Several methods have been adopted for separating the wax. I never found any means of getting out the _whole_. Yet I suppose I came as near it as any one. Some recommend heating it...
The inquiry is often made, "What kind of season is best for bees, wet or dry?" This point I have watched very closely, and have found that a medium between the two extremes produce...
No danger of her sting need be apprehended, as she will not demean herself to use that for a common foe; she must have a _royal_ antagonist. When successful in obtaining one, it is...
To prepare for moving them, pieces of thin muslin about half a yard square is as good as anything, secured by carpet tacks.
A short time after, I attended, on a cold day, with a sharp saw, square, &c. I found his hives fourteen inches square inside, and eighteen deep, holding about 3,500 inches. Of this...
Mix with water just enough molasses and vinegar to make it palatable; this is to be put in white saucers or other dishes, and set among the hives at night. Like nobler beings, if n...
When it appears that all are exempt, (by a thorough examination, if not satisfied without,) you need not object to stocks two or three years old; they are just as good as any, some...
The season for regular swarms in this section, I have known to commence the 15th of May, and in some seasons the 1st of July. The end is about the 15th of the latter month, with so...
If you are disposed to separate them, but are afraid to work among them to this extent in the middle of the day, or if there is danger of more issuing, to mix with them, and add to...
"I would not do it for fifty dollars, the bees would sting me to death." Stop a moment, if you never tried the efficacy of tobacco smoke, you know nothing of a powerful agent; this...
Except on the day of swarming, care is necessary not to introduce a small number with a large swarm; they are liable to be destroyed. The danger is much greater than to put togethe...
Theories differing materially from the foregoing, are advanced by nearly all writers. One says, "In spring the queen lays about 2,000 eggs of males, resumes it again in August, but...
Two weeks is the shortest time I ever had any filled and finished. This, of course, depends on the yield of honey, and size of the swarm; three or four weeks are usually taken for...
I have frequently had stocks with stores amply sufficient to carry a good family through the winter, and yet too few bees to last till January, or even to defend themselves from th...
After the flowers fail, and all the brood has matured and left the combs, it sometimes happens that a stock has an opportunity of plundering, and rapidly filling all those cells th...
Whenever these swarms issue near enough together, it is best to unite them. I have said second swarms were generally half as large as the first. By this rule, two second swarms wou...
A few warm days will often occur, towards spring, before we can get our bees out. In these cases, a bushel or two of snow or ice pounded up should be spread on the floor; it will a...
In transporting your bees, avoid if possible the two extremes of very cold, or very warm weather. In the latter the combs are so nearly melted, that the weight of the honey will be...
Putting on boxes may be considered a duty intermediate between spring and summer management. I cannot recommend putting them on as early as the last of April, or first of May, in o...
I once discovered bees collecting a secretion unconnected with flowers; but was not honey-dew, as it has been described. I was passing a bush of Witch-hazel, (_Hamamelis Virginiana...
Another point is worthy of consideration: endeavor to get hives as near the right size as possible, _viz._, 2,000 cubic inches; better too large than too small. If too large, they...
Even when a stock already contains bees enough to make it safe for winter, another of the same number of bees may be added, and _the consumption of honey will not be five lbs. more...
I am aware that I go counter to most apiarians, in recommending the stands so near the earth; less than two or three feet between the bees and the earth, it is said, will not answe...
Therefore I would recommend getting a royal cell whenever it is practical. There is yet another advantage; you will have a queen ready to lay eggs two or three weeks earlier, than...
The time for carrying out bees is generally in March, but some seasons later. A warm pleasant day is the best, and one quite cold, better than one only _moderately_ warm. After the...
The rule generally adopted for taking bees is this. One or more stocks are taken for a term of years, the person taking them finding hives, boxes, and bestowing whatsoever care is...
Also, when the combs become crowded with bees, and honey plenty, the preparations for young queens commence: as the first step towards swarming, from one to twenty royal cells are...
No modern observer has ever been able to detect the bees in the act of gathering it. HUBER'S OPINION. Huber tells us, that "near the outlet of one of his hives, he placed some of t...
Whenever the hive is well supplied with honey, and plenty of bees, a portion of eggs are deposited in the drone-cells, which three or four days more are necessary to mature than th...
The following suggestion then came to my relief. If this hive was bottom up, what would prevent all this vapor as it arises from the bees from passing off? (It always rises when wa...