that case it will be judicious to put on a 
veil, for an unlucky movement might make the bees 
angry; yet it must be admitted one can not work as 
satisfactorily with a veil on. Then go to the full hive— 
the top is loose, not nailed—slip the knife under, and 
pry it up from the top, raising it very moderately an 
inch or two. If no angry buzzing is heard, take it ofl 
quietly. Should a jar or too sudden exposure to light j 
get up an excitement, when the top is first raised an ! 
inch, the buzz will be heard. Blow in some smoke, 
which will drive the bees down among the combs. After 
the top is off, once in a great while a few bees may come 
to the top of the frames a_d manifest anger, when a 
little smoke should at once be directly applied at the 
exact point wanted. If suspended frames, pry them 
apart, giving room to take out one from the middle 
without touching others. Be careful not to crush any 
bees. Pry all the frames loose, and lift one out. If 
the other kind of frames, begin on the outside, and 
move sidewise first, then back half an inch, and unhook 
and lift it out Sometimes, even at this season, they are 
nearly out of honey. If they have any sealed up, there 
| is not much danger of starving. Look at all the combs 
as you take them out, and if there is no sealed honey, 
| feed a little. If there is enough, see how much sealed 
brood they have—don’t mistake that for sealed houey ; 
the brood is generally near the center of the hive, they 
spread it from there each way. Estimate the number of 
square inches sealed in each comb. Fifty square inches 
in each, of six or seven combs, will make a tolerable 
swarm when it hatches. Find the queen while you are 
looking, catch her. and cut off one wing~she will never 
leave with a swarm for the woods afterwards. If they 
are making preparations for swarming, queen cells may 
be seen, most of them containing larvae, and a swarm 
may be expected to issue the next fair day after the first 
cell is sealed up. After seeing how the inside of a good, 
thrifty stock appears, it is well to examine a weak one, 
and find what is wrong there. Proceed to open it in the 
same way. Most of the bees will be found near the 
center. Examine the combs there for the queen, brood, 
eggs, or foul brood. There are many things to prevent 
an increase of bees. The eggs of a bee must be kept 
warm, like those of a fowl, to hatch well. Bees enough 
to feed and rear them are necessary. The warmth in a 
weak hive is generally deficient. If no disease, see if 
they have any brood sealed. If that is found, the queen 
is probably all right, without bees enough to keep the 
eggs warm. If no brood is in any stage of development, 
and no queen can be found, it can be put down as queen¬ 
less, but not to be discarded. There are combs worth 
several dollars and some bees, and may be something 
can be done to save them. Take from the best hive a 
comb with brood ready to hatch, as nearly as can be 
judged, as such require no nursing. An empty comb¬ 
at least one without brood—can be taken from the light 
hive and put in the place of the one taken containing 
the brood. See where the bees are thickest in the light 
hive. Part the combs there, and put in the one 
containing brood. Close the hive all but one small 
entrance, to make it as warm as possible, and the 
maturing brood will strengthen the colony materially. 
If they hatch well, another comb can be given in a week 
or so, and still another until strong enough. Occasional¬ 
ly the queen is lost while there is brood to rear one. and 
they do it. In such a case, the remains of the queen 
cells will be seen. A young queen, before laying, is not 
so easily found as the old one ; she is nearer the size of 
workers, and very active. To make it more certain that 
there is no queen, look again in three or four days after 
the first examination. They will have started some 
queen cells over some of the brood that was given them, 
if there is none. If no cells are started, it would indi¬ 
cate that there is a queen and she is either too young 
to lay or barren. If no eggs in ten days it shows the 
latter; when she must be found and destroyed. If not 
likely to have a laying queen of their own, give them 
one; but it will not do to leave her to make the 
colony strong without giving brood. If any hive has 
swarmed, queen cells may be had in place of the queen. 
The young bees that have hatched from the first comb 
of brood will be more likely to succeed in raising a 
queen than the old bees that were in the hive. By con¬ 
tinuing to change combs with the strong, the weak ones 
can be made as good as the best. One queen will gen¬ 
erally lay eggs enough for two hives, if change of combs 
is properly made. After there are bees enough to nurse 
a larger number, more of the brood that is not sealed up 
may be given them. Occasionally a hive is only weak 
from want of brood, which, if introduced in this way, 
will soon make a worthless hive a profitable one. The 
condition of every hive should be understood. Learn 
to distinguish between a good and a poor one. This 
can be done now more conveniently than ever before ; 
and I have consequently more hopes in the success 
of ladies. They will take time to study the subject 
more deliberately, think what they want to do, and why, 
and help discover many things yet in the dark. 
Increase of stocks will be desirable. But let strong 
colonies be the first idea. When all arc so, and the yield 
of honey is good, you can choose between surplus honey 
and increase. An excess of both is not often realized. 
I advise putting boxes on full hives, and allowing the 
bees to fill them if they will. Keep watch for the queen 
cells, and if they are determined to swarm, make them do 
it artificially. Directions for doing it have already been 
given. If the honey is extracted, not more than one in 
fifty will try to swarm. In most sections, but little sur¬ 
plus is collected after the first of ifugust. If there has 
been no increase, and there are hees enough, it will do 
to divide at this time, if care is taken to feed according 
to their needs. When there is no buckwheat or late fall 
flowers, a colony may be wintered by feeding. It would 
be well to have a laying queen ready to introduce when 
divided at this time. Twenty-five pounds of sugar will 
take a swarm through the winter, when they have no 
honey. 
Learn how to make all stocks strong, and to know 
when they are strong. 
Very many allow their bees to build their combs 
crooked on the frames, through neglect, and can not 
examine them in consequence, and then inquire what 
shall be done. I will give a specimen: 
Chester Co., Pa. 
I have two colonies of bees in Langstroth’s movable 
comb hive. I would like to take out the frames to ex¬ 
amine them, but the bees have run the combs zigzag so 
that I can not get them out without much cutting. 1 
want to artificially swarm them this summer. How shall 
I proceed f Howard D. Bush. 
I have many such. The proceedings should be in 
accordance with the shape of the combs. They aro 
much more crooked sometimes than others. When very 
crooked transfer as from a box hive. Quite often on 
one side, on one or more frames the combs are straight. 
Sometimes a part of the combs will run straight part 
way on the frame. First, see to how many frames 
one comb is attached. If any are disconnected with 
others take them out first. These can generally be seen 
from the top. When the colony is strong and the weather 
cool enough for the propolis to snap and jar the bees 
enough to wake them up, it will be necessary to usd 
smoke. The top of course is off. The combs that cross 
the frames are welded fast to the sides of the hive. Now 
you want a long thin knife—a carving knife will do. 
Drive the bees away with the smoke from the place you 
wish to loosen. Cut every comb from the sides of the 
hive. With a sharp-pointed instrument loosen the frames 
where they rest on the rabbeting, but do not move the 
frame enough to break the comb. Put on the top or honey 
board, and turn the hive bottom upwards. If the frames, 
where they rest on the rabbeting have been properly loos¬ 
ened and the combs all cut loose from the sides, the hive 
can be lifted oft', leaving the combs standing. Don't be 
alarmed and think the stock ruined, and feel afraid of 
being stung. Nothing of the kind will occur if you 
have used smoke judiciously. Keep cool and think 
what is to be done. Smoke and drive the bees away 
from where you want to see the comb. If there is any 
comb straight part way on the frame, leave it fast. Cut 
off all that crooks from a straight line ; keep the pieces 
as large as possible. As you cut them out lean them 
against something pretty straight up for a time. When 
the bees gather in little clusters they may be brushed or 
shaken into an empty box for the time being. As soon 
as a frame is loose and separated you can proceed to fill 
it with combs; hold it with small sticks fastened just as 
directed last year for transferring. Cut off drone comb. 
Set up the hive and put into the frame with the combs 
straight. They will soon be fastened, when the sticks 
may be removed. If necessary to use drone combs to 
fill the hive, let them occupy the outside frames. If the 
hive is such as I recommended last June, which could he 
enlarged or diminished at pleasure, there would be no 
need of using drone comb to fill it. If bees have to 
build comb to fill the hive at this season, it is quite sure 
to be drone cells. In filling the frames, if there are 
spaces an inch or two square left there will be no great 
loss, and bees fill them with the large cells. It is possi¬ 
ble that rearing a few drones in combs of this size, may 
gratify an instinct and stimulate to some benefit. 
Ogden Farm Papers.—No. 52. 
-<r>- 
Six years ago there was formed an asso¬ 
ciation of breeders under the name of the 
“American Jersey Cattle Club.” The purpose 
was to establish a “ Herd Book ” and to encour¬ 
age the breeding of pure animals. The associa¬ 
tion now includes more than one hundred of 
the principal breeders of this stock, most of 
the northern and some of the southern states 
being represented in it. Great care is taken to 
admit to membership only the most trust¬ 
worthy men, and no pedigrees about which 
there is the least room for doubt, are accepted 
without the indorsement of a member. 
Three volumes of the “ Herd Book ” have 
been completed, and nearly five thousand 
pedigrees are recorded. This part of the work 
goes regularly on, and the book is now self- 
supporting, so that the fund derived from 
membership fees can be appropriated to other 
purposes. At the recent annual meeting $600 
were appropriated for the procurement of an 
essay on Jersey cattle, which shall be adapted 
to making their advantages for American uses 
generally known. Three prizes are offered: 
1st, $250; 2d, $150; 3d, $100; and the amount 
