UllTp i. 1. Hill ffitbrara Nnrtlr (Carolina g>tatr Bmneraitij SP5?3 A58 ilffiftSHwft 500079295% This book is due on the date indicated below and is subject to an overdue fine as posted at the Circulation Desk. OCT 21 1970 ^ J! fj\ M n !! 1 ': 1974 -5 1977 MAY 2 1987 Digitized by tine Internet Archive in 2009 witii funding from NCSU Libraries littp://www.arcliive.org/details/beel2S»XC€<€«»>] Fia. 3. Comb containing eggs. We now take this comb into the bee-room which has been warmed to prevent the eggs from being chilled. Cut it into strips with a thin, sharp knife (an old-fash- ioned table knife ground thin answers the purpose), running the knife through each alternate row of 13 cells as seen in fig. 3.^ After the comb has been cut up, lay the strips flat upon a board or table, and cut the cells on one side down to within one-fourth of an inch of the foundation or septum, as seen in fig. 4.^ A very thin, sharp and warm knife must be used, or the cells will be badly jammed and mangled. While engaged in this work I keep a lighted lamp near at hand with which to heat the knife, as a delicate operation of this kind cannot be performed well with a cold tool, nor so quickly. m Fig. 4. strip of comb on which cells are to be built. HOW TO HAVE CELLS BUILT IN ROWS ; THE NEW METHOD. Now we come to a process which I have for many years been trying to eftect, and its discovery has proved invaluable to me. In truth, I would have paid one hundred dollars at any time during the first sixteen years of my experience for a knowledge of this fact. ' Fig. 3 represents a piece of comb containing eggs, with lines running through each alternate row of cells, and showing the manner in which the comb should be stripped up for cell-building. This piece of comb was also photographed, and is about one-half the natural size. 2 Fig. 4 represents a sectional view of one of the prepared strips as cut from fig. 3, and ready to place in position for cell-building. 14 I never was troubled in getting all the cells which I needed built in the old way, but to have them so evenly spaced that each could be cut out without injuring or destroying its neighboring cell, puzzled me for many years ; by persistent thought, persevering labor and experiment, however, the matter was at last settled satisfactorily. This one fact alone is worth one hundred dollars to any queen-dealer, and ten times the cost of this book to any bee-keeper, even though they rear but few queens ; and I feel assured that all my readers will admit this when they have tested it. now TO PREPARE THE COMB FOR THE QUEEN CELLS. The strips of comb being all ready, we simply de- stroy each alternate grub or egg, as seen in fig. 5.^ In order to do this, take the strips carefully in the left hand and insert with the riofht the brimstone end of a Fig. 5. Comb containing eggs in alternate cells. common lucifer match into each alternate cell, press- ing gentl}^ until it touches the bottom, and then twirl it rapidly between the thumb and finger; by this means the egg or grub will be destroyed. This gives plenty of room for large cells to be built, and the s Fig. 5 represents the prepared strips with the egg removed from each alternate cell. 15 bees to work around them and also permits of their being cut out without injury to adjoining cells, fig. 6* (a full description of which is given elsewhere). Fig. 6. The new way of baving cells built. All queen-dealers know that this cannot be done Mhen the cells are built bv the old method as shown in * This cut represents one of the frames used in my fertilizing hives, one-half of the comb being cut out to make room for the queen-cells. A A represents the strip of comb containing the eggs (on which the cells are built) lastened to the comb. The frame was photographed (as shown in cut) smaller than its natural size. The cells are exactly ;i8 the bees build them bv my new method. 16 fig. 7.^ I think I hear some "doubting Thomas" say, How will you place or secure this slender strip of coml) in a frame so as to prevent its falling down? I would reply, have at hand a sheet iron pan about six inches long, three inches wide, and three inches deep, being rather larger at the top than bottom (or any other sort of iron vessel that will hold hot Fig. 7. The old way of having cells built. beeswax and rosin) and so arranged that you can place a lamp under it to heat it. Keep in this pan a mixture of two parts rosin and one part beeswax. Heat this enough to work well, being very careful not to overheat it, as it will destro}' the eggs in the cells if used too hot, and if too cold it will not adhere properly ; the right degree of heat will soon be learned " Represents a cluster of cells built by the old method ; a piece of comb containing eprgs was inserted and as none ot tlie eggs were destroyed the bees built cells in clusters as shown by this cut. The cluster shows five cells three of which may be saved by transferring. 17 by practice. I keep on hand a number of frames of comb which are free from l^rood or eggs, into which the prepared strips a a are fastened, as shown in fig. 6, page 15. You will notice that this comb is cut with a slightly convex curve. By putting the prepared strips in after this manner, still more room is given to each cell owing to the spreading caused thereby. HOW TO FASTEN THE PREPARED STRIPS IN POSITION. To fasten these strips, dip the edge which has not been cut into the preparation previously mentioned, and immediately place it in position, so that the mouths of the cells point downward, pressing it with the fingers gently into place, taking care not to crush or injure the cells in so doing. A number of such combs, say eight or ten, and more if necessary, should be kept on hand for this purpose and used as often as cells are needed. This is a great con- venience and saves destroying or mutilating other combs. When the cells are cut out, the strip on which they are built should be taken with them. HOW TO RELEASE THE BEES FROM THE SWARMING BOX. Everything is now ready for the queenless bees in the box, impatient to be released and anxious to com- mence cell-building. This box has a strip of tin nailed on the upper edge of one end flush with the 2 18 outside ; the cover has a similar strip nailed on the under side, which corresponds with the one on the box when in place, fig. 2. (See description at end of volume). The combs containing the brood prepared for cell- building are now placed in the nucleus hive with other combs suflacient to fill it. Place this nucleus on the stand from which the bees were taken, and at such an elevation that the bottom edge of the alio;hting board will come just even with the top of the box in which the bees are confined. Next let the bees out by drawing the cover back just enough to allow the worker bees to pass between the strips of tin into the hive. HOW TO SEPARATE THE DRONES FROM THE BEES. If there are drones with the bees either black or otherwise objectionable, they will be retained in the box and can be easily destroyed, after the bees have all left. In case the drones are needed (or if there are none with the bees which is often the case) , all may be turned out in front of the nucleus, when they will soon run in ; this being on the old stand they will accept it as their home and begin cell-building at once from the eggs given them. In no case should any worker brood be given to the bees, thus compelling them to concentrate their whole forces on cell-building. Some capped drone-brood should be given them, if at hand, as it would greatly encourage the bees, and is really an advantage. 19 WHEN TO PREPARE THE BEES FOR CELL-BUILDING. I usually prepare the bees in the morning for queen- rearing, and give them the eggs at night. By the next morning they will usually become reconciled to the new state of things and from twenty to twenty- five queen cells will be started ; this of course depends upon the number of eggs given them. Just here let me caution all queen-breeders against giving the bees too many eggs, or allowing them to build too many cells at one time. If not permitted to complete over twelve cells, the queens will be found as good as, if not superior to, those reared under the swarm- ing impulse. If you wish to rear queens of which you and your customers will be proud, you will find the secret is in not allowing any colony to build more than this number. If this precaution is taken, good queens will be the rule and not the exception. Of course, to accomplish this your breeding queens must in all cases be as near perfect as possible, other things being equal. We seldom find more than twelve first-class cells, and often a less number, in a colony which has just cast a swarm, the Cyprians and Holylands being exceptions. The queens of these races are very prolific and hardy, consequently they rear a much larger number.® Now we have everything in good order and condi- tion, and cell-building is progressing satisfactorily, except perhaps too many cells are being built for the 8 This point is further described under another heading. 20 quantity of bees in the colony. If such be the case, and it does sometimes so happen, all over twelve or fif- teen should be destroyed. This may be done by means of a match, as before stated. Sometimes, in the hurry of preparation, an egg is passed by and not destroyed, but if the work in the first place is properly and thoroughly done no trouble of this kind need be ap- prehended. CHAPTER IV. FEED WHEN FORAGE IS SCARCE. If the honey harvest is abundant during the period of cell-building little care is needed until the cells are about ready to be cut out, but if not the nuclei will need liberal feeding (say one pint of syrup each night and morning) to stimulate them properly. In such cases, feeding should certainly be resorted to or inferior queens will be the result. For this purpose I never have seen a feeder so convenient and so good as one constructed as follows : take either a quart or pint improved Mason's fruit jar, fig. 8, remove the glass top and substitute a tin one in its place, cutting the tin the exact size of the glass top and punch about twenty small holes therein for the food to pass 21 through. Bore an inch and a half hole in the cover of the nucleus, and place the jar bottom upward over it. There should be a space of one-half an inch between the jar and the top of the frames so that the bees can get at the food readily. The bees will take a pint of food in the course of two or three hours, if there are twenty or more holes for it to pass through. For slow feeding make about six holes. If honey is scarce, use granulated sugar and water, say live pints of water to six pounds of sugar, and mix either hot or cold ; make a fairl}' thick syrup. When thoroughly dis- solved, flavor with a little pure honey. Do not use glucose or grape sugar under any consideration. AVHAT TO DO WITH SURPLUS QUEEN-CELLS. At this point we will consider that the bees have been at work four days on the cells, and that they are sealed over or nearly so. If desirable they may be left seven days longer where they are, and then cut out and either placed in nuclei or put in the queen nursery to hatch. Where queens are reared on a large scale, the combs containing the cells just sealed may be taken from a number of nucleus colonies and given to one, as one colony can take care of one hundred cells as well as a smaller number. Care should be taken to have a colony on hand prepared to care for such surplus cells until it is safe to remove or cut them out. It will be necessary to give such colony a frame of 22 brood occasionally, to keep it well stocked with bees. These combs should be examined at least once a week in order that no queen-cells are built, as a queen might hatch out some day very unexpectedly and destroy all the cells in the hive. You will remember that each frame containing cells has the number of the breed- ing queen and the date of starting the cells marked on the top. If proper care is taken to keep a correct record of this in a day book kept for the purpose, you will know exactly Avhen the cells are ready to hatch and the time they should be transferred to nuclei or to the nursery. CUTTING OUT QUEEN-CELLS. When the cells are sufficiently matured to be safely removed from the nuclei, cut them out, taking with them the strip of comb on which they were built. They should be immediately taken into a warm room and separated. A lighted lamp is kept at hand with which to warm the knife. Occasionally a small piece of one of the cells is shaved off. The fracture thus made may be easily repaired by placing a small piece of foundation over it, plastering it on, having the knife quite warm, being very careful to make sound work of it or the bees will reopen the cavity and remove the nearly matured queen. After this is done place the cells in the nursery or nuclei. We will suppose that we have one hundred queen- cells on hand and one hundred nuclei ready to receive them. When the cells have been sealed seven days 23 they may be safely cut out, but it is better to let them remain until the morning of the eighth day after they were sealed, and then give them to the nuclei. Of course, cells are being built in other hives and will soon hatch. The first lot of queens should be fertil- ized by this time, and disposed of, if the weather has been favorable, and room made for a second lot ; but supposing the first lot not to have been fertilized on account of unfavorable weather, and there is not room for the second lot in the nnclei already in oper- UT-^i Queen nursery. ation, what shall we do with them? No queen-dealer can afi'ord to lose a fine lot of cells, especially if he has a large number of orders on hand ; every cell and perfect queen must be preserved in some way. How can this be accomplished? I will give my method which is a simple and good one. I provide against such a contingency by having a queen nursery of my own invention, fig. 9. 24 QUEEN NURSERY AND HOW TO USE IT. I use eighteen cages in one standard Langstroth frame ; each cage, fig. 10, has a place in it for a sponge to contain the food, and another for the cell. An inch and one-half hole is made in each cage, both sides of which are covered with wire-cloth. Each cage is pro- vided with food snfficient to last a queen one week. The cells are cut out and placed in these cages which are then placed in the centre of a full colony. As eighteen of these just fill a frame they will stay in Fig. 10. Nursery cage. place without any fastening whatever. A bungling workman cannot make them so that they will work just right. The cages must be exactly alike, and then there will be no trouble in having them stay in place. They should be cut out with a circular saw run by steam power. I make it a point to do all such work in the best manner possible. By the use of this nursery, my queensare all hatched in the brood-chamber and in nearly the natural way, and by the natural warmth of the bees ; no lamp 25 nursery nor other artificial devices being used, and none of which ever should be used in queen-rearing. When one digresses from the paths of nature, in this business, the more unsuccessful he will be. When the queens are in the nursery in the centre of the brood-chamber, they are perfectly happy and con- tented, and will live there safely for several weeks. In no other way have I been able to preserve them so long. Each cage must be supplied with food, as a colony with a laying queen will not feed virgin queens, and oftentimes even a queenless colony cannot be de- pended upon for doing so, as I have learned to my sorrow. INTRODUCING VIRGIN QUEENS ; HOW LONG TO KEEP A COLONY QUEENLESS BEFORE INTRODUCING A QUEEN. This is another important point which properly comes under the head of queen-rearing. It has been said that virgin queens cannot be successfully intro- duced. Those who assume this certainly mistake. I am obliged to introduce hundreds of them every year, and have no trouble in so doing. I seldom have occasion to introduce them to full colonies, but that it can be safely performed I have no doubt. In order to introduce such queens successfully the colony should remain queenless three days (seventy- two hours) ; then give them a pretty good fumigating with tobacco smoke. Remember, the bees must remain queenless three days at the least, and during the mean- time no queen must be near them, otherwise the oper- ation will prove a fjiilure. Virgin queens can also be introduced successfully by daubing them with honey and using no tobacco smoke. Put a little honey into a tea-cup and roll the queen in it so as to daub her thoroughly, then drop her from a spoon into the hive among the bees. They will at once commence to remove the honey and when they have done so the queen is safely introduced. This is a much slower process than by fumigating them with tobacco smoke, but quite as successful. Do this just before sunset. When tobacco smoke is used to introduce them, throw some grass against the entrance to keep the smoke in and the bees from coming out. Blow in a liberal amount and then let the queen run in at the top through the hole used for the feeder. ANOTHER WAY TO INTRODUCE VIRGIN QUEENS. Make a cage wholly of wire- cloth or such an one as is used in mailing queens. Cut a mortise from the main apartment to the outer edge as seen in fig. 11, cage the queen and fill the mor- tise with Good's food ; by the time that the bees have removed it, they will have become ac- quainted with the queen. Bear in mind that the bees nmst be queenless three days before in- troducing virgin queens. If a III f llllii' 6 ilp^ llii lii^ e:|e^ w^ — ■' r— i^- lljffir ::::::-0:i r-!;fe l^-iiSWP l^i^:-Ht>.lifebi^5!:i:!:!:!^| Fig. 11 little Introducing cage. tobacco smoke is used to scent the bees at the 27 time the cage is put in, I think the undertaking will be rather more successful. Laying queens can be introduced by the same process. A colony made queenless for the purpose will always begin to rear a number of cells. When the new queen is introduced, they immediately stop cell-building ; all are de- stroyed, and the bees commence to pay royalty to the new queen given them. CHAPTER V. THE OLD AND NEW METHODS OF CELL-BUILDING. I presume the reader has followed the descriptions carefully and understands now how to have queen-cells uniformly built, so that none need be destroyed in cutting them out. By the old method a large number of fine cells must necessarily be destroyed in trans- ferring them, as they are built so irregular and often- times so close together that three or four are rendered useless. It is also exceedingly difficult to determine when the cells will hatch, as the bees will use eggs or larvse in various stages from which to rear queens. Again the bees will continue to start cells three or four days after the brood is given them. My method does away with all this trouble, and we can determine to a certainty, within a few hours at least, the time when the cells will hatch. This is one of the great advantages to be derived from its use, and again, there 28 is no guesswork about it, and no eight or ten day queens need be anticipated as none can be reared, simply because there are no old larvaB for them from which to rear queens. HOW TO REAR QUEENS IN FULL COLONIES AND STILL HAVE NONE QUEENLESS. I have asserted that my queens are reared in full colonies and none are ever queenless. Well, none of my standard colonies are ever without queens. 1 first determine as nearly as possible the number of queens I intend to rear during the season, and then select enough good strong stocks for the purpose. One half-dozen colonies will rear a large number of queens in a season, as will be seen by what follows. I deprive the first half-dozen colonies used for queen- rearing of all their brood and queens, giving the former to weak colonies to build them up, as by this process I can soon make them strong. I prepare as many colonies in this way as I wish to keep building cells at one time and as I think will meet my wants for one season. I would state here that no colony should be permitted to build two lots of cells ; I mean by this that the first lot of cells should not be removed and eggs given them to build others. I consider it poor policy to do so, although such a colon}^ will build a second lot of cells ; but they would produce inferior and almost worthless queens, and a queen-dealer who would do so would soon lose his reputation. 29 HOW TO OBTAIN MORE CELLS. When I want a fresh lot of cells, I take a strong colony and remove all the bees, by the process des- cribed on page 8. Replace the combs, and put the hive exactly where one of the colonies has been stand- ing which has just finished a lot of cells. Then brush or shake the bees from the combs of the latter hive (care being taken not to shake the comb on which the queen-cells are built) , in front of the hive from which the strong colony has just been taken, and give them the queen from the first colony. Bees enough should be left with the cells to keep them from chilling, or the frame on which they are built can be placed in a hive where other cells are being built, or add one frame of honey and one of brood, and form a three-frame nucleus. When the cells are ready to hatch, transfer all but one to other nuclei, and thus gradually form the needed nuclei for the season. HOW OFTEN THE SAME COLONY MAY BE USED FOR CELL-BUILDING. Having taken care of the cells and brood in the full colony, we now have a fresh lot of bees on our hands, which will be ready in a few hours to build other cells, while the bees which have just completed the first lot will continue the work in the hive from which the fresh bees were taken. In three or four weeks the same process can be repeated, as the old hive will 30 then be full of newly hatched young bees. After get- ting bees enough to start the first half dozen lots of cells, no more hives need be made queenless and every colony will be kept strong during the season, as they will have a laying queen all the time. It will be seen by any intelligent bee-keeper that it will not require half as many colonies to rear one thousand queens, as by the old process. This I also claim as orijrinal. DESTROYING DRONE BROOD AND WORTHLESS DRONES ; THE USE OF THE DRONE TRAP. Where the extractor is used drone-brood not needed may be destroyed after the honey has been slung out, by uncapping it, being careful to shave off the heads of the drones ; for this purpose I use a thin, flat knife such as Mr. Peabody sold with his extractor. Ex- cessive drone-breeding can be kept down by such a process, when there are only a few hives kept. I cannot recommend this process in a large apiary and some other device must be resorted to. Most any one, I think, has suflScient ingenuity to construct a drone trap for the purpose of destroying worthless or surplus drones. I find it rather difl3cult to describe one so that all may understand it, but shall have an engraving made and give a description of it at some future time. All that is needed is to place a gauge at the entrance so that the drones cannot get out, and make an outlet for them to pass through into a box trom which the workers can escape and they 31 cannot. The swarming box, only on a smaller scale (of which a description is given at end of vokime), will answer every purpose. Care must be taken, if a trap is used, not to smother the colony ; this will not be the case if the bees have an easy means of escape from the hive into the trap. The outlet for the drones to pass into it must be made large enough for them to pass through freely. HOW IMANY QUEENS OUGHT A COLONY TO REAR ? I have frequently cautioned queen-dealers and those who rear queens simply for their own use, against rearing too many queens in one hive at the same time. This is so ver}' important that I must be excused for repeating it. By my plan one hundred queens can be raised by a colony as well as twenty-five ; but the more queens reared the poorer they will be. The correct number, as my experience teaches me, is about twelve queens to a colony. I have found that worthless queens are reared under the swarming impulse as well as by artificial means. If a queen is removed from a full colony they will build from twelve to twenty queen- cells. Very few of these will prove to be valuable queens, as a colony thus made queenless will not start cells from the eggs. They will select larvae two or three days old for cells as their impatience leads them to diverge from nature's course every time. The queens reared from the latter cells always prove short- lived and almost worthless. I am aware that a large number of the queens reared are produced by the latter process. This statement is founded on the' writings of man}' who rear queens. HOW TO REAR VALUABLE QUEENS. To rear valuable queens, I think the hive should not contain over twenty-five eggs to start with, and in about twenty-four hours after the cells are started, at least ten of them should be destroyed, so that not over fifteen remain to mature. Of course we cannot afford to sell such queens for seventy-five cents or one dollar each. Out of twelve cells that hatch, prob- ably four of that number would never mature or they would be destroyed in some other way : lost in mating, killed in the hive, or by some other mishap to which queens are always liable and exposed. CHAPTER VI. HIVE TO USE FOR YOUNG QUEENS. For many years I have used the small hive described on page 4, for queen nuclei (for fertilization only), and find them as convenient and handy as any. They are made large enough to take four combs, but I sel- dom use over three to each hive. ISIany large queen-dealers use the same kind for this purpose, and find them just as good as larger ones, much handier and less expensive. In the fall 33 the bees are united with other colonies, and the combs packed away in barrels for use another year. HOW TO FORM NUCLEI. To prepare these hives for the cells, or young queens, I proceed as follows : — if a box-hive is to be broken up, with which to fill them, it is taken into the bee-room. The bees are treated the same as though they were in a frame-hive, viz. : induce the bees to fill themselves with honey by closing the entrance, smoking them, and rapping smartly on the hive for ten minutes or more. After driving all the bees out that can be induced to leave the hive, proceed the same as in transferring, placing the bees in the cap of a hive or box until ready to be placed in the nuclei. Put the comb containing brood and that contain- ing honey into the small frames. Give each hive at least one frame of brood, one of honey and one empty comb. Place two of the frames in the hive then put in about one pint of bees, putting the third comb in last, then place the cover on. Confine the bees in the hive forty-eight hours before permitting them to fly. If there are but few drones in the hives and we wish to destroy them, it can be quickly and easily done by the following plan : go to each of them early in the morning of the day on which they are to be liberated, take an empty hive with you, give the bees a small dose of tobacco smoke, let them remain quiet a few moments then examine the combs 3 34 separately and very carefully, and pinch the head of every drone found. Put the combs with the adhering bees into the empty hive, placing it on the stand of the hive just examined. The bees must have plenty of air while confined in c " these small hives. For this Fig. 12. Screen used for p^-pose I USC a Small SCrCCU to ventilation. '■ '■ nail on the front of each, fig. 12. It should be made roomy enough so that the bees can come out from the body of the hive into it, and get all the air they need and return as often as they choose. WHERE TO PLACE NUCLEUS HIVES. Nuclei used for fertilizing queens should not be placed very near colonies building cells, as the queens, when returning from the marriage tour, are quite liable under such circumstances to enter the wrong hive, and young queens, even though not fertilized, are always welcome to a queenless colony. Nuclei" for fertilizing queens should not remain queenless long at a time ; if they do there is great danger of fertile workers gaining possession of the colony and they are the pests of the apiary. I have seen many valuable queens destroyed by them. WHY BEES BALL AND DESTROY QUEENS. When queens have returned from the flight in 35 search of drones they are sometimes seized by the bees, hugged or smothered to death (called balling), stung or injured, Avings torn, or one leg stung and rendered useless. In almost every instance where this hugging takes place the queens are nearly ruined, this being more than they can endure without injury to their fertility. When this takes place one may know that fertile workers infest the colony. HOW TO INSERT QUEEN-CELLS. Having everything properly prepared we are ready to give to each nucleus a queen-cell. This can be done without taking out the combs or cutting them, as is the general method practised by most queen-dealers, and given by the bee journals as the best. I generally find plenty of room between the combs without disturbing any of them. If not, I slip one of the frames a little to one side, place the cell in posi- tion point downward, of course, and gently press the comb back against it. It will thus be held securely in place and will hatch as well as though inserted in the centre of the comb. By doing this, the combs are not mutilated and the operation is quickly performed. If young queens are to be given to the nuclei instead of cells, proceed according to directions given on page 25. Bear in mind that very young queens are more acceptable than those four or five days old. It is much more troublesome and more difficult to introduce older ones, and the latter will be destroyed 36 unless scented by being fumigated with tobacco smoke or by some other means, the idea being to deceive the bees, which can be done by scenting them all alike. A queen-cell can be given to a colony immediately after removing a queen from it, and should the young queen emerge from the cell within an hour she will generally be kindly received, and thus safely introduced. Occasionally, a queen hatching so soon after the cell has been introduced will be killed, but this seldom happens. Cells may be given to queenless colonies at any time, but queens should not be given to any colony until it has been queenless three or more da3'8. THE AGE AT WHICH QUEENS ARE FERTILIZED. We read quite frequently in the bee journals of queens becoming fertilized Avhen only three days old. This may be true, but in all my experience, I never knew one to take her wedding flight when less than five days old. In from thirty-six to forty-eight hours after this they usually commence to lay. Early in the season they generally come out, between the hours of one and three p. m., and sometimes as late as four p. m. After the first of September they will fly as early as 11.30 a. m., and not much later than two p. m. unless the weather is very warm and pleasant. 37 HOW TO FORCE THE YOUNG QUEENS TO FLT. In localities where forage is scarce, some means must be adopted to stimulate the bees and cause the queeus to fly when they are not disposed to do so. This can be accomplished by feed- ing the bees. The nucleus feeder fig. 13, which I have used for twenty years, will hold one ounce of syrup and is admirably adapted for this purpose. Such colonies as have queens old enough to fly are fed during fig. is. Cone the forenoon and the queens will fly in the afternoon and generally be fertilized ; whereas if they are not fed they will not leave the hives some- times until a week later. QUEENS FERTILIZED BUT ONCE ; HOW FAR TO KEEP THE RACES APART TO INSURE PURITY. I am satisfied that no queens are fertilized more than once. They may fly more than once, but if they make the second flight and bear all the indications of having met a drone, it is pretty certain that they were unsuccessful the first time. There are some who entertain the idea that a race of bees cannot be kept pure unless they are kept isolated several miles from all other races. I have tested this matter carefully and pretty thoroughly during the last twenty years, and have found that one-half mile is as srood as a much orreater distance. 38 While drones will sometimes fly a mile or more, the queens will not. This fact can be ascertained by watching a queen when she takes her wedding flight. She seldom is gone over five minutes and nine out of every ten will return within five minutes. Of course if the young queens are only one-half mile from a large apiary of black bees, there must be an abundance of Italian drones in the same yard Avith them. This being the case not one queen in twenty-five will mis- mate. This rule applies equally well to all races. HOW TO KEEP LAYING QUEENS. Sometimes queen-dealers and often other apia- rists have occasion to keep laying queens on hand several days before using them. Surplus queens can be kept on hand a long time, in the queen nursery, provided the cages are well supplied with food ; this being the only attention needed. The sponges in the cages must be refilled with honey as often as once each week at the least. The nursery should be placed in the centre of the brood-chamber of a full colony. To make room for it either remove one of the outside combs, or, in case the colony is strong, one of hatching brood. The latter may be given to some weak stock. When the nursery is taken from the hive and no other queens are at hand, fill the space then left vacant either with an empty comb or a frame filled with foundation. A few queens may be kept by placing the cages be- tween the cushion and frames, in such a manner 39 that the bees will have easy access to them. A col- ony having a fertile queen cannot be depended upon to feed other queens under such circumstances, hence the importance of supplying the cages with food. A person must use his judgment regarding keeping queens in this way, when the nights are cool. There need be no apprehension regarding this point between June 1 and Sept. 1. FEEDING NUCLEI ; WHY THEY SOMETIMES SWARM OUT. Nucleus colonies (in hives, described at end of volume), must be fed as often as once each week, unless forage is abundant, or they will " swarm out," even when they are well supplied with brood and honey, as such colonies are easily discouraged. They will not do so if fed a small amount of syrup occasionally. Use only the best sugar-syrup (not honey) , giving it to the bees the same day on which it is prepared. Never use poor food as it soon sours, and runs out of the feeder besmearing the bees and combs. This will surely cause them to desert the hives. The following incident well illustrates this point : one morning I fed fifty nuclei with some syrup which had been prepared but twenty-four hours. The weather was very warm ; the syrup became sour and ran out of the feeder besmearing the bees and combs, every colony of which swarmed out and united in one cluster. This resulted in a loss of nearly fifty dol- lars to me. 40 CHAPTER VII. UNPROFITABLE BREEDING QUEENS. I have found that many of the young queens from some mothers are lost on their "marital tour," al- though such queens when successfully mated prove very valuable. This is a singular and unnatural phe- nomenon for which I cannot account. Why the}^ fail to return to the hive is more than I can comprehend. Queens having this imperfection should be discarded as breeding queens at once, notwithstanding they may in many other respects be very desirable as queen mothers. We cannot afford to use queens of this class from which to breed others, when so many of their young queens are lost in mating. It is rather discouraging when examining a lot of nucleus colonies, where there should be a number of fine laying queens, to find none, they having been lost while on their first flight. MOST PROFITABLE BREEDING QUEENS. I bred from a queen last season not one in fifty of whose royal daughters was lost in mating. These are the only profitable ones from which to breed. For breeding queens select carefully only those which are very prolific ; whose royal progeny are fair in size and handsome, whose worker bees are uniformly marked, gentle, good workers, and per- fect in all other respects. Purity of stock cannot be 41 maintained unless great care is taken in selecting the queen mother. Never use one whose workers have from one to three bands. The young queens from such an one would show a variety of markings, black, striped, and a beautiful yellow, the yellow ones being sadly in the minority. If beauty, purity and busi- ness qualities are desired, such a queen would be worthless. Always select one having the markings which show her to be pure, prolific and hardy. This subject is more fully explained elsewhere. THE SELECTION OF THE DRONE MOTHER. I have long contended that success in queen-rearing depends largely upon the drones used for mating. The same care should be taken in the selection of the drone mother as with the queen mother. Her Avorker bees should be well-marked, gentle, good honey- gatherers, hardy, and absolutely pure ; the drones large, handsome, and very active. I never permit drones from all my colonies to fly promiscuously, or have any haphazard mating of queens. Only se- lected drones having the above-mentioned qualities are tolerated in my fertilizing apiaries. HOW TO REAR AND PRESERVE DRONES. It is well known to most Ijee-keepers that colonies having fertile queens will neither rear nor permit drones to live in the hive late in the season, and sel- 42 dom when forage is scarce. If queen-rearing is going on, drones must be procured at any cost, and some means must be adopted to rear and preserve them for use in the latter part of the season. To do this I pursue the following method : have at hand several extra frames of drone comb ; insert one in the centre of the colony from whose queen you wish to rear them. Feed this colony liberally if forage is scarce. Examine them in the course of a week ; if the comb is well filled with eggs and larves remove it to a queenless colon}'. Instinct teaches queenless bees the necessity of rearing and caring for drones, hence they can always be depended upon for them provided the brood is given them. Replace the comb just removed with an empty one ; continue this as long as the queen can be in- duced to lay drone eggs. Remember that queenless bees never destroy drones, while a colony having a fertile queen will invariably do so, unless encouraged to preserve them by being fed. It is a very difficult matter here in the north to induce queens to lay drone eggs in September, even when forage is abundant ; hence drones to be used in September and October should be secured in the early part of August, as most colonies seem disposed to rear them at this time. HOW TO JUDGE OF A QUEEN BEFORE TESTING. The practised eye of an expert in any vocation can detect imperfection where the novice cannot. My 43 experience enables me to judge of the qualities of a queen ; whether she Avill prove prolific or otherwise, as soon as she has laid several hundred eggs. The laying queen, if a good one, will deposit all her eggs in ^^ the cells in exactly the same — =" position. Every egg will point downward, and will be large and plump when com- pared with those of an Un- ^^«- "• Cell from which a r strong queen hatched. prolific one, and every cell not otherwise occupied will contain an egg. I can also determine whether a queen is worth preserving or not the moment she leaves the cell. An inferior queen in gnawing through leaves a little ragged hole instead of cutting a large clean cap, fig. 14, and leaving an opening nearly large enough to admit the end of the Httle finger, as a strong and well developed queen always does. It is Avorse than useless to pre- serve such queens. DESTROY WEAK AND FEEBLE QUEENS. After the aells in the nucleus or those in the nur- sery are hatched, examine the outlet to each, and if small and ragged destroy the queens at once. A good prolific queen will lay nearly or quite four thou- sand eggs in twenty-four hours. One that will not do this is not worth preserving. I never saw a queen that I considered too prolific for my own use (the opinions of some others to the contrary notwithstand- 44 ing) . I want queens that will deposit ten thousand eggs or even more in a day if they can be reared. Very few bee-keepers are troubled with queens being too prolific. I should as soon find fault with my hens for laying two eggs per day when eggs are worth forty cents per dozen, as with a too prolific queen when honey is worth twenty cents per pound. I am aware that hens do not eat the eggs after laying them as the bees do the honey after gathering it ; but if the hens laid no eggs there would be no profit, and if a queen is not prolific there is no income from that source. The main object in rearing queens is to get hardy and prolific ones, the more prolific the better. A queen that will lay five thousand eggs in a day is worth one hundred that will lay but one thousand in the same time. My opinion is founded on experi- ence and the result of careful experimenting, and I believe that a large majority of bee-keepers and those of extended experience are of the same opinion. LARGE versus SMALL QUEENS. I find customers occasionally who Avant large queens. A person engaged extensively in queen-rearing will have them of most every size. I nnist confess that I like the appearance of large and handsome queens ; but they do not as a rule prove to be the most prolific or profitable. Queens of me- dium size are generally the best. They have proven so Avith me. Good queens are those that keep their 45 hives well filled with bees. The color or size has no eflect on their fertilit}-. An experienced bee-master can judge of the quality of the queens which he is rearing even before they leave the cell. If the cells are short and blunt when just sealed they should be destroyed at once, rather than wait and destroy the queens after they have hatched, as such queens would prove worthless. The cells containing good queens are long and pointed, and heavily waxed with a rough surface. The bees when constructing the cells seem to under- stand the condition of the embryo queen, and whether she will be strong and vigorous or otherwise. Cells having the blunt point and thin walls, so thin in fact that the young queen can be seen through them, generally contain very poor ones. Queens that delay long before becoming fertile in favorable weather will not prove of first quality. A smart, active queen will invariably leave the hive on her wedding trip when she is five days old, and in all my experience I never knew one to become fertile at a younger age. BEST BEES FOR QUEEN-REARING. A person rearing queens extensively, and keeping several races of bees in his apiaries, should note those that build the largest and finest cells, and rear the best queens. The Holyland bees will build a large number of cells if permitted to do so, and the queens reared by 46 them are very large and prolific. All things consid- ered, I believe them to be the best of the four races for cell-building. The C^^prians come next in value for this purpose ; there is, however, little diflerence between these. My acquaintance with the Cyprian and Holy lands, however, has not been as extensive as with the Italian and black bees, and I will give my experience regarding Italians, as it may differ from that of others. THE ITAJLIANS NOT A DISTINCT RACE. The fact that the Italians are not a distinct race is well established and generally admitted ; hence it be- comes necessary, in view of this, to propagate the other races in order to keep the former up to the standard and maintain their established reputation as a superior race. I have tested the different races and find that the Italians are the least adapted for cell-building. I do not understand why this is so. Prior to the intro- duction of the Cyprians and Holylands, I always gave the black bees the preference as nurses, when- ever I could procure them. The cells built by the Italians are small, many being similar to those described on page 45. I would not hesitate for a moment to destroy them as soon as sealed. It would be folly to permit queens from such cells to become fertile, as they would prove worthless, and much valuable time would be lost in testing them. Distinctly remember that rearing 47 queens artificially is quite a different process from that pursued by the bees when allowed to follow their natural instincts. The Creator has instituted perfect laws governing insects, and bees comply with the requirements of these laws when allowed to rear queens in the natural way ; the result being perfect queens. In view of this and on account of the increasing demand for queen-bees, it becomes necessary to adopt some artificial means by which equally as good queens can be produced. In all my experimenting with bees for this purpose, I have imitated nature as perfectly as possible. REARING QUEENS FROai THE EGG. Most intelligent and experienced bee-masters agree with me in the opinion that queens should be reared from the egg, as, other things being equal, they prove the best in all cases. I formed this opinion during my first year in the business, have had no reason to change it, and claim that this is the only way to rear queens which will compare favorably with those produced in the natui-al way under the swarming impulse. Many years ago, I frequently heard an old bee- keeping friend make the following remark : " If you want large queens start them from the egg." Any- one can satisfy himself of this fact by thoroughly testing it for a few weeks. Full directions for pro- curing and keeping a continuous supply of eggs for 48 this purpose may be found on page 4, which should be carefully followed in order that you may be pre- pared to start cells at any time. THE PROPER TIME TO COMMENCE QUEEN-REARING. I make it a point to have the hives well stocked with bees and in a proper condition to swarm, having sealed drone-brood before I start my first lot of cells. Here in New England, in favorable seasons, queen- rearing may be commenced the first week in May provided the bees are properly stimulated. It is well understood that natural cell-building de- pends upon the following conditions, viz. : strong and populous colonies, a good supply of drone-brood and young drones, vigorous queens, warm and genial weather, and a plentiful flow of honey. Hence, you will see the necessity of stimulating the bees for early breeding by giving them a liberal supply of syrup, and in every other possible way. I consider the above the best indications of their readiness to commence cell-buildins:. CHAPTER VIH. THE NEW WAY VeVSUS THE OLD. I wish to point out some of the advantages which the new method has over the old. The latter havinsf 49 been fully described in the various bee journals and standard works on apiculture, the reader must nec- essarily be tamiliar with them. The first point is to make a colony queenless. A few hours later, give it a comb containing eggs and larvoB (either with or without holes cut in it), per- mitting the bees to build the cells where they choose. They generally build them in clusters (see fig. 7), and so closely joined that they cannot be separated without destroying many of them. The eggs given vary in age from one to three days, consequently when the queens commence to hatch, it will be from one to three days before they have all left the cells ; and when a larva three days old is selected, the queen will hatch in nine or ten days. Unless carefully watched this early hatched queen will destroy the remaining cells by gnawing through them near the base, and, when she has made an opening of sufficient size, will deliberately sting the imprisoned queen, the bees finishing the work thus ruthlessly begun. I used quite frequently to find five or more queens in the hatching-box or in the nuclei at one time, and of course many of them would be stung. HOW YOUXG QUEENS MANAGE, WHEN TWO OR MORE HATCH AT ONE TIME. Perhaps my readers are not familiar with queen- rearing, and do not know how the young queens manage afiturs when several emerge at the same time. Where several cells are clustered together, as shown 4 50 in fig. 7, several of these queens are likely to hatch at the same moment. When this occurs and they meet, a mortal combat ensues ; the conqueror coming out of the struggle unharmed, and the other receiving a fatal wound is left unmolested to die, unless some merciless worker seizes her by the wing and attempts to drag her out of the hive. Please remember that worker- bees never destroy a cell that contains a healthy queen. In all my experience I never knew such a thing to occur. Every queen will be permitted to hatch un- less attacked by a hostile queen. I am, however, fully aware that many writers state that the workers do destroy them. When breeding by the method just described, I was obliged to spend many sleep- less nights watching such cells as they could not be separated, and they would almost invariably hatch at night. The lamp-nursery system has many advo- cates, but I have never tried this plan as I consider it contrary to natural laws. Cells need the natural warmth of the bees, and it is almost impossible, in the lamp-nursery, to keep the temperature even. Such means will produce poor, weak queens. After long experimenting, I discovered nil/ method as described in this book. With this came a wonder- ful change. The egfffs being; of one ajje when the cells are started, I can accurately determine the time when they will hatch, and they all do so within a few hours of each other. The cells are uniformly built and can be easily separated. By the use of the queen nursery they are hatched by the natural warmth of the bees in the 51 brood-chamber. The fact of knowing just when the queens will hatch, would have saved me hundreds of dollars had I known it when I first engaged in the business. Now I am not obliged to sit up nights to watch the cells and save the hatching queens, and I feel certain that my readers, without one exception, will admit that the above is entirely new, simple, and prac- ticable, and see at once the advantage to be gained by its adoption. If the directions given are strictly followed, no queen need be lost when hatching, as the time can be calculated to within a few hours, as follows : the egg will hatch in three and one-half days after being laid ; four and one-half days later the cell will be sealed, and in eight days more the young queens will hatch out, making sixteen days, the time required to rear a queen from the egg just laid. HOW TO REAR A FEW QUEENS. As many bee-keepers desire to rear a few queens for their own use, thus combining pleasure and profit, I will give special directions for so doing. The general rules given in a preceding chapter should be followed, but all operations will necessarily be on a smaller scale. If you wish to rear about a dozen queens, go to a strong colony at sunset, remove the queen, and on the following night take away all the unsealed brood (replacing it with empty combs) which maybe given to some weak colony ; then examine all the remaining combs, carefully destroying all cells which have been started. Now give them 52 eggs prepared forcell-building in the manner described on page 12. Mark the date of starting on the hive. Five or six days later take a tiiree-frame nucleus hive, and place two combs in it ; now take the comb on which the cells are started, together with adhering bees from the first hive and place it in the centre of the nucleus hive between the two others ; then select several combs of brood from strong stocks, giving them to the colony from which the cells were taken. Next, give them a queen, letting her run in at the entrance and she will be kindly received. Or, in case we wish to rear other queens, remove the bees from another strong colony, replacing them with those that have just completed the lot of cells, giving them the queen just removed and proceed as with the former. It will be necessary to have one of the swarming boxes for the last lot of bees. The above directions apply only to full colonies and standard frames. HANDLING QUEEN-CELLS. This also is an important matter to those who rear queens. Great care should be taken in handling combs on which cells are built, as when the cells are not sealed the slightest jar may detach the pupa or nymph from its position and separate it from the jelly-food ; and, although the bees may elongate the cells and save the queens, they will be permanently injured, but in most cases of this nature the cells will be destroyed soon after being sealed. The combs 53 should not be handled except when absolutely nec- essary, and never tip or turn them bottom upward. In no case attempt to shake the bees from the combs, allow them to stand in the sun, or exposed in the cool air until they become chilled. Any rough or careless handling will result in injury to the embryo queens. The wings of the young queens are not perfectly formed until within twenty-four hours of the time they hatch ; and if the cells are subjected to such rough treatment, many of the queens will be crippled by having defective wings or legs, or perhaps the abdomen deformed. These precautions apply equally well when cutting out cells. Queens may be hatched from those that have been chilled, but they will be weak and sickly ; hence worthless. In changing combs with cells on them from one hive to another, do not brush the bees from them, but let them remain to protect the cells from the extreme changes in the atmosphere. The bees adhering to such combs are kindly received by others under like conditions and circumstances. Queen-cells should never be exposed to the burning rays of the sun as the cell in which the queen is en- cased is almost air-tight, and such exposure invari- ably produces suffocation and death. If the temper- ature in the room where the cells are being prepared for the nursery or nuclei is slightly lower than that of the hives, the cells will not be seriously affected by it, but do not keep them out of the hives longer than is absolutely necessary. 54 REASONS WHY QUEENS FAIL TO LAY, DIE SUDDENLY, OR ARE SUPERSEDED. During the past ten years complaint has been made by some of my customers that queens sent them failed to lay after being introduced. Had these re- ports originated with unreliable parties, I should not have considered them worthy of notice, but on the contrary the complaints came from customers in whose honor and integrity I have the greatest con- fidence. This led me to investigate the matter fully, as to whether queens taken from strong colonies while they were in a high state of prolificness and fertility were not more liable to injury in transit. The matter was certainly of sufficient importance to demand thorough investigation. Occasionally, the purchaser would report: "My queen came to hand and was safely introduced, but has not laid an egg up to date." Of course I felt chagrined to hear a report like this from a customer to whom I had sent a tested queen. When dollar queens are sent such a report will not surprise any dealer, as such queens are neither war- ranted nor tested ; the only stipulation regarding them being that they are fertile, and little further is known of them as they are generally shipped as soon as they commence laying. I was well satisfied that if these reports were cor- rect, the injury must have been the result of rough treatment during transit. 55 In order to substantiate my opinion and conclu- sion, I was obliged to experiment considerably ; con- sequently I removed, on different occasions, several queens from nuclei and full, vigorous colonies, keep- ing them in the nursery for a few days before ship- ping, also keeping a correct record of these queens and their destination in order to ascertain if they re- ported all right. No complaint came regarding them, hence I concluded that I had discovered one of the causes and also the proper remedy for it. The above is not the only reason why queens fail to lay. Unless properly introduced, they will be rendered worthless before they have been in the hive an hour. Sometimes they will be slightly stung, but not sufficiently injured to cause immediate death, although rendered incapable of laying. When the hive is opened the queen is, apparently, kindly received by the bees and successfully introduced, as the marks made by the sting are not always easily recognized. Occasionally they receive a sting in the leg ren- dering it useless, and such injury is easily recognized. Nevertheless, the queen will continue to lay, but not to the extent that she would had she received kind treatment from the bees when introduced. Some- times, several weeks will elapse before they show any indications of failing or having been stung, and then are superseded, or as the term is "missing." Parties purchasing queens should not hastily con- demn the dealer, but should carefully study the causes of the loss. There are many reasons why 56 queens die suddenly, fail to lay, or are superseded soon after being introduced, the principal of which have been described above with the remedy for the same, and regarding the others I can only say, use caution in introducing them. I would advise the reader (if a dealer) to keep queens "to be shipped," in the nursery for a few days before sending them out. I am satisfied that should this plan be generally adopted, less queens will be lost or injured in ship- ping. CHAPTER IX. TESTED QUEENS THE STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE. This is an important subject and one of great in- terest, especially to every honey-producer. Queen- rearing has become a specialty, and honey-producers who wish to rear queens for their own use, and the queen-breeders who desire to infuse new blood to prevent in-and-in breeding want good reliable stock, and in order to obtain this call for tested queens. I think that the importance of the terra is often forgotten ; some consider that it simply applies to a queen whose worker progeny bear the markings which indicate purity. If so, they mistake, and I think it due to the dignity of queen-rearing and api- culture that this matter be more clearly explained and definitely established. 57 There must be some standard of excellence and I consider that this is implied in the term tested queens. It is not my intention to detract from the vahie and importance of the business by devising means for producing cheap queens, but to establish a method by which the best may be produced, thereby promoting its interests and worth. If there is one thing more than another which will degrade any business or profession it is trying to produce a cheap article. This invariably leads to- wards fraud and deception, and results in general in- jury and loss. Where is the dignity of the mechanic to-day as compared with the past? This principle of doing cheap work has ruined it, and it is almost im- possible to get honest work done by contract. Now with regard to queen-rearing, teach the mass of bee-keepers some way to rear queens cheaply in large quantities, and the country will be flooded with poor and worthless queens. First-class queens cannot be reared and sold for one dollar, and those who expect to get such queens for that price will be disap- pointed. Tested queens are those bred from the best stock and kept in the apiary until the value of their pro- geny regarding honey-gathering and purity has been thoroughly determined ; and no queen should be shipped as tested until the above mentioned require- ments have been complied with. All tested queens should be graded, the best being selected tested. I have such an one in my apiary for which I should re- fuse one hundred dollars. 58 SELECTED QUEENS. Selected queens are those which give promise of being perfect in all respects before being tested. When I open a nucleus hive and find a large, hand- some and prolific queen, one that is putting the eggs in every cell in exactly the same position, I mark her either selected or for testing ; and if she is shipped before she has been kept long enough to test her progeny she is called a selected queen. Such queens (all things considered) are the cheapest in the end for bee-keepers generally. WARRANTED QUEENS. My apiaries are so located and arranged that very few of the queens will mismate ; hence most of the queens, sent out as warranted, prove to be purely mated ; they are reared from the best stock and just as carefully as the tested ones. The chances are that the purchaser will be well satisfied with the warranted queens, especially if he be a honey-pro- ducer, although I consider the tested queens far preferable for those who wish to breed queens. DOLLAR QUEENS. As before stated, I regard the production and sale of dollar queens (so called) an injury to api- culture and its interests. I do not rear such, have none for sale, and advise the reader never to purchase them of any dealer. 59 KOBBINQ NUCLEI ; HOW PREVENTED. When nuclei are kept in the same yard with full colonies there will always be more or less robbing during scarcity of forage, especially when feeding is resorted to ; and any apiarist who has once experi- enced wholesale robbing in his apiary will never for- get it. To prevent this, feed only white sugar syrup as there is no "enticing scent" to such plain, simple food. Clear honey cannot be safely fed, no matter how much precaution is taken, and should not be used even though the honey costs nothing and sugar fif- teen cents per pound. I know of nothing more discouraging to the queen- dealer (unless it be unfavorable weather) than upon examining his bees to find the strong colonies robbing their weaker neighbors ; and as it is not easily con- trolled when once commenced, every means should be used to prevent it, as " an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." There are, however, times when we shall find the bees robbing in spite of all our precau- tion ; and there are several plans either of Avhich may be resorted to in such cases, and unless this is done every nucleus in the apiary will be ruined in a short time. When a colony is being robbed, close the en- trance at once to keep the robbers in the hive from coming out and others from entering. After giving the robbers confined sufiicient time to fill their sacs, release them sprinkling them with flour as they leave the hive and trace them to their home. The hive 60 being robbed should be closed and opened repeatedly until all the robbers have vacated. Then give the robbing colony a dose of tobacco smoke, which will soon stop their marauding (for a while at least), and when they have nearly all returned to the hive close it for a time with one of the screens, fig. 12, page 34 (described at end of volume), thereby checking and preventing further robbing. If the hive being robbed is queenless and reduced in numbers, it should be removed to the stand occu- pied by a stronger one (also queenless), thus equal- izing them. I find this method of equalizing nuclei a good one, even when there is ?io robbing. The entrances of the hives should be protected with a piece of glass (four or more inches long and one inch wide) placed against them in such a way that the bees can pass out at either end, and secured against the hive with two small tacks. If robbery is being carried on to any great extent, one end may be closed with a piece of paper ; and if the robbers are still persistent, throw some grass against the glass in such a way as completely to cover the entrance. The bees belonging to this colony will find their way in or out of the hive, while the robbers hesi- tate before forcing their way through this barricade ; and if they should attempt it, their chances of escape are few, for it is not an easy matter for them to find their way out again, and the colony thus assailed takes courage, while the sentinel bees, with renewed vigor, seize upon the intruders as they enter, sting- 61 ing them before they can escape, often defeating them. The glass placed against the entrance in no way interferes with the queen or bees when they wish to pass out or in. When feeding nuclei, great care should be taken that the feeders do not leak, and that they are properly filled. If any syrup or honey is spilled upon the ground, cover it with earth so deeply that the bees will not discover it. FERTILE WORKERS. One of the greatest and most troublesome pests of the apiary (especially to queen-breeders) are the fertile workers. They are generally produced by allowing a colony to remain queenless for a long time, appearing sooner in nuclei than in full colonies. Their presence is known by drone-brood in worker cells. Drones reared from these eggs are invariably dwarfed, and, in my opinion, incapable of fertilizing queens. It is quite difficult to introduce virgin queens to such colonies, although a cell may be safely given them at any time. The remedy is this : place a frame of well matured worker-brood in the centre of the brood-nest, and in a few days give them a well matured queen-cell, and by the time that the brood is all hatched the fertile-workers will be gone. When you think a colony is infested with them, examine the combs, and if the eggs are laid in a care- less manner, two, three, and often more in a cell, with many cells passed by, and the brood when 62 capped projects beyond the worker-cells, you may be sure that it is some of their work. It would be well to destroy all such brood before giving the colony a queen-cell. Do not destroy the combs but rather shave the heads off with a sharp knife. CHAPTER X. ROOM FOR TRANSFERRING AND HANDLING BEES. In most large apiaries we find bee-houses in which rooms are provided, adapted to this purpose. No apiary is complete without one. The windows in this room should be so arranged that all excepting one can be darkened. To show the advantage of such a room let us suppose that we are transferring ; all the bees taking wing during the operation will fly to the window which has not been darkened. After the work is finished, the hive should be returned to its stand and the window opened so that the remaining bees can return to it. If the bees were brought from a distance, the hives may be placed on stands prepared to receive them. In the latter case I leave the window closed allowing the bees remaining in the room to have their own way. They will cluster in one corner of the window and the next morning they may be brushed into a box and returned to the hive. Again, colonies contaming objectionable drones may be taken 63 into this room, the queens secured and caged, the bees brushed into the swarming box, the combs put back, the hive returned to its stand and the drones screened out by placing it at the entrance of the hive, retaining them and releasing the bees as described on page 18. Place the caged queen in the hive before releasing the bees and then release her as soon as they are quiet. Use as little tobacco smoke as possible during this operation, else the bees will be a long time in recovering from the effects and the brood will thus be unnecessarily exposed. In my business I am obliged to purchase black bees in large quantities — they are taken into the bee-room and the drones screened out, by the above process. I could not keep my bees pure unless some such means were adopted to get rid of them, and could not conduct my business properly without such a room. I have every thing conveniently and practically arranged in order to simplify all necessary operations ; always keeping in view the fact that " system is one of the most prominent secrets of success." Again, one of the most important pieces of furniture in the room is the honey- bench, which should be permanently located in some convenient part of the room near a window, as we need considerable light when cutting brood into the frames. It should be six feet long and three feet wide, the front being three inches lower than the back, so that the honey may run down into a trough on the front, thence through a tin tube into some receptacle under the bench. The height may be arranged to suit the operator. It should be covered with zinc to 64 keep the wood from absorbing the honey and in order that it may be cleaned easily ; or, if zinc cannot be conveniently procured, take equal parts of beeswax and rosin, heat until hot, pour it upon the bench, spreading it equally and burning it into the wood with a hot sad-iron. The latter answers the purpose equally well. All pieces of comb containing honey may be broken up, thrown upon this bench and left until the honey is drained out ; and all waste pieces of comb, left from this and other sources, should be thrown into the wax-extractor and the wax rendered from them. The wire-cloth with which the windows are covered is tacked on frames which are hinged so that the windows can be opened to allow the bees to escape when necessary. These screens prevent robber bees from entering when forage is scarce and the windows are open to ventilate the room. WHAT TOOLS ARE NEEDED. It is necessary to have a few convenient tools at hand in order to do the work properly, including : a carpenter's shingling hatchet ; a chisel with thin steel point tapering back two inches from the end for cutting off nails in the joints of box hives ; a small, light, corn broom, such as is used for brushing clothes (I find this the best thing for brushing bees from the combs) ; a long, stout knife for cutting out combs and a small thin one (previously described) for cutting out queen-cells ; a liberal supply of water and a towel 65 whicharevery convenient for cleansing the hands, when transferring bees and extracting honey, especially if there is new honey in the combs ; last, and not least, two smokers, the one a Bellows smoker, the other for burning tobacco. It is well to have a number of pieces of board (kept in some convenient place) to use during transferring, also some cotton twine for fas- tening combs into the frames. The above constitutes the necessary equipment in the shape of tools and fixtures with which to perform our mauipuUitions in the bee-room properly. TRANSFERRING BEES. It is quite an undertaking to the novice, especially if he is afraid of bee stings, to transfer a colony to a frame-hive, and his troubles seem greater if the colony is a large one, and the weather quite warm, but when the operation is well understood, it is quite simple and easy to perform. The preparations for this work need not be ver}' extensive. (The tools needed have been previously described in connec- tion with the bee-room). If man}' colonies are to be transferred the following directions should be noted. Remove from the bee-room all unnecessary furniture. If the weather is cool the room should be warmed, so that the brood will not chill, and the bees can be handled much more easily with the temperature about 80° : it is a poor plan to handle them when beloAv 70°. Take the colony to be transferred into the bee-room, smoke the hees and drum on the hive 66 a little to cause them to fill with honey, and invert the hive on a table, box, or anything that may be con- venient. While the bottom-board is being removed, use a little smoke to drive the bees down among the combs, and place a box over them, drumming smartly on the hive to drive all the bees out of it that can be made to leave. It will make very little difference to the expert whether the bees are first removed or not, but the novice will find it much more convenient to have them all out of the way, while removing the combs. Now take ofi" the side of the hives from which the combs can be most easily removed, using a thin chisel to cut the nails in the joints before removing the bottom-board. The jarring thus caused answers the same purpose as drumming, and by the time that the nails are cut the bees are ready to run out. Keep the bees confined in the hive until the bottom-board is ready to be taken off. As the combs are taken out brush the bees into a box, — aLangstroth hive cap will answer the purpose equally M'ell. If tobacco smoke is used in this operation, the bees will remain quiet for a long time. If they are disposed to run up the sides of the box or fly, blow more smoke upon them.'' After the combs are removed from the hive and the bees brushed from them, lay them flat on pieces of board. If they are crooked or wavy press them ' There are many operations which can be performed about the apiary by this means, which cannot be done without. Even the filthy tveed has its uses as well as many things equally obnoxious and questionable in their eflfects on the huniau system. My tobacco smoker, or pipe, works quite handily here, as being held in the mouth botli hands are at liberty and but Blight inconvenience is experienced in handling it. 67 down smooth, whether there is brood in them or not, and then place another board on them to keep them flat. This shonld be done while the combs are warm, as when the combs are cnt into the frames they will stay in place better. Cut them into the frames as soon as possible after they have been removed from the hive, placing them in as they will fit best, regard- less of the position that they held in the hive, being careful not to cut them too small or so that they will fit but loosely in the frames. I use no stick or wires to hold the combs in the frames, cotton twine (similar to that used by grocers) being better. There is seldom enough suitable brood in a box-hive to fill more than five frames. These and two or more empty combs should be placed in the hive, the bees turned in, the honey-board, quilt, or duck-cover placed on, and the hive put on the old stand, or the one which it is to occupy. The bees re- maining in the room should be treated as before described. In the course of twenty-four hours the combs will be securel}' fastened, and the bees will gnaw off the strings and bring them out. I would watch and remove them as soon as they appear at the entrance. In a day or two, more frames or combs should be given them. If the colony is a large one put in frames prepared with starters, or those filled with foundation, alternating them between full combs. Frames of foundation {properly fastened) may be put in when transferred if the colony is a large one. I take the following precaution in order to have all transferred comb straight : after the strings have been .68 put around to keep it in the frames, lay it upon a flat board letting the top-bar project over the outer edge, then place another perfectly straight piece of board on the comb and put your whole weight upon it. This makes it perfectly straight within the frame. No damage will be done provided the vertical and bottom pieces of the frame are seven-eighths of an inch wide. As the comb is just the same thickness, it will not be injured in the least. I have practised the above for twenty-four years. I consider good, straight, natural comb preferable to that built from artificial foundation, and yet strongly recommend the general use of comb foundation. WHEN TO TRANSFER. Bees may be transferred at any time during the year although it would be unwise to do so at all times. I consider spring the best time, just before the flowers begin to yield a good flow of honey, when the bees have the least stores, which here in New England is about the first of May. The condition of the bees and season must govern in other localities. It is a more difficult and sticky operation and more bees will be lost, when the combs are filled with new honey, than when there is but little honey in the hive. I generally select either a cloudy or a rainy day, as the bees will all be at home and we shall disturb them the least. The time required to transfer a colony varies according to the condition of the combs. 69 UNITING BEES. This is a frequent and necessary operation, in large apiaries at least, and an undertaking not always attend- ed with good results, and quite frequently a hazardous one, especially to the novice. I find the following method a good one : prepare the bees by keeping them queenless three days before uniting, confining them in the hives, providing sufficient ventilation, using the screen, fig. 12, page 34, for this purpose. It would be well to put them in a cool, dark room or cellar during this time as they will remain much more quiet. If there is no brood in the hives the bees may be put in the swarming box together, after the queens have been removed. They will need feeding while thus confined. Use the glass-jar feeder for this purpose, placing it on the wire-cloth cover. The syrup should be thin, as bees while thus confined need a large quantity of water. If the swarming box is used, take the bees three days later, turn them down in front of the hive where they are to be located, uncage the queen and let her run in with the bees. If left in the hives, let us suppose (for convenience' sake) that number one is to be broken up and united with number two. First, place an empty hive on the stand which number two formerly occupied, next give the bees in both a little tobacco smoke, drumming on the hives occasionally for ten minutes to cause them to fill with honey. This done, remove the combs from number two, shake or brush them down in front of the empty hive, and then place the combs contain- 70 ing brood in also ; now treat number one in the same manner, allowins' the bees from both to rim in togeth- er, thus thoroughly mixing them, letting the queen run in with the bees as in the former instance. Bees can be united without risk by the above plan. I find it difficult to unite blacks and Italians in any other way. Bees seem to recognize each other by scent. Hence, when two colonies have been thoroughly fumigated with the same aromatic material, they can be easily united. I find it a good plan to feed bees with sugar syrup scented with peppermint, or something of the kind, for several days before uniting them. They will thus become scented nearly alike as they have partaken of the same food. These bees should be thoroughly shaken up and their honey sacs well filled when united. This tends toward keeping them good-natured during the operation. Well-filled stomachs have a tendency to soothe their combativeness. This same cause seems to produce a like efiect upon human nature. THE UTILITY OF UNITING BEES. There is nothing gained by uniting two large col- onies in the fall, and the operation would prove worse than useless. If there are a number of weak ones in the apiary it is advisable to unite them by putting two or three in one hive, in all cases retain- ing the best queen for the colony. When two large colonies are united, double the stores will be con- sumed, and when the bees are ready to commence 71 work in the apiary such a colony will contain only about the same quantity of bees it would have had, had none been united with them, as bees that are united die off rapidly in the spring ; and if one col- ony has the bees of two queens they will diminish on this account twice as rapidly as they will in one that has only the bees from one queen. There is, therefore, a disadvantao^e in unitino' two laro;e colonies in the fall. UNITING BEES IN SWARMING TIME. There is much to be gained by uniting bees in the swarming season. This would not be advisable un- til the apiarist has as many colonies as he wishes to keep. When two swarms are to be thus united, the sections should be placed on the hive immediately, and the result will be highly favorable if there is a good honey flow at the time. Swarms thus united seldom quarrel ; the extra queens will be disposed of and business will progress favorably. I would recommend the above plan when the apiarist has all the colonies that he wishes to care for. WHEN AND HOW TO REMOVE CELLS FROM A COLONY THAT HAS JUST CAST A SWARM. In case the apiarist is not particular regarding the purity of his stock, he can obtain queens to fill the places of old or infirm ones by the following plan : 72 during the swarming season, prepare nuclei and save the best cells built in any of your best Avorking colo- nies, by cutting them out after the swarm has issued. The proper time for doing this depends largely on the time when the bees swarm. If the weather is pleasant for two days preceding this, the cells may be safely cut out the seventh day after; but if unfavorable for several days previous, it is quite difficult to determine exactly when the cells are sufficiently matured to be removed, as the colony may have been prepared to cast a swarm several days before they did so and were prevented on ac- count of unfavorable weather. Or, possibly, they may have made every preparation to swarm during the time they were confined to their hives by stormy weather, as they often do. In such case, the colony should be examined and one or more cells opened near the base, for the purpose of ascertaining as near as possible the age of the embryo queens ; and if not sufficiently matured to be safely removed let them remain a few days longer. In a day or two after the colony has cast a swarm prepare nuclei, and by the sixth day cut out the cells leaving one of the best for the parent stock. In large apiaries a plenty of cells may be obtained in this way, and all the old or infirm queens may be superseded at any convenient time. I would recom- mend for this purpose the small hives, fig. 1, page 4. If the apiarist has a large number of colonies and wishes to keep his stock pure, he should remove his fertilizing nuclei half a mile or more from other bees 73 and place a colony containing drones of snch strain as he wishes to propagate, in the same yard with them. Not one queen in twenty-five will be impurely mated, notwithstanding there may be hundreds of colonies of impure bees within one mile of them. THE PROPER AGE TO SUPERSEDE QUEENS. In apiculture, the same as in stock-raising, the poultry-business, and like industries, the age which completes usefulness depends largely on the amount of labor performed, and we find that the rule "that all animated beings outlive their usefulness" applies equally well to queens. Hence I consider it a good idea to supersede them as often as once in two years. A good, prolific queen will lay nearly her full quota of eggs during this time, especially under the present system of managing bees, and will certainly have spent her best days during that period. It will be advantageous to keep some queens longer, but this is the exception and not the rule. Young and vigorous queens are the profitable ones, and I do not care to keep old queens for any purpose. While some claim that the breeding queens should be two years old, I prefer those that are young and vigorous for reasons previously stated. When a queen is in her second year she is in her prime as queen mother. Again, the cost of queens is so reasonable, that the expense of often requeening a colony is but trifling when com- pared with the advantage gained. 74 CHAPTER XI. SPRING AND FALL FEEDING. Here in New England, and in the northern portion of our country generally, we usually experience cold and windy weather during early spring ; warm spring weather begins late, the portion of the season during which the surplus honey is gathered, being of short duration, and the fall, during which we must prepare for winter, terminates only too soon, as early frosts cut oif the late honey forage. From this we draw the following conclusions : first, unless colonies are strong in numbers when the honey flow comes, a large percentage will be lost ; secondly, the long dearth of honey from the expiration of the last flow until winter's cold and chilling blasts sweep over the land, and the hills and valleys are robed in white and our pets begin their long rest, must be counter- acted by artificial means. The former can only be accomplished by SPRING FEEDING. The reader is well aware that bees will start out in search of water and pollen as soon as the snow begins to melt and disappear, and the first flowers bathe their petals in the warm sunshine of early spring, often being obliged to travel a long distance for both, the results being, that thousands are lost on their way home ; in fact, it is not unusual to see 75 the ground literally strewn with dead bees, ex- hausted by their long search and struirgles against the cold winds, perishing almost within reach of their homes. In order to counteract this begin building up the stocks by early breeding, stimulating the bees^ by feeding with thin syrup and artiticial pollen ; and when the first honey flow comes, the colonies will be literally boiling over with bees ready and willing to take advantage of it. The above is especially im- portant to queen-breeders as they must have a good supply of early drones to fertilize early queens. Bees need large quantities of water and pollen ; the former may be supplied in the shape of the thin syrup previously mentioned, and I would recommend for this purpose Locke's feeder, described at end of volume ; the latter by placing boxes containing wheat floui-^ (with a piece of comb placed in it upon which they may alight) in some warm, sheltered portion of the apiary. Reason and experience have taught me that they will accept and make good use of this substitute for the natural pollen to the extent that they work on it, flying to and fro between the box and hives in perfect clouds, filling the air with the music of their busy hum and continuing until the natural yield is abundant. It is quite pleasing and » For spring stimulating, the food should be placed directlj- over and in immediate connection with the cluster, so that it is accessible to the bees in the coolest weather. • I have foiiml that wheat flour is the best substitute for natural pollen, as the bees can carry a larger amount of it into the hive in a given time than of any other. 76 interesting to watch them when at work on the wheat flour, tumbling over each other in their hurried efibrts to make the most of their time, and rolling up and packing their loads on their legs. THE AMOUNT OF FOOD TO GIVE EACH DAY. In no case would I give any colony over one-half pound of syrup unless they were short of stores. In such cases give two or three pounds to com- mence with as a cold spell might set in and the bees starve rather than leave the brood to obtain food. Feeding should be discontinued just as soon as they begin to gather honey from the flowers. I generally give them all the wheat flour they will carry in. They will stop working on it when the natural pol- len becomes abundant. Colonies properly stimulated will be certainly ten days in advance of those allowed to build up in the natural way. The fall honey dearth (previously referred to) may be counteracted by FALL FEEDING. It is not generally necessary to resort to feeding in the fall, except for the purpose of supplying the bees with necessary winter supplies. For this purpose an entirely difi*erent quality of food and method of feeding must be adopted. Late feeding sometimes pays, but generally those fed later 77 than September 20 (here in the north) will not win- ter well ; hence, all the necessary supply should be given before that date and sealed over before cold weather sets in and drives the bees from the outer to the centre combs. If not, the syrup will not be sealed before spriug and will sour and ferment, rumiing out of the cells and besmearing the combs, and when spring opens they are mouldy and damp. If there is one thing more than another that the bees dislike, it is to have the combs in the above condition, and if obliged to eat the sour syrup before spring, it is almost certain death to them, unless the weather is so favorable that they can fly out often. I would recommend early fall feeding when it is not advisable to unite the colonies. FOUL BROOD. It is exceedingly fortunate that the honey-bee is subject to few diseases, else the business of apiculture might be very precarious ; but as it is, a person can be- gin the occupation of bee-keeping with the assur- ance that a good hive and locality, together with careful management, will prove, to say the least, as sure and remunerative as any other occupation with the same investment of capital. There is one dread scourge, however, that at times infests an apiary, whose ravages are so fearful that a short article may well be written in regard to it. I refer to foul brood. The origin of this disease is as yet unknown, and 78 its history obscure ; many theories in regard to it have been written, none of which however have as yet been proved, and all seem to exist in the im- agination of their authors. I propose to give a description of this disease, the means that have heretofore been used to attempt a cure, and the plan I should adopt to eradicate it should it show itself in my own apiary. Foul brood is the most fatal to bees of all other diseases. It is a disease of the larvas only ; the sealed brood die in the cells producing a most intol- erable stench, which of itself would be sufficient to one who had ever seen a case to recognize it again, as it may be perceived at some distance from the hive. HOW TO DETECT FOUL BROOD. Upon opening a hive infected with this disease the cappings of the cells are found to be of a dark, yellowish brown, depressed in the centre, and usually with a small hole the size of the point of a pin in the centre of the caps. Upon opening the cells the brood is found dead, partially decayed, moist and slimy in form, and emitting a noisome stench such as no other cause can produce. On its first appearance a few cells only may be found affected ; but if allowed to go on without anything being done, in a short time every cell of brood will be found contaminated, and ere long the colony will die out for want of young bees to replenish it ; and not only this, but unless active means are at once taken, every colony within 79 flight range will be certainly and surely afiected also. No half-way measures should be taken, but active means adopted if one desires to be rid of this ter- rible pestilence. As this scourge affects the larvab only, the first thing to be done is to remove the queen, for when we stop the production of brood, Ave so far check the further growth of the disease. Attempts to cure this disease by means of disin- fectants have utterly failed. The hive, frames and comb have been thoroughl}'^ sprayed and washed with chlorinated soda and other purifying agents with no avail, and the disease was until recently pronounced positively incurable. The recent discovery of sal- icylic acid, it is now claimed, has produced a means of curing this disease and eradicating it from a hive. I have never seen it tried and have little faith in it as a means of cure, especially in the hands of the in- experienced, and do not recommend its use. One thing is fortunate, the queen may be used again as it has been fulh' proved that she does not carry the disease. If my apiary were infected with this disease, I should remove the queen from every infected colony, and at once utterly and totally burn and destroy every trace and vestige of hive, frame and comb, even going so far as to burn up the stand upon which the hive containing the infected colony was placed. The disease is known to be of fungous growth, and the infinitesimal spores are carried from one hive to another on the legs or bodies of the bees, or may be conveyed into a hive by means of feeding con- 80 taminated honey ; hence the necessity of utterly de- stroying everything concerning which a suspicion of contamination exists. If any one desires to attempt a cure of this scourge^ he will find in a little book written by Mr. Muth, entitled "Helps and Hints," his plan of cure and the means which he adopts, by the use of salicylic acid ; but for myself I do not think it will prove a paying experiment, for I should fear to find the disease breaking out anew season after season, unless I to- tally eradicated it in the beginning. FIRE, THE BEST MEANS OF CURE. Fire will certainly destroy every vestige of the pestilence, and is the only known means as yet of so destroying it. I would therefore advise all, who find their hives infected, not to delay an instant, but at once proceed to make a bonfire, and be sure that everything connected with the apiary which has been exposed is totally burned. The virulence of this dis- ease is such that it can be carried from one colony to another upon the hands of the operator ; so one must be exceedingly careful to cleanse thoroughly the hands and all tools used upon a suspected hive, be- fore operating upon one known to be disinfected. If one thinks my plan is too severe, he certainly has my permission to use any other that he chooses, but may rest assured that by so doing he will find plenty of time in which to repent, and I fear will wish he had repented first. 81 The apiarist should keep a watchful eye and ever be on tlie alert for indications of this disease, Avhen examining the combs of his colonies. I seldom open a hive for any purpose without carefully examining each comb of brood to see if there is any trace of this dread disease. Although it is sixteen years since it existed in my apiary, I have not forgotten my ex- perience in that line. If even one infected cell is found, the colony in which it appears should be isolated three miles at least from the other apiaries. If only a few cells are infected I would cut them out, taking with them one square inch of the adjoining comb, and burn them immediately. In adopting my remedy it will not be necessary to destroy the combs and honey. The hive should be consigned to ashes, but the combs and honey may be preserved ; only great care must be taken that the bees do not have access to it, as the disease would spread rapidly and every colony in the yard would soon become infected. The hone}^ may be " strained out," and clarified by heating for several hours in a vessel placed in water and the combs melted into wax. Do not then give it back to the bees. There might not be any danger of com- municating the disease by so doing, but with my experience the risk is considerable, and no apiarist can afford to trifle with a disease so contagious and so devastating. There may be some remedy that will temporarily check its ravages, but as a positive cure I cannot 6 82 have any faith in it whatever. If you have this dis- ease in 3'onr apiary tlestroy every infected colony at once, even though they all have to be sacrificed in order to rid the bee-yard of it. CHAPTER XII. WINTERING BEES. Probably no subject has ever been presented to the bee-keeping fraternity for consideration, of more -weighty importance, or u})on wliich success in apicul- ture more largely depends than the above. The apiarist is often favored with long and apparently exhaustive essays upon it, and it has been thoroughly discussed both through our journals and at our con- ventions ; yet it remains, apparently, an unsettled matter, and we still hear reports every spring, from different parts of the country, of heav}'- losses in Avintering. I do not claim to have solved this prob- lem, but merely intend to add my opinion and ex- perience to Avhat has already been said. It is gen- erally conceded by a large number of our best bee masters that the proper place to winter bees is on the summer stands, and in this I agree with them. This method is being generally adopted. In order that the bees may winter well on summer stands, they must be properly prepared in the fall. Double-walled 83 hives are a necessity in our northern climate ; and I do not consider chaff- packing of any consequence whatever, a dead-air space between the outer and inner walls being all that is needed. A colony should have twenty-five pounds or more of honey (mostly sealed) to winter on. Be sure that they have young and vigorous queens in the fall, and are strong and populous the first of October. I do not consider upward ventilation necessary when bees are prepared as follows : place two sticks crosswise over the tops of the frames about four inches from the ends, tw^o more lengthwise five inches apart, resting them on the former, cover this with some bagging or other coarse cloth and place the chaff cushion over it. Early in October, bore a one-inch auger hole three inches down from the top and half- way between the front and back of the hive, take a stick one-half inch square and twenty-four inches long, pointed at one end, and slowly twist it through the combs to the opposite side of the brood-nest, thus making a clean winter passage for the bees. Very few bees will be killed b}' this operation, and in all m}' experience, I never have killed a queen while doing it. Set the hive two or three feet above the ground so that it will be out of the way of the snow. I have found that where the snow was banked against single- walled hives the bees were nearly all dead, the frost, cutting in through the snow and ice and penetrating several inches into them. A board should be placed in front of the hive to shield it from the sun. Now if 84 the bees can have a flight during the month of Febru- ary the>^ Avill generally -winter successfully. A few bees will be lost in the snow but they may as well die there as in the hive, but they should not be permitted to fly unless the glass stands at 50^ in the shade, and the weather very calm. If they cannot fly once during the winter they will not come through well. All the theories about dry fceces and other nonsensical talk will pass for what it is worth. Plenty of sealed honey, thorough packing, and a good fly once or twice during the winter, are the plain common-sense re- quirements Avhich insure us good, strong colonies in the spring. Lacking these, we shall find ourselves with many empty hives and perhaps many weak colonies when spring opens. SUGGESTIONS ON CELLAR WINTERING. As my ideas of cellar wintering differ from those of most bee-keepers, I will describe my method. I think that where bees are wintered in cellars, spring dwin- dling may be prevented by the following plan : leave them on the summer stands until about December 1, then carry them into the cellar and close it. This will, of course, warm them up. In the course of ten days I would open the cellar some cold night and run the temperature down to about 25° above zero, allowing it to remain so about twelve hours or until the bees are thoroughly cooled oflf. I would then raise the temperature to about 35° or 40° keeping it at that point for a week or 10 days, then gradually lower it 85 again, and so on through the winter. This would give the ceHar a temperature that would conform to that out-of-doors, but the advantage would be in not having such extreme low temperature in the cel- lar. The long-continued cold spells both in winter and spring are one great cause of loss in winter- ing and spring dwindling. Colonies that are put in the cellar in November before the cold weather sets in, and kept there until late in the spring, are those which dwindle after being placed upon the summer stands* The bees are often permanently removed from the the cellar in April, and in our northern climate especially, the temperature frequently runs as low as 10^ above zero daring this month. I have seen it stand at 28^ above as late as the tenth of May. This is very unftivorable for bees that were wintered in cellars or repositories. SHOULD THE HIVES FACE NORTH OR SOUTH ? It is the usual custom and practice to face the hives toward the south, and while there are some good reasons why they should face this way, yet there are equally as good reasons wh}' they should not. During the hard winters of 1879 and 1880 a large portion of the bees in the northern states perished on account of the severit}^ of the weather, and long confinement to the hives with no opportunity for a cleansinsr flio:ht. I have a bee-keeping friend who had twelve good colonies the fall previous, which were in a bee-house. 86 six of them facing the south and six the north, and all those facinfr the south died while those facing: the north came through all right, and in fine condition. Now what is the philosophy of this ? My opinion is that although the bitter cold weather confined the bees to the hives through many long months, yet the warm sun, striking on the south side of the building, warmed up the fronts of the hives facing that way, inducing the bees to fly at unfavorable times, few of which ever returned, and in this way the colonies were gradually reduced in numbers until the few remaining bees perished. On the contrary, the bees facing tire north were not thus enticed to leave the hives, but remained quiet until the weather was warm enough to insure a good cleansing flight and a safe return ; consequently they were strong in numbers and came out well in the spring. Hives that face the south should be kept well shaded from the sun ; boards may be placed against the front of them for this piu'pose. When bees are confined to the hives for several months and are about to die for want of a cleansing flight ; the least disturbance will cause the loss of large numbers of them, hence they should be kept perfectly quiet until some warm, pleasant day when the boards should be removed from the fronts and the bees have a good flight. Colonies that stand in warm, sheltered locations, facing south, will fly out as the sunshine warms up the front of the hive slightly, even when the glass 87 indicates a temperature several degrees below the freezing point, wliile, if the hives faced the north, they would not attempt to fly. DOES LIKE PRODUCE LIKE? Those who purchase dollar queens intending to use them for breeding queens have been badly disap- pointed in many instances. They expected that such queens would produce all three-banded workers, and that all the young queens would be duplicates of the mother. All queens should be pure as far as mating is concerned, as no queen-breeder, who is a muster of apiculture and who means to deal honestly, will per- mit drones of several races in or near any one of his fertilizing apiaries, as this can and shoidd be pre- vented ; nevertheless, hundreds of untested queens may be sent out which will be pronounced impurely mated, when in reality they have heen purely mated. It is a well-known fact among stock-breeders that the progeny of prize stock will not always show all the markings and qualities of the original : for in- stance, when breeding from imported stock of the famous Jersey herd of cattle, the young cows quite often fail to prove as handsomely formed, as clearly outlined or as good milkers and butter producers as their mothers, and yet they are pure and valuable. Again, with horses, the dam may be perfect in every respect, and the sire of the choicest, and both have a 2 ; 22 record as trotters, and yet it is only occasion- 88 ally that their colts prove as valuable or make as good a record as their parents. These comparisons may be indefinitely extended. This law holds good throughout nature, and ap- plies equally as well to queen-rearing ; and the apia- rist, who thinks that he can enter it without a thorough knoAvledge of it, and produce first-class queens aud those that will duplicate themselves and, at the same time, compete successfully with experienced breeders, mistakes his calling. It is only by the best selection of stock and most careful breeding, that queens will be reared which will produce daughters as perfect in all respects as themselves, and no queen-breeder will part with such a queeu for a small sum. When a customer purchases an untested queen, he takes his chances regarding her value ; if she prove equal to the mother he has obtained a valuable queen ; but if, on the contrary, her progeny is poorly marked (and for this reason pronounced hybrid), it is simply a freak of nature and not a concocted plan of the dealer to cheat his customer. No breeder can possibly determine how valuable the progeny of his untested queens will prove ; never- theless, if he understands his business he wiU know that every precaution has been taken in breeding and keeping them pure, and nature must decide the rest. I have had customers write me that the queens received were impure and that I must have black drones in the apiary ; I must confess that such re- ports are rather discouraging. 89 I well remember the history of the first Italian queen that I purchased of 'Slv. Parsons twenty-three years ago ; out of twenty-six queens reared in the first lot, only two were duplicates of the mother. Well, the queen purchased of ]\Ir. Parsons M'as reared for him by one of the most experienced and honest apiarists in the country, but it was no fault of his ; the trouble was with the imported queen sent him. And this is a fair sample of all imported queens. It was many years after this before queens could be produced or procured which would duplicate themselves, and I never had any until I produced them myself by careful selection and more careful breeding. Before leaving this subject, I Avish to state that every apiarist Avishing to procure the best stock should forever banish the idea that he will find it in the shape of cheap queens, bred by the novice or in a careless manner, and also that the tested queen is the only proper one to purchase from which to breed. PARTHENOGENESIS. The theory of parthenogenesis, as applied to the honey-bee, viz. : that the eggs of a virgin queen will hatch, and that the product thereof will invariably be drones, was first taught by Dzierzon some fifty years ago, and although for awhile it had many opponents, it has now become a well admitted and established fact in bee-culture, and he who disputes it shows that he is either wilfully or ignorantly obstinate. 90 Were the honey-bee the only example of this peculiar state of things existing in nature, doubts in regard to its truth would be more excusal)le, and a much greater cause for wonder and conjecture ; but when we find that many others of the inferior order of creation are subject to the same law, we have no reason to doubt in regard to our bees. Why this should be so, we do not understand, but the all-wise Creator had some wise end in view, presumably, that when a worn-out queen is superseded at a time when no drones exist ill the hive, the virgin queen thus produced may be able to raise drones for her own fertilization, in order that the colony may not become extinct as it otherwise would. Another theory has been advanced in this con- nection : "that the pure queen, however mated, must produce a pure drone of her own variety." This theory I cannot accept. It is well known among breeders of horses, cattle, etc., that if a female of one breed mates with a male of another, that such female never again produces her like in absolute purity. So with our domestic fowls. If a pure white leghorn pullet mates but once with a black Spanish cock, her chicks ever afterwards are liable to show an occasional black feather. With the mammals it may be said such impurity is caused by carrying the young in the uterus, and thus the blood becomes impregnated with the blood of the sire ; but with the fowl, such cannot be the case, and the impurity must be caused by absorp- tion of the male semen. If such is the case with fowl, why is it not so with the queen bee? This I know is 91 only reasoning from analogy, but the presumption is that such reasoning is correct ; at least it shows it to be possible if not highly probable, and in the matter of the purity of our queens we want no question of possibilities even. I advise, therefore, all who wish to keep their stock absolutely pure, to allow no drones from hybridized queens any chance to mate with such queens as they desire to rear to breed Irom, if they expect to keep their stocks absolutely pure; I would as soon send, as purely mated, a known hybridized queen, as one mated with such a drone. CHAPTER XIII. KEEPING BEES FOR PLEASURE AND PROFIT. There are about eighty thousand bee-keepers now in the United States ; were there twenty times as many engaged in that occupation, there would still be room and forage for as many more. Thousands of tons of honey go to waste every year simply because there are no bees kept to gather and store it. Hundreds are prevented from taking up this occu- pation by dread of the sting of the bee, who otherwise would gladly enter into it. I cannot say that it was not the intention of "Him who created all things," to prevent too large a propagation of this insect, by 92 giving it so powerful a weapon, but it was given for some wise purpose and this is perhaps that purpose. It is well known that thousands of insects visit flow- ers, both day and night, in search of honey and pollen, and that this same honey and pollen are secreted in the flowers to attract these insects thither. For what rea- son are these insects thus attracted ? Simply that they may carry the fertilizing principle from one flower to another, and thus cause a yield of grains and fruits, where otherwise sterility would be the result; and were it not for this secretion of nectar the bees would not be attracted to the flowers, and consequently this fertilizing would not be performed. In seasons Avhen the flowers are abundant, only a small part of the honey is gathered from them that might be, were the bees on hand to collect it. The flowof honey depends much upon the state of the atmosphere ; far more so than it does upon the quan- tity of flowers in the fields and woods. I have seen the fields white with clover blossoms, and still found no honey being secreted in them, on account of the state of the weather, and have seen bees starving when the trees were in full bloom, but the weather was such that they could not leave the hives in search of forage; when, by a simple change of the wind from east to west, there would be more honey secreted than the bees could by any possibility collect. Here, in New England, near the seacoast, we are troubled with east and northeast winds nearly all the time during May and June ; this is unfortunate for us, as the bees can do but little at such times ; notwith- 93 standing this fact, large crops of honey have been gathered here. About four years in five, bees will, in any locality, pay a handsome profit on the capital invested. The weather in all parts of the country is a serious drawback to bee-keepers, and is about the only thing that the ingenuity of man cannot control so far as apiculture is concerned. Thousands of people are engaged in bee-keeping in the United States, who give their whole time and attention to the business, while there can be found in most every towushlp a number who keep a few bees for pleasure, and to supply their tables with pure honey. WHO SHOULD KEEP BEES. People who are incapacitated from hard labor may keep bees, for -while there is much hard work to be done in a large apiary, it does not compare with the labor required in farming. The most that is required in bee-keepiug is to do what is needed just ichen it is needed, and not put ofi" for a moment the thing that is required to be done. Men well advanced in 3'ears can adopt bee-keeping as a means of employment, with nmch pleasure as well as profit. The business can also be well adopted as an auxiliary to some other light emploj^ment, and a profit made in both, Avhere either alone would not prove sufficiently remuuerative. When only a few bees are kept, the time required to care for them would take but a small portion of 94 the day, except during the swarming season and the honey harvest. Professional men, such as clergymen, doctors and hiwyers can keep bees, with pleasure and profit, and thus obtain a large amount of recreative exercise ; mechanics, although seldom at home, can keep a few colonies, as they can do all the work required, before and after their daily toil, and thus add a few dollars to their revenue, and at the same time, profitably and pleasantly employ their leisure moments. Ladies can keep bees as well as men ; in fact, there are hundreds of ladies now engaged in bee-culture, who find it a healthful and remunerative occupation. They soon learn to handle l)ees, and there is nothing about the business but what is perfectly proper for a lady to attend to or engage in. No one should engage in bee-keeping, however, who has not made up his mind to read carefully, study hard, and think deeply. Success ma}' for a time follow the ignorant or careless, but ere long failure will be the inevitable result. Those of our bee-keepers who have studied and labored the hardest, and given the most thought to the subject, have invariably been the most successful. Notthatit requiresmuch timeor labor to care for a few colonies, as any man who has a love for the business (and none others should attempt it) will find plenty of time to be spared from his vocation or profession to care for a half dozen colonies, and find a pleasure and enjoyment therein, which, even if no pecuniary gain were made, will ampl}- repay him. He who studies in the wondrous realms of nature 95 will always receive a vast amount of substantial advantage. And he who engages in apiculture finds that not only does the field of entomology open itself to him, but horticulture, floriculture, arboriculture, — in fact, the whole extent of tlie botany of nature is only secondary to the pursuit ; as he who becomes acquainted with the flora of his locality, and the sea- sons when the blossoms expand and the flowers yield their nectar, will be the better able understandingly to care for his colonies, and better know when to aid them by judicious feeding, or to remove for his own use the honeyed sweets the busy bees so persistently gather. The whole tendency, too, of apiculture, is to expand the mind and enlarge the understanding ; taste must be refined and thought elevated by associ- ation with the most wonderiul of God's creation amonof the inferior classes. HOW TO COMMENCE BEE-KEEPING. A word of advice on this point to beginners may be of value to many. If I were intending to start anew in bee-keeping, I would purchase one colony of bees from some responsible dealer and get it in a movable-frame-hive (the Langstroth principle I consider the best) ; this would give a good start and save all trouble of transferring, which would have to be done if the colony were bought in a box-hive. I would purchase some standard works on bee-keeping, say, "Langstroth's on the Hive and Honey-bee," 96 Quinby's "New Bee-keeping," or "Cook's Manual," and also suhscribe for some good bee journal. Thus I would be armed with the necessary literature on bee-keeping, and ready to study up the theory, as well as to attend to the practice of bee-cnlture. I would devote all my leisure moments to the stndy of these works, in order to get posted, assoon as possible, on the habits of the honey-bee, and the best methods of managing an apiary. Books are of little value, unless one, at the same time, practises the ideas gained from them ; this can be done by opening the hive and examining the bees as often as desired ; thus, practice in manipulating a hive, as well as courage in handling bees, will be gained. Of course, a hive should not be often opened while the bees are bringing in stores, not that the bees are injured thereby, but the disturb- ance thus caused would make the colony less profitable, as it would prevent some of the bees from l)ringing in as large an amount of honey as they Avould were they undisturbed. The best time to open and manipulate a hive for experimental purposes is just before sunset. BEST LOCATION FOR AN APIARY. Having advanced so far that one can handle his bees easily and boldly, and having also obtained, by study and observation, a fair insight into their habits, I would extend the business somewhat by procuring more colonies. If I were bound to keep bees, and my 97 present location was a poor one, I would keep less colonies, or move to a locality which offered better prospects, and where forage was abundant. Most any part of New York state will aflford a good locality ; but in order easily to market one's products, and obtain cheap freights on supplies, the line of some leading railroad should be chosen as a spot on which to locate permanently. REQUISITE IMPLEMENTS FOR THE APIARY. One of the first tools to be procured, and the one that is most required in managing bees, is a good Bellows smoker. There are a number of good ones from which one may choose. A good extractor is a very necessary article in an apiary ; there are many excellent ones made, from which I am hardly able to make any choice as all are good. I should, in purchasing one, procure it of the supply dealer nearest to me in order to save on ex- pressage or freight. With these tools, and a supple- ment of hives and frames, one is ready to commence bee-culture, but unless a full determination is made to devote time and energy, mind and hand to the business, one had better let it alone. But if a per- son takes hold of it with his mind fully made up to devote all his energies to it, and to be ready at all times to take advantage of every point which tends to help the business along ; not to be easily frightened or discouraged at little reverses, should they happen, 7 98 he will make a success of the operation, and make a larger per cent of gain upon the capital invested, than in any other occupation. Not only does it yield a handsome profit, but it brings to our table a delicious article of food such as the gods themselves might relish and desire. Health demands that we should use some sweets, and what one more palatable than pure honey is known to be? for, produced from our own hives, with the knowledge that it is the result of our own care and labor, it will become doubly delicious and attractive. md^ MANAGEMENT OF THE APIARY; OR, THE PRODUCTION AND MARKETING OF HONEY. By GEORGE W. HOUSE. Many points must be taken into consideration in giving instructions on this subject ; in fact, a whole vohime might be written without going into the little details that are necessarily connected with the manip- ulations, many of which are unexpected and unavoid- able, in obtaining the largest possible amount of surplus. To secure all the surplus honey obtainable, the apiarist must have the ability to meet readily any emergency, however unexpectedly presented. Manipulations that would prove the most success- ful one season, if put in practice at the same time of the following season, and in the same manner, would be most disastrous to our colonies. Therefore we must study the seasons and prepare ourselves to man- age our apiaries in accordance therewith. All the advice I can give as to the proper time of having our bees in the desired conditions to store the coming nectar advantageously is, that we must have a knowl- edge of the time and extent of the bloom about to make its appearance, always keeping an eye on the weather. (99) 100 THE HIVE. The hive is an important factor in all our manipu- lations. It matters not so much about the style of frame used, whether Langstroth or Galhip, Quinby or American ; but the hives should all be alike, and constructed as simple as possible, avoiding all loose pieces, etc. All hives should be two-storied, both bodies exactly alike and interchangeable, so that we may run our apiaries for either extracted or comb honey, or both, changing at any time we wish and without any unnecessary expense. I will endeavor to explain the most important points in connection with the hive, as I proceed with the subject. SPRING MANAGEMENT. As soon as the weather becomes warm and settled, and the bees bring in the first pollen, the apiarist should commence preparing for the season before him. At this season of the 3ear the bee-keeper will find his colonies varying in strength from a two- framed nuclei to the colony that is overflowing with bees. He should now aim to have his colonies brood- ing to their utmost capacity, or all that the bees can properly care for. This is accomplished in different ways ; many go through their apiaries, select the weakest colonies and double them up by uniting two and three together ; but, after repeated trials, this method has been abandoned by the skilled apia- rist, it being found to be impracticable. After re- 101 peatecl experiments the following mode is consitlered the most practical and the one giving the best and quickest results. CONTRACT THE BROOD-CHA3IBER. Go through the apiary and confine each colony (by means of close-fitting division boards) to as few- frames of comb as they can properly cover and care for. While the bee-keeper is thus going through the apiary he will notice that the outside combs con- taining brood will, in most instances, have brood on but one side of the comb, and that on the side of the comb toward the cluster of bees. These frames should be reversed, putting the side containing but little or no brood inside, or towards the centre of the hive. The reader will at once see the advantage gained. By contracting the brood- chamber the bees are enabled to keep up a higher temperature, and the combs being reversed the queen finds more room within the chister to deposit eggs, thus increasing the size of the brood-nest and fiicili- tating the increasing strength of the colony. EXCHANGING COMBS. We now go to our strongest colonies and take from each one a frame of hatching-brood or brood about to hatch, putting in its place a frame of honey or empty comb. Give one of these frames of brood to each of the weakest colonies by moving the di- vision board, spreading the brood-frames and In- sertinor the frame in the centre. 102 We should repeat the same treatment every week or ten days until our colonies are all of equal strength, which should be accomplished by about the first of June, or the time when white clover begins to bloom. The bee-keeper, who has never practised the above method, would, upon adopting it, be most happily surprised at the rapidly increasing strength of his weakest colonies, and all attained without injury, but beneficial to his strongest colonies. This building- up method is the hey to our success for the season before us. FEEDING FOR STIMULATING. A judicious stimulating, by feeding wheat, rye or oat flour, and honey or sugar syrup, will pay the apiarist well for his time and money spent. The flour should be placed in troughs or boxes, and put in some warm place in the apiary that is protected from the winds, feeding only on the warm sunshiny days of early spring. As soon as the bees get natural pollen, it will be unnecessary to feed flour, but we should change to honey or sugar syrup. When once com- menced, the feeding should be kept up until the white clover bloom, discontinuing it only at such in- tervals as when the bees are bringing in honey enough to excite the queen to laying, as during the willow, fruit tree and the raspberry bloom in this locality. The management described brings us to the time when our principal honey-producing plants begin to bloom, and the swarming season about to com- 103 mence. We should now have our queen-rearing nuclei, or colouies for that purpose, in operation, so as to be able to keep a laying queen in each hive. The manner of rearing and introducing the queen I will not attempt to describe, but refer the reader to other pages of this book, whose author is acknowl- edged the highest authority, and who is not excelled by any one in the world. "We are now ready for the busiest part of the sea- son, and we will suppose the apiarist is working for comb honey. The first thing to be done is putting on the surplus arrangements, and I shall endeavor to show the reader the usefulness of a two-storied hive. Much depends upon the construction of the sur- plus arrangement in facilitating the various manipu- lations and saving much labor in preparing our comb honey for market, in the way of keeping the sections (as far as possible) free from propolis, wax, etc. For this purpose nothing is better than the so-called broad-frames. If your hives contain frames of the Gallup or American style, the broad-frames should each hold four section boxes 5^ X 5^ X 2, known as the two- pound box. The hive should be constructed to take eleven brood-frames, but in place of three of the brood-frames we use two broad-frames, one on each side of the brood-nest, thus the brood-chamber con- tains but eight frames, which is a sufficient number from which to obtain the best results in that style of frame. 104 The second or upper story should be of the same dimensions as the brood-chamber or lower story, and will hold eight of the broad-frames, with thirty-two sections, making forty boxes in all holding eighty pounds of honey to each hive. If the apiarist is using the Langstroth hive or frame, I would advise using broad-frames holding eight of the 4^ X 4J X 2, or so-called pound sections, putting one on each side of the brood-nest, which should be composed of ))ut seven or eight frames, all that is necessary for se- curing the largest amount of surplus. The upper story should be of the same dimen- sions, inside measure, as the lower story, and should contain seven broad-frames holding tifty-six boxes, or seventy-two all told, holding about seventy pounds of honey. It is best to arrange the boxes at the sides of the brood-nest, a week or so before putting on the top boxes, and when the upper surplus arrangement is put in position, exchange two of the broad-frames in the centre for the two at the sides of the brood-nest. With such management, the bees commence work in the sections much more speedily. The bee-keeper frequently has colonies that re- fuse to commence operations in the surplus boxes ; they may be in the best condition possible, but on account of their having the swarming fever, or pos- sessing a characteristic for crowding the brood-cham- ber with honey, they are loath about entering the boxes. By hanging a frame of brood in the centre of the upper story and boxing on both sides, such 105 colonies will go to work with an almost incredible rapidity. I might state here that at present I am experi- menting with a reversible frame, which I think will be most eflectual when applied to colonies that are reluctant to enter the boxes, as the brood is thus placed at the top of the comb and nearest to the surplus arrangement, with the honey at the bottom of the frames, which is contrary to the laws of the hive ; the bees will at once move the honey upwards and into the boxes. The bee-keeper, however, must ex- ercise good judgment in such a manipulation of the brood department, lest it may prove injurious to himself and the colony. After work in the surplus boxes has been thor- oughly established, the apiarist should know that every colony has just room enough, and no more than they will work advantageously. As fast as the boxes become finished, they should be removed and empty ones put in their place. To have the sections neatly and closely filled, reverse the boxes by turning them bottom side up. For this purpose, I am using reversible broad-frames ; by their use, the labor in manipulating is much lessened in more than one way. C03IB FOUNDATION If used in the new hives will pa}^ about 300 per cent, on its cost, at present prices. If used in wired frames it may be as light as eight square feet to the 106 pound; but if used in frames not wired, it should measure about five feet to the pound. For surphis boxes a very light foundation is recommended by many of our most successful apiarists ; some advise using it as light as fourteen feet to the pound. In this I must disagree with them. I prefer a founda- tion with very thin base or septum, and high, heavy side walls measuring about seven and one-half feet to a pound. For several reasons I prefer to have the sections filled with such foundation, and believe the time not far distant when a majority of our apia- rists will support me in my views on this subject. Foundation for the surplus boxes is best when newly made, the bees accepting it much more readily. The bee-keeper should manage to have such founda- tion fresh every week. I think our foundation mills can be greatly im- proved by having the dies cut deeper, so that the septum of the foundation can be made quite thin, and giving plenty of room for the formation of the side walls, that they may not be pressed so hard, and left with so smooth an edge, but come from the mill soft and pliable, with high side walls whose edges should be ragged.^ Such foundation is accepted by the bees and worked out in about one-half the time required on other foundation. 1 Since writing tlie above Mr. W. C. Pelliani, of Kentucky, has placed upon the market a new Comb-founilation Mill, which makes the best foundation I have ever seen. The mill is simple in construction, easily and quickly adjusted and operated, and the price so small that every bee-keeper can afford to own one. 107 EXTRACTED HONEY. In working for extracted honey, the same manage- ment is required, up to the time of putting on the surplus arrangement, as with comb honey. Instead of putting the broad-frames with section boxes in the brood-chamber at the time stated, we must spread the brood-frames and insert an empty comb. If the weather permit, this should be re- peated every four or five days until the hive is filled with comb and brood. The upper story should now be filled with frames of clean empty combs, first ex- tracting the honey from the brood-chamber or lower story, spreading the brood and returning the empty combs to the centre of the hive. No bee-keeper, hoAvever, should extract honey unless enough is com- ing in to supply the wants of the colony. TIME FOR EXTRACTING. I consider the proper time for extracting is when the bees commence capping over the cells. There is a diversity of opinion on this question, some apia- rists going so far as to wait until the honey is all sealed over before extracting; while Mr. L. C. Root, whom I consider good authority on this point, recommends extracting while the honey is yet thin or raw, or in other words, extract every two or three days during the principal flow of honey. Mr. Root has described to me his method of evaporating and curing his honey, 108 which is very simple and cheap. He claims several points in favor of his method, among which is the pre- vention of solid granulation. I think his method is worthy of a trial by those who manage their apiaries for extracted honey. SEPARATORS. Every bee-keeper who manages his bees for comb honey should use separators of some kind between the section boxes. Some apiarists argue against their use ; but the bee-keeper, who strives to place his honey on the market in such shape as to command the ver}^ highest price, will find their use an abso- lute necessity. At the present time they are made mostly from tin. iNIany, however, have discarded these, and in their place have adopted those made from wood. From my own experience, I much pre- fer wood separators, joer/bra^ecZ, to those made of tin, but as apiculture is rapidly progressing, we know not what will present itself in the future. In the way of separators, something new is about to be used : I refer to "Jones's perforated metal." It combines all the good qualities of the tin separators, the principal qualities claimed for those made from wood, and other good points not found in either. In fact, I believe this " perforated metal " is des- tined to become one of the most useful articles used in the apiary ; being already used in selecting the drones in fertilizing our queens, in the form of en- trance guards, which is also a partial preventive 109 against robbing, and -will prevent SAvarms from ab- sconding, thus abolishing the wrongfully practised method of clipping the queens' wings. By its use, I believe we shall be able to secure surplus comb honey in the centre of the brood-chamber, etc. INCREASE OF COLONIES. The amount of surplus honey obtained (whether comb or extracted) depends upon how the apiary is manafred in reojard to increase of colonies. As I am discussing the most practical method for securing the largest amount of surplus honey, I will not say any- thing about the best loay for increasing our colonies. Those w^ishing bees instead of honey will change their manipulations, in conformity with the object in view, which should be different from the commence- ment of the season. The bee-keeper should at all times know the condition of each and every colony, especially at this season of the year. Much depends upon such a knowledge in order to obtain the best results. Most of our contributors to the various journals advise making an examination of each col- ony once a week. This is well enough for the in- experienced ; but the bee-keeper who can justly claim the title of apiarist should at all times know the condition and progressiveness of each colony, from the outside appearances ; and I have grave doubts if they Avho cannot do this will ever make a success of apiculture. 110 If the object is extracted honey, I would advise but little, if aivj, increase in colonies. With a proper use of the extractor, swarming may be con- trolled. With comb honey it is different. The number of new colonies should be in accordance with the season. By preventing any increase during a short flow of honey, or during a season below an average one, quite a satisfactory amount of surplus can be secured; while with a good season, or a prolonged flow of nectar, the best results can be obtained with a moderate increase of colonies. As I have said before, we should endeavor to have our colonies, as near as possible, of equal strength b}-- the first of June ; or at the commencement of the bloom from which our surplus is gathered. So w^e must labor to have our new colonies in the best pos- sible condition and in every way equal with the old colonies ; all being done, without diminishing the numerical strength, or in any way deteriorating the working capacity of any colony. At this writing, I consider the following method the most practical, and the one giving the best results. Take an empty, or new hive, filled with frames of comb foundation, and a broad-frame with section boxes on each side of the brood-chamber, and place it in a position where you wish the hive to remain. Now take a frame of foundation, go to a colony and ex- change it for a frame of brood and the adhering bees ; put this frame of brood and bees in the new hive. Now go to another colony, and exchange a frame of foundation, for a frame of brood and bees, as before ; Ill and proceed thus, until you have the new hive full of frames contuiuiug brood and the adhering bees. By the time the last comb is thus inserted in the new hive, the colony thus formed will be in a condition to re- ceive any queen you may wish to introduce, which is done by simply letting the queen run down be- tween two combs. Now carefully put in position the top surplus arrangement, and all is done ; and you have a colony that is in a perfect condition to take every advantage of the bloom already secreting a bounteous supply of the coveted nectar. In going through with the above manipulations, great care must be taken that the queen in the old colony is not taken away with the frame of brood and bees ; also, if the colony can spare more than one comb of brood and bees without detriment, the apiarist should take two or more, as his judgment dictates. If, however, by some oversight of the apiarist, a swarm should issue natural 1}% it should be returned, and then take every alternate frame of brood and bees from them (putting in their place frames of foundation) and place them in a new hive, alter- nately, with frames of brood, etc., taken from other hives. "We should continue exchanging frames (of foundation, for those containing brood, etc.), as above stated, as often as our colonies become crowded for want of room to work ; which, if neglected, will in most cases, induce the swarming fever, and thus greatly retard work in the surplus boxes. These conditions can be detected from outside indications, 112 and the progress made in the surplus chamber, with- out disturbino; the colony. The skill and judgment of the bee-keeper should be taxed to his extreme mental and physical capacity in such observations, and should he be a quick aud close observer, it will prove of great value to him in more ways than one, besides saving a vast amount of labor. The reader will readily see that, by adopting this method of securing an increase, every colony will be in a prime working condition, and if practised at the proper time, no swarming fever will occur ; besides all this, our combs are built cheaply, quickly and without wasting any time in filliug the hive with comb, before commencing work in the surplus boxes. There are various other ways of managing this in- crease that are practised by some of our most scien- tific apiarists ; but the one described is that which I believe to be the best. I will, however, mention a method which I think is worthy a trial at least. Mr. D. A. Jones, who claims it a success, has put it into practice and claims, that l)y dividiug the brood-chamber, in such a manner that the workers may have free access to both parts, wiiile the queen will be slower in Huding her way between the two compartments, swarming may be controlled. This is done as follows : insert one or two broad-frames, containing surplus boxes filled with foundation, in the centre of the brood-nest, using as separators the "perforated metal," described elsewhere, and cut the full size of the broad-frame. It is best to use the metal as division boards, placing 113 the broad-frames at the sides, in the centre of the hive, after spreading the brood. Thns the bees are allowed to pass from one side to the other, at any point, while the queen must pass either over or under these broad- frames, to enter the one part from the other. UNFINISHED SECTIONS. At the end of the season for white honey, we find that we have a number of boxes tliat are unfinished. If the}' are one-half or more completed, they can be easily fiuished. Many, however, prefer to extract the honey from those that may be unfinished at the close of the season, allowiug the bees to clean up the combs, when they are stored away for another year. I think this the better plan, as these boxes filled with comb offer excellent inducements for getting the bees in the boxes the next season. If the bee-keeper concludes to have the best of them finished up, he must do so by feeding back. To make this profitable, several colonies should be selected for the purpose. They should be strong in numbers, and the combs contain- ing brood should be exchanged for others that are all, or nearly all, solid honey. Those using broad- frames for side boxing should remove them, and in their place arrange the feeders, having the unfinished boxes on top. As a feeder for such purposes, I know of none better than "King's Automatic" which is made to hang in the hive, the same as broad-frames. If our hives are not arranged for side storing boxes, 114 we can remove the frames containing brood, etc., and crowd together the frames containing the honey, thus leaving room at the sides to suspend the feeders. Mr. Jones, who uses a stationary bottom-board to his hives, feeds by simply tipping the hive back a little, and pouring the food on the bottom of the hive, from the entrance, by means of a funnel. This is the best feeder for those using stationary bottom- boards. CAKE OF HONEY. Every apiarist should have a small building or a room in a larger building exclusively for storing and for the proper curing of his honey. This room should be well ventilated by means of two small wiudows, or one large one protected on the outside by fine wire- cloth and absolutely moth- and mouse-proof, and he should use care, while passing through the door, not to allow any millers to enter the room. If spiders and large ants should take up their abode in the room, have uo fears as they will do no harm but will destroy all injurious insects that make their appearance, and take up what little leakage there may be from the honey. On the floor lay down strips ^ of an inch thick by 1^ inches wide, and far enough apart to allow the boxes to rest upon these reaching from the centre of one to the centre of the next strip. Set a single tier of boxes on these, then lay over them pieces of manilla paper to catch the leakage from above, and on top of this, 115 place more strips and another tier of boxes and so ou until you have seven or eight tiers of the two- pound boxes. As fast as the boxes are taken from the hives they should be put in trays or crates for the purpose and carried into the honey-room at once. Do not leave the honey exposed to the moth-miller at any time. Herein lies the secret of evadino^ the ravao^es of the moth. Extracted honey does not require so much care and attention as comb honey. The principal point is to have the honey properly cured or ripened, when it may be put in barrels or casks and stored in a room with a moderately high and even temperature. All cellars should be avoidedfor storing honey of any kind. If the honey is not extracted before it is sealed or capped over or nearly so, it may be put in the recep- tacles immediately ; but if the honey is extracted while it is yet thin and raw, it should be cured or evaporated before being put into packages for ship- ment. I think this is best done by Mr. L. C. Root's method, which is illustrated and described in the Pro- ceedings of the Northeastern Bee-keepers' conven- tion and published in the "Bee-keepers' Exchange" for March and April, 1883. SULPHURING. We have been large producers of comb honey for the past twenty years, and as yet have never sulphured 116 our honey and have never been troubled with moths. If the above precautions are heeded, there will be no need of resorting to brimstone to protect our honey against the ravages of the moth. As the market for honey seldom opens before the latter part of September or first of October, the honey should remain as we pile it in the room, until just before this time. PREPARING FOR MARKET. The first work in preparing our honey for the mar- ket is to clean all propolis, wax, etc., from the sections. Then comes GLASSING. The glass should be nicely cleaned and put on the sections with tin points or white glue. If with the former they should be set one side from the centre of the box and in an opposite direction from the one on the other side. Great care must be taken not to crack or start the combs by using glass too large as it will cause the honey to leak and will weaken the combs making it more hazardous in ti'ansportation to market. I am endeavoring to improve on the method of fastening the glass on the sections by using strong labels to cover the top of the section and reaching one-fourth or one-half inch down on each glass, the bottom to be fixed the same way. 117 In conversation with Mr. D. A. Jones, he thought he could furnish labels similar to those he now makes and uses on small pails for extracted honey that would give entire satisfaction. If so, it will add greatly to the neatness and attractiveness of our packages, cov- ering the stains from propolis and wax, and at the same time contain an advertisement for the producer on every box of honey. The one-pound sections should not be glassed but nicely cleaned and put into those neat paper boxes as made and used by Mr. I. L. Scofield. These boxes contain the producer's card and are weighed as so much hone\% consequently the cost is nothing. With the present method of crating, the producer is out of pocket on the cost of glassing the crates, which is not weighed as honey and is therefore a dead loss. CRATES. Our crates, or cases, should be made with all the accuracy we exhibit in making our sections. White basswood and poplar have several points in their favor, over other woods, as the best material. Care should be taken not to stain or soil them in handling. They should hold twelve of the two-pound sections or twenty-five of the one-pound boxes. After the crate is made the bottom should be fixed in the foUowinsr manner: take strong manllla paper and cut one inch larger each way than the inside of the crate. Fold this overaboard (made for a pattern) thatwill just fit inside 118 the crate, turning up the corners, thus forming a paper pan that will just fit in the bottom of the case. After the pan is in position tack strips of wood three-six- teenths of an inch thick and seven-eighths of an inch wide on top of the paper and crosswise of the crate, placing them far enough apart so that the boxes will reach from the centre of one to the centre of the next strip thus forming a space between the bottom of the section and the paper pan that will catch and hold all the leakage. In this way the boxes are free from any daubing from leakage of the honey. I consider this a great improvement ; although the inventor, Mr. Samuel Snow of this place, has used the same for sev- eral years, it is known to but few as yet. It should be known to every producer of comb honey. GEADING AND CRATING. The crates should first be weighed and marked in small figures with a pencil. The most convenient way to crate is to have as many crates by your side as you have grades of honey. There should be two grades of white honey and two grades of dark. The best grade should be marked XXXX and composed of sections with all straight and even combs all sealed over and the cap- pings or comb stained but little if any. Mark the second gradeXXX, which should comprise all boxes of white honey not fit to be put in the l)est grade. The the third or XX grade is made up of sections that 119 are one-half or more white but finished up with dark honey. The fourth or X grade takes all the dark and buckwheat honey. In putting the sections in the crates it is rulable to put the best side of the outside boxes out, but the boxes inside should average as good as those on the outside. A great deal of the honey on our markets is crated so that nice white honey appears on the outside while the inside is made up of mixed honey. This is called veneering by the dealers and is the cause of many complaints and denunciations on the part of the bee-keeper, who thinks the dealer has wronged him by selling too cheap when really no one is to blame but the apiarist himself. Honey put up in this way must be sold as mixed honey. The bee-keeper who is so devoid of principle as to practise this should receive no sympathy from any quarter. I wish here to speak of another bad custom and one which I have entirely overcome in this locality the past season. In buying honey, the buyer makes a difference of from two to four cents between each grade and makes his contracts in that way ; this makes a difference of about five cents (on a two-pound section) between the two grades, and when crating many are inclined to look at the five cents, more than at the strictness of the grading. By selling both grades of white honey at the same price and the two grades of dark honey at another price, the producer finds nothing to warp his judgment ; consequentl}^, all grades are far better and give better satisfaction to all concerned. In crating the one-pound sections the 120 crates should be made for a single tier only, taking five boxes in length and five wide. The middle box on each side should be glassed on one side, so as to show the average quality of honey in the crate, as by using the paper boxes referred to previously, the honey is not visible. "WEIGHING AND MARKING. It is a common practice with bee-keepers to put their name and address, as well as the gross weight and the tare, on each crate, with a stencil plate. This should not be done. Put your name and address on each section if you like but not on the case. Put nothing on the crate but a mark denoting the quality or grade of the honey and the nelweight neatly marked on one end in stencil figures. The crates should weigh even pounds net; i. e., there should be no fractions of pounds. MARKETING. Many bee-keepers succeed in obtaining a large amount of surplus, but comparatively few seem to realize "top prices" for their honey, either from a lack of knowledge of the requirements of the market, or their inability in supplying the demands of the consumer. Some apiarists take extra pains to have their crates and sections neat and clean, and all that could be desired in attracting the attention of the consumer, 121 but spoil all by an improper S3^stem of grading; others bend their Avhole energies in the direction of perfect grading and beautifying the outside appear- ance of the crates but lose sight of that most im- portant point of having the sections clean, bright and free from all propolis, etc. We must cater to the wants of the consumer, and not so much to some of the fancied caprices of the dealers or middlemen, and while we endeavor to please the public we should not disregard our own interests financially and otherwise. Dealers are con- stantly on the alert to increase their profits ; and by managing to induce their bee-keeping friends to put up their honey in some new style of box or crate, or to fix it up in some way so as to make it a novelty, they succeed in increasing their profits at the ex- pense of the apiarist and at an extra cost to the consumer, with a tendency of lessening the consump- tion of our products. Never deviate from the two sizes of boxes I have mentioned. Strive to place them on the market in the very best shape possible, and your honey will please the consumer in all that the most fastidious connoisseur could desire, and command the very highest market prices. Always supply your home market before looking elsewhere. If you have a surplus after that, ship it where it will net you the most. Always sell for cash when you can ; it is better to sell for two cents per pound less than what is quoted by commission dealers, than send it on commission, as it costs the consignor that difierence in paying the various bills of expense, 122 besides the risk of losing the entire consignment by the failure of the commission firm. If, however, you are forced to send on commission, ship to a firm that makes a specialty of our products and is known to the bee-keeping fraternity. Nothing will frighten the retailer so quickl}^ and lessen the prices more than the practice of consigning to any and all of the hundreds of commission houses. To succeed best we must concentrate our products on any market. Our l)ee magazines could help us much more than they do in this matter. SHIPPING. This has been one of the perplexities in marketing our products, yet it is quite simple and when well understood comb honey can be safely shipped to any 'part of the world. My long experience, crowned with the best success attainable, will verify the asser- tion that what I shall say on this subject may be considered as authority. First, secure a good clean car. By presenting your freight agent with a little honey you will have the best to be had ; before load- ing, the car should be swept clean and paper spread on the floor to keep the coal cinders from soiling the crates. Commence loading by placing a row of crates against one end of the car with the combs running lengthwise with the track. The crates should not be piled more than three feet high. At one side of the car Ave will have a vacant space of a few inches ; this should be fixed by putting a board against the sides 123 of the crates and stay-lath it so that the crates cannot move ; now place another tier of crates against the one just put in and fasten at side as before ; proceed in this way until your honey is all loaded, or you have filled the car as far as the doors. Here fit good strong boards against the ends of the crates and stay-lath so that there is no possible chance for a single case to move. The other half of the car should be managed the same way and when the car is thus loaded it will not be far from ten tons net weight. Over the tops of the crates tack old newspapers to keep the dust and cinders from sifting among the cases. In this way the honey may be sent to California and back again without breaking a half dozen combs. Always do your own loading and reserve the privilege of superintending the unloading. Always ship by freight when you can. The charges are much less and the risk no greater than by express. EXTRACTED HONEY. If sold in our larger markets or shipped away from home it should be put up in kegs holding about one hundred and sixty pounds net. On one end mark with stencil plate the producer's name and address, the qual- ity of the honey and the net weight. Honey put up in five and ten gallon tin cans does not sell so readily as that put up in kegs. If near a large town, I should put my extracted honey in one, two and a half, five and 124 ten-pound tin pails labelled with Jones' fancy labels for that purpose. At present I cannot endorse putting up extracted honey in packages of less than one pound. From late experiments I am satisfied that cheap tin should be avoided as the best chemists have shown that honey in such tins is tainted with poisonous acids or minerals. I will here venture on rather delicate ground know- ing that I shall meet with strong opposition by some, but nevertheless I shall venture the assertion. The finer or white grades of extracted honey find ready sale at remunerative prices. But it is a stubborn fact that the darker grades are a drug on our haarkets. Time after time the question has arisen " How can we establish a trade or how can we find an outlet that will consume all of such grades of honey?" Grape sugar is now largely used in the manufacture of beer. In conversation with a prominent brewer of Brooklyn, who is now using dark extracted honey in place of "grape sugar," he said "that the honey could be used at eleven cents per pound and be cheaper than ' grape sugar' besides making a beer that could not be excelled in purity and healthfulness." If bee-keepers will go to a little trouble they can establish a trade in this line that would demand more honey than is now produced. I do not wish to be treated to a "temper- ance lecture," so will suffice by asking. Is it not far better to give the consumer of beer a pure and good article than an adidterated one? 125 SIZE OF BOXES. Much may be accomplished in the way of regu- lating the size of section boxes. We will first take up the two standard sizes found on our market to-day and show Avhat the difference in price must be to make them equally profitable to the pro- ducer. It is admitted by the best apiarists who have had the longest and largest experience with the one-pound boxes that the amount of surplus honey secured is ^ less than with the two pound sections. Therefore we shall take that as a stan- dard. In producing and preparing tor market 1000 lbs. in one-pound sections it will cost, for 1000 boxes, $4.50. To fill these with foundation, it will take 10 lbs., 10 ft. to the pound, which at 60 cts. is $6.00 ; 40 crates for crating the same at 15 cts.jis $6.00 more ; 80 glass for glassing sides of cases at 5 cts. makes $4.00 ; thus for the 1000 lbs. it costs $20.50. 1000 lbs. in sections 5^x5^x2 in. will cost for 500 boxes $3.00 ; to fill them with foundation 10 ft. to the pound will require 7 lbs. at 60 cts., which is $4.20 ; 40crates for crating sameat 9 cts. makes $3.60 ; $10.80 in all and a difference in favor of the two- pound section of $9.70. To glass the 500 two-pound sections, it will take 3J boxes glass at $2.40 which would be $8.40; this glass weighs 60 lbs. to the box or 210 lbs. in all, which is weighed as honey, and at 20 cts. would be $42.00 ; it costs us as above $8.40, leaving a balance in 126 favor of the two-pound sections of $33.60. By hav- ing the honey stored in the two-pound box, we gain ^ or 150 lbs. honey, which at 20 cts. is just $30.00 and making a grand total in favor of the two-pound sec- tions of $73.30 or a difference between the two sizes of 7^ cts. per lb. ; therefore, to be as profitable to the producer, the one-pound box must sell at 27^ cts. when the two-pound section is selling at 20 cts. I have said nothing about the labor in glassing the two- pound boxes, etc. The extra labor required in making double the amount of boxes, and that performed in the various manipulations of the one-pound sections, would leave a nice margin on labor in favor of the larger section. I will now consider the one-half pound boxes, a sub- ject which is at present agitating a " certain class " of bee-keepers and compare them with the two-pound sections. At our late Northeastern Bee-keepers' convention, it was acknowledged by those apiarists who have had more experience than any others with the one-half pound boxes, that they could get butf as much honey stored in them, as they could in the one-pound box, and then they could succeed only when honey was the most plentiful. For 1000 lbs. honey in one-half pound boxes it will take 2000 sections at $4.00, which will be $8.00 ; to fill them with foundation it will require 20 lbs. 10 ft. to pound at 60 cts., making $12.00 ; 50 crates for crating same at 15 cts., will make $7.50 ; the 100 glass for sides of cases at 5 cts., will be $5.00 more and a total of $32.50. If we can get but 127 § as much in the one-half ponncl as we do in the one- pound box ; and but y- as much in the one-pound as the two-pound sections then while we secure 1000 \hs. in the one-half pound box we can obtain 1715 lbs. in the two-pound sections. The cost of this will be, 850 boxes at $6.00, $5.10; 12 lbs. foundation 10 ft. to pound will till them and at 60 cts. will be $7.20; 70 crates to crate the same at 9 cts. equals $6.30, making in all $18.60 or a difference in favor of the two-pound sections of $13.90. To glass the 850 boxes it will require 6 boxes glass, at $2.40, making $14.40; weighing 60 lbs. to the box, makes 360 lbs., glass at 20 cts. (being weighed as honey), we have $72.00, or a balance on glass of $57.60 in favor of the two- pound sections. The difference in amount, produced as before stated, is 715 lbs. which, at 20 cts., will make $143.00 more and a total of $214.50 or 21^ cts. difference in the two sizes. Therefore the one-half pound section must sell for 41J cts. when the two-pound boxes sell at 20 cts. to be equally profitable (financially speaking) to the api- arist, to say nothing about the vast amount of extra labor and time lost in manipulating the one-half pound sections which would put the price at about 50 cts. to be a success. The quotations then should read like this : two-pound sections 20 cts., one-pound boxes 28 cts., one-half pound sections 50 cts. per pound ; then the one-half pound box would bring 25 cts., the one- pound box 28 cts. — a difference of only 3 cts. — and the two-pound section 40 cts. It is not the consumer that demands the one-half 128 pouutl package or the one-pound box. It is the dealer who is constantly endeavoring to introduce something new in the line of a novelty, at the expense of the pro- ducer and consumer alike. They are assisted by our supply manufacturers, and they too have an axe to grind as it increases their sales and consequently their profits. It is time that apiarists viewed this matter in its true light and I trust the reader will pause and consider before his business is ruined. I will venture to predict that the time is close at hand when the one- pound section will sell at the same price as the two- pound box. If the one-half pound box is produced in large quantities, it will be but a few years before they too will find their level with the two-pound section. The 5:1x5^x2 section will be the standard in the near future. Wait and see. COOPERATION. Nearly every apiarist in the country must know that I have worked earnestly for the past several years to demonstrate to the bee-keepers of America the many advantages to be had and the large amount of money that can be saved by united action. In this I have been opposed only by those interested in the manufacture or sale of supplies, and their friends. Of late I can sec the tidal wave steadily moving on- ward that is sure to accomplish the desired end. Mr. T. G. Newman in his work on "Bees and 129 Honey," published in 1882, tells us that "any method, that will add one cent per pound to the marketable value of our products, is worth to the producers three-quarters of a million of dollars ; and auy error of management, causing a reduction of one cent per pound is to them a corresponding loss." In addition to what Mr. Newman has said, I will add, "any method that will save one cent per pound in preparing our products for market is worth to the bee-keepers of America nearly three-quarters of a million of dollars : and a failure to save that one cent per pound is to them a loss of just that amount." This amount can be saved by buying our glass, sections, hives, foundation, literature, and the many implements of the apiary at manufiicturers' prices. A like amount can be added (by a majority of bee- keepers) by united action in selling our products, but to accomplish all this requires organization. Reader, if you will express your willingness and lend assistance in this matter, we shall soon advance one step nearer perfection. There are other points of material interest to the apiarist that can only be accomplished by cooperation, such as collecting accurate statistics ; providing a relief fund for the benefit of our families after our death ; perfecting a system in grading and marketing our products and bringing to bear, on our railroad officers, legislatures and government officials, an influence that will command due respect and unde- layed action when our interests are involved. 9 130 CONCLUSION. The reader who has perused these pages with care will notice that I have not described the various con- ditions and the many things that would greatly facilitate the various manipulations of the hive, nor even mentioned the many methods pursued by different apiarists in obtaining their surplus and their manage- ment during the swarming season ; indeed, it would take a large volume to do this. I might, perhaps, have gone into more minute details for the benefit of the novice, but as this work is not an A B C book, but a volume whose pages are filled with the results of years of experience, I have endeavored to present to the reader the latest and most scientific and practical method of management to secure the best results from the apiary. How well I have succeeded, time, that great leveller of all things, will tell. Fayetteville, N. Y., March, 1883. ^^