The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1886-01-08
DEMOCRAT BLOOMSBURG COLUMBIA COUNTY, PA

is in the hive TO care for the feeding of
the larva, sealing of the cells and receiv-
ing honey from the bees as they come
in loaded and deposit it iu the cells
and seal them up when the honey is
properly rpened,after which time they
become honey gatherers. The drone
or male bee lives on the labor of the
worker and is only of use to fertilize tho
young queen, and as soon as the honey
flow slackens the workers drive them
ont OF the hive and kill them as they
are only considered as consumers. 1t
has always been a query how the bees
could store their honey in the cells and
have 1t remain there without running
ont. The past season observed bee
btgin storing honey in cell next to The
observation glass in one Of my hives
aud | found on close examination that
the bee had covered the base of the
cell with thin tenacious
film aud when the bee wished TO store
its load of honey It inserted its tongue
through aud under the coating and in
jected The honey beneath aud as the
cell filed the film moved outwards and
thus held the honey in place until the
cell was filed and ready to cap over.
ln starting to keep bees it is nects-
sary tD adopt hive with movable
frames, and the least fixtures you eau
have in constructing it the better it
will be- And of the kind of bees to
have after having the black, Italian,
Holy Land, Cyprian and Albino bees
| prefer the leather coored Italian, for
all purposts. An inexperienced person
should not begin with more than one
or two colonies as they will in
crease in numbers perhaps rs fast
as his experience and knowledge in
crcases. The best time TO purchase is
in the month of May aud then do
select on account of weight as to guam
tity of bees the colony contains. For
at that season of the year it is best to
have the colony strong,for if you have
plenty of bees you may expect early
strong swarms and surplus honey.
The swarming season is one of much
interest end it is thus the bee keeper
secures is incr, ase of colonies. When
the first swarm issues it is accompan-
led with the old queen, and the bee
keeper should be in readiness with
hive and as soon as they have cluster
ed they should be hived aud put on
the stand which they are to occupy.
In eight to twelve days after the first
swarm issues, you may by holding
your ear to the side of the hive hear a
peculiar peeping, for the first queen
that elnerges from cell will 90 to
rowing through the hive and attempt
to destroy the cells that remain and if
the bees guard them the queen will
make noise something like peep,
peep, and the queens in the cells will
answer quit, quit, and they keep that
up till about the time the next queen
is ready to swarm from the cell, when
the bees will cast swarm termed the
second swarm, accompanied by the
queen that first hatched. 1t it is the
desire TO have surplus instead of in
crease then, eight days after the issue
ing OF the first swarm the hive should
be opened and all the cells removed
except one. and that will prevent any
further swarming. The best time, if the
colonies are strong, to put on section
boxes for surplus, is about the time the
apple trees are in bloom, for then if
the bees do not swarm, as it is the
''ase some seasons, you will be sure il
there is flow of honey to get some
surplus. AS soon as one set of boxes
are partly capped you should raise
them up ard place another case of
section beneath the other, and the be,
Will at once occupy them and begin
building comb and storing in them.
When the honey season is over the
boxes should be removed or the bees
moving over them will soil it. The
great difficulty in bee keeping has been
the wintering of them safely. 1t is
safe to say that the average loss in
wlntering the bees in the Northern
States has been from twenty to fifty
per cent Bees if properly packed in
chaff aud have twenty to 20 pounds
OF honey sealed and strong in bees
can be wintered at loss not
exceeding 10 per cent. The
past two winters | have not lost
a colony wintered in boxes or clamps
sixteen feet long, Two feet wide and
fifteen inches high at the rear and
thirty inches at the front. Remove
the caps and after placing an inch of
chaff on the bottom set the hive on it
about two inches apart and then fill up
all the spaces and on the top with
chaff and put on good roof that will
not leak. Have the hives all facing
one way and have tunnel from each |
entrance so tn bees may fly out when
ever they desire, and SO you can re-
move the entrance block and remove |
all dead bees during the winter. Il
prefer no upward ventilation but cut
a winter small passage through the
combs about two inches below the top
bar so the bees can get from the outer
combs 10 the cluster. Do not let the en-.
trance became clogged with dead bees
or you will lose them by smothering.
In conclusion "the number of colonies
in the United States in 1881 was .OOO.-
DOO and the honey produced for that
year more than 2O0,000,O00 and the
sash value was $6O,000,0OO. And this
nectar would all 20 to waste if it was
not for the bee keeper and his bees.
They thus save to the country that
which would otherwise be lost. Api.
culture is thus adding immensely to
,he pr, dGctve capitol of tho country
md should receive the fostering care
If the Sat, :"