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ALBERT R. MANN
LIBRARY

NEw YorK STATE COLLEGES
OF
AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS

AT

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

 

EVERETT FRANKLIN PHILLIPS

BEEKEEPING LIBRARY

 

 

 

 
Cornell University Library
SF 523.C852

Bee keeping f

  

3 1924 003 433 657 san sar
BEE KEEPING FOR PROFIT.

So --

ANEW SYSIEM

OF

BEE MANAGEMENT.

—_——

SECOND EDITION.

BY

Mrs. Lizzik E. CoTToN,

WEST GORHAM, MAINE.

 

ILLUSTRATED.

 

PRICE ONE DOLLAR,
1883.
 

MRS. LIZZIE E. COTTON.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the se 1888, by
MRS. “IZZIE E. COTTON,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
CONTENTS,

Chapter. Page.
T;—HONBY BEES sieciccia gue k arses eaiceu ie eraareron 15
II.—Tue Conrroiiasie Hive anp New Sys-

TEM OF BEE MANAGEMENT........-..-- 28
III.—Parenr anp Non-Parent Hives...........36
TV FEEDING was cnet die auras ¢ se walsase ane oD
V.—Boxss ror Surpius Honry.......... .....50
VWI.—SwarMING AND HIVING.. .........6+6-656--.58

VIT.—ANGER OF BEES.........000 se ee cece eneeee 68
VITI.— Birr MoTH.......0-. ccc eee eee ees seek
IX. —ROBBING sso s hosises o5 Huge wanes Es KES des 76
X.—Prorits oF BEE KERPING.......-..05. sree 81

XI.—CHANGING OLD QUEENS FoR YOUNG ONES....

XII.—RearRInG anp INTRODUCING QUEENS........93
XIII.—Sources or HONFY........ eee eee eee ee 101
XIV.—LocaTion or HIVES.............002.005- 199
XV.—WInTERING BEES .............-5..- 113
XVI.—TRANSFERRING BEES............00. c20e- 12]
XVIJ—IrTaLiaAn BEES..... 2... ccc cece eee e eee 126
XVITI—Comp FOUNDATION........-0...00 cee eee 131
XIX.—Montury Dourtiss................0.. 136
XX.—CONCLUSION .... 1. cee eee cee ee eee eae 144
PREFACE,

 

In presenting this work I have no apology to
make. After an experience with bees dating
almost from childhood, and a careful study of all
works published on the subject of bees, and the
journals devoted to that particular branch of rural
affairs, I find theory, guess-work, prejudice and
selfish motives are so prevalent, as to confuse and
discourage the degzzner, and finally, all who are
seeking after information by which they may make
bee keeping a source of profit, and who wish to
adopt a correct and scientific system of bee manage-
ment.

In my early efforts at bee keeping, I met with
many failures and heavy losses, from being con-
fused by the contradictory teachings of selfish or
ignorant bee keepers, and from a lack of that per-
sonal knowledge which experience, and a close
study of the nature and habits of bees, has now
placed in my possession. After many unsuccess-
ful experiments, and careful investigation, and a
close study of the natural habits and instincts of
bees, I have succeeded in inventing a hive and new
system of bee management which completely
changes the whole process of bee keeping, and ren-
ders the business safe, pleasant and profitable.
10 FREFACE.

 

The hive and system of bee management recom-
mended in these pages, is entirely original with
me, and is not patented. I invented the hive and
plan of management for my own use, as I am en-
gaged in raising honey for market, and wish every
swarm of bees I keep to produce the greatest pos-
sible amount of surplus honey, and in the most con-
venient and attractive marketable form. I am in-
duced to place this work before the public at the
earnest and oft repeated requests of friends and
correspondents. The work has been hurriedly
written, as I had but little spare time to devote to
this matter, consequently sentences are not all, per-
haps, grammatically arranged. I have made the
beautiful of secondary importance to the useful. I
have endeavored, however, to make my statements
so clear as to be readily understood and compre-
hended by every person of intelligence, although he
may be wholly unacquainted with bee keeping.

Every person, who has a farm or garden, should
keep bees, at least one or more swarms, to furnish
honey for the use of the family. There is no
greater luxury than nice honey in clean snow-white
comb in nice glass boxes, such as is produced by
my new system of bee management. This best of
all sweets is now within reach of every one who has
a plot of ground large enough to set a hive of bees
upon.

After bees are once located in my hives but very
little expense is required to keep them in proper
condition, so that they will give a good quantity of
nice box honey every year.
PREFACE. 11

 

Under the old methods of bee keeping, bees re-
quired a great deal of care and attention, especially
during the summer season. And then the winters
were very destructive to them, many often losing
their entire stock ; or if they were not a total loss,
they were so damaged by the winter as to be of no
profit, and two severe winters in succession were
quite sure to finish them. .

This was very discouraging, and many have
abandoned bee keeping, entirely discouraged.

On my plan a complete revolution is effected in
bee management, as will be shown in this work.

There is in my opinion no pursuit which offers
greater inducements than bee keeping, especially to
women. There are very many who are confined
indoors nearly the whole time, excluded from the
air and sunshine, to the great injury of their health ;
and after this sacrifice they barely succeed in obtain-
ing a livelihood. To such, bee keeping offers great
inducements, such as improved health, and a hand-
some recompense for all labor performed. Iam.
acquainted with many who have commenced bee
keeping on my plan, who are meeting with complete
success. A lady bought a swarm of Italian bees of |
me in 1874, and she writes me that from that oe she
increased her stock to overtwenty swarms the third
season ; besides she got over one hundred pounds
of nice honey from the swarm I sent her the frst
season. Here I wish to be clearly understood; I
do not wish to hold out inducements which will
never be realized, for the purpose of causing any
one to commence bee keeping; yet I believe bee
12 PREFACE.

 

keeping on correct principles should be encouraged,
uutil bees enough are kept to collect all the honey
now allowed to go to waste, and which it collected
by bees and stored in nice glass boxes, would add
millions of dollars to the wealth of the country.

Since the day I introduced my Controllable Hive
and New System of Bee Management to the notice
of the public, the worthless bee hive swindlers and
their tools have been boiling over with wrath
against me, lying and slandering me through the
public journals, and especially through the Bee
Journals, and all because, that I, a woman, had
succeeded in inventing a bee hive and new system
of bee management superior to anything yet pro-
duced, and which was fast coming into use on its
merits, among bee keepers; consequently the sale
of other hives was decreasing in the same propor
tion. I first perfected the hive and system of man-
agement for my own use, with no thought of mak-
ing it public; but through the kindness of my per-
sonal friends and others who have visited me to
enquire into the new system, it has become known
from Maine to Oregon, and adopted by many of the
most intelligent bee keepers in the United States,
And in compliance with that command in the good
book which reads-—‘'ZLet your light shine,’ I am
determined to spread the truth, regardless of all op:
position from the ignorant and selfish crowd which
is constantly attacking me.

Without egotism, I claim a thorough knowledge
of the habits and instincts of bees. Consequently I
claim a thorough knowledge ot the requisites of a
PREFACE, 13

 

hive, and all fixtures pertaining to it, as well as a
knowledge required to make bee keeping successful
and profitable ; and all this has been acquired in the
school of experience and pracizce.

Kind reader, I respectfully submit the following
pages, and ask for them a candid and unprejudiced
consideration. Read carefully and understand-
ingly, and apply to bee keeping, and I feel certain
you will realize many times the cost of this book
in the increased profits of your bees, managed as
here directed.

The statements herein set forth are the result of
many years practical experience with bees witha
view of making the raising of honey for market
profitable, and the general management of bees
successful.

Mrs. Lizzie E. Corton.

West Gorham, Me., Aug. 5, 1880.

Since the publication of the first edition of this
work, in 1880, and the use of the Controllable
Hive for more than twelve years, I find only a
very few minor points in the hive which can be
improved. I have made 4 complete revision of the
hive and all fixtures, with the view of correcting
every imperfection, however slight, and I feel cer-
tain that the hive as now arranged is perfect in
every particular.
PREFACE l4

 

Thanking my patrons for past favors, and respect-
fully soliciting a continuance of the same, I present
the second edition of this work, and invite to it the
careful and unprejudiced consideration of every
one who may read its pages.

Mrs. Lizzizr E. Corron.

West Gorham, Sept. 1, 1883.
LHAPTER. tf:

HONEY BEES.

QUEEN BEE.

Ges SWARM of bees contains oxe Queen, thous-
a ands of workers, and in the summer season,
@aee a limited number of drones. The queen is
the only fully developed female in the swarm. She
never leaves the hive except on two occasions—
when leading a swarm, and when but a few days
old, to meet the drone, or male bee, in the air, for
the purpose of fecundation. It appears from close
observation that only one impregnation is operative
during life, as old queens have’ never been known
to leave the hive for that purpose.

The natural life of the queen averages from four
to six years. Queens sometimes become entirely
barren before death; at other times the eggs of old
queens are found to produce only drones. No
matter whether deposited in drone cells, or worker
cells, the progeny will be drones invariably. When
drones are reared in worker cells, they will be very
much dwarfed in size, notwithstanding the worker
16 HONEY BEES.

 

bees attempt to overcome the difficulty, by length-
ening the worker cells to accommodate the mon
strosities.

The queen has a sting, yet she may be handled
with impunity, for she will not use it except when
in deadly combat with a rival queen. She receives
the most marked attention from all members of her
family ; deprive a swarm of their queen, and they
will, as soon as the loss is known, manifest the
greatest agitation and alarm, and if the swarm is
one just hived, and only a few hours from the
parent stock, they will all return at once to the old
home. They appear to fully realize the vast im-
portance of a mother, and that with no means to
supply her place they must soon perish; and to
avoid their impending fate they return to the old
hive. With old stocks deprived of their queen the
result is different, as will be shown further on.
Every one who keeps bees should strive to become
familiar with the appearance of the queen, that
they may be able to recognize her at a glance
among thousands of workers, as it will often be
necessary to look her up in my new system of bee
management. In looking for the queen in full
hives, she is ustially found on the brood combs,
unless in opening the hive she may have been
frightened, and taken refuge in some hiding place,
as the corner of the hive, at the bottom ends of the
comb-frames, or some similar hiding place. After
we become familiar with her appearance and move-
ments we are able to find her quite readily, even
when the hive is crowded with bees.
HONEY BEES. 17

 

 

WORKER BEE.

The worker bee is much smaller than the queen.
On the worker devolves all the labor of the swarm.
They collect honey, pollen or bee bread, and pro-
polis, or bee glue. The workers produce wax
from honey, and from the wax they build comb, in
which to store the honey and bee bread they collect,
for their own use in time of need. Wax is pro-
duced from honey, a8 butter is produced from milk.
Bees do not collect wax, but they collect honey,
which by a natural process in the stomach of the
bee is changed, and exudes from between the rings
of the abdomen in minute scales of wax, which is
detached by the bee and moulded into comb. The
worker bee possesses a sting, and is ever ready to
make use of it in defending home and treasure.
This is a wise provision of nature, for were it
otherwise, the other insect and animal tribes would
appropriate the treasures of the bee—honey, wax,
etc., and this industrious little insect would soon
become extinct.

The worker bee possesses an instinct but little
inferior to reason in the human family. A few
examples will show their wonderful instinct:
Twenty hives of bees, placed in a row, but a few
inches distant one from the other, all of like size,
shape and color; the bees to our perception exacédy
18 HONEY BEES.

 

alike, no difference in size, shape, color or action ;
—yet every bee of this vast number (which at some
seasons of the year would amount to more than six
hundred thousand bees) in these twenty hives
knows its own hive, and if let alone will not enter
any other, except it be for the purpose of securing
the honey therein for its own use, or in other words
to plunder and rob its neighbor. There is no in-
tercourse between swarms ; each is a separate colony
governed by a queen. If through mistake the sub-
jects of one enter the domain of another, a war of
extermination is commenced at once. To test this
point, I changed two hives so that they were re-
versed, the one occupying the place of the other.
This was done while the bees were out collecting
honey in a warm day. The first bees that entered
the hive were instantly killed, and this was kept up
until the hives were set in their proper places.
The ground in front of the hives was covered with
hundreds of dead bees. A bee is killed almost
tnstantly by the sting of another.

The young bee on its first excursion from the
hive does not leave its home without precaution.
With a view toa safe return, it turns its head
towards its home, rises slowly on the wing, at first
describing a circle of only a few inches in diameter,
as it recedes slowly backward, seeming to so mark
every object surrounding the hive, as to enable it to
return and enter, without the slightest danger of en-
tering any other hive. Bees in Spring, in their first
flight, mark their location in this manner. After
the location has been thus marked, the bees leave
HONEY BEES. 19

 

the hive in a direct line, and return by their way-
marks with perfect accuracy and regularity.

 

DRONE BEE.

The drone bee is a clumsy fellow. The drones
are the male bees. | Where a dozen or more hives
are kept, there is no necessity for more drones than
one swarm would naturally rear, yet each one of
the twelve swarms carries out its natural proclivi-
ties, and rears a large number of these useless con-
sumers, not one of a thousand of which is ever of
any use. Swarms should not be permitted to rear
a large number of these non-producers. A few are
indispensable, yet we should take this matter into
our own hands. Not one drone in five thousand
ever fulfills the purpose for which it was created.
Fifty drone cells are enough for one hive, and when
more than this number are constructed (sometimes
they will number a thousand or more in a hive) cut
out all but a very few, and fit in a piece of worker
comb in their place—it is more profit to raise
workers than drones. Drones leave the hive to
sport in the sunshine in large numbers, every fine
afternoon in June and July. When on the wing,
they make avery loud, coarse buzzing. They have
no sting and may be handled without the least fear.
20 HONEY BEES.

 

When the honey season is over, the worker bees
drive out the drones, and a prosperous swarm will
not tolerate a drone in the hive through the winter.
In September I have seen a quart or more of drones
clustered together near the entrance of the hive,
whence they had been driven by the bees.
The workers on guard about the entrance of the
hive, would not let one pass into the hive, though
they were constantly making the attempt. As soon
as one would approach the entrance to the hive to
pass in, a half-dozen or more workers would seize
him, and drag him struggling to the edge of the
platform and pitch him off, at apparent great dan-
ger to his portly and clumsy body.

I wish to impress strongly on the minds of all
who adopt my plan of bee management, the great
importance of cutting out drone cells, except a few
in every hive. Don’t leave more than fifty, half that
number will do. After you have once cut out the
surplus drone comb and fitted in worker comb,there
is no further trouble with an excess of drones from
that hive. It takes a great deal of honey to rear a
large brood of drones, and still more to support
them in idleness two or three months.
HONEY BEES. 21

 

 

   

WORKER CELLS

This engraving represents a section of comb in a
miniature comb frame, containing all the different
cells found ina hive. At the top are cells for
storing honey. At the extreme right, near the bot-
tom, is a queen cell complete, as it appears in queen
raising, or in one week after a swarm has been de-
prived of its queen, in a full stock, or as it is found
in stocks that swarm naturally, at the time the frst
swarm issues. Though often found in different
places on the comb, and often to the number of
a half dozen or more in one stock or hive, yet its
relative position is always the same. It will always
present the same appearance, whether at the edges
or on other parts of the comb. Near the queen
cell is seen the worker cells, containing brood in
all stages of growth, from thetiny egg just deposited
by the queen, to the full-grown grub, or young bee.
Near the worker Cells, at the bottom, ‘are the empty
drone cells.
22 HONEY BEES...

 

BREEDING.

The natural increase of the honey bee is very im-
perfectly understood by the great majority of bee
keepers. Very many suppose that young bees are
raised only in the warm summer months, and their
ideas of the modus operandi of increase are exceed-
ingly vague. I find that strong stocks have matur-
ing brood nearly every month in the year—I have
found brood in stocks in December and January.

The queen lays all the fertile eggs in the swarm ;
consequently all increase is dependent on her. I
say the queen lays all the fertzle eggs, because occa-
sionally under certain circumstances we find eggs
laid by workers, but under my observation such
eggs never mature. Egg-laying workers are known
to be such, by eggs being found in stocks that have
been deprived of their queen, and the means of
rearing another. This is one of the wonders of
nature, of which no satisfactory solution has been
given. The points established as to the sex of bees
are these: The queen is a fully developed female ;
the drones are fully developed males ; the worker,—
what ist ? The worker is said by some to be zeuter.
If this last is true, how are the eggs produced?
Others say the worker is a female with generative
organs ot fully developed! A pretty nice point
—to credit them with the power to produce eggs,
without imparting vitality sufficient to germinate.

We will leave this knotty question, as it is of no
consequence in the practical management of bees
for profit. Suffice it then to say, the queen is the
YIONEY BEES. 23

 

mother of the entire family, and without a queen
no swarm of bees can long exjst.

The time taken to perfect the three different kinds
of bees—queen, worker and drone—varies slightly.
The queen will mature in about sixteen days from
the time the egg is deposited in the cell. The
drone and worker each in about twenty days. This
time is subject to some variation, governed by the
weather, and number of bees in the hive, which
causes the temperature of the hive to be greater or
less. A high temperature will forward, while a,
low temperature will retard, the maturing of the
brood.

Swarms with healthy prolific queens increase
rapidly through the spring and summer. The
queen at this season will deposit from one thousand
to fifteen hundred eggs per day. Some writers
estimate higher. To secure so large a number of
eggs, and consequent increase of bees, we must
have healthy prolific queens to start with, and offer
every available facility to encourage the desired in-
crease. How to do this successfully, is shown fur-
ther on.

If we wish to secure a good harvest of honey, we
must have the bees to collect it, and we must have
them at the proper time, viz.: when the harvest
isready. To do this, we must encourage breeding
to the utmost in early spring.

Early in the spring the queen enlarges the circle
containing the brood; perhaps, if the stock was
very strong, and everything favorable, she laid a
few eggs in one or two combs near the centre of the
24 HONEY BEES.

 

cluster of bees in January. Perhaps the cells occu-
pied at that time were léss than a dozen, all com-
pact together ina circle, occupying less space than
the size of a half dollar. As she progresses, this
circle is enlarged, and the cells on the opposite side
of this comb are used; then the next comb, and so
on, at the same time enlarging the circle, keeping
the brood compactly together, so that the bees, by
clustering around it, can keep up the required
warmth to forward the brood to maturity. As the
young bees hatch, the queen proceeds with her
duties of laying eggs until every brood cell is occu-
pied, and as fast as a bee matures and leaves its cell,
she is on hand with an egg to occupy the vacant
place. This is kept up without cessation till
swarming time, when the hive becomes crowded
with bees, then, as preparation for swarming, the
queen deposits eggs, from which the bees, by a
special course of treatment, rears queens. When
they are sealed over, as shown in the plate, the old
queen leaves the hive with the jst swarm to seek
anew home. In about ten days the young queens
hatch and lead out after-swarms—second, third, etc.
When swarming is over, the strongest queen
destroys the others, and reigns over the old swarm
till another swarming season. This is the process
in natural swarming ; on my plan we improve upon
the process, as will be shown in the proper place.
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CONTROLLABLE HIVE.—Fia, 2.
Figure 1 gives a perspective view of the Controllable Hive as it ap-
pears ready for use. Figure 2, gives a perspective view of the Coutrol-
lable Hive with the upper part of the case removed, and side door let
down; showing the position of the Glass Honey Boxes J at sides and
top, with Feeder T in rear at top, over Brood Section.

I have excercised great care, and incurred considerable expense, in
giving drawings with measurements and directions for constructing
Controllable Hives, glass boxes, etc., that such of my readers as wish
may be able to construct the hives and manage bees according to the new
system as taught in this work. I have no time or desire to establish‘'a
business in the manufacture of hives, but if any of my readers wanta
full sized Controllable Hive, ready for a swarm of bees,I will furnish
them. The hive is not patented so any one can manufacture and use as
many as they wish. They can make them at their home, especially in
the winter season, much cheaper than I furnish them.

I will furnish one Controllable Hive with two sample glass honey
boxes (the large and small sizes,) for Eight dollars; or the hive with a
full set of glass honey boxes, for Twelve dollars.
GHAR PER Ds

THE CONTROLLABLE HIVE AND NEW
SYSTEM OF BEE MANAGEMENT.

T isnow nearly ten years since I perfected the
Controllable Bee Hive, and New System of

3 Bee Management. I commenced bee keeping
with the common box hive, with no knowledge
whatever of the habits of bees. I was not long in
learning that I could not make bee keeping a suc-
cess with the box hive, and I also found that the
thousand and one patent hives were no better than,
and the great majority of such hives zzferzor to,
the simple box hive. I found there was no practi-
cal method of controlling,the swarming propensi-
ties of bees. All such hives would swarm or not,
as seemed to suit the caprice of the bees, which I
found very perplexing. Stocks under the old plan
of management, sometimes show every indication of
swarming, such as clustering out, etc., yet they
adhere pertinaciously to the old stock through the
entire summer, a peck or more of them clustering
idly on the outside of the hive, through the season ;
and if one put on boxes, it is all the same, they will
do nothing. And such swarms often starve early
THE CONTROLLABLE BEE HIVE. 29

 

the next winter, after passing the summer in idle-
ness. Other stocks with apparently not so many
bees will swarm several times; often swarming so
much as to reduce the number of bees so low that
the bee moth will effect its destruction during the
summer ; there not being bees enough to protect the
combs from the attacks of this destructive little in-
sect. This swarming problem I found very diffi-
cult to solve. There were so many conflicting
theories, I found I could gain no positive, reliable
information from any source, to aid me, and that I
must solve the problem by practical experiment.
Experience is a good teacher, but often a very
costly one. Some told me if I wished to pre-
vent swarming, I must cut out the queen cells,
which the bees constructed preparatory to swarm-
ing. This was simply impossible with the box
hive, so I constructed a hive with movaédle frames,
so the bees could build their combs in the frames,
and each comb of the hive could be lifted out separ-
ately. But when I attempted to prevent swarming
by cutting out the queen cells, I found if I was to
thwart nature in that way, I had, to say the least, a
big job on my hands. I could cut out the queen cells,
but within twenty-four hours after I had done this,
the bees would have others constructed, and be
ready to swarm, and as I kept cutting, they would
keep building. They had the advantage of num-
bers and position, and when I opened the hive
every day and destroyed such, to them, important
work, they were not long in declaring and pro-
claiming me to be an enemy to them, and they
30 THE CONTROLLABLE BEE HIVE

 

would attack me whenever occasion offered. I
soon found that if not zmposszble, it was certainly
impracticable to prevent bees swarming by cutting
out the queen cells. It was a surprise to me that
this plan should be recommended by bee keepers
claiming to be well skilled in bee management.
After proving this plan of no value, I was told if
I would contract the entrances to my hives so the
queen could not pass, I could thereby successfully pre-
ventswarming, asthe swarm would not leave without
the queen. This looked to me like a very nice
operation, to say the least, in fact, more nice than
wise. However, I determined to test the plan.
I accordingly contracted the entrances to my hives,
and lo! the drones being larger than the queen,
they could not pass! So, they clustered about the
entrance, and in their efforts to get out, completely
blocked up the passage, so the workers could not
pass. Yet this plan of contracting the entrance
was claimed to be protected by letters patent of
the U.S. found this plan for preventing swarm-
ing of no value whatever. Very many other plans
were tendered me and tested with like results. I
was all this time pushing my experiments, and
learning something from experience every day.
I was determined to arrange and construct a hive
which would render bee keeping successful and
profitable, and I can say at the present time, my
labors have been rewarded with success.

I ought to go on and write out a description of
all the old methods of bee keeping, and all the
patent bee hive humbugs, with the thousand and
AND NEW SYSTEM OF BEE MANAGEMENT. 381

 

one zom-patent hives and fixtures, gotten up ex-
pressly to swindle bee keepers out of their hard
earnings, by a class of rascals, many of whom never
owned a swarm of bees, and who care not one cent
whether bee keeping is a success or otherwise, if
they can pocket a round sum by their fraud. Were
Ito write out minutely these points, this work
would become too voluminous and extended; _be-
sides it would be of no practical value to the bee
keeper who wishes to keep bees for profit. I will
not, therefore, give such minute descriptions of all
the old systems, hives, etc., but will confine myself
more closely to such practical intormation as will
be of value to the bee keeper.

SwarMING CONTROLLED.

How to control swarming is truly an important
question. I believe the successful controlling of
swarming is the key to success and profit in bee
keeping. Now how shall we doit? I will tell you.
But first a few preliminary words. If swarms are
desired, we arrange in early spring to have them
issue in the swarming season, and at such a time as
will best suit our convenience. When no swarms
are wanted, we turn the whole force of bees to
. storing surplus honey in small glass boxes, through-
out the entire season, and have no swarms, yet have
the same increase of bees that would be gained if
they swarmed. Then all the bees work at storing
honey in boxes, instead of swarming out; and to
any one who has not tested the matter, it is surpris-

ing to see the amount of honey which a swarm of
32 THE CONTROLLABLE BEE HIVE

 

bees will store when not allowed to swarm, and fed
judiciously ; ample box room being provided, of
easy access, so that all the bees have room to work ;
and by this plan, we are net constantly watching
and waiting for swarms with uncertainty through-
out the entire summer, for we know with certainty,
when and where to look for swarms. In my plan,
the swarming properties of bees are effectively con-
trolled, without frequently disturbing or overhaul-
ing them, but by observing rules strictly in accord-
ance with the habits and instincts of bees.*

If you wish your bees in Controllable Hives to
swarm, keep the partition in place at the sides of
the brood section, and the honey board over the top ;
or in other words, keep the bees confined in their
labors to the central or brood section of the hive.
Now, if you wish them to swarm in any particular
week of the swarming season, ten days before, re-
move the old queen. [It is well to keep her, and
to do so, take with her about a pint of bees, and

 

*Here let me be clearly understood. I admit that bees will sometimes
awarm, with abundant room for work in their boxes. Yet I claim that
on my plan, all increase by swarming may be prevented without great
trouble or ‘perplexity, such as has heretofore attended all attempts to
bring about this greatly t> be desired object. If a person commences
bee keeping, with a certain number of swarms in Controllable Hives,
and in early spring gives the bees access to the side boxes, and later,
after they commence work in them, gives the bees access to the top
boxes, giving them otherwise ordinary care, (except to feed if desired,)
but a small proportion will swarm on the everage, yearly. Much the
larger portion will work in the boxes without swarming out, and give a
handsome yield of surplus box honey, the yield of course being governed
by the amount of feed given them, and the yield from flowers, etc. But
ifinerease of stocks is preferred, rather than surplus honey—if the
bees are not given access to the boxes, but confined in their labora to the
brood section of the hive, being fed as directed, nearly every one will
swarm, and swarm early.
AND NEW SYSTEM OF BEE MANAGEMENT. 33

 

put them ina small miniature hive, six or eight
inches square, with movable frames, like those in
the central part of the Controllabe Hive. Keep
them shut in twenty-four hours; then give them
their liberty, and they will work the same as a large
swarm through the summer; but will not winter.
If such queens are known to be very old, it is best
to destroy them when we take them from the swarm.
Keep only young, vigorous gueens!| The bees in
the hive from which you have taken the queen, will
in nearly every instance, construct queen cells im-
mediately to replace the loss of their queen. At
the earliest possible moment, they seem to sense
fully their loss, and to know that if they do not get
another queen at once, their loss is irreparable.
They usually will construct a number of cells, per-
haps ahalf dozen or more. These will hatch in
about ten days, and then swarms will issue.*

If you wish to devote but little time to your bees,
and are not particular as to the time of swarming,
and wish to have but very few swarms, or perhaps
none at all, early in the spring, as soon as the bees
commence their work, put on the boxes (sides and
top,) and give the bees access to them; side boxes
first, top boxes later. By this course, but a very
small proportion of your stocks will swarm, (if this
plan is to be practiced each year, it will be neces-
sary to replace the old queens with young ones,

 

*Should any stock fail to swarm within two weeks from the time the
queen is removed, at the end of that time, examine such stock, and if
they have no queen, they must be furnished with one. About one stock
in twenty, deprived of its queen as directed, will fail to rear queens.
34 THE CONTROLLABLE BEE HIVE

 

every three or four years; if this is not done, queens
will die, or become barren from old age, and con-
sequently loss of stocks follows; keep this point in
your mind; young, healthy, prolific queens are
essential to success,) as they will have ample room
in the boxes for their labor. Occasionally a hive
treated in this way will swarm, and if you wish to
have no increase of stocks whatever, if a swarm
comes out, hive it in a light box, and as soon as
this is done, go to the hive which they came from
and smoke lightly ; if the bees are cross, lift out the
comb frames from the brood section with the bees
adhering ; examine each and every comb carefully
for queen cells, and cut off all but ove. Success
here depends on care and thoroughness, for if you
leave more than one cell, your bees may swarm out
again in a day or two.

After this is done, spread a sheet on the ground ;
set a light box, like the one in which you have the
bees, near one side; raise the edge towards where
you will shake the bees one inch or a little more, to
give the bees a chance to enter the box. Shake the
' bees from the hive, by a quick, jerking motion,
upon the sheet, the most of them some two or three
feet from the box. With a large spoon or ladle,
put a few up near the box, so they will enter, and
disturb the others gently with a quill or light brush.
When they commence to enter the box, they will
set up a loud and continual humming, or call, and
the bees on the sheet, if lightly disturbed with the
quill or brush, will spread out, and march toward
the hive, while those on the wing will alight, and
AND NEW SYSTEM OF BEE MANAGEMENT. 35

 

join them in the march. Now look closely for the
queen, and capture her. If she is not found before
the bees get into the box, shake them out again,
and go through the same process, till you find her.
As soon as you have secured the queen, the bees, in
a few minutes, finding themselves destitute of a
queen, and not having the means of raising another
to take her place, will rise on the wing, and return
to the old stock from which they came, and will
not come out again, but will work in the boxes
throughout the season. I will treat of this subject
of swarming no further in this chapter. The merits
of the Controllable Hive and New System of Bee
Management, will be fully shown further on in this
work, and the most explicit instructions given for
rearing bees with profit.
bHAPTER Ili,

PATENT AND NON-PATENT HIVES, BEE
JOURNALS, ETC.

   

k HAVE learned from bitter experience, as has
yea nearly every one, who has kept bees for any
rept length of time, the dishonesty, and utter dis-
regard for truth, of a class of speculators who prey
upon the unsuspecting bee-keeper. Patent hives—
the great majority of them—are a curse and a hin-
drance to successful and profitable bee keeping. I
have no time to describe the multitude of worthless
patent hives, and the many tricks and swindles of
the venders of the same, but I advise every bee
keeper to consult his own interests, and have noth-
ing to do with them. Ninety-nine out of every
hundred are a swindle. I have tested their merits
and know whereof I affirm.

I am sorry to find that many of the bee journals
and bee-keepers’ associations, are conducted on
prejudiced and selfish motives, and in the interest
of some individual, or company of men, for the sole
purpose of making money from the sale of some
particular hive or fixture, without regard to merit,
or value to the practical bee-keeper. All honest
PATENT AND NON-PATENT HIVES, ETC. 37

 

discussion, with a view to bring out facts and fig-
ures to guide the inexperienced bee-keeper in his
labors, is suppressed. The bee journals should be
the disseminators of useful knowledge among bee
keepers. Iam sorry to find the reverse true with
many of them. After a thorough investigation, I
feel it my duty to advise bee keepers, and those con-
templating bee keeping, not to take all for granted
that you read in the bee journals, for if you do, you
will be very likely to soon find yourself robbed of
your money, and your bees ruined.

Very many who write for the bee journals with
high sounding words, claiming to be adepts in bee
culture, have really no practical knowledge of
the nature and habits of bees. We have supported
a host of speculators in our business, for a long time ;
the object of this class has ever been, how best to

secure our hard earnings, and with no desire or
effort to aid in rendering bee keeping more profit-

able and desirable. The country is full of this
class, and they always combine to crush out real
merit in anything pertaining to bee culture, brought
before the public by individual bee keepers, who are
laboring to advance the cause by giving their expe-
riences, gained from hard every-day labor among
bees.

For many years I have written articles on bee
culture, for the leading agricultural journals and
newspapers. I have thus given much of my ex-
perience in detail, with no thought of further re-
ward than the satisfaction of having contributed to
aid bee keepers in raising bees with greater profit,
38 PATENT AND NON-PATENT HIVES, ETC.

 

believing if all would so contribute of their practical
experience with bees, great mutual benefit might
be gained, and rapid progress made in successful
and profitable bee culture. In consequence of my
course in spreading information with a view to aid
the cause, the class referred to in this chapter, and
their tools, are boiling over with wrath towards me,
lying, and slandering me through the public press,
and by every other means which their depraved na-
tures can invent; all because I have succeeded by
hard study in perfecting a hive and a new system of
bee management, which is fast coming into general
use among bee keepers; consequently the sale of
their worthless trash is decreasing rapidly: But I
am anxious to get through with this part of my
work, and reach the practical part, where I have
the greatest confidence in my ability to give such
information as will render bee keeping profitable
and desirable.
DHAPTER. IM,

FEEDING.

@eEEDING bees, when judiciously managed, is
> : the stepping stone to large profits from them.

; @ Bee keepers who have heretofore attempted to
feed bees have met with poor success.

A bee keeper of my acquaintance paid fifty dol-
lars for a patent apparatus for feeding bees together
in the open air. The result was, soon after being
fed they commenced fighting among themselves.
The weaker stocks first fell prey to the stronger,
then the stronger in turn were attacked, and the
final result was, nearly every stock was ruined, and
the plan abandoned in disgust after the first season’s
trial.

Now it is plain to every intelligent person, that
in order to receive the greatest possible profit from
bees, they must befed. There can be no question
as to the great benefit to be derived from feeding
bees. The only question is, how, when and what
to feed. It is as much a necessity to feed bees, as
to feed our domestic animals, cows, sheep, etc., or
to apply manure to plants, or any crop the farmer

cultivates, to stimulate growth and increase the

 
40 FEEDING.

 

product and consequent profit of the same. We
should look upon that farmer as either a fool or a
lunatic, who should furnish his domestic animals
no food, except what they obtained by grazing in
the pastures and fields, the year round. And do
you think his cows treated thus, would yield him
alarge product of butter, cheese and milk, and
consequently a good profit in dollars and cents?
Do you think he would find his cows, managed
thus, so profitable as to induce him to keep cows to
any great extent? Let a farmer manage thus—take
his cows to the barn, milk them, then turn them
out the year round to graze and provide for them-
selves, taking them up only to milk them, furnish-
ing them with no food except what they procure by
grazing—how long, think you, would such a farmer
have cows to milk. Yet this isa parallel case with
the bee keeper who furnishes his bees with no feed
except what they can procure by their own industry.
And is it surprising that bees treated thus pay no
profit ?

Again, the farmer who should year after year
plant his corn, potatoes, etc., apply no manure,
furnish no cultivation, yet expect to succeed in
farming, harvest large crops, and get a good yearly
profit in dollars and cents, and grumble because he
did not, and at last abandon the business, asserting
that there was no profit in farming, furnishes an-
other parallel case to the bee keeper who lets his
bees shift for themselves, and then grumbles because
they pay no profit, and at last abandons the business,
usserting that there is no money in bee keeping,

/
FEEDING. 4}

 

It being self-evident that it is profitable to feed
bees, it now remains to show how to do it with the
greatest possible profit.

RECEIPT FoR FEED.

To eight pounds of coffee crushed sugar, add two
quarts of soft water, and whites of two eggs; bring
to the boiling point over a slow fire, being very care-
ful not to burn it. Skim off carefully all scum or
sediment that rises, so that the feed, when cool, will

be perfectly clear and about the consistency of new
honey.
“HL CECT

WT
UT

 
FEEDING. 43

 

To construct the feeder, get a tin-worker to make
you a tin dish, with perpendicular sides, nine inches
by eight inches square inside, two and one-half in-
ches deep, wethout a bottom. Around the lower
edge turn the tin out about one-half inch all round,
for the dish to rest on when placed on the hive for
feeding the bees. Around the top of this dish put
a stout wire to keep it in shape. Get another tin
dish made seven by eight inches square inside, two
inches deep wzth a bottom. - Place the smaller dish
inside the larger one, the bottom of the inner dish
even and level with the lower edge of the outer dish,
which brings the top of the inner dish one-half inch
lower than the upper edge of the outer dish; then
when the outer dish is covered, (as it will be in
feeding,) there will be a half-inch space between
the cover over the outer dish, and the top of the
inner dish. Place one of the longer sides of the in-
ner dish against the inside of the outer dish, in such
a position that there will be a half-inch space all
round between the outer and inner dish, except at
the side where you fasten them together; across
this one side join them firmly together with solder ;
at the bottom near the opposite end solder brass or
tin about one inch wide, across the half-inch space
from the bottom of the inner dish to the edge of the
outer dish, to hold the dishes firmly in place. Near
the upper edge of the outer dish solder on some
strips of lead about one inch long, by one-half inch
wide, to turn down over the cover when put on, to
hold it in place. Now get out two pieces of board
seven and three-fourths inches long, two inches
44 FEEDING.

 

wide, one-fourth inch thick. Witha thick saw cut
channels crosswise of the pieces, three-eighths of an
inch apart and one-eighth inch deep, being careful to
run your saw square across the piece every time.
Next get out pieces to correspond with the number
of channels, six and three-fourth inches long, two
inches wide, one-eighth inch thick, (sawed out so
the sides will be rough, to enable the bees the bet-
ter to hold fast to them, when taking feed.) These
pieces are to stand edgewise in the inner dish.
With a sharp knife bring the ends of the pieces toa
thin edge, so they will easily slip into the channels
in the end pieces. Put the pieces with the chan-
nels, one across each end of the inner dish, the
channels of each facing the inside of the dish, then
slip the ends of your pieces that are one-eighth
thick down through the channels to the bottom of
the inner dish. Before you put them down into
the dish, cut out a small notch, in what will be the
lower edge of each piece after it is put down into
the dish, so the food when poured in will flow to
all parts of the feeder. The pieces or slats when
all put edgewise in the dish will reach to the bottom
and be on a level with the edges of the inner dish.

Now for the cover: Get out a piece of board a
half-inch thick, nine and one-fourth inches long, and
four inches wide. In the centre of this piece, with
a sharp bit, make a one-inch hole; cover the hole
with a fine wire cloth, bent a little convex. Put this
piece of board over the outer dish, with wire
cloth next to the inside of the dish, (put it across
that end where the dishes are soldered together,)
FEEDING. 45

 

hold it in place by turning up over it the pieces of
lead soldered on near the upper edge of the outer
dish. Cover the part of the dish not covered by
the board, with glass, held in place in the same
manner by the leads.

Your feeder is now finished. Set it over the
brood section on the top at the rear, the wood cover
next to the back of the hive, the glass toward the
front. Cover that portion of the brood section of
the hive not covered with the feeder, with a honey
board, so no bees can get up into the cap of the
hive.

Now to feed, pour the feed in at the inch hole, in
the cover. The bees pass from the hive up between
the sides of the outer and inner dishes, in the half-
inch space, over the sides of the inner dish, in the
half-inch space between the cover of the outer dish
and the edges of the slats that are placed edgewise in
the inner dish, and pass down éetween the slats,after
feed intheinnerdish. The hole in the cover should
be kept closed with a cork, to confine the heat to
the hive, exclude insects, etc. To feed without
raising the cap of the hive, fit a tin tube in the
top of the Feeder long enough to come up to the
under side of top board of cap, through which
make an inch hole to correspond with upper end of
tube; pour the feed in by using a tunnel. Close
the hole in cap with a cork, fitting closely, to keep
out the wet.

When first commencing to feed stock, scatter
some of the feed over the tops of the frames in the
brood section; also on the sides of the dishes on
46 FEEDING.

 

each side of the half-inch space leading to the feed,
and on top of the slats of the feeder, so the bees
may find the way to the feed. After they once
learn the road, they will need no coaxing to induce
them to take the feed given them . The first warm
days in early spring, as soon as the bees can fly a
few hours in the middle of the day, mix corn meal
with rye meal, equal parts, and set out in pans or
other shoal dishes, near the hives. The bees will
earry this to their hives in considerable quantities.
It is used as a substitute for pollen or bee bread,
and is very essential in forwarding the increase of
bees in early spring. The meal should be fed very
early in spring, for as soon as the bees can collect
pollen from the natural sources—trees, shrubs,
flowers, etc., they will not take this meal. If rye
meal cannot be obtained, use unbolted wheat flour.

FEEDING FoR EarRLy SWARMS.

If you wish early swarms, keep the bees confined
in their labors to the brood section of the hive, or in
other words, do not give them access to the boxes,
and commence as early in the spring as the bees
begin to fly in the middle of the day, and feed each
stock at evening about one-half pound of the liquid
feed. Continue this till your swarms issue, then
discontinue feeding.

FEEDING FOR SURPLUS Honey.

If you wish surplus honey instead of swarms, put
on your side boxes as early in the spring as the bees
commence brisk work on flowers,—as a general
FEEDING. 4%

 

tule say a few days before fruit blossoms appear.
Feed as directed for swarms until about ten days be-
fore white clover blossoms, then put on the top
boxes, leaving room only for feeder. Then for ten
or twelve days feed them all they will take. Feed
at evening. They will at first, perhaps, take from
five to ten pounds every night. Crowd them hard.
for the object is now to get every part of the brood
section (not occupied by eggs and brood) filled
with honey; and if possible, crowd the bees into
the boxes te commence the work of comb building,
so that during the yield of honey from flowers, you
can get every ounce collected, stored in the boxes.

By early and judicious feeding, we have en-
couraged breeding so that now our hives are filled,
almost to overflowing, with bees, ready to gather
the harvest from the flowers as soon as they begin
to yield honey.

Discontinue feeding, while the yield of honey
continues in tull supply from the flowers. At the
close of the yield, if you have boxes half filled or
more, feed all they will take up for a few days, or
until your boxes are finished.

FEEDING FOR WINTER.

The last of September or first of October feed
such stocks as are short of ‘stores, to winter them.
Each stock should have twenty pounds of honey in
the brood section to winter safely. If they have
less than that, feed until they have that quantity, or
take a frame of honey from a stock that has some to
spare, and exchange with the one that is short, and
48 FEEDING.

 

so proceed until all have sufficient stores to winter
safely.

In no case take out frames at the close of the
season, and leave that space without a frame, or
with an empty frame. At the commencement of
winter every hive must (to winter safely) have its
full number of frames f/Zed with comb, no matter
if they are not filled with omey (if the hive has the
required number of pounds,) but each frame must
be filled, or nearly filled with comb, or there is
great danger of loss from sudden changes of tem-
perature through the winter.

In feeding for box honey, it often requires more
than one pound of feed to secure a pound in boxes,
for the bees consume some while storing it, and
they often find some place in the hive which, like
the crowded omnibus or street car, is not so full
but that additions may be made.

The reader will bear in mind this simple fact:
Bees do not make honey, they simply cod/ect it.
Honey undergoes no chemical change in the stomach
of the bee.

Several years since, my bees had access to several
molasses hogsheads, and the result was, I found
pure molasses stored in my hives, in the same comb
with nice white honey. I am satisfied that the
bee does not make honey but collects it. My feed
is prepared and recommended in view of this fact,
and in perfect accord with all points bearing upon
this subject.

The feed is of the same color as the nicest, white
clover honey, and when put in boxes by the bees —
FEEDING. 49

 

with the honey collected from flowers (I have no
doubt in many instances in alternate layers in the
same cell with honey from flowers,) it cannot be
distinguished, either in color or taste, from honey
collected wholly from flowers.

 
LHAPTER WV,
BOXES FOR SURPLUS HONEY.

N the last chapter, directions were given when
* to put on boxes, but it is important to know
t ny more about this matter, the kind of boxes to
use, how made, etc. I shall recommenda glass
box; that is, glass sides with wood corner-posts,
top and bottom, such as I use with the Controllable
Hive ; of two sizes, one holding about four pounds
of honey, the other about two pounds. Thirty-one
four-pound boxes, or sixty-six two-pound boxes,
fit each Controllable Hive; or a part of each size
may be used on the same hive at the same time.
The larger boxes are just wide enough for two
combs running the longest way of the box. The
smaller boxes are just large enough for oze comb
running the longest way of the box. These boxes
fit the sides and top of the Controllable Hive.* The
bees enter the top boxes through the holes in the
bottom of the box.
For the side boxes, omit the holes in bottom, and
leave out the glass from one end, and in place of
the glass put in a piece of wood two inches wide,

 

*For a complete description of these boxes, Irefer to the drawings and
illustrations of the Controllable Hive and all fixtures.
BOXES FOR SURPLUS HONEY. 51

 

three-eighths inch thick; place this piece in the
center at the end, leaving an open space next to
each corner post at that end for the passage of the
bees from the hive to the boxes.

Before putting in the glass, if you have any pieces
of white, clean comb, it will be a great advantage
to stick two small pieces ot this comb in each box,
where you wish the comb built. Place the pieces
in the top of the box two inches apart. Melt the
edge of the comb and apply in place where you
want it, while hot; hold it in place till it cools, and
it will remain.

The bees will commence work much sooner in
boxes with the comb than they would without,
even if the pieces of comb are not more than an inch
square.

Honey in these boxes is very attractive,
and is sought for in the market by custom-
ers who have purchased in this form. Honey put
up in these nice glass boxes shows its superior
quality at a glance, and customers prefer to purchase
in such boxes, with no tare deducted for weight of
box, to purchasing in the ordinary wood box with
the weight of the box deducted.

In taking these boxes from the hive,* when filled

 

*When the box frames or partitions are taken out in the honey season,
the bees will often, if the stock is strong, spread out over the bottom, so
that in putting the frame in, a large number will get crushed. To pre-
vent this, get out two pieces of wood, each about one and one-half inches
wide, and one-fourth inch thick, one eighteen inches long, the other
twenty-two inches long; one edge of the long piece bevel to a thin edge,
about the shape of a carpenter’s chisel. Nail the long piece in the center
to the end of the short piece at right angles with it, with the beveled
edge down, so the beveled edge will be level with the end of the short
52 BOXES FOR SURPLUS HONEY.

 

with honey, in warm weather, I recommend the
following method: Take the boxes off early in the
morning, and carry them to some outbuilding, and
put them in a clean, tight box or barrel ; place the
boxes in such a manner that the openings in the
boxes will be free for the passage of the bees from
them. Spread over the box or barrel, a thin piece
of cloth. The bees will leave the boxes, and col-
lect on the under side of the cloth, which must be
turned every few minutes, until all are out, except
a few drones and very young bees; these can be
taken out with a pencil. To facilitate the removal
of the bees from the boxes, if any are obstinate about
leaving, remove the glass in the sides of the boxes,
if the cover ts not fastened to it. The greater
part of the bees from these boxes will return to their
hives; excepting a very_few young ones which had
never before been away from the hive; these will
be lost.

 

piece; also bevel the lower end of the short piece. When the bees are
spread over the bottom of the box section, with this instrument} push
them gently back to the brood section. To do this, thrust the instrument
down into the box section with the beveled edge down; taking hold of
the end of the short piece or handle, work the bees gently back to the
brood section, and when close up to the combs of the hive, let it remain
to keep the bees from spreading over the bottom till you get the box
frame down in its place, then remove it, and push the box frame up
close to the brood section, so the ends of the boxes will be as near the
brood combs, as the partition was when the combs were built. If this
is not done, and a large space is left, the bees will either lengthen the
cells in the outer comb of the brood section, or build anew comb, be-
tween the ends of the boxes and the outer comb of the brood section.
In either case we would find it very troublesome when we remove the
boxes, and wish to put in the partition for wintering. Be sure to put the

large box frame up close to the combs of the brood section, that is, leave
barely space enough for the bees to pass between the ends of the boxes
and the outer comb of the rood section.
BOXES FOR SURPLUS HONEY. 53

 

When boxes are to be taken off, use tobacco
smoke freely, to quiet the anger of the bees. Pull
smoke in at the entrance of the hive, before you
touch it, then start the op boxes from their fasten-
ing, giving the bees a puff or two of smoke at every
crevice about the boxes at the top and sides.

Care or Honey in Boxes In Warm WEATHER.

Considerable care is necessary for the preserva-
tion of honey in boxes removed from the hives in
warm weather. As soon as the bees are all out
of the boxes, seal up all openings to the boxes, and
set them away (in the same position they occupied
in the hive, so the honey will not leak from the
cells) in a dry, dark, cool room. We must now
guard against the moth.

As in warm weather the instincts of the fly is di-
rected to the dead carcass, so is the moth directed to
honey-comb left without bees in the summer sea-
son, and by a similar process is each destroyed.
When the bees have been off about ten days.
or perhaps a little less if the weather is very warm,
examine closely for the first appearance of the moth
worms on the surface of the combs in the boxes.
Their presence may be known by small thread-like
webs or cocoons on the surface of the comb, grow-
ing larger as the moth worm enlarges in growth.
Ifno remedy is applied, these worms will com-
pletely destroy the beauty of the honey in the boxes
in a very few days. Watch the boxes closely, and
on the frst appearance of the least sign of worms
in the boxes fumigate with burning sulphur, thus:
54 BOXES FOR SURPLUS HONEY.

 

Open the passages in the boxes ; have ready a tight,
clean box; saturate some very dry pine shavings
with melted sulphur. After placing your boxes of
honey in the box, set a saucer or plate in the box
at the bottom, away from the honey boxes, so they
will not take fire. Do not use too many shavings ;
if you do, it will injure the honey comb in the boxes,
by giving it a green color, and imparting to ita
disagreeable taste; a half-dozen shavings each four
inches long isenough. Place them in the dish and
ignite them, and cover closely, so no fumes can es-
cape; let them remain for a few mznutes,—not
more than five, less is often sufficient; it depends
something on the amount of sulphur adhering to
the shavings, as well as the size of box, number of
boxes to be fumigated, etc. With a little practice
you will manage correctly and successfully. As
soon as the boxes are fumigated, seal up every
opening carefully, and set away as before directed,
ina dry, dark, cool room, Watch the boxes for
a few days, to be sure the worms are all killed. If
you find they are not, give them another dose of the
sulphur. After the worms are all killed, and every
opening to the box sealed up, wrap each box sep-
arately in paper, and they will be safe through the
summer.

How the eggs of the moth get into the boxes, has
always puzzled bee keepers. It is hardly possible
for the moth miller to pass through a hive crowded
with bees, to deposit her eggs in the crowded boxes.
How they get there must be guess work—that they
are there is well known to many bee keepers. I
feel very confident that the eggs are deposited there
after the boxes are taken from the hive, and while
we are getting the bees out of the boxes.
CHAPTER VI,
SWARMING AND HIVING.

a NDER the old systems of bee keeping swarm-
‘aw 4 ing was very imperfectly understood. And

age even at the present time it is amusing to see
how many old bee keepers manage their bees.
There is a class of old fogies, who denounce all im-
provements and progress in bee keeping, and who,
year after year, move in the same tracks in the man-
agement of their bees, asserting that they know all
-about bees that is worth knowing. It is, to say the
least, amusing, to see how this class of bee keepers
manage when their bees swarm.

In the middle of some very warm day in June or
July, the alarm ‘‘dees swarming,’ is sounded.
Immediately the whole household is turned out,
some beating tin pans, some sounding horns, some
shaking cow bells—anything and everything with
which to make a terrible din is caught up in the
excitement, and every member of the household
works with the sole aim of making as much noise as
possible. This is done to make the bees cluster!
Lf this is not done, they will leave for the woods!
I should think the poor bees would leave anyway,
to get rid of the noise and foolish whims of their
36 SWARMING AND HIVING.

 

owner. But no, they dislike to leave the place of
their nativity, so in ten minutes or less from the
time they leave the hive, they settle in a cluster on
some object, generally within a half-dozen rods of
the hive. And they would have done so in this
case if no noise had been made. The noise did not
affect them in the least.

Now the bees are to be hived, and we will see
how it is done in the old way.

The bees in this case have clustered on a limb of
avaluable pear tree. ‘‘Very sorry they have
pitched there,’’ says the man of perfect knowledge
in bee keeping; ‘‘I dislike to injure that tree, but
there is no help for it.”

But first a hive must be prepared. It is not
quite ready. (Thisis bad management.) It must
be washed out thoroughly on the inside with salt
and water, and rubbed over with some sweet
scented herbs. A bottom board must be got ready,
etc., etc. At lastthe hiveis ready. Now this wise
bee keeper places a table near where the swarm
clustered, sets his hive on the table, raises one
edge four or six inches, takes his saw—Oh, it
is a pity to cut that nice limb full of fruit from the
pear tree, but it must be done, thinks this man of
perfection in bee management.

He grasps the limb firmly near the cluster of bees.
They are very cross and uxeasy. They have been
clustered an hour or more, while he has been get-
ting his hive ready. He saws off the limb on which
the bees are hanging, and places it carefully, with
the bees adhering, on the table, by the side of the
SWARMING AND HIVING. o@

 

hive, covers all very nicely with a clean sheet, and
leaves them alone to enter the hive. At about sun-
set he will place the hive with the bees in it on the
stand it is to occupy.

At the time designated (about sunset) he goes out
to his hive on the table. It has been a very hot
afternoon, and the hive was where it received the
full force of the sun’s rays. He carefully raises the
sheet. There is the limb on which the bees clus-
tered—but where are the bees? they are not on the
limb! Why, in the hive, of course. That is
where he expected to find them. He peeps care-
fully under the hive to see how they are getting
along, but astonishment is depicted on his counte-
nance when he discovers that his hive is empty.
His bees have left for other parts beyond his know]-
edge. He tries to think of some reason why the
bees have gone, and seeks to lay the blame upon
the hive. ‘‘Oh!” he says, ‘‘I guess they did not
like the hive, but I guess I shall have better luck
next time.”

To a progressive bee keeper, one who has correct
and practical knowledge of the natural habits of
bees, it is very plain why they left. They were
actually driven away by mismanagement. The
heat of the sun pouring down upon them, was
enough of itself to drive them off. Then placing
the limb, with the cluster adhering to it, on the
table near the hive, showed lack of knowledge of
the natural habits of bees. The hive might as well
have been in the house, as placed where it was.
Then an hour or more taken to get the hive ready,
d8 SWARMING AND HIVING.

 

gave the bees time to send out their scouts, to look
up a location of their own, and when these scouts
returned, they left with them fora new home. I
contend every swarm does this, viz.: They swarm
out of the old parent stock, led by the old queen.
They cluster on some object, as a tree, bush or
vine, near the old home. Then they immediately
send out afew bees or scouts to look up anew
home. These scouts may be gone a longer or
shorter time. When they return, if they find the
bees clustered where they were when they left, they
soon lead them off to the new quarters, but if before
the scouts are sent out, or before they return, the
swarm is hived and placed on the stand it is to
occupy, then the swarm will not leave, for the
scouts know not where to find them, or if they
should find them, the bees would seldom leave a
good clean hive, for a home in the woods. These
scouts may often be seen playing about the place
where a swarm has clustered, for several days after
the swarm has been hived.

Had this bee keeper placed his hive on the table,
as soon as the bees were clustered, and raised the
front edge one inch, instead of four or six inches,
and then, instead of cutting off the limb, if he had
taken a basket or pan, placed it beneath the cluster
of bees, and by a sudden jar of the limb dislodged
them from it into the basket or pan, then empied
them down in front of the hive, and sprinkled light-
ly with a little water, at the same time disturbing
them gently witha quill or Hight brush so they
would not collect around and block up the entrance,
SWARMING AND IIIVING. 59
except a very few that may be flying in the air (and
these will return to the old hive,) in this way get-
ting them all into the hive, and immediately carry-
ing it to the stand it was to occupy, covering it with
a board to shade it from the hot rays of the sun, or
placing it in the shade of a tree—he would have
saved his bees, the damage to his pear tree, and
much perplexity.

By the old methods of managing bees, there was
no means of knowing when to expect swarms ; con-
sequently the bees were sometimes watched all
summer, in expectation of swarms any pleasant
day, as outside indications were favorable for them ;
yet they would often adhere to the old hive through-
out the entire summer.

With the Controllable Hive and New System of
Bee Management, as shown in this work, swarm-
ing is brought completely under the control of the
bee keeper. It is well for him to understand cor-
rectly what are the requisites and preparations for
natural swarming by the bees, when left to them-
selves in a natural state. They are as follows:
The bees must be obtaining honey freely, either
from fidwers, or from feed supplied them. The
combs must be filled with brood in all stages of
growth, from the egg just deposited in the cell, to
the perfect bee just emerging. (And from this,
bee keepers will note what conditions are required
at the time swarms are forced, as recommended in
my plan.) When this condition of affairs is
reached, the bees construct queen cells, (that is if
they decide to swarm; they will do as they like
66 SWARMING AND HIVING.

 

about it, if left entirely to themselves,) from which
is about sixteen days the queen will hatch, unless
the bees should change their intentions, and decide
not to swarm, and destroy allthe queen cells. Re-
member, they are having it all their own way.
When these cells are sealed over and finished is the
time (if everything is favorable) when the first
swarm leaves, led off by the ofd queen. Some of
the most reliable works on bees have taught that
the queen cells mast be half finished before the
gueen will depostt the egg that ts to produce the
gueen; but this I find by close observation, is a
mistake; for if you take the queen away froma
stock, with no queen cells in any stage of forma-
tion in the hive, the bees will rear a queen from a
worker egg, deposited in ans ordinary worker cell.
And who shall say they do not do this when the
queen is present? Iam satisfied they do.

Thus we see in natural swarming, with the bees
left to themselves, the old queen leaves with the
first swarm at about the time the queen cells are
sealed over and finished, which is about eight days
before the young queens hatch.

When the young queens hatch, after-swarms (as
second and third issues, or all after the first,) will :
issue. Second swarms may be expected in about
eight days after the first. This time will somewhat
vary, as the hatching of the queen sometimes de-
pends on the weather, the number of bees left in the
old stock, etc. ; a low temperature retards the hatch-
ing, while a high temperature forwards it.

At evening of about the eighth or tenth day after
SWARMING AND HIVING. 61

 

the first swarm, by putting your ear close to the
hive you will hear, very plainly every few minutes,
several clear and distinct ‘‘peeping” sounds, very
sharp at times, then hoarse and dull. This sound
proceeds from the young queens just hatched. When
it is heard, look out tor a swarm the next day,
though it sometimes happens that one or two days
will intervene before they will issue. But as long
as the sounds continues, be on the lookout for
swarms. This ‘‘peeping” can always be heard be-
fore a second swarm issues, if we take the trouble
to listen. The time between second and _ third
swarms is invariably from one to four days. It is
useless to look for after-swarms from a stock after
zwenty days from the first. They are generally
all out within sixteen days from the issue of the
first swarm. I have given in another place, under
the head of ““Swarming Controlled,” instructions
how to manage swarming under my new system.
Some additional information I will give in this con-
nection.

Just before swarms are expected, if there are no
trees near your hives or if there are large trees from
which it would be diffiult to take a swarm of bees
were they to cluster on the branches, procure several
evergreen trees, such as spruce or fir, three or four
feet high. Leave the limbs on, excepting about
a foot at the bottom. Sharpen the trunks, so they
can be setin the ground and lifted out with ease.
With a bar make large holes, about a foot deep, in
front of your hives, some distant about six feet,
others from twelve to thirty feet. Seta half-dozen
62 SWARMING AND HIVING.

or more of these trees in these holes, putting in by
the side of them a small stone or piece of wood, to
hold firmly in place, and prevent swaying by the
wind. When your swarms issue, they will be very
likely to cluster on some of these trees, when they
can be conveniently gathered in the Controllable
Hive.

In hiving, if the bees have clustered on some one
of the trees set for them, place the Controllable
Hive on the stand it is to occupy, allowing the
stand to project two feet in front of the hive. Draw
back the bottom board under the brood section ten
or fifteen inches, to give the bees a good chance to
enter the hive. Shade the hive well. Now go to the
tree on which your swarm is clustered. Remove
the stone or piece of wood that holds it in place;
lift the tree, carefully avoiding any jar, carry it to
the hive, and hold the cluster down to the stand and
close up to the hive, as near the entrance as_possi-
ble. Then give the tree a sudden jar, sufficient to
dislodge the cluster of bees. They will fall directly
at the entrance of the hive, and immediately com-
mence to enter. Sprinkle lightly with water, and
vently disturb those that stop about the entrance,
with a quill or brush, till all are made to enter the
hive. Then slide the bottom board forward to its
place, and the work is done.

Should the bees cluster on some large tree or
other out of the way place, the manner of hiving
must be varied. Set your hive near by with a wide
board in front to keep the bees out of the grass and
dirt. Arrange the hive as before directed. If the
SWARMING AND HIVING. 63

 

bees are clustered on a small limb, high above your
reach, secure a basket to a pole, and raise it directly
beneath the cluster. Dislodge the bees from their
position, when they will fall directly into the basket,
which you should take down quickly and shake the
bees from it down to the entrance to the hive, and
proceed as before. Keep the limb on which they
were clustered in motion for a few minutes, to pre-
vent their return. Should they cluster on the body
of a tree, or a large limb, where they cannot be
shaken off, set your hive near by, as before directed.
and with a handled dipper dip them off and turn
them down in front of the hive near the entrance.
Dip very carefully, so as not to crush any of the
bees. They will not attempt to sting if you treat
them well, and prove to them that you are their
friend. After you have dipped off a portion of the
bees, and got them moving into the hive, if the
queen is with them, they will all leave the cluster
and join their companions who are entering their
new home. But if the queen remains with the
cluster, as soon as those entering the hive discover
that she is not with them, they will leave the hive
and rejoin the cluster. So it is well to keep dip-
ping as long as you can get any of the bees, or till
you are certain the bees are leaving the cluster and
entering the hive of their own accord.

It sometimes happens in natural swarming, that
when a swarm issues, led by the old queen, which
has occupied the hive for a year or more, that she
finds herself unable to fly, and drops down in front
of the hive. In this case if left to themselves, the
64 SWARMING AND HIVING.

 

bees after flying about for perhaps five or ten min-
utes, will return to the hive whence they came,
and remain until the young queens hatch, issuing
again, about the time a second swarm would have
come out, or perhaps a little earlier.

If you are on hand you can prevent the swarm re-
turning, but you must be lively. If you find the
bees are flying longer than usual without clustering,
and appear scattered and disorganized in their
movements, look in front of the hive from which
they issue, for the queen. You will probably find
her within two or three feet of the hive. Put her
in a tumbler, and cover closely to prevent her es-
cape. As soon as you find the bees have com-
menced to return to the old hive, set it back out
of the way, and throw a sheet or some other cov-
ering over it.* Then set your Controllable Hive in
its place, with the bottom board drawn back as
directed in hiving a new swarm. Set the tumbler
containing the queen over the brood section, so the
confined queen can pass down into the hive, but
leaving no chance for her to escape by any other
way. The bees will then enter the hive readily.
«And as soon as all are in, which will be in
a few minutes, remove the hive to a new stand
and shade as directed before. Set the old stock
back in its place.

The foregoing circumstance often happens when

 

*If other hives are near, on each side, it wil] be well to throw the cov-
ering over them also, to prevent the swarm entering any other than
the designed hive, as they might possibly do, if the hives were only a
few feet distant.
SWARMING AND IIIVING. 65

 

bees are managed on the old swarming plan, and
queens that are unable to fly are usually very old.
On my plan of management, such cases are of rare
occurrence.

Natural swarms usually issue between nine o’clock
in the forenoon and one o’clock in the afternoon.
Occasionally one will issue earlier in the forenoon
or later in the afternoon ; but as a general rule they
make their appearance between the hours specified.

Very early swarms hived in Controllable Hives
should have access to the boxes on one side only:
In about ten days after being hived, and as-soon as
the bees are well at work in these, give them access
to the other side. Swarms that are hived late in
the season will not require boxes, until the next
season, as it is necessary to have the brood section
filled, or nearly filled, before the bees have access to
the boxes.

It is important that we have the combs in the
brood section built straight in the frames, so as to
be easily lifted out separately. To aid in securing
this object, when a swarm is first hived in a Con-
trollable Hive, raise the rear of the hive four inches.
by putting under it a piece of joist, having the hive
perfectly level from side to side. This gives the
frames a pitch forward, and will greatly aid in se-
curing straight combs. Let the hive remain in this
position for a week or ten days, then set it down
level. If you have it to spare, one frame filled with
comb, placed in the brood section near the center,
will insure straight combs in the balance. If no
precaution is taken in this direction, the bees will
66 SWARMING AND HIVING-

 

sometimes build the comb crosswise of the brood
section, notwithstanding the triangular comb guides
in the frames of each Controllable Hive. As
straight combs in the brood section are very im-
portant, we should employ every available means
to aid in securing them.

It is well to keep on hand a few plain boxes, each
with four movable frames, like those in the Con-
trollable Hive. If at any time a swarm comes out
at the very last of the honey season, hive them in
one of these boxes. They will probably enlarge or
quite fill the four frames with comb, and perhaps
store a little honey. Then, in the fall, put these
four frames with the bees and comb, ina Con-
trollable Hive, and add two frames, well filled with
honey, from a stock that can spare it. In this way
you will build up a good stock for winter, whereas
if you had hived them in a full sized Controllable
Hive so late in the season, they would probably
have put a little comb in each of thg six frames, but
not enough to winter, rendering it necessary for you
to feed with the liquid feed in the fall. It is better
to have four frames nearly or quite filled with comb,
than to have six frames with a very little comb in
each. It sometimes happens that a swarm of bees,
which has worked well in boxes through the entire
honey season, will swarm about the time the yield
of honey ceases. If managed on the old plan, such
swarms are worthless, but by hiving them in a box
with four movable frames, as directed, they make
valuable stocks. All such swarms may be returned
to the old stock, as directed in another chapter, yet
SWARMING AND HIVING. 67

 

we sometimes wish to increase the number of our
stocks to the utmost, and it is convenient to know
how to make valuable stock of these late issues.
Then they can either be returned or hived, which-
ever the bee keeper thinks is most for his or her
interest.

 
GHAPTER WII,
ANGER OF BEES.

HE anger of bees, when once thoroughly
aroused, is much to be dreaded, as the results
which follow are often of a very serious

nature. In my own case I can handle bees with

perfect impunity. They rarely make any attempt
to sting, no matter what liberties I take with them.

I always intend to be very careful, and handle them

gently, making them understand that I do not mean

to harm them. In my first efforts in handling bees
they were very apt to sting me, tor the reason
that I did not understand their nature ; consequently
they mistook my intentions, and often forced me to
seek shelter from their attacks. Now I seldom
use any protection when working among them.

Often, in transferring the bees and comb from

the old box hive to the Controllable Hive, I

roll up my sleeves, and with no protection what-

ever for the hands or face, cut out the comb from
the old hive, with the bees adhering to it, and ar-
range and fasten it in the new hive, without the
bees making any attempt to sting me.

I would not recommend anyone to do this, until
they are so well acquainted with, and accustomed
to handling, the bees, as to understand perfectly

 
ANGER OF BEES. 69

their very characteristic, and be quite certain that
they will not make an attack. It is better to pro-
tect the face and hands from their attacks as you
will thus feel greater confidence in yourself, and
can perform all operations without fear of stings.
It is well to understand what will arouse the anger
of bees and cause them to sting. If we breathe
upon them, when they are in and about the hive
or boxes, they deem it an insult, and will dash at
and sting us at once. Any sudden jar of the hive
is instantly resented. All quick, spiteful motions
about the hive, such as running, jumping, etc., are
noticed, and quite sure to be followed by a sting.
The finger pointed at them with a quick, spiteful
motion when they are standing as sentinels about
the entrance of the hive, often provokes stings.
If they come buzzing around, threatening to sting,
perhaps striking your hat almost like a bullet, and
should you return the compliment by striking at
them with your hand, they will be quite sure to
sting you. The better way is, if unprotected, to
hold down your head so as to protect your face, and
move away from the hive as quietly as possible.
When the bees find you are retreating, they will
not follow you far. Always remember that if one
bee stings you, others are very sure to immediately
follow, unless you retreat. I believe that bees have
a language by which they make known to each
other their wants and wishes; and I feel certain
they know those who have the care of them, and
become accustomed to the motions and appearance
of those who are seen by them daily.
70 ANGER OF BEES.

 

The members of my family are seldom stung by
the bees, notwithstanding I sometimes have fifty
hives or more where we pass within twenty feet of
them many times a day, while the bees are flying |
in thousands about each hive. In the middle of the
day, in the honey season, the air for many rods
about the hives is full of bees. I find my bees are
much more likely to attack strangers who come to
see them, than members of the family.

To SuBDUE THE ANGER OF BEES.

I have tested every means recommended for sub-
duing the anger of bees, and have found tobacco
smoke the thing when rightly applied.

Have a tin-worker make you a tin tube, one inch
in diameter, six inches long, and fit stoppers of soft
wood closely in each end, two and three inches
long respectively, with a hole through each, one-
fourth inch in diameter. Fit one end of the longer
stopper to hold in the mouth. Before placing the
shorter piece in the tube, cover the inside end with
wire cloth, bent a little convex, to prevent the ashes
and tobacco filling the quarter-inch orifice. Taper
the outer end of the short piece nearly to the point.
Remove the mouth-piece, and fill the tube nearly
full of tobacco (cigars are best for they burn freely.)
Dip with live embers, replace the mouth-piece and
blow the smoke from the pointed end.

With this instrument smoke may be forced among
the bees in any part-of the hive or boxes. In all
operations likely to arouse the anger of the bees, as
taking off and putting on boxes, lifting out comb
ANGER OF BEES. 71

 

frames, putting on and taking off feeder, removing
the honey board, examining the rearing boxes in
queen raising, etc., smoke the hive well. In short,
use smoke freely when about to perform any opera-
tion upon the bees. Before touching the hive give
the bees two or three smart puffs at each entrance
of the hive ; then commence your operations im-
mediately. Ifthe honey board is over the brood
section, and your operations are to be performed in
that part of the hive, raise the board just enough to
puff in the smoke, but not enough for the bees to
come out. Give them the smoke here freely for
about one minute, before you remove the board.
They will show their submission by a loud hum-
ming throughout the hive. When they set up this
humming noise is the time to proceed with your
work. Remove the honey board entirely, keeping
the smoker at hand ready for use, and giving them
a puff of smoke occasionally to keep them under
submission.

It is best for the inexperienced bee raiser to pro-
tect the hands and face in all operations, at least
until he feels perfect confidence in his ability to
avoid irritating the bees sufficiently to cause them
to sting. To protect the hands, wear thick woolen
mittens, with very long wrists, so they will come
up over the dress or coat sleeve, thus protecting the
hands and wrists completely from stings. To pro-
tect the face and neck, get coarse black lace, one-
half yard wide and a yard and a quarter in length.
Take three-fourths of this piece for the front breadth.
and the balance for the back breadth. Seam to-
42. ANGER OF BEES.

 

gether at the selvedges, and gather the upper edge
on an elastic cord so as to fit closely, and draw
around the crown of the hat. When putting on the
hat ready for use, leave the longer part in front, to
button beneath the coat or vest of a gentleman or the
sack of a lady. At the back the lace tucks beneath
the collar. Thus protected, we are perfectly safe
from stings, and can see as well, and perform all
operations nearly as well, as when uncovered.

The best antidote for stings is the application of
water in which salt has been dissolved—a_ heaping
teaspoonful of salt to a teacupful of water. Bathe
the affected part freely, and in severe cases take a
swallow of the salt and water into the stomach. .
Avoid rubbing or irritating the stung part. Be sure
to extract the sting immediately, as the longer it re-
mains, the more serious will be the consequences.
DOAPTES Will
THE BEE MOTH.

4RN some localities the bee moth is said to be
< very destructive, yet I regard the depredations
ig; Of this insect as much less to be feared than
some bee-keepers suppose. The bee moth is the
agency provided by nature for returning back to the
earth the contents of any hive when left by the bees,
inthe same manner that the flesh fly is the means
provided for returning to the earth the carcass of
any animal.

Ido not believe that a strong, healthy stock of
bees was ever attacked and destroyed by the bee
moth. The stock must from some cause become re-
duced in numbers, so there are not bees enough to
cover all the comb, before the moth will make an
attack. But when the comb is unprotected, the
moth follows the instinct of its nature, and deposits
her eggs in it. The bees from some cause keep
decreasing, and the moth continues depositing her
eggs in the vacated comb, until the entire comb of
the hive is a complete mass of vile worms, the
progeny of the bee moth. ‘

About this time the bee keeper notices for the
first time (for, if he is keeping bees on the old plan,
he lets them take their own course, believing if he

  
74 THE BEE MOTH.

 

meddles with them, they will ‘‘run out”) that some-
thing is wrong with that hive. So he examines
them, and finds the combs a mass of webs, with
hundreds of moth millers among the combs, and the
combs themselves filled with vile worms. ‘‘Ah!’’
he says, ‘‘the bee moth has destroyed that swarm
of bees ;’? when in fact the moth had no more to do
with bringing about the loss than the maggots,
found in the carcass of a nice lamb destroyed by
dogs, had to do with destroying the life of the ani-
mal. ‘‘Oh,’’ says some wise bee keeper, ‘‘I know
better than that for I have seen the bee moth flying
about my hives and trying to get in.” Very well;
I have seen the flesh fly circling about live animals,
but think you there was any danger from them, as
long asthe animal was in health? Not a bit.
Neither is there any danger from the bee moth, if
you keep your stocks of bees strong and healthy.
But if you have weak or diseased stocks, or have
honey in boxes in warm weather unprotected by. the
bees, look out for the bee moth.

Fumigate with sulphur all combs taken from
hives in warm weather; immediately after which,
seal up closely in well-made hives or boxes, to pre-
vent access by the moth miller. All combs taken
out late in the fall, and kept through the winter ina
place where they will be liable to freeze, may be
sealed up so the moth cannot gain access to them,
and the contents will keep safely through the next
summer. Freezing destroys the vitality of the moth
eggs. Fumigating with sulphur, as directed in
“Care of Box Honev in Warm Weather,” will de-
THE BEE MOTH. 75

 

stroy the moth worms, and prevent damage to the
combs, if they receive attention within a few days
after the eggs are hatched; but if the worms are
suffered to remain for any considerable length of
time, the combs will be badly damaged, if not en-
tirely ruined. In protecting honey or empty comb
from the bee moth in warm weather, every bee
keeper should recollect that eternal vigilance is the
price of success! With the Controllable Hive and
New System of Bee Management the true condition
of stocks is known at alltimes. The stocks are very
populous in July and August, which is the time the
bee moth is most numerous about the hives. I
never had a stock damaged by the bee moth since I
adopted my present system of bee management.

 
DHAP TER. D

ROBBING.

BOSS of stocks by robbing shows carelessness,
S or lack of knowledge as to the proper care of
ag bees. Not one strong, healthy stock of bees
in a thousand will be robbed, if proper precaution is
taken. During a copious yield of honey there is
very little danger of robbing. When there is a slack
in the yield, the bees will search about for plunder,
and if a weak stock is found, they will be very like-
ly to attack it.

It is the duty of every intelligent bee keeper to
know the exact condition of his stocks at all times,
and if from any cause he has a weak stock, be sure
to ascertain the cause of their weakness, and if they
are healthy stocks, contract the entrances, in accord-
ance with the number of bees to pass. But if they
are found to be diseased, remove them. The bee,
like the human race, is much better able to defend
itself against the attacks of an enemy when there is
but one avenue of approach, than if there are sev-
eral.

 

No refuse honey should be placed in the open air,
accessible to all the bees alike, as this would be very
likely to create a desire to plunder, and incite rob-
bing.
ROBBING. 77

Never, when a stock is being robbed, change it
from one stand to another a few rods distant, to
prevent robbing ; for this is a very great injury to
the stock, as all the bees that have marked the loca-
tion (at the season when robbing will most likely
occur,) will return to the old stand, and be lost.
The best remedy, or rather preventative against
robbing, is to contract the entrances to the hive.
After bees have once commenced robbing, and have
been successful in capturing and plundering one
stock, they will, as soon as they have secured the
honey from that one, attack some other with great
impetuosity. Success in plundering renders them
very courageous; but if you have contracted the
entrances as directed, they will be very likely to
meet their match, and learn a good lesson. A lit-
tle punishment is necessary to teach them their
proper place.

I knew one of these old wise-heads—such a one as
spoken of in the chapter on ‘‘Swarming and Hiv-
ing’’—to use his familiar logic: ‘*What he didn’t
know about bees wasn’t worth knowing. He didn’t
want any book larnin’ to know how to keep bees;
he had allers kept ’em, and his father before him.”
Well, this Mr. Wiseman found, or thought he had
found, that his neighbor’s bees were robbing his
stocks. ‘‘Zounds!” says he, ‘‘Tll fix ’em!” So
he goes early in the morning, before the bees are
flying, and confines his stock, which he thought
was being robbed, by nailing a piece of board
closely over each entrance to the hive, so no bees
could pass in orout. About sunrise, or a little later,
78 ROBBING.

 

the robber bees begin to collect on the front of his
hive, seeking to gain access. He waits until a
quart or more have collected, and then he takes two
or three quarts of boiling water, and dashes it upon
them. This he continues through that day, and the
next, at intervals, as often as there are any bees col-
lected on the front of his hive. During this time
he has killed more thana half bushel of bees. The
third day he opens his hive, but to his great surprise,
no bees appear, and on examination he finds the
bees all dead. They had suffocated. Want of air,
and the boiling water on the hive, had destroyed
them. And to crown all, and make his loss still
more severe, he found it was his bees that were en-
gaged in plundering his stock, and his neighbor’s
bees had nothing to do with it. The vast number
ot bees slaughtered with the hot water, so reduced
in numbers several of his stocks, that they never re-
covered, but fell prey to the moth-miller that season.
And that was the way he ‘fixed ’em.” There are
so many whims and false notions about bees, that
great care should be exercised in adopting plans
recommended by inexperienced bee keepers, or that
class who claim to know everything about bees,
yet by their practice show that they know very lit-
tle.

There is one other plan, aside from contracting
the entrance, which will prove successful, but which
is a little more trouble toapply. If you find a stock
is being robbed, look them over, and be sure that
they have a fertile, healthy queen. If the queen is
found to be all right, but with few bees, take from
ROBBING 79
this hive two comb frames filled with comb, with no
eggs or brood, and go toa populous stock and ex-
change these two combs for two others filled with
brood. Select such as have most of the brood
Sealed over, as you want that which will hatch the
quickest. Put these two combs in the hive that is
being robbed, fasten up the stock by putting wire
cloth over the entrances, giving then air, yet pre-
venting the passage of bees.* When you put in
the two frames with brood, if you find but little
honey in the hive—not enough to last the bees a
month or more—put in one frame containing honey.
Put on the feeder and carry the hive to a dark and
quiet room, and fill the feeder with pure, soft water.
Let the bees remain in this room four days; then
about one hour before sunset, set them on the old
stand, giving them their liberty, with the entrances
to the hive contracted—the lower entrance closed
entirely and the upper one-half closed. Intelligent
bee keepers will readily understand why this plan
shold prove a success :—First, the bees that hatch
from the brood comb given the weak stock, will be
a great encouragement to the few bees in the hive;
and in a very few days they will aid in defending
the hive against the attacks of robbers. Again—
removing the hive from the stand seems to disor-

ganize the robbers, for after they have visited the
stand for several days, and find no plunder, they
will give up the search in that direction.

 

*1t is well to confine the bees when a large number of robbers are in-
side—a larger number if possible than the swarm itself, for being con-
fined a few days, they will make that‘hive their home, and aid in defend-
ing its stores against other robbers with as much energy as the bees of
the original swarm.
380 ROBBING.

 

Before taking the trouble to remove a hive as here
directed, care should be taken to be certain that the
bees are being robbed. You can be sure whether
it is your own bees or others that are robbing, by
sprinkling them with flour as they come from the
hive which you suspect is being robbed, and watch-
ing your other hives, to see if those you have marked
enter them, being very careful that you are not de-
ceived by the dust from some species of blossoms,
which adheres to the body ot the bee, and might be
mistaken for the flour.

Bees when plundering a stock will often keep at
their work until dark, some of them being unable to
find their hive by reason of the darkness. Honest
workers are not found abroad at that time, and by
the way, this isa very good test of robbing. In
concluding this chapter, I advise again: Know the
condition of your stocks at all times. It any have
too few bees, contract the entrances in accordance
with that number of bees to pass. Preventative is
much better than cure in this case.

Pt

2 yf
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DBP DER x,
PROFITS OF BEE KEEPING.

Ga WENTY-FIVE years ago, and even at the
t time, by the ordinary methods of bee
NSB. presen » by y me

Geir keeping, ifa profit of five dollars from one hive
of bees in one season was gained, it was considered
‘‘good luck.’”’? ‘You know there is no system in the
ordinary methodsof bee keeping. It is either ‘‘good
luck” or ‘*bad luck ;’’—all ‘“‘luck”’ and ‘‘chance,”’
anyway.

In one year they get five dollars profit from a
stock of bees; the next honey season they get noth-
ing, and the bees all die in the winter; or perhaps
they will survive that winter, and the next season
swarm, and fly away to the woods; or perhaps re-
fuse to swarm, and remain idly clustered on the
front of the hive throughout the entire honey season,
and die from want of food before the winter is half
gone.

Bee keeping by the ordinary methods is a very
precarious and uncertain occupation. The profits
are small at best, and losses large and frequent.

With my Controllable Hive and common sense
System of Bee Management (as described in this
work,) founded on correct and scientific principles,
bee keeping is reduced to a science. There is no
82 PROFITS OF BEE KEEPING.

 

“luck,” no ‘‘guess-work,” no ‘‘chance’’ about it.
There can be no loss in bee keeping without a
cause ; there can be no gain without a full and cor-
rect understanding of the natural habits and require-
ments of bees. A correct knowledge of the subject
insures success.

I will now present a few statements, exhibiting
the practical results which follow the use of my
Controllable Hive and New System of Bee Man-
agement, and showing the great contrast in profits
and general success in the care of bees.

In the season of 1870, one of my hives of native
bees yielded two hundred and fifty-three pounds of
surplus honey, in glass boxes, from the 20th of May
to the Ist of July. In 1875 one hive yielded three
hundred and eighty pounds of surplus honey in
glass boxes during the season. This was the largest
yield I ever had, and shows what is possible by
liberal feeding with a thrifty stock of bees, giving
them every facility, with a view of securing the
largest possible amount of surplus box honey. In
this case, I selected in early spring, the very best
stock I could find, and pushed it as hard as possible
throughout the entire spring, summer and early
tall. My success exceeded even my most sanguine
expectations. As it may serve to aid others in pro-
ducing large yields of honey, I will describe minute-
ly the method pursued to secure this large and ex-
traordinary yield.

Very early in the spring I selected the most popu-
lous stock in my possession. It was ruled by a
young and exceedingly prolific Hybrid queen, a
PROFITS OF BEE KEEPING. 83
mixture of Italian and Native blood. I commenced
early in the spring to feed this stock lightly but
regularly, every day at evening. I fed about one-
half pound of feed per day, until a few days before
the flowers were in bloom profusely. This was
done to encourage breeding. Very early in the
spring they were fed corn and rye meal, as directed
in this work.

For a few days before the flowers were blooming
profusely, I fed liberally—in fact, gave them all I
could possibly induce them to take up; the object
being to get the store comb in the body ot the hive,
not occupied with brood, completely filled with
honey. The glass boxes, twenty-six in number
(with the Feeder,) each holding about four and
one-half pounds of honey, were arranged in connec-
tion with the hive (sides and top,) several weeks
prior to the appearance of the flowers, that the bees
might become accustomed to them, and the more
readily enter them and commence work. When I
ceased feeding (which was on the appearance of the
flowers yielding a good supply of honey,) the boxes
were filled with bees, and comb-building had com-
menced. The hive was at this time filled to over-
flowing with bees, and the combs had brood in all.
stages of growth, from the egg to the perfect bee.
I had taken the precaution to cut out nearly all the
drone comb, and fit in its place worker comb, so I
had but very few drones to consume the honey. I
had also arranged so as to have no increase by
swarming, but to have all the bees employed storing
surplus honey in the boxes throughout the season.
84 PROFITS OF BEE KEEPING.

 

As fast as the boxes were filled, they were re-
moved and empty ones substituted in their place.
I never saw bees work with such deterniined in-
dustry, early and late, and in all kinds of weather.
When honey failed at the end of the season, there
was a set of boxes on the hive partially filled. I
immediately gave the bees feed until these two were
finished. I found, on weighing the product of this
hive in the fall, that they had given mea fraction
over three hundred and eighty pounds of surplus
honey in boxes. This honey I sold at thirty-five
cents a pound, a little over one hundred and thirty-
three dollars, for surplus honey sdld from this one
stock. Reader, go thou and do likewise.

I had one stock of bees which occupied the
same stand, winter and summer, for six years, and
during that time they swarmed but once, and from
it I sold every year over fifty dollars’ worth of sur-
plus honey in glass boxes. A neighbor several
times offered me fifty dollars for this stock, early in
the spring before the bees commenced their labors.

In 1874 I purchased a swarm of bees in an old
box hive. They had not paid their owner a dollar
in profit for years. Some seasons they would swarm
and fly away to the woods; in other seasons they
would remain clustered on the front of the hive
through the entire season, refusing to swarm, or
enter the two small boxes covered witha cap on
top of the hive. I transferred the bees from this
hive to the Controllable Hive, and they gave mea
profit of over forty dollars the first year.

I sold my honey in 1874 for from thirty-three to
PROFITS OF BEE KEEPING. 85

 

thirty-five dollars per hundred gross weight—that
is, no tare deducted for weight of the box.

In the season of 1880 one stock in a Controllable
Hive, in the month of June, without being
fed or having extra care, yielded seventy-two
pounds of surplus honey in glass boxes. Another
treated in the same manner, yielded over eighty
pounds surplus in the same time. Another new
swarm, since the first week in June, filled the
brood frames with honey, and produced thirty-eight
pounds of surplus honey in glass boxes, (filling
eight boxes as full as they could be crowded,) and
gave me a large swarm the last week in June.

When box honey brings from thirty-three to
thirty-five cents a pound, gross weight, my usual
yearly average isa little over fifty dollars clean
profit from the sale of box honey, from each stock
of bees I keep. I intend to keep about twelve
stocks each season. I sometimes have a much
greater number ; yet it is my purpose to keep only
this number each season, for the production of sur-
plus honey, swarms, etc. My average yield of sur-
plus box honey is about two hundred pounds (per-
haps a trifle less) from each hive of bees that I keep,
during each season, when swarming is prevented
and each stock liberally fed.

I will here give the testimony of a few of the
many, who have adopted the plan of Bee Manage-
ment recommended in this work. I should give the
name and post-office address of each, were it not
for the fact that they would receive so many letters
of inquiry, as to make it very disagreeable to them.
86 PROFITS OF BEE KEEPING.

 

I have the original and complete letters in my pos-
session, and such letters I am prepared to show at
any time. My object in presenting this testimony
here, is to show that the system of bee management
recommended herein is not only successful with
me, but with all intelligent bee keepers, as well.

A gentleman from Vermont writes me under date
of September 15, 1879, asfollows: ‘‘I take this op-
portunity of informing you of the experience I have
had with the bee hive received from you. About the
roth of May I transferred a swarm of bees from a
box hive to the Controllable Hive. I transferred all
the brood combs, and about eight or ten pounds of
honey. I fed them until flowers were plenty,
which encouraged them to build rapidly. About
the 25th of May I put in surplus boxes on the sides,
which they soon entered, and went to work. The
middle of June I put boxes on top, as the bees
showed symptoms of swarming. By the roth of
July the side boxes were nearly all filled, and the
bees were at work in the top boxes. July 15th I
took off sixteen of the twenty side boxes, well filled
and capped, and placed empty ones in their places.
August 5th, I took six of the ten boxes off the top,
well filled. Then the dry weather set in, and the
bees came to a stand still (thinking the honey sea-
son over,) but the bass wood revived it for a short
time, enabling them to fill up the boxes pretty full.
I obtained in all from this swarm twenty-eight
boxes weighing one hundred and ten pounds. I
shall have ten hives made this winter for use the
coming spring.”
PROFITS OF BEE KEEPING. 87

 

A gentleman writes from New York, under date
of April 2d, 1879: ‘I have received your hive,
which meets my ideas of what a bee hive should
be. It contains all that is required in a bee hive,
or in other words it is just the thing I have been
wanting. Ihave been using the Quinby hive, so
called, but I am now going to keep bees in earnest
on your plan. I have the fullest confidence of suc-
cess with your hive and plan of management. Your
plan for wintering is a good one, on scientific prin-
ciples, and the arrangement for feeding and surplus
honey can’t be beat.”

A gentleman writes from New Hampshire, under
date of April 26th, 1879: ‘‘I have tested your hive,
and my bees have done first-rate. I believe the
hive is just what it is represented. One strong
reason why I think so much of your hive is, there
were not a dozen bees died in the hive last winter,
while three of my first swarms in other hives all
died—some of them with fifty pounds of honey in
the hive. I have lost some winters as many as fif-
teen or twenty swarms. I have now tested your
hive to my satisfaction, and I do not believe bees
will die in it, if your instructions for wintering are
carried out. I think your hive is what every bee
keeper should have to make a success of bee keep-
ing.”

A gentleman writes from Missouri, under date
of May ist, 1879: ‘‘Your bee hive I like very
much. I put in the swarm last season. They did
much better than any swarm I had in the American
hive. I took away more surplus honey than from
88 PROFITS OF BEE KEEPING.

 

any of the others. Ican recommend the Controlla-
ble Hive to all bee keepers. This spring I have
put up fourteen more Controllable Hives, and shall
use no other hive in future.”

A lady bought a swarm of Italian bees of me in
1874, and from that one stock she increased to over
twenty the third season, besides obtaining over one
hundred pounds of nice surplus honey from the
swarm I sent her in the first season.

Here I desire to be clearly understood. I do not
wish to hold out inducements which will never be
realized, for the purpose of causing any one to com-
mence bee keeping with unreasonable expectations
of profit. There is labor and care required to bring
success in any enterprise; and usually the greater
the care and labor bestowed on any business, the
greater the reward in profits. Bees give ample re-
turn for each little care and attention bestowed upon
them ; and if neglected and permitted to go uncared
for, there is corresponding loss. I believe that bee
keeping on correct and scientific principles should
be encouraged, until bees enough are kept to col-
lect the honey now allowed to go to waste, and
which, if collected, would add millions of dollars to
the wealth of the country.

The statements of large yields of honey here pre-
sented, show what it is possible to do; yet no rea-
sonable person would commence bee keeping with
the expectation of realizing, on each of a dozen or
more stocks kept, the large yields above specified.
Some stocks will pay a much greater profit than
others. And it is only under the most favorable
PROFITS OF BEE KEEPING. 39

 

circumstances, with our very best stocks, that we
secure the results here named, such as three hun-
dred and eighty pounds of box honey from one stock
ina season. This serves to illustrate what may be
derived (but not what we may reasonably expect)
from each stock, where a dozen or more stocks are
kept. Two hundred pounds from each stock on the
average is about right. And this last is only se-
cured with good care and attention, perseverance
and labor, judiciously applied to the work.

The question is often asked: ‘‘How many stocks
of bees can be keptin one place on your plan?”
This depends on the number of honey-yielding
plants and flowers. Some localities furnish a much
greater number than others. In some localities,
fifty stocks would do well, and pay yearly a hand-
some profit ; in others, it would not be profitable to
keep half as many. I am in a place said to be very
unfavorable to bee keeping. I find twelve stocks
about the right number for me to maintain. Bees
will go seven miles or more to collect honey, but
the shorter the distance, the more honey will be
collected, in a season; consequently the greater
profit will follow.

It can only be learned by practical test how many
stocks of bees may be profitably kept in any locality.
Commence with a few, and increase the number
moderately, until you find you have as many as
you wish to keep, or as many as the locality will
support, with good profit, when managed judicious-

ly.
CHAPTER. AL

CHANGING OLD QUEENS FOR YOUNG
ONES.

*N my plan of bee management, if a stock does
, not change its queen for three years in suc-
ah eS cession, the fourth season the old queen should
be taken away, if she shows the least sign of failing,
and a young, laying queen substituted in her place.
It often happens, if the queen in a stock dies or be-
comes seriously injured, that the bees will of their
own accord, rear another to take her place. But if
her failure has been gradual, the bees may not have
the means to do so, when she at last fails entirely,
for the reason that she may cease laying, for several
days or weeks previous to her death, in which case
it would be impossible for the bees, without assist-
ance, to rear another queen to take her place.
They must have an egg not over five days old, from
which to reara queen. The great necessity of close
observation, in order to keep each stock always
supplied with a healthy prolific queen, cannot be
impressed too strongly on the mind of every bee
keeper. Be sure not to neglect this very important
point in successful and profitable bee keeping.

But very few seem to know the average duration
of life of the honey bee. The average term of life

   
CHANGING OLD QUEENS FOR YOUNG ONES. 91

 

of the worker is only a few months—not more than
from two to four—a great many do not live out half
that time. So it will be seen that it is only by keep-
ing healthy and prolific queens in each stock, that
we can have populous stocks, such as will pay a
good profit.

In my experiments I have in several instances
taken from a vigorous and very populous stock their
queen, and at the same time deprived them of the
means of rearing another. This was done in the
honey season. In such cases the bees kept on with
their labor, though with visible reluctance and an
appearance of discouragement, the number of bees
decreasing very rapidly, and in from two to three
months nearly all had disappeared, not more than
two or three hundred remaining, where there had
been from thirty thousand to fifty thousand all in a
prosperous condition. ;

Other instances have come under my observation,
clearly showing that the life of the worker honey
bee is only of a few months duration. One case in
fact will show: I removed the native queen from
avery strong stock of native or black bees, in the
honey season, and introduced an Italian queen, in
order to change the stock from native to Italian.
The reader will readily understand that every egg
deposited by the Italian queen, after her introduc-
tion, will produce the Italian variety, the workers
of which are entirely distinct in color from the na-
tives. Ina few days after the introduction of the
Italian queen I found the natives were disappearing,
and soon after the Italians began to appear. The
92 CHANGING OLD QUEENS FOR YOUNG ONES.

 

change was very rapid. In about two months nota
native or black bee could be found about the hive
—all were Italians. The natives had gradually de-
creased, until all had disappeared, showing con-
clusively that they had died in the same ratio that
they would have passed away from a stock naturally.
During the winter season, as the bee is in a dormant
state for the greater part of the time, they are given
a longer lease of life.

When it is discovered that a stock has a barren
queen, or has lost its queen, or from any cause she
has ceased to be prolific (and in consequence the
bees are dwindling away,) take means immediately
to substitute a prolific and healthy queen in her
place, and at the same time re-enforce the stock,
by taking one or more frames filled with hatching
brood from a populous stock, and exchanging for
those destitute of brood. In this manner the bees
will be increased so as to insure safety for a few
days, after which the stock, having been furnished
with a prolific, healthy queen, will regain their
former prosperity and vigor.

The queen being the mother of the entire swarm,
and consequently all increase being dependent on
her, every intelligent bee keeper will readily un-
derstand that in order to succeed, he must be sure
that each stock has a prolific queen.
DEA Ce al,
REARING AND INTRODUCING QUEENS.

KN commencing to rear queens, you will first
* want some small rearing boxes, or miniature
{ hives, about four and one-half inches wide, by
eight inches long, and five inches deep, inside
measurement. Use inch board for the hives. Make
for each hive three movable comb frames,* suspend-
ed the same as in the brood section of the Controlla-
ble Hive. Make the under side of the top bar flat,
instead of triangular, as in the large comb frames.
Take a piece of old comb, and. cut to fill each one
of the small frames. Take from a pint to a quart
of bees in a populous stock (in the height of the
breeding season this will do harm) without the
queen. Confine the bees in a light box, in the top
of which there is an inch hole, closed to confine
them to the box, for if not confined they would re-
turn to the old stock, as the queen is not with them.
Having secured your bees in the box, go to a stock,
and lift out a comb containing eggs, just deposited.
They may be known by their appearance. They
are but a tiny speck at the bottom of the cell, about
one-sixteenth of an inch in length, slightly curved,

  
 

 

*This frame is shown in the engraving, representing the different
kinds of cells, in Chapter I.
94 REARING AND INTRODUCING QUEENS.

 

and perfectly white in color. They remain in this
form. two to three days, at the end of which time
they change to the form of a grub or maggot. After
this change it is a risk to depend on them for queen
raising, so be sure to secure for your purpose eggs.
Cut from the brood comb a piece about two inches
long and one-half inch wide, using a very sharp,
thin knife, so as not to mutilate thecomb. Cut out
a piece from the center comb of the miniature hive,
and fit in its place the piece containing the: eggs.
The middle of a warm day is the best time to do
this work. It is best to have one of the comb frames
of the miniature hive filled with honey, to furnish
food for the bees for a few days.

As soon as you have fitted the piece containing
the eggs in its place in the miniature hive, put on a
close-fitting cover. Do not nail it as you will want
to look at it every few days. Close the entrances
to the miniature hive, so no bees can escape. Now
open the hole in the top of the box in which the
bees are confined, and set the miniature hive con-
taining the eggs over it quickly, allowing no bees
to escape. The bees will then pass from the box
up into the miniature hive, cluster on the comb con-
taining the eggs, and immediately commence the
rearing of queens from the eggs thus furnished them.
Keep the bees confined to the miniature hive for
about thirty-six hours. Give them their liberty at
first about one hour before sunset. If you do not
confine them for the time stated, they will return to
the hive from which you took them, but if so con-
fined, they will forget their old home, and adhere
REARING AND INTRODUCING QUEENS. 95

 

to the miniature hive, the same as an ordinary
swarm hived in the usual way. They will rear
queens from the eggs given them by constructing
queen cells, so arranged as to take in one of the
eggs in the piece of corgb furnished them, often
constructing three or more cells. In about six days,
open the miniature hive, and you will find these
cells nearly or quite finished. Occasionally a case
occurs where they do not rear queens when thus
furnished with the means, but such cases are rare.
If you find each one made separate, you can, if you
choose, with a sharp, thin knife cut out all the cells
but one, and give them to other rearing boxes not
supplied with eggs, or which have failed to rear
queens from the eggs furnished them. If you leave
all the cells in the miniature hive as constructed,
the first queen that hatches will destroy all the
others. She will visit each cell, gnaw an opening
in the side, curve her abdomen and insert her sting
into the opening, and sting the rival queen to death
while yet in her cradle. The worker bees will then
enlarge the opening, and drag out the lifeless body.
The victorious queen now reigns over the little
colony, the same as in a large and natural swarm.

In from three to five days after hatching if the
weather is fine, the young queen will leave the
miniature hive, and take a flight in the open air, to
meet the drone for the purpose of fecundation. If
successful, she will commence to lay in about two
days. She may then be introduced to a full stock
at any time desired. Recollect it will be useless to
rear queens where there are no drones.
96 REARING AND INTRODUCING QUEENS.

 

When stocks are liberally fed early in the season,
drones will appear correspondingly early. And if
from a stock well supplied with drones, you remove
the queen, the workers will not destroy the drones
in that hive until they have obtained another fertile
laying queen. With this idea in view, viz :—early
and liberal feeding to produce drones early, and de-
priving a populous stock (well supplied with drones)
of its queen the last of the season, we can have
drones sufficient for our purpose from early spring
until late in the fall.

I have in several instances, for the purpose of
securing drones very early in the spring, deprived a
populous stock, containing alarge number of drones,
of its queen, very late in the fall, and wintered them
queenless. In this manner the drones were permit-
ted by the bees to remain and winter with the
swarm. Early in the spring they were re-enforced
with hatching brood trom populous stocks, but were
permitted to rear no queens, in order that the
drones might be preserved. As soon as drones ap-
peared in the other stocks, this stock was furnished
with a laying queen and it. was as prosperous as the
best.

By this plan drones may be kept through the
winter, if their services are required very early in
the spring, before we can raise them from the best
stocks by judicious feeding, which very rarely can
be done. The bees for rearing queens are usually
obtained from populous hives, such as will hardly
miss a pint or a quart from their numbers, great
care being exercised not to remove the queen. The
REARING AND INTRODUCING QUEENS. 97

 

best time to get the bees is in the middle of the day.
Go toa stock and first find the queen. Set the
comb she is on to one side. Put your light box
(prepared as before described with a hole in the
top) on a sheet near by, with one edge raised an
inch. Take one or more combs from the hive
(being careful not to get the one with the queen,)
and shake the bees from them, down beside the box,
which they will readily enter. When you have
bees enough in the box, close it so none can escape.
‘You now have the bees ready to put in the minia-
ture hive, as before directed.

I think I have given such instruction as will en-
able any one, after a little practice, to rear queens
successfully.* I will follow it with such informa-
tion as will insure success in introducing queens
into full stocks of bees.

Here let me caution bee keepers never to attempt
to introduce a queen into a full stock ot bees, until
she has begun to lay. A young queen, not fecund-
ated, will be destroyed in nine cases out of ten, in
spite of every precaution. Before introducing a
queen, the old queen in the stock, if any exists,

 

*By taking brood for rearing queens only from such stocks as exhibit
the greatest industry, mildness of disposition, vigor in withstanding the
cold, etc., I find I am able to greatly improve the desirable qualities of
my bees from yearto year. This systematic course of treatment has
produced swarms possessing very valuable characteristies. It is sur-
prising to note the difference in profits and ease of management, between
bees that have always been left to take their own course, and such as
have had their most desirable traits cultivated and improved to the
greatest possible extent fora term of years. The difference is almost as
marked as between the savage in his native wilds, and the most intelli-
gent and highly educated member of society.
98 REARING AND INTRODUCING QUEENS.

 

must be taken away. Make your search for her in
the middle of the day, as at that time most of the
workers are away. Use but very little smoke, and
that only at the entrance, as the bees should remain
spread over the combs as evenly as possible. If
you use much smoke they will rush to the bottom
and the corners of the hive, and it is very likely the
queen might seek a hiding-place with the others,
where you could not find her. If not disturbed,
the queen will be found in the comb among the
bees. When ready to proceed, having smoked them
lightly at the entrances (a puff at each entrance is
sufficient, ) lift out the comb carefully, avoiding any
jar, and look them over for the queen. It is said
the Italian queens are more readily found than the
natives, butI could never see any difference. Hold
the frame up in front of your face, so asto havea
good view, and look each comb over carefully till
you find the queen. When found, remove her.
Always return the combs so they will occupy the
same position as before.

As soon as the queen is removed, and the bees
are aware of their loss, they will usually commence
to rear another queen from the worker eggs to take
her place. To make a sure thing of it, they often
start to produce a half-dozen or more.

In six days after removing the queen, smoke the
bees well, to get the combs as clear of them as pos-
sible. Do this in the middle of the day. When
you have driven the most of the bees from the comb
to the bottom and into the corners of the hives, lift
out the combs, and look sharply for queen cells,
REARING AND INTRODUCING QUEENS. 99

 

(success depends on thorough work here.) Witha
sharp knife cut out and destroy every such cell that
is finished or commenced. Don’t leave any part of
a queen cell in the hive, for the bees will not accept
a strange queen if they have the means of raising
one of their own. Having destroyed every ‘queen
cell, finished or unfinished, return the combs to the
hive; but before putting the honey board over the
brood section, cut a hole in it a little smaller than
the top of a tumbler. Cover this hole with a light
piece of board, simply laid on, (not nailed, for you
will need to remove it without jar.) Then put the
honey board in its place over the brood section.

Let the hive remain until near sunset, for the bees
to get quiet, and to learn that they are without a
queen and without the means of rearing another.
Just before sunset, take the queen you propose to
introduce, and with hera score or more of workers,
and put them in a tumbler with a piece of wire
cloth over the top to keep them in. (To get her
from the miniature hive, where she was reared, to
the tumbler, take it to a close room, before a win-
dow, so if she takes wing she may alight there.)
Go to the hive into which she is to be introduced,
and remove the cap, avoiding any jar that may irri-
tate the bees. Take off the board over the hole in
the honey board, and turn the tumbler containing
the queen bottom up over it, keeping the wire cloth
between the queen in the tumbler and the bees in
the hive. Replace the cap to the hive, and let the
queen and her attendant bees remain in the tumbler,
in communication with the bees in the hive through
100 REARING AND INTRODUCING QUEENS.

 

the wire cloth, until the next day, near sunset.
Then take a teaspoonful of honey, go to the hive,
and remove the cap, this time with the greatest pos-
sible care, as the slightest jar will endanger success.
Raise the tumbler carefully from off the queen, and
with the honey smear her completely over, then
turn the wire cloth over carefully, and let the queen
and her attendant bees down through the hole in
the honey board, among the bees ot the hive. Re-
place the cap as quietly as possible, and the work
is done. In about one week examine the combs of
this hive for eggs, and if they are found, you can
consider your work crowned with success. If no
eggs are discovered, you must go over the ground
again. But be sure there are no eggs in the combs
before you repeat the work.

This plan of introducing queens, is the most suc-
cessful of any I have ever tested. It rarely fails.
When a laying queen is removed from one of the
miniature hives, the bees will usually rear queens
from the eggs left when the queen is removed.

 
LHAPTER XIII,
SOURCES OF HONEY.

HE sources from which bees collect honey are

various and almost innumerable. Almost
every flower, tree, plant, shrub and vine, in
field, forest, pasture and garden yield honey to some
extent. White cloveris, perhaps, the greatest source
of honey in the New England and Middle States, it
being found in a ‘greater or less extent in almost
every field and pasture. South and West there is,
in many localities, a profusion of wild flowers, pro-
ducing considerable quantities of honey. In some
sections buckwheat affords a rich harvest. Bass-
wood yields a very nice quality of honey, and in sec-
tions where it abounds, great quantities are collected
from it. Fruit blossoms—apple, pear, peach and
all the different varieties of plums, cherries, etc.,
are very important sources of honey.

Pollen is the first material gathered by the bees in
early spring. Several varieties of alder, willow, red
maple, etc., produce pollen in great abundance.
Raspberry, blackberry, catnip, dandelion, etc., all
contribute largely of honey in their season. Corn
and most kinds of grain furnish pollen in abundance
late in the season. Mustard and sweet clover are
great favorites with the busy bee, yielding the most

 
102 SOURCES OF HONEY.

 

beautiful honey, clear as a crystal and white as snow.
The sugar maple produces honey of excellent qual-
ity, and where forests of this tree abound, large
quantities of hdney are stored, while it is in blos-
som in early spring.* Locust, whitewood, mignon-
ette, golden rod, sumach, etc., all produce honey.
When we take into consideration the fact that the
bee will go seven miles or more to collect his
sweets, it is easy to understand that a certain num-
ber of swarms will succeed in almost any locality,
even without feeding. To make this still more
clear, we have only to take into account the vast
number of honey yielding flowers, trees, plants,
shrubs, etc., within a circle of fourteen miles in di-
ameter, the hives occupying the centre, and the
bees flying to collect honey seven miles in every
direction from the hive. Those who have not
tested the matter, will be likely to dispute the state-
ment, that a bee will go seven miles to gather
honey. Buton this point I am able to offer ample
proof, to establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, the
tact that the Italian bee will go that distance. The
proof I offer is this: The first Italian bees
brought into the New England States, I had the
honor of receiving. The Italian bees being entirely
distinct from the native or black bees in color

 

*Climate and soil are so variable, it is impossible to give the sources
of honey so as to apply minutely to every locality. I ghall strive to
designate the principal sources. The bee keeper will a soon learn
from experience and observation, what are the principal sources of
honey in that particular locality. Many different flowers, trees and
shrubs are found in one section yielding honey profusely which do not
existin another.
SOURCES OF HONEY. 1038

 

or size, I determined to avail myself of the
opportunity offered to satisfy myself on the long-
disputed question—‘‘ How far will a bee go to col-
lect honey?’ I therefore made close and repeated
examinations, at different times during the honey
season, and it was no uncommon occurrence, to
find the Italian workers seven miles from their
hives. As there were no Italian bees except mine
within hundreds of miles, I considered this positive
proof that this variety will travel seven miles from
its hive in its search for honey-producing flowers.
As the native or black bee is, to some extent, found
in all parts of the country, it is impossible to prove
conclusively the distance they will go from the
hive; yet my observations give very strong evi-
dence that they journey five miles or more after
honey.

When the distance a bee will go for honey is so
well established, and having found from repeated
tests that the flowers, when yielding honey, may be
visited many times each day by the bee, and yield
at each visit a bountiful supply, we can form some
idea of the vast amount of honey now permitted to
go to waste, which might be collected by bees,
stored in nice boxes, and thus add wealth and en-
joyment to the human family.

The question is often asked, ‘‘Which is best for
bees, a wet or dry season?” I think either extreme
of very wet or very dry season is bad. A warm,
medium wet spring, followed by a summer of light
and frequent showers, will usually give a good
yield of honey; while a cold, wet, or a cold, dry
104 SOURCES OF HONEY.

 

spring, followed by a dry or very wet summer,
produces a light crop of honey from flowers.

The bee keeper sometimes finds his bees idle,
when the flowers are in bloom in profusion, the sun
shining brightly, and to the superficial observer,
everything indicating honey in abundance. And
yet the bees are dormant, and scarcely a one flying
about the hives, notwithstanding the hives and
boxes are full of them. The truth of the matter is,
there is no honey in the flowers, although they are
in full bloom. The air isdry and clear. Suddenly
there is a change, the atmosphere becomes moist
and charged with electricity, with occasionally light
showers. Immediately all is activity about the
hives. The greatest show of industry is manifested ;
scores of workers, and in some cases a hundred,
coming into each hive every minute, loaded with
honey, many of them so heavily weighted that they
fall to the ground before they reach the hive, where
they rest a moment, and then try again, usually suc-
ceeding in entering with their load. I have seen a
change, as here described, brought about in a half-
hour’s time in the middle of the day, viz: The bees
pass from an idle, almost entirely dormant state, to
the greatest activity and industry. And all because
a change in the atmosphere had caused the flowers
to secrete honey. The question arises—How did
the bees know at that particular hour there was a
change, and that the flowers, which a few minutes
before were destitute of honey, were now bounti-
fully supplied? I answer, the bee was aware of the
change almost the moment it took place. The bee
SOURCES OF HONEY. 105

 

is very sensitive to all atmospheric changes. A case
in point will show this: The bees are collecting
honey abroad in the fields. The day is warm and
balmy. Suddenly there is the appearance of a
shower, and distant thunder is heard. Immediately
the bees come rushing in from the fields, in clouds.
They cover the entire front of their hives, in their
eagerness to gain a shelter from the approaching
rain. Again, if the morning is cloudy and dark,
with every appearance of rain, and you find the bees
leaving their hives for the fields, you may be quite
certain that rain is not near, and may expect soon
to see the sun break forth and the clouds disperse.
If on the other hand there is an appearance of rain,
and the bees are quiet in their hives, it is quite sure
to rain in a very short time. How wonderful are
the workings of nature. How great the sagacity of
the little, busy bee. Who dares say that this won-
derful little insect does not possess the power of
reasoning? But I am disgressing from the sub-
ject.

Bees, in their journeys to collect honey, seldom
visit more than one species of flower, plant or shrub
at one excursion; and this is a wise provision of
nature, for were it otherwise, and any and all
species visited promiscuously, the vegetable world
would be thrown into chaos, by the fertilizing dust
of one species being imparted to another, through
the medium of the bee.

Pollen as fast as collected is deposited in little
basket-like cavities on the inside of the bee’s poste-
rior legs. It is packed in little pellets, varying in
106 SOURCES OF HONEY.

 

size from that of a pin’s head to a small pea. In
color it is usually yellow, but sometimes green or
red. Hundreds of bees may~be seen entering the
hives, with pollen, at almost any time in the honey
season, particularly in the morning before the dew
is off the grass. It is easier for the bees to collect
it at this time, as the moisture causes it the more
readily to adhere to the cavities of the legs. Honey
when collected is deposited in the stomach of the
bee, in which it is borne to the hive, and there de-
posited in cells in the comb. The bee has the
power of raising this honey from its stomach, in the
same manner that all ruminating animals raise the
cud.

Some have contended that bees cause an injury
to all kinds of fruit, such as apples, peaches, plums,
etc., by taking away the substance and sweetness,
in the form of honey, which otherwise would be
absorbed, and eaten with the fruit. This is a great
mistake. The provisions of nature are wise in this
respect as in allothers. There is the strongest evi-
dence to prove that honey, once secreted in the
cups of the tiny blossoms, never returns to the
flower or fruit, but evaporates and passes into the
air. Who, in passing an apple or peach orchard
in full bloom, has not noticed the delicious frag-
rance; which is undoubtedly honey, which has
evaporated from the myriads of blossoms. It is
very plain to the close observer that nature has
placed in the cups of flowers this honey, expressly
as food for the honey bee, and that it is in harmony
with all her great and wonderful works.
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Home Aptary oF Mrs. Lizzrz E. Corton.
BHAPTER. ALY,
LOCATION OF HIVES.

@agcN locating your hives, place them on the south

pa. side ot buildings, or a close board fence facing
i; south, south-east or south-west. If possible,
locate in the shade of trees, where they will be
shaded from the sun from nine o’clock in the fore-
noon until one in the afternoon, or a little later. If
no trees afford shade, arrange a roofover each hive,
which shall shade the entire hive, and especially the
front, in the summer season. But in spring and fall
it is better to let the bees have the full benefit of the
sun’s rays, shining directly upon the hive. Con-
struct a separate stand for each hive, as follows:
Cut boards about three feet long, and joists three by
six inches square (two pieces of the latter two feet
long ;) nail the ends of the boards to those pieces,
so as to form a stand, when placed on the ground,
three feet long, two feet wide and six inches high.
This gives a free circulation of air beneath the
stand. Set your hive on this stand, the rear of the
hive even with the rear of the stand, which leaves
the stand projecting afoot or more in front, making
an admirable place for the bees to alight before en-
tering the hive. Set your stands three feet apart,
and make them perfectly level before placing: your
hive upon them.

      
 
110 LOCATION OF HIVES.

 

Place an alighting board in front of each hive.
Get a board about eighteen inches wide and two
feet long. Nail on some cleats at each end, to pre-
vent warping. Rest one edge of this board on the
ground, the other edge on the end of the platform
in front of the hive. By this arrangement many
bees will be saved in early spring which would
otherwise be lost. By the old plan of setting the
hives two or three feet high, with no alighting
board, and a free draught of wind beneath, the loss
of bees was very great, especially in the early
spring months, on chilly afternoons following a
very warm forenoon. The bees, returning loaded
with pollen, are unable to reach a hive placed so
high, and are blown to the earth by the hundreds,
and becoming chilled, die. The death of a few
bees is a great loss in early spring, for they are re-
quired in keeping up the animal heat in the hive to
forward breeding.

The location of bees as here recommended will
be found greatly superior to any other, for other
reasons than those mentioned, and which are too
numerous to herein specify.

Every one who commences bee keeping should
ever remember, that bees always mark the location
of their hives. The young bee the first time it
leaves the hive invariably does this. The same is
true with all swarms, in the first flight in early
spring, after being dormant in the hive through the
winter months.

In marking the location, the bee comes from the
hive, and at the entrance, rises on the wing. Turn-
LOCATION OF HIVES. 111

 

ing its head toward the hive, it recedes in circles,
backward, at first describing a circle so small as to
be scarcely perceptible, but enlarging as the dis-
tance from the hive is increased. They thus take
into view all objects surrounding the hive, so that
they are able to return to their own hives without
difficulty. After one or two excursions begun in
this manner, the bee leaves the hive in a direct line
for the fields, without taking any further precaution
whatever, and returns by its knowledge of the ob-
jects in the vicinity of the hives, without difficulty.
Notwithstanding there might be a hundred hives
standing in a line, with only a few inches space be-
tween each, and all of the same color and appear-
ance, if left to itself no bee would enter the hive of
its neighbor, although there might be hundreds
of thousands of the busy workers from all the hives,
flying promiscuously about in the air. Each bee
knows its own hive perfectly, and if from anysacci-
dent it enters its neighbor’s house, immediate death
is usually the result; or possibly it may escape,
after being roughly handled, and made to under-
stand that it is trespassing on forbidden ground.
Some bee keepers, with little knowledge of their
occupation, often remove a hive of bees several rods,
in the working season. The result is, all the bees
that had marked the location (and all the old bees
had done this) are lost. They would continue to
leave the hive in a direct line, after its removal, not
taking the precaution to mark the location, as they
were unaware of the change, and when they were
ready to return they would return to the former place
112 LOCATION OF HIVES.

 

Bees may be safely moved a dozen miles or more,
at any time, as this takes them beyond their knowl-
edge of country ; but in such cases set the hives six
feet apart at least. If this precaution is not taken
and the hives are set close together, the bees will
rush from the hives on being let out, not knowing
the location has been changed, and when they re-
turn, many will enter the wrong hive, and be
slaughtered without mercy.

Therefore let stocks be placed, early in the spring
before they have marked the situation of the stands
they are to occupy for the summer, and not change
them after the bees have commenced their labors—
at least change them no less distance than twelve
miles.

 
iA ey aes
WINTERING BEES.

HE subject of wintering bees is of the greatest
importance, and one which is generally very
imperfectly understood, if we may judge from

the large number of swarms lost every winter and
spring. There are many methods recommended as
‘‘the best” for wintering bees. One will tell you to
keep them cold; another tokeep them warm. One
will say, put them in the cellar; another, bury them
in the ground; another put them in the attic.
Is it any wonder thatthe beginner becomes confused
and disgusted at so much conflicting advice? That
bees have been wintered safely by any and all of
these old plans I shall not dispute. But I am cer-
tain that neither plan will, alone, prove successful
in the majority of cases.

By all the methods heretofore recommended, a
large number of bees die from each stock, during
the winter; so reducing them in numbers that it
takes nearly the entire summer for them to regain
in numbers what they have lost ; while a very large
number of stocks are lost entirely.

It will be readily understood that the greater the
number of bees in a hive in early spring, the more
warmth will be generated; consequently the more

 
14 WINTERING BEES.

 

rapidly will the brood mature and the bees increase
in numbers. It is of the greatest importance to
have strong stocks in early spring. This is one of
the strong points of the new system of manage-
ment, taught in this book.

In nearly all the hives now in use, there is no
proper ventilation, consequently the honey in such
hives becomes sour, the comb mouldy, and the bees
diseased. It is impossible, in our variable chmate,
to winter bees successfully for any number of years,
with any degree of certainty, in the great majority
of the ordinary hives.

Some, who have met with heavy losses in winter,
have taken the ground that the loss was caused by
a poor quality of honey, stored by the bees in a wet
season, or a large yield late in the fall. But this is
a great mistake. Bees will not collect and store
honey not suited to their use as food; they make no
mistakes on this point.

I might discuss in detail all the different methods
of wintering bees, and show the great losses attend-
ing each, with causes, etc., but by so doing I should
consume more space than I can give in this work.
I shall therefore confine my remarks to ordinary
conditions of bees in winter, and the requisites to
insure uniform success in wintering.

In the winter, bees cluster as closely together as
circumstances admit, and the severity of the cold
demands. The more severe the cold, the closer
they, cluster together, in order the better to keep up
the animal heat necessary to maintain life.

By all the old methods, the cluster of bees is di-
WINTERING BEES. 115

 

vided by the sheets of comb, which is a great hind-
rance to successful wintering. In such cases the
bees cannot cluster compactly together, but are
spread out between the different sheets of comb.
In thé Controllable Hive, and on the plan of win-
tering here recommended, the bees in very cold
weather cluster in the space between the wire cloth
of the ventilator and the top of the frames of the
brood section. They are here able to keep up the
required amount of animal heat, as they can cluster
compactly, without anything to separate them.

By the ordinary plan, in sudden turns or very
cold weather, the bees between the outer combs are
often frozen to death. ‘‘Oh!” says some one,
‘that’s all humbug; youcan’t freeze a bee.” Cer-
tainly you can. To satisfy yourself of this, after a.
very cold turn of weather, look under your box hives,
if you have them, or any patent hive having a loose
bottom board to admit of an examination, and see if
you do not find hundreds of bees which have fallen
dead from the outside combs. I have examined
hundreds of stocks, and found them as here des-
cribed. If you don’t believe a bee will freeze, take
out a dozen from a.hive, in a severely cold spell of
weather in mid-winter, confine them in a box, and
set them out doors, letting them remain only one
night. See it they are not dead beyond resuscita-
tion, the next morning. This notion that bees will
not freeze, is a great mistake, and has led to some
very foolish experiments in wintering them.

A swarm ot bees of average size, put in proper
condition tor winter, will not freeze; but from this
116 WINTERING BEES.

 

it does not follow that a bee is proof against the
greatest possible degree of cold. When bees are
prepared for winter, as herein directed, they will, as
before stated, cluster compactly together. And as
the cold increases the cluster will contract, in ac-
cordance with the increasing of the cold, and con-
sequently no loss of bees occurs.

Another great cause of loss in winter is improper
ventilation, or no ventilation at all. Every swarm
of bees throws off a considerable amount of moist-
ure from their bodies. In very cold weather, if the
hive is not properly ventilated, this moisture col-
lects on the combs at the sides and top of the hives,
in the form of frost and ice. In moderate weather
this frost and ice melts, and runs down into the
hive, completely saturating the bees, and then, if a
sudden change to extremely cold weather takes
place, all are destroyed by freezing; or if they
chance to survive the winter, the moisture causes
the combs to mould, the honey becomes sour, and
thin like water, rendering it unsuitable food for the
bee, and bringing on diseases—dysentery, bee
cholera, foul brood, etc., and in a short time the
bees areall destroyed. Thousands of good swarms
are lost every winter by improper management,
and from being kept in hives not suitable for win-
tering. I give directions for wintering on my plan,
in Controllable Hives, and I feel confident, if direc-
tions are carefully followed, that many stocks will
be saved annually, which otherwise would have
perished. ;
WINTERING BEES. 117

 

How To WINTER BEEs IN CONTROLLABLE HIvEs.

Bees are wintered in Controllable Hives on their
summer stands, by my plan, without loss, by main-
taining an even temperature in the brood section,
and disposing of all moisture or perspiration thrown
off by the bees in cold weather. I have never lost
a swarm of bees in Controllable Hives in the win-
ter. I attempt to winter none, except strong,
healthy stocks. I have no mouldy combs, no sour
honey. The combs are kept perfectly dry, and the
hives in a healthy condition. Ido not lose a tea-
cupful of bees, on the average, from each of my
hives during the winter.

To winter in Controllable Hives, prepare as fol-
lows: At the commencement of steady cold
weather, which, in the New England States, is
usually near the close of November, put the bees in
condition to winter by entirely closing the upper
entrance to the hive, and the lower one shut up
about one-half.* Take out the box frames at the
sides of the brood section, and put the movable
partitions in place. Remove the boxes and feeder,
or honey board (whichever is in place,) from over
the brood section. Place the ventilator (described
elsewhere) over the brood section, so the lower

 

*To secure a slight upward draught of air, to carry off the moisture
arising from the bees, make a hole a half-inch in diameter in front and
rear of the cap, in the center, close to the top or roof boards. (And
here let me say, the roof boards, or boards covering the cap, should
project about an inch, as they can be more firmly nailed, and make bet-
ter joints; for driving rains must not be allowed to penetrate to the
inside of the hive.) The inside of each hole should be covered with
wire cloth, to keep out insects, etc.
118 WINTERING BEES.

 

edge of the ventilator, at the sides, will rest on the
upper edge of the movable partitions, on each side
of the brood section. Pack the sides of the hive
(that part occupied by the side boxes in summer)
closely with very fine hay or straw. Pack the cap
as full of the same matter as it can be crowded.
Then put the thickness of one or two inches over
the ventilator, filling up evenly, so when the cap is
placed over the upper part, the cap and sides will
be compactly filled. There must be no spaces left
unfilled, the object being to secure an even tempera-
ture in the brood section, and absorb all moisture
thrown off by the bees; and to do this successfully,
the cap and sides must be closely packed throughout.
When you have the cap and sides well packed, re-
place the cap, and the work is done. Shade the
front of the hives during the winter months. No
matter if the snow drifts over the hive so as to com-
pletely bury it from sight, let it remain ;—your bees
are safe.

A neighbor of mine bad fifteen stocks in Control-
lable Hives completely buried in snow over six feet
deep, and the crust formed over them so it would
bear a horse.” They remained under the snow,
from January until April, when they thawed out,
and every stock was found to be in first-class order.

When there is only a small quantity of snow about
the hive, say only enough to cover the lower en-
trance, and there should come a very warm spell
of weather, which would bring the bees out, be
sure to clear away the snow so they need not be
kept back by it. But it will take an exceedingly
WINTERING BEES. 119

 

warm day in winter to poise the bees from their
dormant state in the Controllable Hive and bring
them out for a turn in the open air. If the air is
warm enough to induce them to come out, it is
always warm enough for them to fly briskly. In
this respect there is a great contrast between my
hive and others. With other hives, an hour’s warm
sun will bring out the bees in winter, when the air
is cold, and the consequence is, they fall into the
snow and perish by hundreds. In this way stocks
are often reduced in numbers until all are lost.
The dysentery generally attacks such stocks (brought
on by the sudden changes in temperature in the
hive,) and hastens their destruction, by causing
them to leave the hive, when they would not do so
if in a healthy condition. Bees when wintered in
Controllable Hives as directed, will come out in
the spring, strong in numbers, and ina _ healthy
condition—in great contrast to the weak and dis-
eased stocks which have been wintered in the ordi-
nary manner. Ihave perfect confidence in the
method of wintering here recommended, for I have
had it in practical use for many years, and have
never lost a stock, notwithstanding some winters
have been very destructive to bees in this section,’
some, who practice the old methods, losing their
entire stocks. I learn from my correspondents in
all parts of the United States that there is great loss
of bees in winter; so great in fact as to discourage
many from attempting to engage in apiculture.

My plan of wintering is very simple, and com-
mends itself to every intelligent person. Ina few
120 WINTERING BEES.

 

words it may be meqraserd thus: The brood sec-
tion is secured against the effects of sudden changes
in the weather (this keeps the bees dormant
throughout the winter season, which is as nature
designed,) and provides for the absorption of all
moisture and perspiration arising from the bees,
while in a dormant state. These two points are the
foundation of successful wintering.

 
GAA PTE 20
TRANSFERRING BEES.

ee S some of my readers may have bees in ordi-
. nary hives, which they would like to transfer
#28) to the Controllable Hive, I will devote a chap-
ter to Transferring.

If you have bees in a box or patent hive, or any
of the thousand and one bee hive humbugs, which
are of little or no profit, and cause you much trouble
and perplexity in swarming time, and frequent and
heavy losses in winter, you can move them into
Controllable Hives—comb, honey and bees together
and manage them on the plan here recommended,
and they will winter well, come out strong and
healthy in the spring, and cause comparatively no
trouble in swarming time, yielding you a good
profit yearly.

The best time to transfer is as early in spring as
the weather becomes warm enough to keep the bees
active every day, which in the New England States,
is usually in April. It is a good time to transfer
about twenty-four days after the first swarm issues
from a stock, as at that time there is but little
brood, and usually but few bees. October is a very
good time to transfer, but not as good as either of
the times before mentioned. Great care is required

   
  

   
  
122 TRANSFERRING BEES.

 

to prevent robbing, and also to have the comb frames
all filled with combs. and in good position for the
bees to winter. As cold weather is so close at
hand, the bees will have but little time to arrange
for winter.

In transferring, construct the Controllable Hive
as directed, with exception of the comb frames,
from which leave off the triangular piece, as the
comb can be better fitted to a flat surface. Make
several holes one-fourth inch in diameter through
the top, bottom and ends of frames, and a like num-
ber of sharp wooden pins about two inches long to
fit these holes.

Early in the morning, before the bees begin to
fly, prepare your smoker, go to the hive you pro-
pose to transfer, and before you touch it, smoke the
bees at the entrances moderately, giving them two
or three puffs, waiting about a minnte and giving
them two orthree more. Then stop the entrances,
so no bees can escape. Take the hive from the
stand and carry it to some out-building, so the bees
from the other hives will not trouble you, and get a
taste of the honey, thereby inciting them to robbery.
Turn the hive bottom up, and with two sticks each
about a half-inch in diameter and twelve inches
long, strike the hive lightly half a dozen times, and
then wait for two or three minutes. Then with the
sticks on each side of the hive drum briskly (but
lightly so not to break the comb,) for about five
minutes. Then puff smoke under the bottom board
on all sides. Much of this preliminary work is for
the purpose of confusing the bees, and inducing
TRANSFERRING BEES. 123

 

them to fill themselves with honey from the cells of
the hive, asa bee gorged with honey will never
volunteer an attack for the purpose of stinging.
The bees are now ready to be transferred. You
will need some one to assist you, and it will be
necessary for you to put on your articles of protec-
tion, and keep your smoker in readiness for use, as
occasionally a swarm is hard to subdue, though the
great majority of them are perfectly docile after the
treatment recommended. But we are to ‘‘beard
the lion in his den,” and to be forewarned is to be
forearmed.

The bees usually manifest their submission by a
loud humming noise. If after you commence op-
erations (before you get the side of the hive off)
they show a disposition to be cross, replace the bot-
tom board, close the entrances, if open, and give
the insects a good smoking, at the entrances, and by
raising the botttom board enough to introduce the
smoke; give them the smoke freely for several
minutes. Then again remove the bottom board.
(These directions apply to the common box hive.
If hives of a different pattern are operated upon,
vary the operation to conform to the requirements
of the case, applying the same principles.) Then
with a chisel and hammer remove one side of the
hive (the side to which the bees have attached the
least comb,) and with a thin, sharp table-knife, cut
the edges of the comb from the sides of the hive.
It is well.to have a table or stand near by, with a
cloth folded in several thicknesses, on which to lay
the sheets of comb with the bees adhering, if neces-
124 TRANSFERRING BEES.

 

sary. The cloth prevents crushing. Cut outa
comb from the hive with the bees adhering, and
cut off the edges, if required, so it will fit the new
frame closely at the top and bottom. No matter if
it does not go the whole length of the frame from
front to rear, as the bees will finish it.* Have the
comb occupy the same position, relatively, in the
new hive, that it did in the old. When the comb
is in place in the frame, secure it by putting the
wooden pins through the holes in the frames into
the combs, and having fastened it firmly in place
by means of the pins, place it in the Controllable
Hive in its proper position.

Thus proceed, till all the frames of the Controlla-
ble Hive are filled, or the comb inthe old hive is ex-
hausted. In transferring. very old, black combs
should be discarded, even if you do not have your
new hive more than half full. Get all the bees, if
possible, in the new hive, and when you set it on
the stand, close the lower entrance entirely, and let
the upper one remain only one-half open, for a few
days, until the bees get well located in their new
home. Be careful not to crush any of the bees.
and take special care not to injure the queen.

As you will probably complete the operation of
transferring at about the time that bees will be fly-
ing briskly about the other hives, it will be better
to put wire cloth over the entrances, to confine the
bees you have transferred, and let them remain in
the out-building until about an hour before sunset;

 

*But very few hives are large enough for their combs to fill the movable
comb frames of the Controllable Hive.
TRANSFERRING BEES. 125

 

then set them on the stand and give them their
liberty. Keeping them shut up for the time
named, gives them a chance to take up the honey
which runs from the transferred combs, and which
might, if the bees were carried immediately to the
stand, incite robbing.

Transferring is by no means so formidable an op-
eration as at first appears. Ihave transferred a
very large number of swarms from the old box
hives, without protection for hands or face, and now
the bees seldom show any disposition to sting. Yet
I would advise beginners to protect themselves, until
by practice they become tamiliar with the work.
‘‘Practice makes perfect” is an old and true saying,
and it applies to all operations with bees, I assure
you. In my first attempts at this work I thought I
must be protected, and I would not for the world
proceed without a protector, and that of the most
invulnerable kind. Now, having had much prac-
tice, I feel no necessity for any covering whatever.
I trust I have made my method of tranferring per-
fectly plain, so that all who wish may avail them-
selves of its advantages.
GHAPTER AMI,
ITALIAN BEES.

  

Italian Queen. Italian Worker. Italian Drone.

HE Italian bee is a native of the Alps, and
was first imported to this country about the
year 1860. The Italian being a native of

mountainous regions and a high latitude, they were
reported to be extremely hardy and vigorous.
Those who were first to obtain them, were unani-
mous in their praise of the Italian bee, and fully
agreed that it was superior to our native or black
bee in very many respects. The good reputation
which preceded the introduction of the bee to this
country, by time and experience in their care, has
been fully vindicated.

The pure Italian bees are superior to the natives
in the following characteristics: They are more
hardy and vigorous, withstanding our severe win-
ters, with ordinary care, better than the natives;

 
ITALIAN BEES. 127

 

they are more industrious than the native bee, being
very active in storing honey in cool, windy, or
cloudy weather, such as keeps the native bees quiet
in the hive.

The pure Italian, being larger and more vigorous
than the natives, go greater distances to collect
honey, and as they are larger, they carry more at a
time, and being swifter of flight than the natives,
they go the same distance in much quicker time.
Then, too, the pure Italian bee is very beautiful,
nearly the entire body being of a golden color, so
that some of its admirers have given it the name of
‘‘golden bee.’’ It is very mild in disposition,
seldom offering to sting unless unreasonably
irritated. They show great activity in protecting
their hives from the bee moth, even when weak in
numbers. They also show the same trait in de-
fending their stores from the attacks of robber bees.
When the native bees have come buzzing around
a hive of Italians in search of plunder, I have seen
an Italian dart from the hive like a bullet, and seiz-
ing a native, while on the wing, bear him to earth
and dispatch him witha sting. This feat I never
saw a native bee accomplish. Being larger than
the natives they are able to reach the honey in’
the red clover, and many other flowers not ac-
cessible to our common bees, which makes an es-
sential difference in the amount of honey collected.

Rev. L. L. Langstroth says of the Italian bees:
‘‘They gather more than twice as much honey in
the same localities, in the same time, as the swarms
of native bees.”
128 ITALIAN BEES.

I consider the pure Italian bee a valuable and
very desirable acquisition. I have furnished severa]
of my lady friends with full colonies of them in
Controllable Hives, and they have expressed them-
selves as very much pleased with their gentle dispo-
sition and great beauty.

I think the points ot superiority here designated
will be found in the pure Italian bee. Very many,
who have purchased bees purporting to be Italians,
have been grossly deceived, having received simply
a native swarm of bees, the queen of which, a pure
native, had been impregnated by a drone having a
slight tinge of Italian blood; such stock was but
very little, if any, better than a pure native swarm.

I find I can make an improvement, even in the
pure Italian stock, by selecting queens for rearing to
supply my full stocks, and with eggs and drones,
from such stocks as show the superior characteristics
in the fullest degree. This course persevered in for
a term of years will show marked results in the im-
provement of the desirable points of superiority
found in the Italian bee.

I take great pride in my Italian bees. I believe
they are as beautiful specimens of this variety as it
is possible to produce, and possessing the character-
istics of superiority of the Italians in the fullest de-
gree. The points which I strive to cultivate and
develop tully, are: Industry, mildness of disposi-
tion, beauty of color, vigor of constitution, etc.

I have here given in brief my views of the Italian
bee, as I receive many letters of enquiry in regard
to them. I base my statements on practical experi-
ITALIAN BEES. 129

 

ence. I would advise all who wish to procure the
Italian bees, to exercise great care in selecting them
and purchase only of those who are known to have
pure stocks, for the best is the cheapest in the end,
no matter if the first cost seems high. If the worth
of the money is in the bees, the higher the price

paid, the better you will be satisfied. But do not
pay even a low price for inferior stock, for you val
not be satisfied.

I will give the results of keeping the pure Italian
bees on my plan as reported by persons who have
purchased this variety from me:

A gentleman in Vermont purchased of me, in the
spring of 1881, a swarm of Italian bees in a Con-
trollable Hive. Hecommenced feeding early, with
the view of increasing his stocks by new swarms,
preferring an increase of stocks rather than surplus
honey for that season. The result was an increase
of five swarms, all in good condition for winter,
and also over seventy pounds ot honey in glass
boxes.

Another, a lady in Kansas, obtained sixty pounds
ot box honey from a swarm of Italians, which she
obtained from me late in the spring of 1882.

A lady in Illinois purchased of me, in the spring
of 1880, a swarm of Italian bees in a Controllable
Hive. The first season she got one nice, large
swarm and a good yield of box honey. The second
season (1881,) she had two swarms to commence
with, and obtained four new swarms from that two,
and about five hundred pounds of nice honey in
glass boxes. In 1882 she had increased her stocks
130 ITALIAN BEES.

 

to ten, and reported that she was meeting with per-
fect success.

A gentleman in Rhode Island purchased of me a
swarm of Italians in the spring of 1883. They
gave him in June and July of that year, two fine
young swarms, and eighty pounds of honey in glass
boxes.

In the spring of 1882, a gentleman in Maine
purchased a swarm of Italian bees of me, and _ that
season they gave him five large swarms. They
were managed with a view of securing as many
swarms as possible, as the gentleman wished an in-
crease of swarms rather than surplus honey.

Every one who has a place to set a hive of bees,
would derive great pleasure, as well as profit, in
keeping Italian bees in Controllable Hives. They
are so docile, so very industrious and so beautiful
in color, that one finds real pleasure in their care.

Some of my friends claim that the honey collected
by the Italian is of better flavor and a nicer quality
generally, than that collected by the common bees ;
and this may be the case in some localities, where
there are certain varieties of flowers accessible to
the Italians, but not accessible to the natives, the
latter being smaller ; yet in my location I see no dif-
ference in the quality of the honey collected by the
two varieties, but a great difference in favor of the
Italians, in the quantity collected.
CA AP TER XTi,

COMB FOUNDATION AND HONEY
EXTRACTORS.

OMB foundation, or artificial comb, is one of

the greatest inventions of modern times. By
gi itsuse the production of honey is greatly in-
creased. To obtain the most satisfactory results
from the use of comb foundation, we must use
that which is manufactured from pure bees-wax.
There is much foundation offered to bee keepers
that is wholly unfit for use, the material used in
its manufacture being tallow, which is very much
disliked by the bees.

Twenty-five years ago it was thought impossible
to successfully imitate the bee in the construction of
honey comb, but invention has triumphed in this,
as in many other improvements deemed impossible.
We now have honey comb manufactured by skillful
workmen, so closely resembling that made by bees,
that it seems the bees cannot detect any difference.
I have always studied to give my bees every possi-
ble advantage, and I find that comb foundation, used
in conjunction with my system of feeding, secures
very large yields of surplus honey—much greater
than I could otherwise secure. I also find comb
foundation of great importance in furnishing en-

  
132 COMB FOUNDATION.

 

couragement to the bees when placed in the brood
section of the Controllable Hive. The bees work
with greater vigor; besides, with comb foundation
we can secure all straight comb. I can confidently
recommend the use of comb foundation. It will
give perfect satisfaction. Use none but the very
best. That with flat bottom cells, and high, sharp
side walls, measuring about ten or twelve square
feet to the pound, is best for surplus boxes. That
for brood frames should measure from six to eight
‘ square feet to the pound.

Honey ExTRACTORS.

In the first edition of this work, I said nothing
about honey extractors. for the reason that I could
say nos good of them at that time; and thought
perhaps time might show that they could be used
with profit by the bee keeper. I find, after a care-
ful study of the uses of the honey extractor, that it
cannot be used to advantage and profit by the great
majority of bee keepers, myself among the number.

I am sorry to say this, for I shall tread heavily on
the corns of some who have money: invested in the
manufacture of extractors, and such will be ready
to consign me to everlasting punishment, for not
recommending the use of honey extractors; but I
propose to give an honest, unprejudiced opinion,
based upon facts as they have come under my own
observation, and time and experience will prove
whether I am correct or otherwise. And right
here I will venture the prediction, that in less than
twenty years it will be impossible to find a honey
IIONEY EXTRACTORS. 133

extractor, as now used. As they are a hindrance to
profitable and successful bee culture, they must ere
long give way in the light of reason and progress,
as their faults and pernicious effects become better
known.

T will give some of the most prominent objections
to the use of the honey extractor. I shall not at-
tempt to enumerate all, as it would take more
space than I can devote to the subject :

First, the use of the extractor renders the bees
cross and irritable to the greatest possible degree.
And is it any wonder? The use of the extractor
requires that the bees be shaken and brushed from
the combs, every two or three days throughout the
honey season. Any one who is acquainted with
the nature and habits of bees, knows that such a
course would in a short time render them so furious
that it would be dangerous to go among them.
My bees are kind and never sting me voluntarily ;
but were I to abuse them thus, they would soon de-
cide that I was their enemy, and would sting me to
death at the first opportunity. And who would
blame them? Certainly not the dealers in honey
extractors, patent bee hives and the like. I don’t
want to shake and brush my bees out of their combs,
every two or three days through June and July, for
the sake of obtaining two or three hundred pounds
of extracted honey, which everybody will call a
counterfeit as soon as it is put in the market; and
which at best will not bring over twenty or thirty
dollars; when I can just as well, and with much
less trouble, have the same honey in combs in nice
134 HONEY EXTRACTORS.

 

glass boxes, that every one will know is just what
it purports to be, and which will sell readily for
seventy dollars or more. In removing the combs
for extraction, great care is required, or the queen
will be lost, the brood damaged, combs broken in
handling, and robbing incited. It is an established
fact in bee keeping, that if bees are frequently dis-
turbed in the honey season, they will work but lit-
tle, but will remain idle about the hive, to protect
themselves, rather than fly abroad to collect honey ;
and if this one point is admitted, it ought to be
sufficient to drive the honey extractor out of use.

I am aware that we have very large yields of ex-
tracted honey regorted, but let us accept such re-
ports with caution, remembering that extracted
honey is easily counterfeited, and dishonesty is
abroad in the land.

Now, if the objections which I offer to the use of
the extractor are real (and I maintain that they are,
together with many others not mentioned,) are
they not sufficient to banish the extractor from, the
apiary of every one who wishes to keep bees for
pleasure and profit?

But to go a little farther and compare prices—for
the past two or three years, extracted honey has sold
for six, eight and ten cents per pound, rarely for
twelve; and slow, hard sale all the way along;
while comb honey in nice glass boxes (such as are
used in the Controllable Hive) has sold readily
for from twenty-five to thirty-five cents per pound,
and frequently as high as forty cents. Some may
not see clearly why there is this difference in price.
HONEY EXTRACTORS. 135

It is expressed in one word: counterfeit. Extract-
ed honey can be easily counterfeited; comb honey
cannot. There is much in the market bearing the
name of extracted honey, not one drop of which
is the product of bees. I have frequently seen this
counterfeit in the market, nicely sealed up in glass
tumblers and labelled ‘‘Pure Honey,” and to make
the deception complete, a small piece of honey
comb, about an inch square, was seen in each tum-
bler. No doubt the comb was empty when it was
put in; but it seemed to delude many into the be-
lief that the article was pure honey, when not one
drop was ever produced by bees.

My advice to bee keepers is, Don’t use an ex-
tractor, but place your honey in the market in glass
boxes, such as are used with the Controllable Hive ;
and my word for it, results will please you.

 
LHAPTER XIX,
MONTHLY DUTIES.

HE successful management and care of bees

requires forethought and preparation for all
labor and care bestowed on them, if we desire
to bestow it at the proper time, and in the most
judicious manner. I have in this chapter given
only brief hints as to the work to be performed.
Such of my readers as are located in a climate es-
sentially differing from that of the New England
States, will perceive the necessity of varying their
management to correspond with the difference in
climate, etc.

 

I shall repeat some of the statements already
made, in order to impress them more thoroughly
upon the bee keeper. The object of this chapter is
to bring to the mind of the bee keeper the more im-
portant duties required in the successful use of the
system recommended in this work.

JANUARY.

We will commence with January as it is the first
month in the year.

In this month construct hives, glass honey boxes.
etc. Give the new hives a good coat of paint.
MONTHLY DUTIES. 137

 

They will last longer, and as they are to remain out
of doors the year around, it is very essential that
they be preserved against the weather. A good,
heavy coat of paint, spread over good lumber, will
prevent cracking and warping. Employ the time,
in this month of comparative leisure, in getting
everything in readiness for the approaching honey
season.

FEBRUARY.

February like January is not a busy month with
bees in the Northern States, neither do they require
much care. If not finished last month, continue
the work of January by making hives, glass honey
boxes, and all fixtures required in the management
of the bees in the coming season. In some sections
bees will fly briskly the last of the month. Clear
away the snow from the front of the hives at that
time. Set out ‘meal feed for the bees, provided
they fly briskly.

» MARCH.

At the commencement of this month, clear the
snow away from the front of the hives; raise the
hives up on blocks at the corners, remove the bot-
tom board under the brood section, and brush out
all accumulations, which might invite the bee moth
to deposit her eggs, if suffered to remain through
the summer. This accomplished, set the hive
back in its place. The first day that the bees fly,
set out the meal as heretofore directed. Commence
to feed liquid feed as early as the bees will take it.
Feed regularly every day, or every other day, at
138 MONTHLY DUTIES.

 

evening. When you commence to feed, remove
the packing from the cap, and also take off the
ventilator. The space over the comb frames not
covered with the feeder, cover with a small honey
board. Let the packing remain at the sides until
you have put on the side boxes, or until some time
in May, as it keeps the brood chamber warm,
which is essential in forwarding breeding. Opena
small portion of the upper entrance (about one-
third) and keep the passage open at the bottom, the
same as during the winter.

APRIL.

Early in April—the first warm, sunny day—ex-
amine your stocks, and see if they have fertile, lay-
ing queens. Ifthe queen is all right, there will be
eggs and brood in the brood cells. Don’t keep the
hives open any longer than is necessary, as the cold
air might chill the brood. At this time, if some
stocks have a large amount of honey in the combs
of the brood section, exchange such with some
stock that has but little; as it is a disadvantage to
have too much sealed honey in the brood combs in
the spring. It sometimes happens that all the
brood combs will be filled with sealed honey nearly
down to the bottom, leaving but a very small place
on two or three combs near the bottom for breeding
purposes. In such cases, take out two or three
combs, and exchange with other stocks having
empty combs, leaving in each such as have brood
and eggs, in every stock. Don’t take out any bees.
In this manner equalize your stocks, and all will be
MONTHLY DUTIES. 139

 

benefited. If any stocks are found queenless, or
with diseased or worthless queens, take means to
furnish them with a fertile, laying queen, as soon as
possible. In the meantime, keep the entrances to
such hives contracted very small, so but very few
bees can pass at one time, to prevent attacks from
robbers. Queenless stocks, or those which have
diseased or drone-laying queens, will not resist an
attack from robber bees with as much vigor as a
stock having a fertile and prolific queen.

MAY.

If surplus honey is your object the coming season,
early in this month put on the boxes at the sides,
and the last of the month, or as soon as the bees
commence work in the side boxes, remove the small
honey board over the brood section, and put on the
top boxes, except at the place occupied by the feeder.
It may be well to feed liberally for about ten days
before fruit blossoms appear, in order to get the
bees at work in the boxes. You can judge what is
best. If the stocks are backward in breeding, the
comb not filled with eggs and brood in nearly every
part, it will be best to defer liberal feeding until a
little later. You should have the brood combs filled
with brood and eggs before liberal feeding is begun,
else the bees will fill with honey what should be
filled with eggs and brood; and thus the number
of bees will be reduced from what there would be
if the queen deposited eggs in all the cells. You
want all the bees possible to gather the: honey
harvest of June, July, August and September.
140 MONTHLY DUTIES.

 

If you want swarms, don’t put on any boxes.

About the time fruit blossoms appear, or a little
before, open both entrances to their full extent, in
all strong and healthy stocks.

JUNE.

This is the month for swarms. It is also the
month, in most localities, when the best quality of
box honey is collected. Ifyou have arranged for
swarms to appear this month, have everything in
readiness for them. If you are arranging for sur-
plus honey, remove the boxes as fast as filled, and
replace with empty ones. Hive the swarms as soon
as clustered. Be sure not to let them remain in the
hot sun for any length of time. Have your hives
all ready. This month is a good time to rear
queens in the miniature hives. Keep the grass and
weeds about the hives cut down. They harbor the
moth miller, when suffered to grow about the hives.

JULY.

Continue to take off boxes as fast as filled. Keep
a sharp lookout that the moth worms do not get in
and injure the honey in the boxes which you have
removed. Ifthe supply of honey fails when the
boxes are only partially filled, feed the bees liberal-
ly, until the boxes are finished. Do this as soon as
honey fails, as the bees will store faster in boxes if
fed as soon as the natural supply of honey ceases.
It will be well to put ona few boxes—say, one side
to each new swarm which has been hived early:
and also on old stocks that swarmedearly. Put the
MONTHLY DUTIES. 141

 

boxes on one side first; then if the bees go to work
in them, put in the other side.

AUGUST.

If you have a market near home, the surplus
honey in glass boxes will sell very well the last of
this month, before honey is brought from away ; but
if you are to ship a great distance, the weather will
be too warm inthis month. Keep a close watch
that the boxes you have taken off do not get wormy.
Eternal vigilance is the price of success.

Keep boxes on your hives through this month
and next, for surplus honey. Keep down the grass
and weeds from about the hives.

SEPTEMBER.

In some localities, September gives a very good
yield of honey. I recollect one season in particular,
since I adopted my present system of bee manage-
ment, when the yield of box honey in September
was very remarkable. Some of my hives of bees
filled their full sets of boxes almost entirely in a few
days. I think that it was in considerably less than
two weeks, that they finished them up, and they
had only a slight start—a few small pieces of comb
in some of the boxes, and in the others none at all.

Feed at the last of this month, to complete all
partially filled boxes, and at the very last of the
month, or first of October, feed such swarms as may
be deficient of stores for winter, if you prefer to do
this rather than to equalize by exchange of comb
frames, as directed in another place. If you decide
142 MONTHLY DUTIES.

 

to thus equalize, do it the last of October or the
first of November.

OCTOBER.

At the commencement of this month, continue to
feed such stocks, if any, as are short of honey, yet
are supplied with a good amount of comb in which
to store honey. As the yield of honey from flowers
closes this month, at its end remove all boxes from
the hives. Such as are partially filled with comb
or honey may be set in acold, dry place, and remain
for use another year. If placed where they will
freeze, and then sealed up carefully, so the moth
miller cannot get in, they will be in good condition
when wanted next season. Boxes that have comb
about a third full or even less, are finished very
quickly by the bees. Besure to keep all such boxes
for the next season. You probably have a few
queens in your miniature hives. Look over your
stocks, and if any are found queenless, or with dis-
eased queens, give them a new and prolific one.

NOVEMBER.

The first ot November, if not already done, ex-
change comb frames, from stocks deficient in stores
to winter, with such as can spare a frame of honey.
Do this until all have stores sufficent for winter.
Twenty pounds of honey will render them safe
until you begin to feed in the spring. From the
middle to the last of November is usually the time
to prepare the hives for winter, by packing with
hay or straw, as directed in another place. This
should not be done until a few days before steady
MONTHLY DUTIES. 143
cold weather sets in. Care should be exercised
not to put it off until it is too cold; neither should”
it be done too early. Be sure to pack thoroughly.
Success in wintering depends ina great degree
upon thorough work in packing the hives.

DECEMBER.

In this month procure your lumber and all mate-
rial for making hives, boxes, etc., to be worked up
during the winter. If there are small villages or
large cities near by, you will find this month a
good time to market your honey, if you have any
on hand. With a little effort you can have ready
customers for your goods, or at least a portion of
it. Honey in glass boxes is in such nice shape,
that any one who likes a fine article, will pay a lib-
eral price for it, after they have once tested its
quality. Ina few years you will have established
a trade. with ready customers, near home, at re-
munerative prices.

 
DAAPTER 2X,
CONCLUSION.

   

@AMARE often hear this question asked: ‘‘Are bees
a § profitable?’ and the replies given are va-
yg gee rious, contradictory and amusing, varying
in accordance with the honesty, experience, skill
and success of the bee keeper. Such as have at-
tempted bee keeping with the old fashioned square
box hives, under the old system of management
based on fire and brimstone, will say there is no
profit in bees, and that you must not molest them
at all; if you do, ‘‘they will run out, and you will
lose your luck.”

There is another class, who have adopted all the
extravagant fancies of the patent bee hive venders,
paying large sums of money for hives worse than
useless, with what are claimed to be patent fixtures
—expecting a sudden fortune as the result, and
found the whole thing a fraud. Perhaps they have
been duped in this way a half-dozen times or more,
and always with the same result. This class will
tell you emphatically, that everything pertaining to
bees is a humbug and a cheat—no money in them,
etc.

In presenting the statements made in this work,
CONCLUSION. 145

 

I am not blinded or influenced by any selfish
motive, in condemning or recommending any one
system of bee management or hive. I only wish to
present facts, and do what little I can to make bee
keeping safe and profitable to all who engage in it.
There is much written on the subject of bees—their
habits and management, construction of hives, etc.,
which is mere guess work. A great deal is written,
too, for no other than selfish or prejudiced motives.
What is wanted is practical instruction on the sub-
ject—such instruction and statements as are based
on experience, and will stand the test of application,
when brought into active, every-day use.

The real, practical experience of the bee keeper,
who has devoted many years to the work, and will
tell what has come under his or her personal obser-
vation is worth much more than the finest spun
theory of the most learned and talented theorist; or
in other words, mere conjecture is a poor and un-
certain guide in bee keeping. It is an old but true
saying that ‘‘Practice makes Perfect.”” In no busi-
ness will this saying apply more closely or with
greater force than to bee keeping.

That bees are profitable when rightly managed, I
think I have shown in this little work; and that
they can be of no profit, as often managed, I think
is equally made clear.

The natural habits of bees have not been sufficient-
ly understood by the majority of bee keepers. This
has rendered them an easy prey to the many specu-
lators in bee hives of peculiar shape and construc-
tion, who are constantly urging their claims to pes-
146 CONCLUSION.

 

sessing great knowledge of bees, when perhaps
they never saw a bee; and care not one straw for
the advancement of successful bee culture. I find,
with the great majority of hives now in use, there
are many obstacles to successful and profitable bee
keeping. There is too little room for storing box
honey in them. Boxes are often difficult of access
to the bees, so that they manifest much reluctance
about entering them, often clustering on the outside
of the hive through the honey season, when they
should be at work in the boxes. Then, too, the
boxes are usually too large, which renders the honey
unsalable. Honey in large boxes often contains
cells of brood, and bee bread, or pollen, interspersed
among the honey cells, which area great damage
to it, rendering it very unsalable. Glass boxes,
each holding about four and one-half pounds, is the
proper size. A swarm of bees in a hive with thirty
of these boxes, judiciously arranged, will fill them
nearly as quickly as they would half the number, as
the bees have ample room to work without crowd-
ing.

There are a vast number of bee keepers who now
have bees which are of no profit to them, but in-
stead are only a perplexity and trouble. If such
would manage their bees on correct and scientific
principles, in accordance with their natural habits
and instincts, with judicious care and attention be-
stowed at the right time, and in the proper manner,
using a hive constructed in accordance with those
principles, they would be surprised at the results
which would follow.
CONCLUSION. 147

 

To succeed with bees, we should recollect that
personal experience is the best guide; and next to
this is the instruction of those engaged in the busi-
ness, who prove by the results which follow their
management, that they make bee culture profitable.
In commencing bee keeping, if you purchase bees,
use great care in doing so. Buy none but strong,
healthy stocks. If you purchase in box hives or
patent hives, you will be very likely, if not acquaint-
ed with bees, or unless purchasing of some reliable
person, to get diseased stocks; and again, a person
who keeps bees by the ordinary methods, is very
likely to have diseased stocks which he thinks are
all right. So, great care is necessary in buying
your outfit to commence bee keeping. Diseased
stocks are dear at any price. You want the very
best to start with, if you can possibly get them. Be
sure to get such stocks as have young queens, for if
the stock has a queen four years old or more,. (and
they are likely to be that old in box or patent hives,
under ordinary management, ) such a queen is liable
to fail at any time, and loss of the stock follows.

In commencing to keep bees, if possible start
with good, strong, healthy stocks, in the right kind
of a hive; then you will have no difficulty in chang-
ing them. But if this cannot possibly be done, be
sure to start with strong, healthy stocks. If you
must take second-class hives, of this class the plain
movable comb and box hives are best. But be sure
to let the patent hives entirely alone; they area
curse to the bee keeper. If you get your bees in
second-class hives, transfer them to Conttrollable
148 CONCLUSION.

 

Hives, or as fast as they swarm put them in Con-
trollable Hives. In this way you will soon have
your bees in shape to pay you a good profit.

When you begin keeping bees, study closely their
natural habits and requirements. Give them such
care and attention as your judgment and present
knowledge teach they require. Persevere, and ulti-
mate success is certain.

Every one who attains success with bees, will
find that there is something more to be done, than
simply to stand with folded hands, with the expect-
ation that a fortune must inevitably follow. Know
the precise condition of your bees at all times—
whether they are weak or strong, whether they are
without a queen, or whether the queen has become
so old as to have passed her usefulness. After a
period of years queens become barren, and unless
they are removed, and a young queen substituted,
the bees will rapidly decline in numbers, and all
disappear from the hive in a few weeks or months.

It cannot be too strongly urged upon the begin-
ner, this great necessity of securing strong, healthy
stocks to begin with; and it possible, get them in
the Controllable Hives. All who do not fully
understand the management and nature of bees,
would save themselves much trouble and perplexity,
by procuring, to begin with, one or more healthy
colonies in the Controllable Hive. Your chances
of success in the end, and your profits of the first
season, are greater from one swarm fn this hive,
than from six in second-class hives. If you pur-
chase bees in inferior hives, you will need to ex-
CONCLUSION. M49

 

ercise great care that they are not diseased. There
is not one box or patent hive in fifty (as ordinarily
managed) but that is diseased. They are either
badly infested with the bee moth, have old, mouldy
black combs, an old and diseased queen, or are in
some way diseased. No matter how low the price
paid for such stocks, they will be found expensive.
Be sure to get none but the best to commence with ;
they are the cheapest in the end.

I might illustrate this with many cases that have
come under my observation. One or two I will
mention: A gentleman in Connecticut ordered of
me a swarm of Italian bees in the Controllable
Hive, in the spring ot 1880, for which he paid me
twenty dollars. He wrote me in June that they
were doing finely, and that he never saw bees work
so well—they were at work in all the boxes, some
of then? being nearly filled with honey, and all
the combs being filled with bees at work storing ;
and from appearances he should get a large amount
of surplus box honey from them.

Another gentleman wrote me, about the same
time, asking my price for a swarm of Italian bees,
and when informed that it was twenty dollars, he
wrote me that as he could get the Italian bees nearer
his home for ten dollars, he would not order of me,
but would invest his twenty dollars and get two
swarms instead of one. He has since written me
that one of the swarms for which he paid ten dollars
he had lost outright, leaving him only a mass of
moth worms in old and mouldy black combs. The
other has proved to be queenless, and has caused
150 CONCLUSION.

 

him more trouble and perpléxity than it is worth, to
say the least. There is now not over a pint of bees
in the hive, but he has put in a queen and hopes to
save them from total loss.

I know of another case where a gentleman bought
six swarms of bees in box hives. They were very
heavy and he thought of course they were all right.
He knew nothing of the diseases of bee, and sup-
posed if they were heavy, and had honey enough,
that was all that was necessary. He bought them
in the fall at a very low price, and was much elated
over his purchase. Five of the six swarms died dur-
ing the winter, and the remaining one came out in
the spring so weak as to be of no profit whatever
the next season; and the next winter that also died.

It is an established fact that to succeed well with
bees they must be kept in hives suited to their hab-
its and requirements, and with the view of refidering
them profitable. Such is the Controllable Hive.
And they must be managed on principles in accord-
ance with nature’s laws, and the instincts and habits
of the honey bee. Such is the new system recom-
mended in this bbook—Brz Krrpinc REDUCED ‘ro
A SCIENCE; no ‘“luck,’? no ‘*guess-work,” no
‘‘chance” about it.

Trusting that this little work may be the means
of greatly increasing the profits of bees, I bring it
to a close.
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