May 16, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



311 



BEES IN ATTIC WINDOWS. 



I am rather short of land space, and thought I would 

 utilize my attic windows for hives. Two hives were placed 

 facing two windows. A short runway from beneath a win- 

 dow to the entrance served for exit. Two or three small 

 holes were filed through the glass at the top of each pane to 

 let out those bees which left the combs during manipula- 

 tion. As far as honey-gatliering and ease of manipulation 

 are concerned nothing is gained, more than to offset loss. 

 But in wintering much is gained. The two colonies have 

 seen two winters thus. They have come through strong in 

 each. Few bees die, and they all seem unusually vigorous. 

 The combs come through without a spot of mold on them. It 

 is delightful to open hives in which all the combs, even the 

 outer ones, are dry and clean. This means rapid building 

 up in the spring. The two in question are remarkablj" 

 strong for the season. 



I should state that I remove the covers and throw old 

 clothes and papers over the hives for the winter. The attic 

 is unfinished and is well ventilated. The results of this 

 experiment are so pleasing that I shall, at my first oppor- 

 tunity, build a bee-house in which I can set 20 or 30 hives. 

 This would be a tight, double-walled house with double 

 windows. It would have ample ventilating facilities — this 

 for dryness. The bees would get their air by the entrances. 

 An oil-stove would be set in the house on extremely cold 

 nights, for I believe that extreme cold robs the bees of 

 much of their vitality. There would be an arrangement to 

 shade the windows when sunlight would do harm. Such a 

 house would, I believe, save enough in winter stores and in 

 bees to pay the cost of it. 



Norfolk Co., Mass., April 7. 



Introducing a Queen-Bee— Her Normal Good Graces 

 the Key to Success. 



BY W. W. m'nEAL. 



I WOULD better, dear reader, impress you with the fact 

 that the honey-bee in all her actions is governed more by 

 cold business principles than by any feeling of love for 

 kin or stranger. I have watched closelj' the habits of bees 

 for manifestions of love in its true sense, but I am forced 

 to believe that they are swayed by a selfish love only. Her 

 motives tnay be good ; and that from necessitj' she employs 

 harsh methods. However, it is by her methods that we are 

 fitted to judge; and, judging from these we say that her 

 motives are unrelenting. 



Let me cite a few prominent traits which characterize 

 the honey-bee as being utterly indifferent to the sufferings 

 of her mother-queen, of her sisters, and of her brothers : 



1. If the worker-bees love their queen, why will they, 

 when this same queen becomes old and decrepit, allow a 

 young, vigorous queen, and a stranger, to dispatch the 

 tnother-bee right in their viidst f Not only do the workers 

 positively refuse to assist the old and (to them) faithful 

 queen, but when the bloom is on the stranger queen, 

 they welcome her with the keenest relish to the situ- 

 ation she covets. When this same queen has become estab- 

 lished in her new home, and is generous to the colony in 

 the performance of her special duties, take her from the 

 bees for a few short hours, or until they realize fully the 

 loss of her. This will portray more clearly their real avari- 

 cious, grasping nature, and that love with them is an 

 unknown qualification. For when thejjueen is returned to 

 tl\e bees, note the results ; The worEr-bees ball her as 

 they would a stranger queen ; and in every way evidence a 

 spirit of revenge rather than that of rejoicing because she 

 had come back to them. They appear to regard her sudden 

 disappearance as a willful shirking of high responsibility 

 intrusted to her, and, accordingly, the most influential mem- 

 ber of the colony is made to feel their indignation. 



2. When a worker-bee has given its life in defense of 

 the colony — I mean one mortally wounded, so to speak — and 

 by some means regains the hive before becoming helpless. 

 why is she at once dragged therefrom, alone to die Z 



3. The great, boisterous drone-bee, which was so ten- 

 derly cared for when his presence in the hive guaranteed 

 the safety of the colony, t\na.\\y becomes a subject for the 

 worst kinds of cruelty — that of actual starvation in the 

 midst of plenty; and within the immediate presence of the 

 gueen and worker-bees .' If the honey-bees have that qual- 

 ity, or attribute — love — which higher intelligences are su])- 

 posed to have, why do they always commit these fearfully 

 cruel acts ? 



Gentlemen, from my observations of the honey-bees, I 

 am inclined to the belief that it is neither love for the 

 mother-fjueen, nor the peculiar scent of the newcomer, 

 that have to do with the art of introducing a queen-bee. 

 The kej' to success is in retaining the normal good graces 

 of the queen — I might say, the best normal perfection, for 

 the honey-bee is the greediest of the greedy, and the ques- 

 tion with her is, apparently. Has the exchange of queens 

 been a good business deal ' Of course, there are exceptions, 

 but this can abundantly be said to be the rule. 



Within the wasened walls of the bee's tiny home, indi- 

 viduality is nothing further than to serve the colony in the 

 advancement of its selfish interests. This principle is 

 painfully manifest in all their doings. The stranger bee, 

 whose physical fitness enables it to help the colony, is 

 almost always welcomed thereto, until it reaches a period or 

 condition in life which requires that it then be helped by 

 the colony. 



Let me call your attention to a few common occurrences 

 in the apiary, which serve to make manifest the assertion 

 that this is the ruling principle with the honey-bees. 



1. Note, please, that young bees having just reached 

 the zenith of their physical power and beauty, are, upon 

 returning from a flight, allowed to enter almost any hive 

 they choose. Surely, these have not lost their identity — the 

 distinct impress of the queen's scent during the little while 

 they were out of the hive I Oh, no, nothing of the kind. It 

 is seen at once by the older heads within, that these are just 

 the kind of helpers most needed, and so they are permitted 

 to join ranks with them. 



2. Note, that there is no fighting upon exchanging 

 supers v>ith two or more colonies, when honey is being 

 stored. Why, then, is this? Do not the bees of each colony 

 take with them the peculiar scent of the queen of that par- 

 ticular hive ? To be sure they do ; but then they always 

 carry with them what is of vastly more importance to the 

 stranger colony — the fact that here is a company of able 

 bees, and ample evidence in the shape of newly built comb 

 and honey, of their willingness to work. 



3. Note, that at swarming-time there is no fighting 

 when two or more swarms unite ; each swarm evidently feels 

 that there is nothing to lose, but lots to be gained, by an 

 addition to their forces. 



4. Note, that any colony feeling the need of drones 

 will welcome them to its hive; but when not needing their 

 assistance, it will reject them at once; that a worker-bee 

 laden with honey and pollen may, and quite frequently does, 

 enter the hive of some near-by colony ; and that a colony 

 frequently balls its reigning queen when there has been no 

 outside disturbance of the hive. 



5. Note, that when the mother-queen, or reigning queen, 

 is found in an unexpected quarter of the hive, she is often 

 stung by the workers ; that a colony having a good laying 

 queen will attend upon a score or more of queens in cages, 

 providing that these queens have attained their proper or 

 natural development ; and that a virgin queen will be 

 allowed to starve to death, her entreaties for food availing 

 nothing. Now, why this partiality ? Verily, the virgin is 

 regarded as bringing with her no security to the colony, 

 while the queen of the other class, so soon as it is seen that 

 she will not, or can not, molest the reigning queen, is 

 reserved unto future use should any accident befall this 

 queen. 



6. Please note, also, that the bees of a colony in whose 

 hive there are so many caged queens, are just as able to 

 pick out a robber-bee at the entrance as though there was 

 but the one or reigning queen within. If it is the scent of 

 the queen that enables them to exchange their identity, in 

 what manner does the queen having the freedom of the 

 hive, so impress upon the bees of her colony her own pecul- 

 iar scent as to protect them against the depredations of 

 thieving bees ? 



My bee-keeping friend, I believe that all this matter of 

 the queen's scent is but a vapor cloud, and in due time will 

 have blown away. 



I will repeat that the key to success along this line of 

 introducing queen-bees consists in having the queen in the 

 best possible physical condition at the time she is to be 

 given to the colony. She must be the peer of the colony — 

 must be equal to their expectations. Not only must the 

 queen evidence an ability to do good work, but she must 

 manifest a 'willingness to do the same. Is it not enough to 

 break the even tenor of her ways — the worker-bee's— to 

 take awaj- the queen in the prime and beauty of life, and 

 offer instead, a poor, ha.lf-starved and frightened little 

 queen to fill the place made vacant? 



I have exchanged the queens of two colonies during the 



