I am indebted to a communication from J. M. Weeks, published on page 151 of the Cultivator for 1841, for this method. The description of the fumigator that I constructed will vary...
There is yet another method to be adopted, and that is, to obtain a piece of brood-comb containing workers' eggs, or larvae very young. You will generally find it without much trou...
I have used bee-houses, but they will not pay, and are also discarded. They are objectionable on account of preventing a free circulation of air; also, it is difficult to construct...
For a beginning then, I would recommend purchasing none but first-rate stocks; it will make but little difference in the risk, whether you obtain them in the spring, or fall, if yo...
At this season, (July and August), it is a good plan to put a few pieces of old dry combs near the hives, in a box, or other place, as a decoy, where the moth may have access. She...
Should this operation be put off for a time much longer than three weeks, the young queen will so fill the combs again as to make it a serious loss. Therefore, I wish to urge stron...
It is always best, if possible, to have good strong families. When after swarms are late it is safest to return them, as the old stock will need them to replenish the hive, and pre...
As a great many bee-keepers will find it inconvenient, or be unable to avail themselves of my method of wintering, it will be well enough to see how far the evils of the open air,...
It makes but little difference what way they are put in the hive, providing they are all made to go in. Proceed as is most convenient; an old table or bench is very good to keep th...
The honey from the old hive may be used, if you will only first destroy the virus. This, I have ascertained, may be done by scalding: add a half-pint of water to about ten lbs.; st...
Also pollen, or bee-bread, is always stored in the vicinity of the young brood; some of this will remain mixed with the honey, to please the palate with its _exquisite flavor_. The...
Of the kinds of wood for hives, pine is preferable, still other kinds will do; I have no faith in bees liking one kind better than another, and less likely to leave on that account...
I am aware that among the thousands whose direct interest is opposed to my simple, plain manner of getting along, many will be ready to contend with me for every departure from the...
You may now raise it, but you may still catch the worms by laying under the bees a narrow shingle, a stick of elder split in two lengthwise, and the pith scraped out, or anything e...
If too large, more honey will be stored than is required for their winter use. It is evident a portion might have been taken, if it had been stored in boxes. The swarms will not be...
As for moth-proof hives, I have but little to say, as I have not the least faith in one of them. When I come to speak of that insect, I will show, I think, conclusively, that no pl...
First swarms are commonly more particular as to weather than after swarms. They have several days from which to choose, after these royal cells are ready, and before the queens are...
This excursion of the queen, whenever I have witnessed it, always took place a little after the middle of the day, when the drones were out in the greatest numbers. At such times I...
You object to this, and tell me, "the worms will get between the bottom of the hive and the board." Well, I think they will, and what then? Why I expect if you intend to succeed, t...
The liquid ejected by the aphis, (plant louse,) when feeding or sucking the juices of tender leaves, and received by the ants that are always in attendance, is something like it; b...
The worm, after spinning its cocoon, soon changes to a chrysalis, and remains inactive for several days, when it makes an opening in one end and crawls out. The time taken for this...
The old queen leaves with the first swarm; as soon as cells are ready in the new hive she will deposit her eggs in them, at first for workers; the number perfected will correspond...
After deciding what kind of hive we want, the next important point is the size. Dr. Bevan, an English author, recommends a size "eleven and three-eighths inches square, by nine dee...
The young bee, when it first leaves the egg, is termed grub, maggot, worm, or larva; from this state it changes to the shape of the perfect bee, which is said to be three days afte...
The time of commencing will be later than this rule in some stocks, if the weather is cool, or not many bees left; it may be ten or twelve days. I once found it fourteen before I h...
One will tell you to keep them warm, another to keep them cold; to keep them in the sun, out of the sun, bury them in the ground, put them in the cellar, the chamber, wood-house, a...
Yet Mr. Weeks makes an alteration, calls it an improvement, the expense is but a trifle more; it is sufficient to be sanctioned by a patent. From front to rear, the bottom is about...
When the flowers fail at the end of the season, the first thing necessary is to ascertain which are the weakest stocks, and all that cannot defend themselves should either be remov...
Whenever it is required to put boxes on a hive that has no holes through the top, it need not prevent your getting a few pounds of the purest honey that may be had, just as well as...
But when the combs do actually need removing, I prefer the following method of pruning, to driving the bees out entirely, as has been recommended. It can be done in about an hour....