SF 
 
BEE PRIMER 
 
 FOR THE PROSPECTIVE BEEKEEPER 
 
 By C. P. DAD ANT 
 
 Editor of the American Bee Journal 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 G. B. LEWIS COMPANY 
 
 MAKERS OF 
 
 LEWIS BEEWARE 
 
 WATERTOWN, WISCONSIN, U. S. A. 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY C. P. DADANT 
 
 Price Fifteen Cents 
 
 1 * *f \ I, J, M 
 
INDEX TO SUBJECTS 
 
 Advice to Beekeepers Page ig 
 
 Apiary, Location of 15 
 
 Artificial Swarming 8 
 
 Beginners, Instructions to 17 
 
 Bee Escapes 13 
 
 Bee Gloves i 
 
 Bees, Handling i 
 
 Bee Hive 4 
 
 Bees, Italian 8 
 
 Bee Moth 13 
 
 Bees and Poultry 20 
 
 Bee Veils i 
 
 Bellows, Smokers i 
 
 Brood Chamber 4 
 
 Body 4 
 
 Bottom 4 
 
 Brood Frames 5 
 
 Clothes for Bee Yard i 
 
 Comb Foundation 4-14 
 
 Comb Honey 8 
 
 Cover 5 
 
 Development of Brood 3 
 
 Division Board 5 
 
 Diseases of Bees 12 
 
 Drones 3-7 
 
 Escapes, Bee 13 
 
 Extracted Honey g 
 
 Feeding 11 
 
 Foundation Comb 4 
 
 Foul Brood 12 
 
 Frames, Brood 5 
 
 Gloves I 
 
 Handling Bees i 
 
 Honey Extractor g 
 
 Honey Knife g 
 
 History, Natural 2 
 
 Hive 4 
 
 Handling Honey Page 13 
 
 Honey Crops g 
 
 Horticulture 17 
 
 How to Start Right 21 
 
 Instructions to Beginners 17 
 
 Knife Uncapping 9 
 
 Location of Apiary 15 
 
 Natural History 2 
 
 Poultry and Bees 20 
 
 Prevention of Swarming 7 
 
 Propolis 4 
 
 Queen 2 
 
 Queen Rearing 8 
 
 Rearing, Queens 8 
 
 Robbing 10 
 
 Sections 5-8 
 
 Section Holder 5 
 
 Separators 13 
 
 Smokers, Bellows i 
 
 Super 4 
 
 Swarm Catcher 6 
 
 Swarming 6 
 
 Swarming, Artificial 7 
 
 Swarming, Prevention of 7 
 
 Section Honey 14 
 
 Shipping Case 14 
 
 Spring 18 
 
 Sundry Advices ig 
 
 Start Right 21 
 
 Transferring Bees 15 
 
 Uncapping Knife 9 
 
 Veils, Bee i 
 
 Wax Rendering 17 
 
 Wintering Bees 10 
 
 Wintering for Beginners 17 
 
 Workers 3 
 
 INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Among the Bees Page i 
 
 Bee Cellar 1 1 
 
 Bee Escape 13 
 
 Bee Hive 5 
 
 Bees Lying Out y 
 
 Brood Frames 5 
 
 City Apiary 21 
 
 Comb Foundation 4 
 
 Drone o 
 
 Extracting Hive g 
 
 Foul Brood 12 
 
 Gloves I 
 
 Hives in Snow 11 
 
 Honey Board 13 
 
 ^ ley Extractors g 
 
 iioney Knife g 
 
 Not Afraid of Bees 2 
 
 APR 25 
 
 Pretty Swarm Page 7 
 
 Queen 2 
 
 Queen Cells 2 
 
 Ready for Business i 
 
 Sealed Brood 4 
 
 Sections 5 
 
 Section Holders 5 
 
 Separator 13 
 
 Smoker i 
 
 Shipping Case 14 
 
 Swarm Catcher 6 
 
 Veils I 
 
 Worker 3 
 
 Worker and Drone Cells 4 
 
 Well Filled Sections 6 
 
 Well Sealed Honey 9 
 
 Winter Case ., ^ 1 1 
 
 1914 ©GI.A369852 
 
NEW Bingham 
 p^ P> ee5moker- 
 
 ^1^ Patented 
 
 ,11 \ -C^ ,/ 
 
 HANDI 11X10 RFF^ "^^^ ^^^^ °^ stings is the greatest hindrance to the popular 
 I IrAl 11/1^11 1\# UL.L-J keeping of bees. Were it not for this, bees would be found on 
 farms as commonly as poultry, for their honey is one of the most delicious of Nature's 
 products. 
 
 Yet, there is VERY LITTLE DANGER OF STINGS when bees are properly 
 handled. A little smoke, provided by the use of a BELLOWS SMOKER (Fig. i), at the 
 entrance of the hive and over the combs when opening 
 a hive will render the bees tractable. Bees do not sting' 
 when filled with honey. Like a man who has just eaten 
 a good meal, they feel peaceable. Frightening them 
 with smoke, before opening the hive, will cause them to 
 fill themselves with honey in anticipation of ejection 
 from their home. Keeping smoke within reach after 
 that will secure a quiet behavior in ordinary circum- 
 stances. You are in no more danger from a properly 
 managed hive of bees than you would be from the heels 
 of your favorite horse or from the horns of a gentle 
 
 milch cow. Bees 
 
 may be handled 
 
 without smoke, but 
 
 a novice should use 
 
 smoke until he has 
 
 become an expert. 
 A BEE VEIL 
 
 (Fig. 5) should be used to protect the face in 
 
 case of accident and gloves (Fig. 3) may be worn, but 
 
 the latter make your actions clumsy. We do not 
 
 recommend their use. 
 
 When you go among the bees avoid wearing black 
 
 or woolen clothes. White or light colored cotton 
 
 clothes are best, for cotton is a vegetable fibre, familiar 
 
 Fig. 2. Uearty fur business. 
 
 to bees, while wool is an animal product and is there- 
 fore disliked by them. Have your coat off and wear a 
 straw hat (Fig. 4). 
 
 Bees returning from the fields, or flying abouv 
 fields, are not prone to sting. Those leaving the hive 
 
 PAGE ONE 
 
^LK^ I ^ "^"''"f ^' '^^ '''^'- ^'■^ '^^ °">y °"^^ that need be feared Do not carelesslv 
 jar the hive, or strike at them or fight them, but go about quietly and avSd nnn^.tc ^ 
 quick motions or standing in the Hne of their flight to and from the hive """""'^^"^y 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 The honey-bees are scientific- 
 ally classed in the hymenoptera, 
 because, like the wasps, horn- 
 ets and bumble-bees, they have 
 four membraneous gauzy 
 wings. The scientific name of 
 the common or black bee is 
 "apis mellifica," owing to her 
 production of honey from the 
 nectar of flowers, which she 
 gathers. A slight chemical 
 change is made in the nectar 
 while in the honey-sack of the 
 bees, but its color, flavor and 
 quality remain the same. Syrup, 
 glucose or molasses, if fed to 
 bees, would not change in ap- 
 pearance, and clover honey 
 does not resemble either alfalfa 
 
 provide for them is a BEE-HIVE. ^^^ habitation which men 
 
 r^jrJ^^^^ f ^ ^^"^^ different kinds of inhabitants in a bee-hive the 
 QUEEN, the WORKERS, the DRONES. 
 
 THE OUEEN ^^'^ ^a) is the only perfect female in the 
 . . ^ hive, she is the mother and lays all the eggs. 
 
 This is her only duty, and so well does she perform it, that she 
 deposits, at some seasons, especially in spring, as many as 3,500 eggs 
 in 24 hours. The eggs are carefully laid at the bottom of each ceil 
 
 neve'^aSrThLT" '" ^u" u^"' ^^°''' ''^ "^^^^ ^^''' ^'' ^'"h' '" ^^e fields, on the wing. She 
 fivTv./rf TT ^'f^'V^' h've, except with a swarm. Her life's duration is from two to 
 five years. Usually after the second or third year her fertility decreases. A queen which 
 
 has been prevented from 
 mating by accidental con- 
 finement to the hive for a 
 period of about three weeks 
 after birth, is no longer able 
 to mate, but she can still lay 
 eggs that will hatch. These, 
 however, will produce only 
 drones. This ability to lay 
 eggs that produce life with- 
 o u t impregnation belongs 
 only to a few insects, and is 
 called "parthenogenesis." 
 
 The queens hatch in a 
 queen-cell, a peculiar shaped 
 cell hanging like an acorn 
 cup from the combs. (Fig. g.) 
 There is but one queen in 
 each hive at one time, except 
 when new ones are raised for 
 swarming or when an old 
 
 Fig. 9. Queen Cells, greatly enlarged 
 
 PAGE TWO 
 
queen is being superseded or replaced by the bees, when two or more queens may exist in 
 the hive at one time. In ordinary circumstances, queens fight each other to death. 
 
 THF WORKFRS (^^S- 7^) are the most numerous inhabitants of the bee-hive, as 
 IIIL. Vtv7I\1\LI\J also the smallest. They number from a few thousand up to eighty 
 thousand or more. They do what their name implies, build the combs, rear 
 the brood by feeding it and keeping it warm, harvest the honey, chase 
 intruders away and keep the hive clean. They ventilate their home in the 
 summer by the fanning of their wings and cluster together for warmth in 
 the winter. They have short, thick, smooth manibles that enable them to 
 tear the corolla of flowers and to build their combs out of soft wax, but they 
 have no teeth like wasps or hornets. They are therefore UNABLE TO 
 CUT THE SMOOTH SKIM OF ANY KIND OF SOUND FRUIT. ^^ • " 
 
 Bees have five eyes, three small round eyes in a triangle at the top of the head, called 
 "ocelli," and two large composite eyes formed of thousands of facets, one of these large eyes 
 on each side of the head. The latter enable them to see at a distance, the former enable 
 them to see within the hive, on the combs, in the dark. 
 
 They have FOUR WINGS, two on each side of the corslet or second segment of the 
 body. These wings fold over each other to enable them to enter within the cell where the 
 brood is hatching. They have THREE PAIRS OF LEGS, also fastened to the second 
 segment of the body. On the last or rear pair of legs of the workers, a small cavity, 
 called the pollen basket, enables them to carry home the pollen of flowers, which some 
 people, who see them so loaded, imagine to be wax, but which is used to make the pap for 
 the young. It is popularly called bee-bread and is the fertilizing dust of flowers. 
 
 The HONEY-SAC, or first stomach, is located in the abdomen or third segment of the 
 body of the worker-bee. The ovaries, or egg pouches, which are very large in the queen, 
 are almost absent in the workers, who are therefore incomplete females and unfit for mat- 
 ing, although they may occasionally be able to lay a few eggs which hatch as drones. On 
 the other hand, the sting, which is curved in the queen and used only to fight other queens, 
 is straight in the worker and accompanied by a much better developed poison sac, which 
 deposits venom in the wound made. 
 
 The ^v'orker may live as long as six months or more in the winter, when she is not 
 flying about, but in summer her life is very short, averaging less than forty days. She 
 literally wears herself out. 
 
 THF PiPONF^ (F'&- yc) are the largest inhabitants of the hive. They are reared in 
 IIIL lylWllLJ spring or summer and are usually killed as soon as the crop fails. 
 When any of them are noticed in a hive after the honey crop is ended, 
 it is an almost sure sign that the hive is queenless. They are the 
 males, do not work at anything, feed on the rtores within the hive 
 and spend the pleasant hours of the day flying about for pleasure and 
 in search of queens. The drone dies in the act of mating, and only one 
 or two drones are needed to fertilize the young queens of each colony. 
 But they are numerous, sometimes a thousand or more, so that the 
 ijiuuf young queen may readily meet one in the field. The drones of one or 
 two hives are ample for an apiary of hundreds of colonies, and it is 
 always best to replace with worker combs as much as we can of the drone comb within 
 the hives from which we do not wish to breed. 
 
 The EGGS, which are laid by the queen, hatch into grubs, or larvae, within three days. 
 At that time any larva that would hatch into a worker may be changed to a queen by their 
 enlarging the cell containing it, a worker-cell, into a queen-cell (Fig. g), and feeding it 
 plentifully of the best larval food prepared by the workers. That is why a hive which has 
 been made queenless may rear another queen, provided it has eggs, or brood, in worker- 
 cells, less than three days old. Dozens of queen-cells (Fig. q) are often built by the bees 
 in such an emergency, or in preparation for swarming. 
 
 DURATION OF 
 DEVELOPMENT OF 
 THE BROOD, FROM 
 THE EGG TO THE 
 PERFECT INSECT. 
 
 In the eg-g Day; 
 
 Growth of larva Days 
 
 Spinning of cocoon Day- 
 Period of rest Days 
 
 Pliange in clirysalis or pupa Days 
 
 (^liange to winged insect Days 
 
 Averag'p duration of changes 
 
 PAGE THREE 
 
ET 
 
 AAAAAASf***********.******* 
 
 
 
 The COMB! 
 h a n g i n , 
 downwaru 
 from the ceil- 
 i n g of the 
 hive, are built 
 by the work- 
 ers, of bees- 
 wax, produced 
 by eating 
 honey, much 
 as animals 
 produce fat, 
 and are thus 
 quite expen- 
 sive, both in 
 labor and ma- 
 . .. , , T, , terial. The 
 
 of SlmIlcI Brood. ... , . , 
 
 cells m which 
 
 the workers hatch, measure about five to the inch from wall to wall: those of the drones 
 about four to the inch: those of the queens, resembling acorn cups, are built as occasion 
 demands. About twenty-seven cells for workers and eighteen for drones, are found on each 
 side of comb, for every square inch. When combs are filled, they are sealed by the bees. 
 
 
 VV'Vt 
 
 m 
 
 Fig. 12. A New Comli, Worker and Drone Cells. 
 
 this reason the most simple hives are the best, 
 combs and the hive, is called a COLONY 
 called a SWARM. 
 
 COMB FOUNDATION (^i,^ 
 
 13) has 
 been invented to help the bees, by sup- 
 plying them with the 
 BASE OF THE 
 COMB made of their 
 own product, beeswax. 
 The rudiments of 
 worker-cells are 
 printed on both sides. 
 It helps to secure 
 straight combs in 
 brood frames and in 
 the little honey sections, saves much labor 
 and material to the bees and helps to 
 prevent the building of much drone comb. 
 Thus three very positive advantages are 
 derived from its use. 
 
 PROPOI K °^ bee-glue, is gathered 
 r rvvyr v/li j j^y ^j^^ j^^^g ^^ ^-^^.^^ j^^^ 
 
 as is the pollen, and is used to close up the 
 cracks and crevices. It is gathered from 
 the gum of several trees, is very sticky in 
 warm weather and brittle in winter, and 
 entirely prevents the use of drawers or 
 tight-fitting implements within the hives, 
 when such implements are left in their 
 reach during the late summer or fall. For 
 The combination formed by the bees, the 
 The bees, without hive, combs or honey, are 
 
 (Fi£ 
 
 THE BEE -HIVE ^^^ modem bee-hive is composed of the following parts: 
 14, next page.) 
 
 Floor, known to bee-keepers as BOTTOM. 
 
 Living room, known as BROOD-CHAMBER or BODY, in which the bees rear their 
 brood, xeep the pollen, and should have sufficient amount of honey for their needs in all 
 seasons. Store room or SUPER, in which the bees store the surplus honey which we take 
 away from them. This super may be for COMB HONEY or for EXTRACTED HONEY, 
 
 TAHE FOUR 
 
ilaiu I'arts 
 
 and is slightly different in each case. Several supers may 
 be piled on top of each other during a good honey harvest. 
 The bees must have the free access of all at THAT time. 
 Roof or COVER, which should fit on either the body 
 or the different tiers of supers. For convenience, all 
 parts should fit on any of the hives, so as to be inter- 
 changeable. Nothing is more inconvenient than to have 
 two or more different sizes of hives in an apiary. 
 
 The BROOD-FRAMES (Fig. 15) are wooden frames 
 or racks, in 
 which the 
 combs are 
 s u spended 
 s e parately 
 so that the 
 bee-keeper or 
 apiarist may 
 be able to 
 take a hive 
 of bees entirely apart and examine every nook, 
 to ascertain the conditions, hunt for the queen, 
 take away or exchange brood or honey and do 
 all the manipulations that may suit his method 
 or his fancy. It must be borne in mind that 
 modern hives are a progress because of the in- 
 sight they give us into the bee-hive, which is 
 no longer a closed book as it was centuries ago. 
 The man who buys modern hives and does not 
 avail himself of the manipulations they permit, 
 may as well go back to the box hives of his 
 grandfather. 
 
 The brood frames are placed from i^ to 
 iV, inches apart from center to center. Eight 
 and ten-frame hives are principally used in this country, and the most popular frame in use 
 is the I.angstroth. During the summer, the combs in the brood chamber or body are filled 
 mainly with brood, pollen and a little honey, but as fall approaches less brood is reared and 
 honey enou<^h to winter the colony is usually stored by them in the upper part of the 
 combs and in the rear. They never place their honey between the cluster or group and the 
 
 entrance, becauseit ^ 
 
 would be too much in 
 reach of robber-bees. 
 
 The SECTION- 
 HOLDER (Fig. 16) is 
 just what its name signi- 
 fies. It is a contrivance 
 to hold the sections in 
 place within the super 
 
 Brood Frames. 
 
 Section Holder. 
 
 The SECTIONS, or honey boxes (Fig. 17) are 
 little square frames placed in the super to be filled 
 with honey during the harvest (Fig. 18, next page). 
 The sections are from i^4 to 2 inches from center to 
 center, the ordinary size being 1%. They are usually 
 made in one piece of smooth lumber, of pliable 
 material like basswood, and folded. They are pro- 
 vided with a strip of very thin comb foundation by the 
 apiarist. A guide is indispensable, for the combs must 
 be built straight and in 
 the center of the sec- 
 tions, otherwise they 
 would be unmanageable 
 and difficult to ship 
 without breakage. 
 
 Sections or Honey Boxes. 
 
 Fig. 19. Division Board. 
 
 A DUMMY, or division-board (Fig. 19), is often used in 
 the brood chamber or body, to narrow down the space, in weak 
 
 PAGE FIVE 
 
colonies, by removing 
 
 unoccupied frames for 
 
 winter or early spring to 
 
 keep the bees warm. In 
 
 this way a large hive may 
 
 be fitted to the needs of 
 
 either a small or a popul- 
 ous colony. 
 
 In the spring or early 
 
 summer, after several 
 
 weeks of incessant laying 
 
 by the queen, when thou- 
 sands of young bees hatch 
 daily and the combs of the 
 hive can no longer accom- 
 modate its teeming popu- 
 lation, the bees prepare 
 for swarming, which is 
 the natural way of in- 
 crease, by building a num- 
 ber of queen-cells (Fig. 
 20) to replace the old 
 queen who will leave the 
 hive with the swarm, 
 usually after the first ""'"'•''■ ""-i> '-""i ^<" <i""- 
 
 queen has hatched. In some circumstances, however, the swarm leaves shortlv after the 
 bu.ldmg of queen-cells. During the warm part of a summer day, the bees rush peH mell 
 out of the h.ve and soon cluster upon a tree limb, a shrub, or some other obiect Tn cTose 
 proximity. Allowing them fully to settle upon the spot selected by them the apiarist^e^s 
 a hive in readiness. If the limb upon which they hang is of no value, it may be Tentlv cut 
 
 inZn / ruT """^ ^'. '""'"''^ °'"'^^'y •" f^°"t of the empty hive, which haf been pu 
 n shape and slightly raised from its bottom board with wedges or blocks The swarm is 
 then shaken upon a sheet or cloth spread in front of the entrance. As they recoSze the 
 she ter offered, they enter it and call each other by the fanning of their wUs making a 
 peculiar roar or hum. It the queen is with them the entire swarm w 11 Toon be Joused 
 If she ,s missing they will again take wing. With a little careful attention she mav be' 
 
 fill -'' T^'t T^'" ?;"'^""'- ^"^ ^''^^'^'^ t°-^^d^ ^he new hive, for she i very heaTv^anS 
 fl:es with difficulty. If the limb upon which the swarm has settled is too valSe to 2 cut 
 
 the swarm may be 
 shaken into a light 
 box, a swarm catcher 
 (Fig. 22), and car- 
 ried to the hive. A 
 very light amount of 
 smoke may be used 
 
 presenting 
 brood 
 or even an empty comb bor- 
 rowed from another hive tem- 
 porarily for this purpose. As 
 soon as a few bees enter the 
 hive and call the others, the 
 entire swarm follows. In 
 
 from^Ts'n^igiW"™" *'"* "''^ '^'''^ ""' hiving bees, nothing but the 
 
 PAGE SIX 
 

 
 H 
 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 ^ 
 
 Fis;, 21. A rretty i^^val■m on a Limb. 
 
 body, bottom and cover should be 
 used. The supers are put on only 
 after the queen has begun her 
 duties of laying eggs in the body. 
 Otherwise, we might cause them to 
 rear brood in the super, and this 
 would soil the sections and darken 
 their combs, making them unfit for 
 sale. When numerous swarms are 
 expected, in order to attract them 
 to a convenient spot for clustering, 
 a black stocking, a dry mullen 
 stalk, a sumac head or a dry comb 
 may be fastened in the most desir- 
 able place in full view, as they often 
 alight on a dark object and cluster 
 there. An empty hive in readiness 
 is sometimes seized upon by them. 
 If too much time elapses between 
 the clustering of a swarm and the 
 gathering of it by the apiarist, the 
 scouts which have gone forward 
 from the swarm, to look for a home, 
 may return, and the swarm will 
 then leave the spot and may be lost. 
 
 THE PREVENTION OF SWARMING 
 
 is often a failure, but by following 
 the method hereafter mentioned, 
 much swarming may be avoided: Keep your hives well shaded from the sun during the 
 hot weather. If trees are absent, use some sort of roof over the cover. For a very small 
 apiary, an open shed is good. Give plenty of ventilation. Bees should never hanp; out in 
 clusters (Fig. 23) on the 
 outside of the hive in the 
 busy season. Additional 
 room for ventilation by 
 raising the hive an inch or 
 two from its bottom and 
 additional super space will 
 usually secure constant 
 activity during the working 
 day, and will help avoid tht 
 issue of many swarms. 
 
 Too many drones are 
 also an inducement to 
 swarm. These burly, noisy 
 fellows are constantly in 
 the way, during the honey 
 crop. The removal of drone 
 comb and replacing of it 
 by worker comb in early 
 spring will help keep down 
 their numbers. I f t h e 
 drone comb was removed 
 without replacing it with 
 worker comb, and the bees 
 
 allowed to build in the same spot, they would probably build drone comb again, so it is 
 important to REPLACE drone comb with worker comb or comb foundation. 
 
 Lastly, if we produce EXTRACTED honey instead of COMB honey, and use very 
 large hives, we will usually succeed in avoiding natural swarming, which is often unde- 
 sired when the apiarist is absent during most of the time or has not the disposition to 
 watch his colonies to gather the swarms. 
 
 It should be borne in mind, however, that there is no infallible method of preventing 
 natural swarming. A queen and drone TRAP or a GUARD may be used, but those 
 implements are very much in the way of the bees and are not liked by the practical apiarist. 
 
 PAGE SEVEN 
 
APTIFiriAl ^WARMIISiri °^ dividing, when increase is wanted, may be 
 MI\III IV^Irtl- jnr^\l\lTlll'1VI resorted to in different ways, but the colonies must be 
 very populous and this method of increase should be avoided by novices, as it is often 
 overdone to the great detriment of the bees and the destruction of apiaries. 
 
 One colony may be built up from two others, which, for convenience, we will call A 
 and B, and the new hive C. Open A and remove from it the queen and the comb of brood 
 upon which you find her, placing these in the new hive or C, with a full supply of frames, 
 provided with comb foundation or tjtarters, ready for work. Now remove A from its stand 
 and place C upon it. Remove B to a new spot and put A in its place. The field bees of A 
 will come to C, and finding their queen there, will go to work as if nothing had happened, 
 especially if the new hive is of the same color and shape. The bees in A are queenless and 
 will at once proceed to raise a queen, unless you have prepared to supply them with one 
 that you have either reared or purchased from a queen-breeder, in which case this queen 
 should be in readiness and introduced at once. If they have to raise their own queen it is 
 well to replace the comb that has been taken away with a comb secured from some other 
 hive, as they would be sure to build drone comb. They always do this when they are 
 queenless. Since they have the field bees of B. they are delayed but little. As to B, it has 
 only lost its field bees, and within a week will be as good as ever. 
 
 During a good honey flow, bees from different colonies may be thus mixed without 
 danger, as they will not fight each other. The harvesting of honey renders them peaceable. 
 This is the safest method of making artificial swarms. Numerous other methods are given 
 in the text books. In making divisions of this kind, we must bear in mind that the old 
 bees always know their original location, and will return to it invariably unless we can 
 compel them in some way to take full notice of the change or unless they have abandoned 
 it voluntarily with a natural swarm. 
 
 Ol IPFISI RF ARIISiri '^ resorted to by the bees, whenever deprived of their queen by 
 ^ ixu./nr\ii IVJ ^j^g apiarist or by accident. But they must have eggs or young 
 
 brood less than three days old. Otherwise they are hopeless. A colony which is rendered 
 queenless should be provided with such brood, always from the choicest colony in the 
 apiary. ARTIFICIAL QUEEN REARING is carried on by specialists with selected 
 colonies, but this question is outside of the limits of this pamphlet and the student should 
 refer to books treating of this subject. 
 
 When queen bees are purchased, ITALIAN BEES should be given the prefer- 
 ence, as they are uniformly liked for their higher qualities and gentleness. Other races have 
 been tried, and among them the CARNIOLAN, but this bee is very similar to the common 
 bee in appearance, not possessing the THREE YELLOW RINGS v.'hich are character- 
 istics of the Italian. Purely ])red bees are to be preferred, other conditions being equal. 
 
 THE PRODUCTION OF COMB-HONEY ''' '''' one-pound sections is 
 •s.^..-^ ■^. -^w ^■•'^•.b. cai-ried on by the great 
 
 majority of apiarists in the United States. The super containing sections to be filled, 
 should not be placed upon the hive until the body is fairly well occupied by bees and brood, 
 just at the opening of the honey flow, in early June usually, when white clover gets into 
 full bloom. Partly built sections remaining from the previous year may be used as bait to 
 draw the bees up into the super, provided those sections are clean. 
 
 When colonies swarm, this usually puts an end to the production of honey in their 
 super. In that case, and if you wish to get as large a result as possible, you may follow this 
 method: Remove your swarm.ed colony to a new spot, at the time when you gather the 
 swarm and place the hive containing the swarm on the old stand. This will secure all the 
 field bees to the swarm and within two days you may give this swarm the supers of the 
 parent colony. This deprives the parent colony of so many bees that it may suffer if the 
 weather be cool, so judgment must be exercised in this matter. Instead of placing it in a 
 new spot, you may exchange it with another colony which has no supers to fill, so that it 
 will secure its field workers. 
 
 In a very good honey crop, additional supers may be placed on a colony that is filling 
 the sections rapidly, but this must not be overdone, as you run the risk of getting a large 
 lot of unfinished sections, should the weather prove unfavorable and the crop of short 
 duration. You cannot always predict a crop from the number of blossoms in the fields, 
 and we have often seen a failure of honey production, due probably to atmospheric causes, 
 when the pastures were white with clover bloom. The causes of honey production have so 
 far remained unexplained. Two crops of honey, in June and August-September, are usually 
 harvested in the Mississippi valley and the Lake region. After each of these crops it is 
 
 PAGE EIGHT 
 
apiarist 
 (Fig. 24 
 
 offers on the market absolutely clean sections of WELL-SEALED HONEY. 
 ) 
 
 THE PRODUCTION OF EXTRACTED HONEY tlTut^^ Ttt 
 
 story hive (Fig. 25), both stories being of same depth, although the author of this treatise 
 prefers shallow supers over very capacious hive bodies. The honey is extracted by centri- 
 fugal action, by uncapping the combs with the UNCAPPING KNIFE (Fig. 26) and placing 
 
 them within a HONEY 
 EXTRACTOR (Fig. 27) in 
 which they are revolved 
 against a screen with enough 
 speed to force the honey out 
 against the sides of the can. 
 The comb remains unbroken 
 and may be returned to the 
 bees, season after season, 
 being every year better and 
 stronger than before, for the 
 bees add new wax to it each 
 time. The bees being thus 
 provided with combs already 
 built from the previous sea- 
 son, much time and labor is 
 saved and a much greater 
 return secured. Were it not 
 that extracted honey sells 
 United States at a less price than 
 comb honey in sections, the honey- 
 extractor would be universally used, 
 for a colony which is provided with 
 empty combs ad infinitum is much 
 
 Fig. 26-. 
 
 Bingham 
 
 Uncapping 
 
 Knife. 
 
 the 
 
 ;-Story Hive for Extracting. Witli Two F"iill Deptli Bodies. 
 
 Fig. 27. Iloncy Extractors. 
 
 PAGE NINE 
 
less apt to swarm than the one that is run fnr c^^t;^,, i,„ j , 
 
 The supers for extracting are put upon the h ves at he s.m7r ""^ ^V '^""^ "" ''' '°"'^'- 
 greater number. The rlmovLl of 'them whirfu 1 it not "o u'ln? Ste^th ' '°"'^K '"' '" 
 the appearance of the sealed honey has no importance"n th°s case ''°'' '' 
 
 Extractmg should not be done until the honey is well rioened • fr.^h u 
 large per cent, of water, and often runs like water when handled' It wn 1h'^ contams a 
 If taken too soon. The bees ripen it and evapome it wh le in h^ comhTh ''"f-^^ 
 ventilation. ^ wuuc in tne combs by active 
 
 Extracting should be done within the honey-house awav frnrr, th^ u rr , 
 
 no honey in the fields, it is well to wait until evenin" to rltTrn th ^^^ ^^^^- J^ ^here is 
 the smell of the honey induces ROBBINO Whln^ ^ ^""^^^ ^° ^^^ bees, for 
 
 once repair the combs [orefirtLm''a^^L?;st^p:nt;:^^^^^^^ °^ ^'^"^' '""^ ^^^ ^^ 
 
 ROBBING lYz tt'XT'ir:%x:u::i: r^r °^ '--i-^--^- ^^^ -°-^^ 
 
 spring and whenever there is a dearth of honey the 'tron. T"" 'f l^'^ '^^' ^'^ht in the 
 rob the weak ones or those whose stores are e^p^sed^n^ndw'b.i: '°^°""-^ '"^'"P^ *° 
 your weak colonies, especially those that haveTobe ed A OUEENL^^'-^""*^' '^'''' 
 
 winter, is in great risk of being robbed bv the strnncr./^ y UtKNLESS colony, after 
 
 some evenini, to another cofo^y by L^r yfnt itsTee^^^^^^^^ 
 
 other hive, in which space has been prepared " j7 XTuJ "^^^ ^^"^^ '=°^^''' ^° ^he 
 
 smoke used until all ire thoroSy frightened th^v \fT '" "°' ^"^'^"'" ^"^ ^ ^^"le 
 will unite peaceably. ^"""^o^-'^'y brightened they will be prevented from fighting and 
 
 iooks^1u\^^to^?hrtsr;T;;Sg'?Hr;h^;rt£^a^ ^^^^°-' -^ ^^^^^ ^^--y 
 
 sweets. Healthy colonies are readilv nXrt.H f S'^d crevices, in search of forbidden 
 the entrance of t'he hive" fth a'bloci; Stood'orir 1 ':'■" Bu'TtSf ""^r'"^ '^^^ 
 of prevention is worth a pound of cure <^nmPt,-,^»o ux^ , ' ^'^'^ matter, an ounce 
 
 may be protected by exchan."ne ts locatinn^r ^ , "°u'^u '°'°"y "^^''"^ '^ ^°^th saving 
 The rob'bing colon/mayeafly^ detected by sprinkHn' the ' tb'^'^^^^"^. "^''^'^ '""b^ '^ 
 then interesting to note^the as^onishmeS of thVrTbt bis ^Cn thev'fi'L'tf •^°"''- J' '' 
 where they expected to find plunder ^ ^"^ ^beir own home 
 
 scarJt;^^?i.t^n°?h^hon:yrop^S^'n°T&ERrrRrN'^^ ^°°- ^" ^-- ^^ 
 
 for all bees prefer the freL nTctar°o"f flowl^s'^to^^h? b'^e^ ho^n^y'^'^ Whe'l'' ^^^^^.^S. 
 sneaking about the hives, examining the cracks vm, mlw hf ^' . u y°'' ^^^ bees 
 
 much honey in the fields. -racks, you may be certain that there is not 
 
 TO WINTER r""" ^^^' successfully, first make sure that they have eno„ah =. 
 lifting the hive. In th^ cLTTc^ount^ mtfbl t^k "^f >: i"^^^ ^f SetluToTs'tor by 
 combs may add to the usualweight of a h"ve Sn pounH " ^^' °' '^^ ''''"'''■ ^ery old 
 Twenty-five pounds of honey, at leas Is necessar'v tn °!; "T" '^'*''°"' comaining honey, 
 be wintered with less in the cella^ but ZlZf^ J!!^' ^^^' °"' °^ d°°"- They may 
 
 spring to rear brood. INDOOR winding 'houW he ^b^'^'T"' '"^^ '""^ ^^ '^^"^s-y - 
 the Mississippi valley and Lake reTiSn (DUTDoOr ^' ' "° - °^ *^' ^'^ '^'^"'' *" 
 
 are ^S^n "f^^SJ^f^.^S » ^Va^f " " i" a „.„-„,,. 3i,„. TH. „,„.Hes 
 ?,""''" f " much ,he%es., thougJ™ i„d sp.nsabl a Put'.ht?""- "' ""'"""^ °"'' 
 
 woolen carpel,, bags full „£ charts, leaS e^c ^n' '>"»'5 , "•"''^- ™ch as old 
 
 thaw and freeze at the entrance and intercem v^m-T',- .'1"°' "■>'"•«"= if " does not 
 
 weather is well sheltered. Should a wirm da. c^™, Ih"' * '""' """=" '" "•""" i» ""> 
 
 StthtS %°4t,'" """ ="■» --"r^^rr-^rja^-d^-e-rp'e^' 
 
 PACK TEN 
 
honey-dew nor fruit juices, which are sometimes 
 gathered from decaying fruit in bad seasons, the 
 bees will stand a very long cold spell. 
 
 FFFnilSin should be resorted to only when the 
 iLt-Ullivl ^ggg j^^^g 3n insufficient amount of 
 winter stores, or in spring when the blossoms are 
 delayed, or during the interval between the fruit 
 bloom and the white clover crop, as they breed 
 heavily at that time and consume a great deal. 
 Bees may me found starving even when there are 
 blossoms in the fields, if the weather is not favor- 
 able to the secretion of honey. Allowing them to 
 starve at such time is worse than killing the hen 
 that lays the golden eggs. 
 
 Feeders of all kinds are to be had. The best 
 are those which place the food nearest to the brood 
 and the farthest from the entrance. Do not feed 
 any unknown honey, no matter how good it may 
 appear, for it may contain germs of bee diseases 
 which are harmless to human beings, but death 
 to the bee-larvae. Feed honey from your own 
 bees or from some other known source, or feed 
 sugar syrup made by diluting two pounds of the 
 best granulated sugar in one pound of water; 
 sugar candy made like the popular "fudge" and 
 placed over the combs, is also good winter food. 
 For spring, the liquid food is best, especially if 
 warm. 
 
 In feeding your bees and in all the other 
 manipulations of the apiary in times of scarcity, 
 avoid attracting robbers, especially if the colony 
 is weak. If the robber, who flies about the hive in 
 a quick, sneaking, nervous way, can gain adrnit- 
 tance, it will carry away the stores and bring 
 others from its own hive until the colony is 
 
 Via. :M). In tlie Snow in Midwiutm'. 
 PAGE ELEVEN 
 
overpowered. A short method to protect a hive from robbing when it is threatened and 
 has been fed or handled, is to throw a bunch of fine grass over the entrance. In this 
 grass the guards of the hive can readily seize and frighten the robbers. If feeding is done 
 in the evening, the bees are less apt to be annoyed by robbers and have time to put the 
 food away in the cells, where it gives less smell and is safer. Syrup attracts robbers less 
 than honey. Combs of honey from rich colonies exchanged for dry comb of destitute 
 colonies are very useful for feeding. 
 
 DISEASES OF BEES are few. Those of the adult insect consist first in. 
 DIARRHEA, which is caused by thin or unhealthy honey consumed in very cold, long 
 winters. It is rare, but has been known to destroy entire colonies. The best way to pre- 
 vent it is to have none but good, ripe honey in the combs for winter. 
 
 Another disease of the adult bee is the MAY DISEASE, also called PARALYSIS and 
 CONSTIPATION. The bee crawls about in misery with loaded and fetid bowels, and 
 sooner or later dies. This usually disappears at the opening of the crop. It is uncommon 
 and rarely destroys entire colonies. 
 
 The worst of all bee diseases attacks th brood and is called FOULBROOD. (Fig. 
 31.) The true, malignant, contagious foulbrood is readily recognized, when sufficiently 
 advanced, by three positive signs: the ROPINESS of the decayed matter; when you 
 insert a small stick into it, it stretches into ropy or rubber-like filaments : the COFFEE 
 COLOR, the larva is at first whitish, then yellow, and afterwards of a dark brown color: 
 the GLUE POT SMELL, this is usually noticeable only when the disease is far advanced. 
 Foulbrood is due to a fast reproducing microbe called "bacillus larvae" (by some "bacillus 
 alvei"), whose spores are readily transported from hive to hive by the bees or by the 
 apiarist, most especially in the honey. Luckily, it is infrenuent, the writer having kept 
 bees for forty years before he saw a single case. But owing to its rapidity in reproducing, 
 it should be fought with the utmost vigor, as colonies attacked by this disease soon die 
 out. Modern bee-keeping tends to increase its spread, owing to the frequent shipping of 
 honey, bees, queens, etc., from one part of the country to another. 
 
 TO CURE FOULBROOD, open the hive in the evening, preferably at the beginning 
 of the honey harvest, when there are no robbers about, remove all the bees by shaking 
 them on a sheet of paper or oil-cloth, in front of a clean, empty hive with only foundation 
 starters in the frames and located on their own stand. Leave them three days without 
 combs or food, so they may use up the honey within their stomachs. At the end of that 
 time transfer them again into a hive containing sheets of foundation. The combs of the 
 old hive should be melted into wax and the wax and honey heated thoroughly and kept 
 about the boiling point of water for an hour. The brood should be burnt up. It is best to 
 singe the inside surface of the old hive, body, bottom, cover and frames, by coating them 
 
 slightly with 
 oil and al- 
 lowing the 
 flames to 
 cover them 
 for a few 
 seconds. 
 Better yet, 
 they may be 
 singed with 
 a tinner's or 
 p a i n t e r ' s 
 gasoline 
 torch. The 
 operator 
 should care- 
 fully cleanse 
 his hands 
 and all in- 
 s t r uments 
 after each 
 ope ration. 
 By following 
 this method 
 foulbrood is 
 suppressed 
 
 N. E. FRANC 
 
 State ln?imrff^r nf 
 
 PAGE TWELVE 
 
before it has had time to spread. If there is no honey in the fields, the bees, of course, 
 
 '""Anothe'r'form of foulbrood, called "BLACK BROOD" or "EUROPEAN FOUL- 
 BROOD," in which the symptoms are slightly different, the ropiness less apparent, may be 
 cured by removing the queen or caging her so as to allow the bees to clean out all dead 
 Sood. Shortly after the last bees have hatched, or in about thirty days, the queen may 
 be released or a new queen given. By that time the disease is usually overcome. But this 
 is impracticable in the true ropy foulbrood, because the bees can never clean out all the 
 dead 'arvae. Even if they did!^it is well proven that such combs P^Pf "^^^^^'^^/^X; 
 unless strong amiseptics are used, which the average operator cannot ^Jo'-d t° ^mher 
 with. In either of these diseases, the seals or caps of the «"\^°"^^\"'"g,f;fVfcKLED 
 Dunctured or sunken. A very mild form of disease of the brood is called PICKLED 
 ^ROOD Some larvae die, but usually dry out so that they may be shaken out by inverting 
 the combs. It is unimportant. Unimportant also is chilled brood, ^Jat has been k 11^^^ by 
 accidental exposure to cold, or starved brood, which has died for lack of sufficient food. 
 
 The BEE-MOTH has been considered a very dangerous enemy of bees. But modern 
 methods have proven that this insect cannot harm healthy, strong colonies of bees. Like 
 Se carrion file's that lay eggs in the body of dead or dying ->--l%-^<? P^ombs of weak 
 by the million, the bee-moth is a predatory insect which lays eggs in the combs of weak 
 o?queenless or dead colonies. Its larvae grow and feed upon the cocoons, wax, propol^ 
 and detritus of old hives. If your colonies are strong, your bees have nothing to fear frorn 
 the moth. If you wish to preserve empty combs or combs of honey, free from ^oths^keep 
 hem in a well closed box after having burned a little brimstone, ma dish or crock, withm 
 the box Or use a few drops of bisulphide of carbon on a rag or in a saucer within the 
 box This drug is inflammable and should be used with care. The burning of brimstone 
 wi'hin the hon!y-room in a dish, in quamity sufficient to kill the flies, will destroy he 
 moth. Neither their eggs, nor the winged insect can stand the winter in a room where the 
 Smperature gets downibout zero. The only way in which the bee-moth perpetuates in 
 this climate if by an occasional larva escaping the vigilance of the worker bees n some 
 warm nook of a populous hive, or by the apiarist keeping some combs over winter within 
 the walls of a warm house. 
 
 THE PROPER HANDLING OF HONEY ^tt^;^^,tS::^ti 
 
 of great importance. Do not use smoke in large amount over the combs that are to be 
 removed, for it taints the honey perceptibly, especially if strong, like tobacco smoke. Use 
 just enough to handle the bees safely. A case of comb honey raised oft the hive and laid 
 carefully down upon a bottom board close at hand, may be covered with a sheet. The bees 
 will leave it promptly and return to the hive, crawling out from under the sheet. No 
 occasion should be given them to come back, however, as they would sooner or later carry 
 
 all the honey back to the hive. „ .^. . u ^ ■„ 
 
 BEE-ESCAPES (Fig. 32) are very handy in 
 removing bees from either extracting supers or section 
 supers. They are placed in a special HONEY- 
 BOARD (Fig. 33) which is inserted between the body 
 and the super of the colony, in the evening preceding 
 the intended removal of 
 the honey. Care must 
 
 be taken not to leave any crevices through which robber 
 
 bees might pass in or out, since most of the inmates will 
 
 have left the super without defense against intruders from 
 
 without. The only possible danger in the use of bee- 
 escapes is in very hot weather, in a hive exposed to the 
 
 rays of the sun when the super, which has no room left for 
 
 ventilation, except through the very small opening in the 
 
 escape, may be subjected to a temperature high enough to 
 
 break down the combs. Outside of this possibility, the 
 
 bee-escape is highly commendable for the removal of honey 
 
 FiK. •■'.3. Escape in Honey Board. 
 
 Fig. 34. Separator. 
 
 SEPARATORS (Fig. 34) between the sections, whether 
 of wood or metal, are necessary if you wish to produce fancy 
 honey which may be handled or crated without danger of 
 scratching the surface of the combs. When separators are 
 not used, the sections must be placed within the SHIPPING 
 
 PACK THIRTEEN 
 
CASES in the same position as they were built, so that inequaUties in the combs may lit in 
 their proper places. But in the production of extracted honey, or if you wish to raise comb 
 honey only for your own consumption, separators are not desirable, for they are 
 impediments to the free action and ventilation within the hive. 
 
 For the above reason, queen-excluders, to keep the queen out of the supers so that she 
 may not lay eggs in those combs, bee-entrance guards and queen and drone-traps to keep 
 the queen from leaving the hive and to destroy the drones as they emerge, are not to be 
 recommended unconditionally. But, these contrivances are used by many people, 
 nevertheless; if removed as soon as no longer needed, they prove useful in some cases. 
 
 SECTION HONEY is put up in SHIPPING 
 
 CASES (Fig. 35) with glass on one side and paper at 
 
 the bottom to keep dripping honey from running out. 
 
 The sections along the glass should be a fair average 
 
 sample of those within. It is neither profitable nor fair 
 
 to misrepresent. 
 
 EXTRACTED HONEY is kept in tanks or barrels 
 
 until the end of the warm season, when it should be put 
 Shipping Case. up for sale at retail before it GRANULATES. In 
 
 JUNE HONEY, granulation takes place about the first 
 of September, and in FALL HONEY by the end of November. This is the rule, but not 
 without exception. Honey which has been harvested too soon, is sometimes watery. 
 Some of its water may be evaporated during the summer by keeping it in a very warm, dry 
 room, but it is far best to delay harvesting until it is fully ripe and thick. 
 
 Square cans, glass jars, tin friction top pails, are the most serviceable packages for 
 extracted honey. No impurities should be allowed in the retail packages. Honey is very 
 heavy, twelve pounds to the gallon, and all impurities, such as broken particles of comb, 
 bees, etc., rise to the surface, and should be skimmed off previous to bottling. 
 
 Granulated honey may be liquefied by slow heat, but as this product contains very 
 volatile essential oils, from the blossoms, which give it its fine flavor, and as it may be 
 scorched readily, it should never be heated over a direct fire. Over water, or in a water 
 bath with the temperature of the water BELOW THE BOILING POINT, honey will 
 melt until it has regained its liquid form, and will after this be slower to granulate again. 
 Very ripe and thick honey granulates in soft, butter-like grains. Honey that is more or 
 less unripe, granulates in lumps like sugar, with watery particles about the lumps. Such 
 honey will improve by being melted properly, as it will evaporate more or less of the 
 watery particles. 
 
 There is no such thing (and there never was) as artificial comb honey. The making 
 of comb foundation, the base of the honey-comb, from pure beeswax, used as guides in 
 frames and sections, gave rise to the story of artificial comb honey, the making of which 
 would be beyond the power of man. COMB FOUNDATION secures straight combs, 
 worker combs, saves the bees immense labor, is made of their own product and has come 
 to stay. It is used in full sheets: sometimes in the brood chamber it is strengthened 
 with light wires imbedded in it. Care should be taken in giving it to natural swarms, as 
 they may hang upon it and break it down with their weight before they have fastened it 
 sufficiently. It is best to alternate it with built combs to lessen the load. 
 
 Narrow sheets of comb foundation, used to guide the bees, and hung to the ceiling 
 of either sections or frames, are called STARTERS. They are indispensable to secure 
 straight combs. In sections some apiarists use a triangular sheet hanging from the ceiling 
 and a very narrow strip at the bottom. This causes the bees to fasten the comb at the 
 bottom as well as at the top, and insures safer transportation, for a comb which is fastened 
 only to the top is very easily broken out. Full sheets in sections are, of course, preferable. 
 To begin in bee-culture, it is not advisable to buy more than from two to five colonies 
 of bees until you learn how to handle them and make sure that you will enjoy working 
 with them, for a neglected apiary is worthless. Colonies or swarms may usually be 
 bought cheaper near home than by sending away for them, owing to the expense of 
 expressage. If you buy full colonies, try to make your purchase a little before fruit bloom, 
 as at this time they are lightest and can be most easily transported. 
 
 Inspect the inside of the hives, selecting those that fly the strongest, and make sure 
 that they have healthy brood in the combs. As a matter of course, you will buy bees in 
 movable frame hives, for it is quite a task for a beginner to transfer bees, and bee-keeping 
 is out of the question without movable frames at the present advanced stage of the pursuit. 
 
 PAGE FOURTEEN 
 
If you have to move the bees but a short distance, you will have no difficuhy, by 
 simply naihng a wooden block before the entrance and making sure that the bottom board 
 and cover are fastened down so they cannot be removed hy jar. We usually tack a cleat 
 over them. Move the hives during cool weather or at night. If you must wait till warm 
 weather, then remove the cap and tack a sheet of wire cloth over the frames and keep the 
 hive in the shade until they are released. When you place them on the spot which they 
 are to occupy, release them, and at the same time blow a little smoke in at the entrance. 
 This is necessary if they have traveled but a short distance, as they may be irritated. But 
 if they have been confined and carried for quite a distance, they will be frightened so as to 
 be harmless. Yet it is a good precaution to smoke them a little. Place some sort of 
 obstruction across their flight, such as a slanting board leaning over the entrance, or any- 
 thing which will not prevent them from going out, but will make a very plain impediment 
 to their starting out — as they are accustomed to do — in a bee line from the entrance. By 
 this means you compel them to take notice of the fact that their surroundings have been 
 changed: each bee as it flies out will recognize the spot. Thus you will avoid the risk of 
 losing a great many who would otherwise fly straight out and be unable to return. 
 
 THF APIARY ^^^ your bees in a sheltered spot, as much as possible facing south, 
 IIIL MrlrMxl southeast or southwest. A northern exposure has always proved 
 detrimental with us. If your bees can be sheltered by a board fence from the hard winds, 
 so much the better. But the ideal location is on the south slope of a hill. 
 
 Bee-culture will succeed almost anywhere, but a country with plenty of white clover 
 pasture and orchards, and with low, moist fields where the persicarias (commonly called 
 heartsease), golden rod, Spanish needles and asters are to be found in abundance during 
 the fall months, will prove good for honey production. Sweet clover, alfalfa and many 
 wild flowers are also good honey producers. 
 
 Place your bees in the shade of some shrubs, under apple trees or cherry trees. Tall 
 shade trees will do if you are not afraid of climbing after swarms, or if you keep your 
 bees in very large hives from which they will swarm but little. It is well to have a good 
 foundation for each hive, by using either bricks or oak blocks. A few cinders will keep the 
 weeds and grass from growing in front of the entrance. 
 
 TRANSFERRING ^^^^ from common to movable-frame hives. 
 
 *^'*'~'" LIMVUlVJ This process may be easily affected whenever the weather is 
 warm, enough for bees to fly. It has sometimes been done in winter for purposes of experi- 
 ment, by removing the bees into a warm room, but the best time for it is when the bees 
 have the least honey, at the beginning of the fruit bloom. If it can be done on a warm day, 
 when they are at work, there will be but little danger from robbers. 
 
 It is conducted as follows: Have in readiness a box — which we shall call the forcing 
 box — whose diameter is about the same as that of the hive from which you intend to drive 
 the swarm. Smoke the hive, lift it from its bottom-board without the slightest jar, turn 
 it over and carefully carry it off about a rod, as bees, if undisturbed, are much more 
 inclined to be peaceable, when removed a short distance from their familiar stand. If the 
 hive is gently placed upside down on the ground, scarcely a bee will fly out, and there will 
 be little danger of being stung. The timid and inexperienced should protect themselves 
 with a bee veil, and may blow more smoke among them, as soon as the hive is inverted. 
 After placing it on the ground, the forcing-box must be put over it. If smooth inside it 
 should have slats fastened one-third of the distance from the top, to aid bees in clustering. 
 Some apiarists place the box slanting on the hive, so as to be able to see the bees climbing. 
 This method, called open driving, is a little slower, but it may give the operator a chance 
 of seeing the queen : when the driving can be considered as done. 
 
 As soon as the apiarist has confined the bees, he should place an empty hive — which 
 we call the decoy-hive — upon their old stand, which those returning from the fields may 
 enter, instead of dispersing to other hives, to meet, perhaps, with a most ungracious 
 reception. As a general rule, however, a bee with a load of honey or bee-bread, after the 
 extent of her resources is ascertained, is pretty sure to be welcomed by any hive to which 
 she may carry her treasure; while a poverty-stricken unfortunate that presumes to claim 
 their hospitality is, usually, at once destroyed. The one meets with as flattering a recep- 
 tion as a wealthy gentleman proposing to take up his abode in a country village, while 
 the other is as much an object of dislike as a poor man, who bids fair to become a public 
 charge. 
 
 P.\GE FIFTEEN 
 
If there are in the apiary several old colonies standing close together, it is desirable, 
 in performing this operation, that the decoy-hive, and the forcing-box, should be of the 
 same shape and even color with that of the parent hive. If they are very unlike, and the 
 returning bees attempt to enter a neighboring hive, because it resembles their old home, 
 the adjoining hives should have sheets thrown over them, to hide them from the bees, 
 until the operation is completed. 
 
 To return to our imprisoned bees; their hive should be beaten smartly with the 
 palms of the hands, or two small rods, on the sides to which the combs are attached, so as 
 to run no risk of loosening them. These "RAPPINGS," although not of a very "spiritual" 
 character, produce, nevertheless, a decided effect upon the bees. Their first impulse, if no 
 smoke were used, would be to sally out, and wreak their vengeance on those who thus 
 rudely assail their honied dome; but as soon as they inhale its fumes, and feel the terrible 
 concussion of their once stable abode, a sudden fear that they are to be driven from their 
 treasure, takes possession of them. Determined to prepare for this unceremonious writ of 
 ejection, by carrying off what they can, each bee begins to lay in a supply, and in about 
 five minutes, all are filled to their utmost capacity. A prodigious humming is now heard, 
 as they begin to mount into the upper box : and in about fifteen minutes from the time the 
 rapping began — if it has been continued with but slight intermissions — the mass of bees, 
 with their queen, will hang clustered in the forcing-box, like any natural swarm, and may, 
 at the proper time, be readily shaken out on a sheet in front of their intended hive. 
 
 Now put the forcing-box on their old stand and carry the parent-hive to some place 
 where you cannot be annoyed by other bees. 
 
 It is important to make sure that the queen is removed, as she might be injured in the 
 transfer of comb. Her presence among the driven bees can be ascertained in a few minutes 
 by the quietness of their behavior, or by the eggs which she drops on the bottom board, and 
 which can easily be seen if a black cloth is spread under the forcing-box. 
 
 If the queen is not with the bees, a few will come out and run about, as if anxiously 
 searching for something they have lost. The alarm is rapidly communicated to the whole 
 colony ; the explorers are reinforced, the ventilators suspend their operations, and soon the 
 air is filled with bees. If they cannot find the queen, they return to their old stand, and if 
 no hive is there, will soon enter one of the adjoining colonies. If their queen is restored to 
 them soon after they miss her, those running out of the hive will make a half-circle and 
 return ; the ioyful news is quickly communicated to those on the wing, who forthwith 
 alight and enter the hive; all appearance of agitated running about on the outside of the 
 hive ceases and ventilation, with its joyful hum, is again resumed. 
 
 If the queen has not left the old hive, it is safer to return the bees and to resume the 
 driving at another time. 
 
 To transfer the comb, have on hand tools for prying oft" a side of the hive ; a large 
 knife for cutting out the combs ; vessels for the honey ; a table or board on which to lay 
 the brood combs; and water for washing off, from time to time, the honey which will stick 
 to your hands. 
 
 Have also a number of pieces of wire. No. i6, cut a little longer than the frame, and 
 bent on the ends in this shape * ' to be driven into the wood of the frame and to hold 
 
 the combs in place. Let a certain number of frames be in readiness, with three or four of 
 these wires fastened on one side, and lay them on the table, WIRE-SIDE DOWN. You 
 must also have your movable frame hive in readiness near the table, with an extracting pan 
 under it instead of a bottom board, to receive what honey may drip. All this must be 
 ready before disturbing the bees. 
 
 Having selected the WORKER-COMBS, carefully cut them rather large, so that they 
 will just CROWD into the frames and retain their places in their natural position until 
 the bees have time to fasten them. 
 
 Now tack as many wires over them as may be necessary to hold them securely, and 
 hang them in the hive. DRONE COMBS SHOULD BE" INVARIABLY MELTED 
 INTO WAX. If drone-brood is found, it can be fed to young chickens, who are very fond 
 of the larvae. The bottom board should be put under the hive just before carrying it out. 
 
 When the hive is thus prepared, the bees may be put into it and confined, water being 
 given to them until they have time to make secure ri gainst robbers. 
 
 If there is danger of robbers, it is preferable not to put the bees into the hive till late 
 in the afternoon. They should be shaken in front of the new hive on a sheet like a 
 natural swarm. 
 
 P.\GK SIXTKEX 
 
When the weather is cool, the transfer should be made in a warm room, to prevent 
 the brood from being fatally chilled. An expert apiarist can complete the whole operation 
 — from the driving of the bees to the returning of them to their new hive — in about an 
 hour, and with the loss of very few bees, old or young. 
 
 When transferring in early spring, it should be remembered that the worker-brood is 
 of great value, and not the least bit of it should be neglected or wasted unnecessarily. 
 After a week or more, according to the season, the hive may be opened and the fastenings 
 removed. 
 
 Let not the novice, however, think that transferring bees is a task that requires but 
 little skill. He who transfers successfully a large number of colonies may be called an 
 expert in handling bees. 
 
 HORTICULTURE AND BEE-CULTURE f- r.r,t;trp £tSS; 
 
 by going in them in search of pollen. It is by the agency of insects that fruits are often 
 made most abundant. Spraying will not injure the fruit or poison the bees if it is done 
 after the blossoms have fallen, and this is the only time when fruit trees should be sprayed 
 to kill the injurious insects, such as the codling moth. 
 
 When you produce honey, do not rush it off to the large cities, but be sure and supply 
 your home market first. The writer has known apiarists to ship their honey to a commis- 
 sion man who reshipped a part of it right back to the grocer in the immediate vicinity of 
 the producer of that honey. Honey is good and wholesome. It is an already assimilated 
 food, and for that reason is far superior to sugar or fruits for the invalid, but it should be 
 used in reasonable quantities. Those whose stomachs will not accept honey may learn to 
 use it by beginning with very diminutive doses. The slight amount of acid contained in 
 the honey is the only cause for its rejection, but when once the stomach is accustomed to it, 
 it will be found the most digestible food taken. 
 
 To change the breed of your bees you may buy some queens of such breed as you see 
 fit to select. Upon receipt of the queen purchased, remove the queen of your colony and 
 insert the new queen. A good method of introduction is usually printed on the mailing 
 cage which contains the queen. If this is done in the early part of the season you will see 
 the worker progeny entirely changed before fall, for in the busy season the worker bees do 
 not live on an average over forty days. A good queen will last three years and sometimes 
 four or five years, but the bees will usually rear a new one from her brood before she dies. 
 
 Beware of making inventions in bee-culture until you have mastered the subject. 
 
 MELTING COMB INTO BEESWAX JL*^ ^at? £Lf ^r.trS, r 
 
 tub with cistern or soft water, keep the combs for about twenty-four hours under water, by 
 some boards loaded with stones or bricks. The water will dissolve the impurities and by 
 moistening the cocoons left in the cells by the larvae, it will prevent them from absorbing 
 wax. Then, after draining the water out, melt them slowly with clear water in a copper or 
 tin boiler. This method will give you a larger quantity and a better quality of beeswax 
 than any other. 
 
 We recommend the HERSHISER WAX PRESS for melting combs. 
 
 The melted wax should be poured into flaring vessels so as to be easily removed when 
 cooled. 
 
 INSTRUCTIONS TO BEGINNERS 
 
 WINTER. 
 
 1. To winter bees successfully out of doors, shelter them from north winds and keep 
 them in a dry place, a little above ground. 
 
 2. To winter bees indoors, they should be kept at a temperature of 40 to 45 degrees, 
 in quietude and darkness. 
 
 3. A room or garret, where the temperature varies, is a bad place to winter bees, 
 in confinement. 
 
 4. Twenty-five pounds of honey is required to winter a colony of bees and help them 
 to breed early in spring. 
 
 PAGE SEVENTEEN 
 
5. Do not keep your bees confined to the hive on warm winter days. 
 
 6. Prepare your hives in the winter and make them large. A large hive can be 
 reduced in size by the help of a removable division-board, but a small hive cannot be 
 enlarged and is not suitable for the use of a very prolific queen. Make all hives and frames 
 of uniform size. 
 
 SPRING. 
 
 7. Spring is the season when the bees are most in danger of starvation and dwindling. 
 Watch your colonies, feed the destitute till the honey crop opens, and lessen the room by 
 means of a partition board, increasing the space as it is needed. 
 
 8. If you have to feed, do not feed at the entrance or out of doors, as it would teach 
 bees to rob. Feed in the hive above the brood. 
 
 g. When you transport bees, do not hitch the horses until the bees are on the wagon. 
 Unhitch before unloading. 
 
 10. When you see many bees hunting around ncoks and corners, you may be sure 
 there is some robbing going on somewhere. 
 
 11. One bee in March is worth ten bees in June, as it is the early bees that help to 
 breed the large swarms. So make things convenient for your bees early in the season ; 
 supply them with water close at hand and flour in place of the pollen which they cannot 
 get yet. The flour must be packed in a lump in an open box exposed to the sun. An old 
 comb or a little honey is used for bait. 
 
 12. Two drones cost as much to raise as three working bees, and after they are raised 
 they keep on eating, while the workers labor for you. 
 
 13. In the early spring remove the drone comb and replace it with worker comb or 
 comb foundation, as much as in your power. You will always leave more drone comb 
 than needed, and every square foot of drone comb replaced by worker comb is equal to a 
 dollar saved. 
 
 14. Remember that comb costs the bees about ten pounds of honey for every pound of 
 comb. So if your honey is worth 10 cents per pound, worker comb or comb foundation is 
 worth to you $r.oo per pound. This is why the business of foundation making has taken 
 such great proportions. Every man who uses it doubles his investment. 
 
 15. The use of comb foundation not only saves a great deal of labor and time to 
 the bees, but it also secures straight combs in the frame and does away with the 
 over-production of drone comb. 
 
 SUMMER. 
 
 16. The honey harvest lasts but a few days, or at most a few weeks, so you must be 
 ready for it. Make hay while the sun shines. 
 
 17. One pound of comb honey, neatly put up in a clean case, is worth as much as two 
 pounds slovenly put up, and is a recommendation for the producer. 
 
 18. If you raise comb honey only for your own use, it will pay you to raise it in large 
 frames 6 inches deep and the full length of the hive. If you raise it for sale, it should be 
 raised in one-pound sections. 
 
 ig. If you raise honey and extract it from the comb so as to return the empty combs 
 to the bees to be filled again, you will raise twice as much after you have a sufficient 
 supply of empty combs to keep your bees at work. 
 
 20. It pays to have an extractor and use it, if you own but four hives of bees. 
 
 21. Honey should not be extracted when first harvested, as it is watery, unripe, and 
 will sour. Give the bees time to ripen it and keep them at work with sufficient room. 
 
 22. When bees are hanging out in front of the hive, it shows that they are uncom- 
 fortable in it or have no room. They should be given more air, inore shade or more 
 room, according to the circumstances. 
 
 PAGE EIGHTEEX 
 
best condition to produce wax. 
 
 2. If vou sive your bees a good supply of empty combs before the beginning of the 
 honey crop a^d k!ep tLm at work.fhey will rarely swarm. But if they once f^nd themselves 
 crowdedTnd get the swarming fever, nothing will keep them from swarmmg. 
 
 25. When making artificial swarms, raise your queens and drones from the best 
 colonies. 
 
 26 A queenless colony will raise queens at once, if it has larvae less than three days 
 old, and these queens will hatch within 10 to 12 days. 
 
 ' 27. The old queen always goes with the f^rst swarm, unless she is unable to fly. 
 
 28. Make but a limited number of swarms, and make them strong and early Late 
 natural swarms should be returned to the parent h.ve about twenty-four hours after 
 hiving them. 
 
 20 The colonies that work freely on red clover should be used as breeders in prefer- 
 ence to others, as the tongues of their bees are evidently longer. 
 
 FALL. 
 
 30. Do not take too much honey from your bees. Remember that ^^ is their surplus 
 you should take and nothing else. Do not kill the cow to get the milk, or the hen to get 
 the egg. 
 
 V When you open a hive of bees, if you see any robber bees flying ab°ut you may 
 be sure that ther'i is no honey in the fields, and you must avoid leaving the hives open, or 
 exposing honey in their reach. 
 
 32. A robber bee is easily recognized by its quick motions and sneaking ways. 
 
 33. All bees will become robbers if tempted with exposed sweets in time of scarcity. 
 3.. Decrease the size of the entrance of your hives when the honey crop is over, but 
 
 be sure and have it very large during the honey crop. 
 
 ,c Bees will not work on fruit juice when there is honey in the Af d^'^^'^ ^J^^J 
 
 It is b"rdf and hornets that damage sound fruit. Bees only gather the lost juices. 
 
 36 In seasons of scarcity your bees should be fed. You will have such a season 
 once in ten, and the busy little things will repay you fully the following year. 
 
 3, Honey-dew and fruit juice are bad winter food and should be extracted from the 
 combs.' When you have to fe^d, if you cannot get good honey, use good sugar syrup 
 mixed with some honey. 
 
 38. If the bees have to be fed in winter, the food should be given them before the 
 opening of cold weather. 
 
 SUNDRY ADVICES 
 
 39. Do not watch for bee moths, but keep your colonies strong and healthy, and they 
 will take care of the moths. 
 
 40 A good bee smoker and bee veil are indispensable to an apiarist. Some people 
 do not' use feils, but they occasionally get stung on the face, and this is not very pleasant. 
 
 41. Smoke the bees at the entrance a little before opening a hive. 
 
 42 Do not handle your bees early or late, or in the night. On the contrary, select the 
 warmest part of the day, as the old bees are then in the field. 
 
 PAGE NINETEEN 
 
^3- When you are stung do not lose a second, but scrape the sting off. Do not pinch 
 it off, as you are more than likely to drive more poison into the wound. A sting instantly 
 removed gives but little pain comparatively. 
 
 ji/\. There is more profit with less labor in 300 hives of bees than in 160 acres of land, 
 but you should know what to do and do it in time. 
 
 45. There are about 5,000 bees in a pound. A gallon of honey v.'eighs 11 to 12 pounds, 
 according to its density. The cells of the worker bee m.easure about 5 to the inch, from 
 wall to wall, those of the drones about 4 to the inch. There are about 27 worker cells or 
 18 drone cells on each side of a square inch of comb. 
 
 DO>C 
 
 BEE-CULTURE VERSUS POULTRY RAISING 
 
 Poultry is raised by the masses. The large or small farmer, the horticulturalist, the 
 m.arket-gardener, the suburban, especially if a man of small means, but often even when he 
 has large means, the clerk, the doctor, the minister, the widow of small income, all raise 
 poultry, unless they are living within the limits of thickly populated districts or unless 
 their revenue is sufficient to make them careless of small earnings like the home production 
 of eggs and chickens. 
 
 Bee-culture is not followed by more than one in a hundred among poultry raisers, but 
 is nevertheless a very practicable and economical adjunct, in similar conditions. A small 
 back yard in any suburb may be used for a few hives right among the chickens. It is suffi- 
 cient that the hives be placed in a shed or on a stand at an elevation of a few feet above the 
 chicken yard, so that the chickens should be unable to jump on the hives, which they would 
 soil more or less, besides the danger of their angering the bees by the jar. Neither should 
 the hives face too directly into the chicken yard, unless it be so they may fly above it. The 
 writer has often seen bees kept right among the chickens, and they seemed to learn at their 
 first flight that the poultry were not to be considered as enemies. 
 
 With a large back yard or only a flat roof, in the thinly populated suburbs of even as 
 crowded cities as St. Louis or Chicago, large apiaries may be kept, very profitably. We 
 know of a gentleman who has thus kept as many as 85 colonies and harvests thousands of 
 pounds of honey, which readily retail among his neighbors at good prices, as customers in 
 his vicinity know that he raises the honey himself and have confidence in its quality, for 
 that very reason. 
 
 Without aiming at such large results, the owner of a small home, anywhere in the 
 reach of pasture lands, vacant lots covered in summer with a growth of white clover, 
 sweet clover or melilot, heartsease or smart weed, Spanish needles or other wild blossoms ; 
 where fruit trees may be found in small numbers in every yard, or near a dairy or a park, 
 such a party, man or woman, may easily add to the annual income, by keeping a few 
 hives of bees. Very few industries require so little capital. As you have invested a few 
 dollars in chickens and erected a little shed for them, you invest a few dollars in a couple 
 colonies of bees of good breed and in sound movable-frame hives, a smoker, a bee veil, a 
 hive tool. The total cost does not need to exceed $15.00 and you are sufficiently equipped 
 for the beginning. Do not think of buying an extractor or other implements until the first 
 crop begins to show in the super. But be sure to buy some literature, a good book, for you 
 must be informed in the theory if you wish to succeed in the practice. Do not be afraid of 
 handling your bees and examining them, provided you don't expose the brood to the cold 
 air or the combs to robber bees. If they are carefully looked after, supplied with room 
 
 PAGE TWENTY 
 
A City Apiary. 
 
 when needed, a little syrup when they are 
 short of stores — which may happen even 
 at the opening of the honey harvest, kept 
 well sheltered from the hot sun or the 
 coldest weather, they will give you much 
 greater proportionate returns than any 
 similar sum invested in poultry, consider- 
 ing the amount of labor, for they need no 
 morning or evening feeding, no weekly 
 cleaning of the coop, but take care of 
 themselves in all ordinary circumstances. 
 In other words, they work for you and 
 board themselves, if they are only given 
 a chance. 
 
 If you must be away all day at your 
 
 occupation, even during swarming time, 
 
 arrangements may be made by which absconding swarms will be but a remote possibility. 
 
 If you should occasionally lose a swarm, there will still be very satisfactory returns from 
 
 your little pets. 
 
 Of course, care must be exercised not to anger the bees and cause them to sting the 
 neighbors, but should such an accident happen, remember that the gift of a pound or two 
 of honey will do more to smooth such wounds than the most urbane excuses. However, 
 the accomplished bee-keeper does not have cross-tempered bees, for he learns how to 
 handle them properly at the start, and those who have carefully read this little pamphlet 
 know how it may be done without exertion. 
 
 A word, in closing, to the school teacher. There is no business which a teacher may 
 undertake, more fitting than bee-culture. Nearly all of the bee work is needed during the 
 vacation months, from May to October. Many teachers have an inadequate salary and see 
 mature age coming with an impossibility of gathering a decent bank account. Earningr 
 may be made during the summer months, equal to the salary of the entire school term, on 
 a small plot of land, through bee-keeping. 
 
 START RIGHT 
 
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 LEWIS BEEWARE 
 
 IF YOU HAVEN'T A COPY OF OUR ANNUAL CATALOG. SEND FOR ONE. 
 
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 PAGE TWENTY ONE 
 
The American Bee Journal 
 
 The Standard Magazine on Bees. 
 Oldest Bee- Paper in the English Language. 
 
 The editor has been a practical bee-keeper 
 for nearly fifty years. Many interesting de- 
 partments are conducted in each issue. Every 
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 BEGINNERS have their questions ans- 
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 Read what some of our subscribers have to 
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 "I could not get along without The Ameri- 
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 Ijees." 
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 toy doing what it advised." 
 
 Yutia City, Calif. H. BLEVIN. 
 
 THE HONEY BEE 
 
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 575 pages, 229 engravings, cloth bound, 
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 "A guide that leads the bee-keeper by 
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 The Book and Journal together form a com- 
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