Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1856-11-07
. Fan rrannremen, Of sees.

/. You doubtless looked carefully about
the hives, and in them, during July and Au-
gust, to see whether the bee-moth had laid
its eggs, in the crooks or corners near the
the bottom. If so, you removed them, of
course. But you neglected this inspection
then please mskeit it now, and carefully OBJ
serve what you see.
2. Look to see Uhsthsr plundering is go
ing on. In the fall, strong swarms have
strong proclivities to robbery. They seize
and appropriate all the honey of the weaker
swarms that they can. Now you may de-
tect this operation by seeing whether great
numbers Of bees are passing from one hive
to another. The remedies are various. The
first is to smother the weak swarms, and Sc
cure their honey. This is better than to
allow robbery, or to leave the weak swarm
to eat up its honey and then die of starva-
ton. A better way is, to unite two weak
swarms in one. This may be done in the
following way:-Place the hives, In which
you wish the bees to remain, bottom up
wards, on the ground, or on table, where
you can work easily. Place the hive, from
which you wish to expel them, right side
up, directly on the inverted one; then, with
tobacco smoke, or the smoke of puff-ball,
fNmigate the upper hive. This may be
done by boring small hole in the side of
the upper hive, and blowing the smoke
through with good fumigator. In few
minutes, the bees will be made senseless by
the smoke, and drop down into the lower
hive. A little smoke should be blown into
the lower hive also to render them insensi-
ble, and to give both swarms the same odor.
Swarms thus united, will rarely quarrel. If
the united swarm has not honey enough,
they should be fed.
8. Al aceak swGrnaS should be. fed, so that
they may hare enough for Jinter. They
should be fed now, so that they can lay up
in store all they need for the winter. If
the swarm has not from fifteen to twenty
pounds of honey, it should be fed till the
bees have that quantity. A little too much,
is better than any too little. Do not set
the honey, with which you wish to feed the
weak swarms, out where the rest of the
swarms will reach it too; for in this way,
the stronger swarms will get nearly all of
it, and the swarns that need it most will
of course, get next to none; besides, this
course provokes all the stronger swarms to
plunder. The best mode we have been able
to learn, is the following some strong
tin dishes made, 10 by II, two inches
deep, with perpendicular sides, Work out
board, Is by "a inches, plump inch thick;
at two inches from one end, cut out hole,
the longest way, Just the size of the dish;
then fasten in the dish tight, so that no bees
can get through, making the dish firm with
cleats nailed to the under-side; then build
a little rack, with stats two inches wide,
running from front to rear, just as the comb
above does; let the stats be about one-fourth
of an inch thick, and half an inch apart;
make this rack so that it will Just fit into
the tin dish; place it in the dish; pour in
honey at the bottom, as much as you think
expedient and place the dish under the
hive. If the work has been well done no
bees from abroad can get in. The bees in
the hive can go in and out at their ordinary
place. They can go down and get the hon
ey for food when they please, and without
danger of being drowned; and they will be
in no danger of building comb down into
the dish itself. You can turn up the hive,
now and then, and put in new honey for food,
till you think the swarm have sufficient
supply for the winter. When the feeding
is over, remove the dish, clear it out and
keep it for further use. 1t will last for sew
eral years; but if left under the hive, it may
prove burrow for the bee-moth.-O Ohio
EorU1er