October, 1913. 



345 



American Hee Journal 



aware that it may be considered almost 

 sacrilegious to make the statement that 

 several queens lead in this swarming 

 flight ; yet we frequently hear of two 

 colonies going together, and they, I 

 believe, are nothing more than two 

 sections of one swarm, lead by two 

 queens. Sometimes there are more 

 than two clusters. In a recent cluster 

 that alighted on a small willow tree, 

 there were at least four clusters, and 

 within each one of these little bunches 

 was a queen with a large number or 

 drones. 



Here, I believe, is a field for interest- 

 ing and instructive investigation. The 

 trouble is that few bee-keepers have 

 taken the pains to examine the whole 

 of a swarming cluster. The best 

 method to do this is to take the cluster, 

 lay it carefully on a white sheet on a 

 box or a table, so that the bees may 

 spread out as one might spread out 

 peas or beans to sort them over. Have 

 plenty of nursery cages, so that when 

 queens are found they may be placed 

 in captivity. In a recent colony from 

 which I obtained three queens, 1 found, 

 upon hanging the three together, that 

 the bees cared for only one, and let 

 two of them die of neglect. They, sev- 

 eral times, tried to swarm, but soon re- 

 turned to their captive queen. 



I am carefully investigating further, 

 and am not yet prepared to propound 

 the definite theory that Nature provides 

 a number of queens and guards against 

 the dangers of the flight; but I am 

 more and more inclined to think that 

 in many cases this is so. In fact. I 

 wonder if any of our veteran bee-keep- 

 ers have positive proof that in nr/y 

 swarming cluster there is only one 

 queen ? We all know how difincult it 

 is to find the queen in a 10-frame hive. 

 Much more diflicult is it in a large 

 cluster of bees. Even if I were to 

 look for an hour in such a cluster 

 carefully spread out, I should not be 

 prepared to state that there is more 

 than one queen. Finding only one 

 does not prove that there are no more; 

 but finding several does indicate very 

 strongly that Nature is sending more 

 than one with the swarm. 



I shall not be convinced if you tell 

 me that you have only one queen in 

 your swarm. Before I can be con- 

 vinced that only one queen goes out, 

 I want an answer to this question : 

 Did you make prolonged careful in- 

 vestigation of all the bees within your 

 swarm ? I am also ready to dernand 

 that the entire swarm shall be sifted 

 through a queen bee-excluder before 1 

 can be convinced that there is not 

 more than one queen in every cluster. 



Unquestionably there were a large 

 number of drone; in every swarming 

 cluster that I have seen. But will you, 

 old-time bee-keeper, or even young 

 apiarist, who keeps his eyes open and 

 thinks about things, tell me why those 

 drones go out with the cluster if only 

 the old mated queen leads the colony .^ 

 Here is a field fertile for research, one 

 in which I am working with diligence 

 and enthusiasm, and a mind open to 



more truth either from direct observa- 

 tion or from the experience of fellow 

 bee-keepers. 

 Sound Beach, Conn. 



Experiences of a Beginner 



UV W . n. KOUU.\BUSH. 



ONE hot summer day about 32 

 years ago, when a bare-footed 

 lad of 12, I strolled away towards 

 a creek that came dashing down 

 its stony course from the foot- 

 hills of the old Blue Ridge mountains, 

 in Greene Co., Va., in search of a pool 

 deep enough to take a bath. 



After a refreshing bath in the clear 

 mountain stream, 1 started on my re- 

 turn home. I was walking up the 

 banks of the stream through a corn- 

 field, where there was an old darkey 

 plowing corn with a mule, and was 

 somewhat surprised to hear the old 

 man shout, "W-ho-a! Say, dar boy, 

 don't you go up dat way. Dars bees 

 up dar on dat maple bush, an dey sting 

 you to def." 



After some hard begging, I got the 

 old fellow to come close enough, say 

 •jO yards, to show me just where they 

 were. -A.nd after more persuasion I 

 linally got the old bai/u;<' knife to cut 

 the limb ; but he still insisted that I 

 was "guine be stung to def, an Mis 

 Mit an Mass Jake (my mother and 

 father) guine blame me wif it." I ex- 

 plained to Uncle the bees would not 

 sting me, and promised to put off op- 

 eration until he could get the mule to 

 the other end of the field. 



He shambled off down the corn row. 

 and I went after the bees. 



His old knife was so dull it was a 

 slow process, but I finally secured my 

 bees and started my one-mile tramp 

 home. 1 was tempted to believe the 

 negro knew more about bees than I. 

 Several times when I would stumble, 

 haudfuls of bees would drop off the 



cluster and prefer crawling up unde 

 my pants than settling on the cluster 

 again. I finally succeeded in getting 

 them home, and hived them in an old 

 box-hive (bee-gum), and my bee-keep- 

 ing experience had begun. 



It ended the next day about !) o'clock 

 with that particular swarm — they came 

 out and put off for the woods. I was 

 so full of enthusiasm and disappoint- 

 ment that my aunt gave me $11.00 to go 

 to a man, who kept a good many bees 

 in the old-time Simplicity hives, and 

 buy a fine prime swarm. After getting 

 these home, I wrote to a friend of 

 mine, mentioning my bees, when he 

 sent me a bee-book and several copies 

 of the American Bee Journal, edited 

 then by Thomas G. Newman. 



Late as it was, 1 ordered and safely 

 introduced an Italian queen ; and I be- 

 lieve now it was the first Italian queen 

 that came into that county. When her 

 bees began to hatch, people came for 

 miles to see the bee I paid $2.00 for. 

 From some I got words of praise and 

 encouragement; from others the oppo- 

 site. A few told me I was crazy. Why 

 is it in this world of ours that there 

 are some people who delight in throw- 

 ing. Seemingly, insurmountable obsta- 

 cles in the way of some boy or girl who 

 has it in his or her heart to accomplish 

 something along some particular line? 

 But all the warnings and advice of the 

 "Smart Alecs " only fanned the spark 

 of enthusiasm into a flame, and each 

 year has added more fuel until now the 

 disease has assumed a chronic form, 

 and I think it is incurable. 



I have never been an extensive bee- 

 keeper. I never had as many as 100 

 colonies at one time. I have always 

 produced comb honey, that sold on the 

 marketfor 2 to 8 cents more than other 

 honey. T have always been successful 

 in wintering my bees, and my crop of 

 honey is usually larger per colony than 

 the average for this locality. 



Hagerstown, Md. 



Dr. Millers 



Answers^ 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal or direct to 



Dr. C. C. Mii.i.er, Marengo, li.i,. 



He does not answer bee-keeping questions by mail. 



Bees Not Working in Supers 



1 have 5 colonies of beesand they arcdoini; 

 well as far as I can see. but they are not at 

 work in the supers, What is the cause ' 

 and what is the remedy, if any ? Illinois. 



Answer.— There may be several reasons 

 why bees do not work in supers,. There may 

 not be a sufficient flow to supply more than 

 their daily needs. The colony may not be 

 strong enough, and you must wait until it 

 builds up stronger. The brood-chamber 

 may not yet be tilled, and the first care of 

 the bees is to till all vacant room below be- 

 fora storing in the super. Sometimes, how 



ever, the bees are slow about making a start 

 in supers when thev seem strong enough, 

 with a good flow, and the brood-chamber 

 filled. In that case you must put a bait in 

 the super to bait the bees into it Just how 

 you will do that depends upon the character 

 of your supers. If extracting-siipers. then 

 you can likely put into the super a frame of 

 brood for a few days, or until the bees begin 

 work in the adjoining frames. If you have 

 sections in supers, then put in the center of 

 the super a section that is partly built out. 

 either empty or containing some honey. If 

 you can do no better, you can cut out of one 



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