The Savannah morning news., 1901-08-11
A MODERN "BEE-TREE."
A Case of "A swarm of Bees Making
Their Home An Wall of House.


Honey bees often select strange
places in which to begin housekeeping.
A hollow tree is not necessary; an old
fence post, a shelving ledge, a rock
pile, any place fairly well protected
from sun and rain will do. Not I'M
frequently they make a home in the
walls of frame houses, gaining en-
trance through a knothole or crack in
the weather boarding. Sometimes bees
in such cases become more or less
nuisance and one quite difficult to
abate.
The writer was recently called In TO
remove a swarm from the wall of
cottage at Pathfinder. This swarm had
been in the walls for three years, and
had finally become so strong as TO be
very annoying. In addition to occa-
sional stings which the younger mem
bers of the family had suffered, no
doubt justly deserved-bees rarely
sting unless provoked-the swarm kept
up a continual and eXasperating hum
They had swarmed. too, several
times, filling the air with their thous-
ands of migrants; and such an exodus,
while really an inoffensive act, looks
quite formidable to the uninitiated. 1t
had quite terrified the lawful tenants
of the cottage. Paterfamilias thought
to smoke the swarm out, which failing,
he tried to smother them with fumes
of sulphur. But bees do not abandon
their combs readily, and they are gen.
orally too well protected to permit of
satisfactory fumigation. The only
thing left to be done was to remove
the nuisance bodily.
Protected by veil and gloves and
armed with a smoker butcher knife,
chisel and keyhole saw, started in.
The swarm was located by humping
on the inside wall. Then the plaster
was knocked off the lath. little
opening was made between the laths,
through which some smoke was pulled
to quiet the bees, which by this time
We're humming angrily This soon
changed the note to one more compro-
missing.
Do you know the reason for the eff
feet of smoke on bees? 1t isn't given
to suffocate. them. 1t simply frightens
them-fire being their worst natural
enemy; one against which stings are
of no avail. When once frightened by
the thought of possible migration and
abandonment of their combs they at
once fill their sacks with honey. When
loaded with honey a bee, like a man
after dinner, is in his best humor. SO
the beekeeper controls his charges.
Next the saw was put in service. Be
ginning at the Dashboard one lath
was carefully cut and removed. The
combs were exposed and the hive, If
so we may call 1T, was seen to extend
from one studding to another, or
width of some Is inches. About this
time the members of the family who
had been looking decided they had bet
ter go, and l was left alone to face
some 10000 belligerents all armed with
stillettos, and most devoted in what
they held to be their own particular
castle-that most sacred possession I'M
der English law.
Lath after lath was cut and remov-
cd. Three feet four feet, six feet from
the floor, and still the combs contin-
saw standing on the floor, and yet the
limit of the best was not reached.
Standing on a box the opening was
heightened two feet more and the end
came in view.
There was sight to make an old-time
bee hunters mouth water. A space Is
inches wide by 9 feet long by inches
thick, solid full of combs and bees. For
about four feet from the floor the
comb was largely brood contain
ing young bees, bee bread (pollen and
honey mixed together and used as food
for young bees); above that the combs
were almost entirely filled with honey
of which l took out enough to fill a
large washtub fully two-thirds full.
In the old days the bee hunter would
have been satisfied with this booty
which he would not have taken until
he had first killed by suffcoation the
rightful owners thereof But my pur-
pose was to capture and make prison
ers the defending army as well as to
levy a heavy indemnity against their
treasury to compensate me for sundry
wounds and veXations received
To do this the brood-combs were
carefully cut from the walls and fitted
into the frames of a modern hive which
was then set with it's entrance coin
Gliding with the entrance of the old nest
| in the wall, from which all the combs
| had been removed. The hive now con-
| tanning the only comb available and
the queen having been caught and
| placed within it, became the nearest
thing to a "home" left the despoiled
colony, and they FASTENED to crawl into
it. In order that they might quiet
down and that scattered and fight bees
might be captured also the hive was
| allowed to stand where it was for an
other day. But there proved to be too
many bees to go into one hive. and
| IT was only after another one had been
| fitted up for them that l succeeded in
| getting the entire swarm.
They are now working nicely in their
| new location, having repaired the dam
| age of my heroic treatment, and l ex-
| pect they will give me more surplus
during the fall honey flow In fact,
| they have been "benevolently assimi-
| lated"