Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1857-01-01
!, rlnion, ano euern true 1nterest Of the Gountru.
mo. 13.

In case OF striking comb take out
sni,ll piece. and it is just as well-sey-
ersl holes are better than one. After
fitting the box on top never found /:
necessary TO use the cold water 10 drive
the bees inside. and there is not the least
doubt but il was a supeifluity in his case.
Five weeks for storing twenty pounds of
honey is rather longer time than The av-
srsge; a good swarm will freque ntly store
that amount in three.
To the article from the Prairie Far.
mer.' on driving bees, have several OBJ
jections to make. First. il says ii should
be done Immediately after swsrming.'-
This would be downright fuin to any
swarm thus managed. All bee-keepers
who expect success. ought TO know e.
1ough of the natural history of bees to
understand the condition of the old stock
after the first swarm leaves. Yet COM
paratively few-the writer of the article
under cosideration especially-seem TO
realize that there is no queen there at
that time or aflerward short Of eight or
ten days,except in rare instances. of per-
haps one in fifty. Imagine the bees
driven out without queen-they might
as well be consigned TO tho birthstone
pit at once! They would do nothing,
at least in the beginning. without her.
.he article in question continues: III
done before swarming there would be q
loss of young bees can assure you
there would be just as much loes of brood
Immediately after. because the old queen
continues to deposit eggs up to the day
of her departure with the first swarm;
all these must mature to prevent loss Of
brood. Three weeks time is required
for this purpose, and three or four days
over for drones; consequently three weeks
from the first swarm is the proper time
for driving. The young queen who has
taken the place of her mother in the old
stock will have by this time commenced
her maternal duties. Now as to the mnh-
ner recommended for driving. think il
would be Objectionable 10 the operator
in nearly every instance. There is moth
ing to prevent the angry bees from leav-
ing when these gentle knocks are ap-
plied-it might be unpleasant. notwith.
standing vail and mittens.' have tried
several methods, ond the best method
have found is very simple. | take an
empty hive the size Of the full one-neu-
er rub the inside with salt and water or
any other substance at any time. being
satisfied that his perfectly useless
turn the full cne carefully bottom up, set
the other over it-stop the holes to pre-
vent bees issuing and rap on the lower
one few times. and wait five minutes
for the bees to fill themselves. Then
rapidly continue the drumming on diff
ferens sides of the lower hive ten or fif-
tear minutes, at the end OF which time
most of the bees will be in the upper
hive; now, to facilitate the operation. the
upper one should be put on the old stand
and another empty one set over to re-
ceive the remaining bees driven up By
the same process. which may be Jared
out in front Of the other hive when they
readily euter. Should any yel remain
continue the process. They are not dis
posed to sting in this stage of operation.
and vail and mittens' are not very es.
senlial during any part of it..
One word more about the necessity of
driving. We are not told what is to be
gained BY the process. But as we do not
expect any one to do it for the amuse.
menl OF The thing, would say let the
case be an extreme one--a last resort 10
save the colony. Yet it must be done
before the bees are reduced TOO much az
they are frequently discouraged and fail
for want of numbers. To dislodge them
for the sake of the honey in the hive. ia
bad economy. by putting boxes on the ton
you will get nearly as much, and the ar
ticle much superior. To do il for the
purpose of having the bees replace the
old combs with new; is also doubtful
economy. Combs cannot be made with.
out much labor and expense to the bees
As great many pounds of food are con.
sumed by the COW to produce one pound
ct butter, so the bee, in secreting one of
wax. must use several pounds Of honey.
hence the folly of changing combs too
often. Ii has been fully and sa tisfacto.
rily nscertained by Mr.. Lunsstrotb. and
others. as well as myself, that bees will
thrive in combs from six to ten years ola
as we'll as If only one. 1t is importan.
that this point is fully understood. he.
cause Thousands OF pounds are annual
ly sacrificed on this false idea OF contip.
ual change being necessary. A ,ere.a
many hives have been planned and nat
enied expressly for the convenience of
renewing the combs every two or threc
years. They forget. or. what IL most
probable, never knew, and even If lhsv
did. would be too much interested in
selling right. to tell you that every
time the bees filed the hive with inev
combs. they would store twenty pounds
OF surplus in boxes. Bees should be dis
lodged only TO save The combs, from the
moth. or to remove them from the combs
'oi'aining foul and diseased brood; IN.
these cases il is probably the only reme-
dys and it should be done sny time from
April to October. whether the combs are
one year or ten years old.
NJ. QuIxBY.
Author ofthe "My sleries Of Bee Ks.p.